Guelph – The 2010 Hillside Festival is upon us, and just like last year, the Panic Manual will be there all weekend long taking photos, drinking inexpensive beer, and eating reasonably priced food. We’ll also be tweeting from the grounds again this year, and who knows, we might even find the time for a review or three.
Once again, I only know a handful of bands heading into the festival, but on the eve of my second Hillside, this is rapidly becoming one of my favourite events of the year. Certainly it might be the best run festival I’ve been to, and I wasn’t kidding about the reasonably priced food and beer (Sausage Brothers are back as a vendor this year! Yay!). It’s the kind of festival where people take workshops on things like drum circles, hula hooping, and “pleasure skills,” all the dishes are hand washed by volunteers, and if it rains everyone walks in the mud in bare feet. That’s a festival vibe you won’t see at too many other places.
As far as the music goes, if you’re like me there’s a couple of bands in this lineup you like, there’s a few more who have names you recognize that you might like to check out for the first time, and the rest is just guesswork. Unlike last year, when I wrote this preview, I didn’t consult Wade on who to see and only got a couple of recommendations from Trina, my partner-in-coverage again this year. But if you’re among the lucky people who’ll be attending Hillside this year (by last count, weekend and Saturday passes were sold out, but Friday night and Sunday passes are still available), you may have come here looking for some ideas about who to see, and I’d hate to disappoint. So after the jump are my suggestions for who to go see at Hillside. Call them marginally-educated guesses.
Toronto– So I think in the future when I say that my routine of little sleep and a lot of coffee will help me make it through CMW and work, I will think twice about the validity of that statement. After a heavy schedule with CMW and work, followed by an even more insane week of work, I did not think I would survive until this weekend to write this. Now with kangaroos, koala bears, the full selection of Tim Tam flavours, and lovely beaches on the horizon, I’ve been thinking about what to pack in one suitcase, and of course what Canadian music to preach to the Aussie office. What better list to start with than with my favs from this year’s CMW.
1. The Mountains and the Trees at Central’s Factor Breakthrough Session
I had heard of the Mountains and the Trees sometime last year, and was waiting for my opportunity to hear him perform live. Hailing from Newfoundland, the Mountains and the Trees (a.k.a. Jon Janes), croons songs about things from his day to day life, to the lament of a person leaving his little town by the sea for better opportunity. His performance was honest, humble and with heart—the type of show that sits you down, captivates you by story through song, and one which you find yourself humming along with, or tapping your foot to the beat of the drum. Okay, so maybe a man who plays guitar, harmonica, banjo, and ukulele makes me weak in the knees, but there’s an earnest air to his overall performance which I think is rare. The Mountains and the Trees embark on a UK tour in May, but will be back in Toronto for NXNE in June. Highly, highly recommend you check him out if you are a fan of folk rock.
2. Jason Collett, Zeus, and Bahamas at the Bonfire Ball, Lee’s Palace
I’m already a big fan of Jason Collett, so when I went to show I thought I was going to see a regular concert, with each act taking its turn. I was pleasantly surprised to see everyone was each other’s back up band and played a solid 3 hour set of each other’s songs. Not ever having seen a show like this before, I was really impressed even with Jason Collett’s apologies as he told the crowd they were still learning each other’s songs. If he hadn’t said anything I would not have known—their chemistry on stage and their never ending energy would have told you this wasn’t their first show but maybe their tenth. Zeus was a lot of fun, with songs and performances that sometimes reminded me of the Beatles. Bahamas was also fantastic and a great discovery for me. As for Jason Collett, his set included a lot of songs from his highly acclaimed album, Idols of Exile (which was also fine by me, because they were all my favourite songs). Overall, I had a great time, and it wasn’t just because of the three cups of coffee I had before the show! You can also read Paul’s review here.
3. Jeff Martin at the Sirius Song Writer’s Café, Mod Club
Where has Jeff Martin been all these years? Admittedly, I haven’t kept up with his music since the Tea Party—way back in my days from middle school and high school. All I can say is that watching his performance at this age allowed me to gain a better appreciation for his level of musicianship. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Read about his performance here, from Mark, my partner in crime.
4. Joel Plaskett at the Sirius Song Writer’s Café, Mod Club
If there is one country which loves Joel Plaskett more than Canada, it is Australia. I probably won’t understand why they love him so much until I get there, but given his following I’ll spare the office the opportunity to listen to my rendition of Deny, Deny, Deny. The audience was treated to an acoustic set backed by Peter Elkas, and within the first strum of the guitar he had the majority of the club singing along. As mentioned in my CMW primer, I’ve seen him more times than I care to share, and in classic Plaskett tradition (which I can definitely attest to), his performance left yet another crowd yelling, screaming, and begging for more. Read Mark’s review about Joel here.
5. Great Lake Swimmers and the Constantines at the Indie Awards, Royal York Hotel
I think perhaps the Indie Awards deserve a spot alone. Compared to last year, the show has certainly improved. With a better line up and longer sets, everyone was able to enjoy performances from the likes of Plants and Animals, the Rural Alberta Advantage, Great Lake Swimmers and the Constantines. While I love Great Lake Swimmers and the Constantines, I do feel they could have picked other slightly lesser known bands to promote in front of a live, radio, and video audience. Nevertheless, Great Lake Swimmers and the Constantines were outstanding and my favourites of the show. I’ve seen each band many times, and both groups never fail to disappoint.
Honourable Mention:
Otter Petter at Central’s Factor Breakthrough Session
From Chicago, Otter Petter, plays sugar coated alt rock that’s reminiscent of Matthew Sweet. Not always my cup of tea, I’ve heard a lot of bands try and do the same but failed to play music that could get me past thoughts and feelings of annoyance, headache, and the desire to stick a pen in my eye. I find their music a good balance of guitar, harmony, and nah nah’s. Songs are not too long and not too short, and leave you pretty satisfied. It’s up beat feel good music. So if you’re in the mood for sugary sweet indie rock, I would check out Otter Petter.
Best show: The Mountains and the Trees
Best show from a band you have never heard before: Bahamas and Otter Petter
Worst show: tie between We are the City and The Darcys (I’m sorry, I don’t want to be mean)
Best CMW moment: the return of Jeff Martin
Worst CMW moment: the asshole at the El Mo who would not stop farting while I was trying to take pictures of We Are the City. That may have been why I disliked the set so much. So sorry again.
Toronto – So for the longest time I wasn’t even sure I was getting into this show. For whatever reason, the wait to get into Lee’s Palace was ridiculously long and slow. The good thing about this was meeting new people and bonding over the general craziness of it all while wondering whether we should cut out and try to get into the Vivian Girls or Fucked Up shows that were alos happening tonight. But I stuck it out and finally made it to the front of the line. The wait made the show itself all that much sweeter.
Once I was inside, the Collett/Bahamas/Zeus supergroup was well into their set. The venue was packed and performers seemed to be having as much fun onstage as we had watching them. And the band was fantastic, switching between each other’s songs with ease. Each individual songwriter had a style that blended well with each other. This is not surprising, seeing as Zeus is Collett’s backing band, and Afie Jurvanen (aka Bahamas) used to be a member of the band. The overall sound was reminiscent of various ’60s and ’70s sounds without really being derivative or unoriginal. I read elsewhere that they did a Kylie Minogue cover for their encore, but I didn’t see that as I left to check out another show. Too bad, that would’ve been pretty cool to see.
I have seen Collett, Bahamas. and Zeus perform seperately in the past and they were undoubtedly good, but somehow tonight, by joining forces, they became even greater than the sum of their parts … like a Canadian indie rock version of Voltron.
Toronto – Here is an A to Z list of bands playing at SXSW. I’ve even been kind enough to link each band to their respective myspace/website so you can check them out*. Apologies if I missed any letters, English isn’t my first language.
Antlers – I might see these guys again, although it’d be weird to see their depressing music in the clear afternoon light
Broken Bells – Danger Mouse + The guy from the Shins? Yes please. Will this album only kind of change Natalie Portman’s life?
Chew Lips – English dance-pop act has Josh blowing his load with each single they release. Might check them out.
Dr. Dog – Lo-fi folk band keeps on churning out consistently good albums. New album Shame drops sometime in April
Pains of Being Pure at Heart – Shoegazey throwback band played about a billion shows last year, I didn’t catch them then. I won’t make the same mistake again. Maybe.
Quest for Fire – No idea who they are but they are the first band with the letter Q in it I see. Clever marketing yo.
Russian Futurists – Had a blast seeing them at Wavelengths despite short set. Should have equal blast at SXSW despite short set.
Spoon – Austin’s favourite band open SXSW at Stubbs with what undoubtedly will be a great performance.
Toro Y Moi – One of the first big discoveries of 2010, this dude will bring some chilled tunes to Austin.
Ume – Frank from Chromewaves really enjoys this bands live set. Who am I to argue.
VV Brown – Wonderfully talented retro pop sounding VV Brown will bring what is surely a great set to SXSW.
Walkmen – 7 or 8 years later, I still love the song The Rat
Xx – They continually seem to have bad luck, hope these guys make it to SXSW
You Say Party! We Say Die! – BC band looks to build on the success of XXXX here in Austin. Laura Palmer’s Prom..what a song
Zeus – Arts and Craft band is about to hit the stratusphere with their debut (?) album.
