Baby's First Field Trip

Enjoying the music & the sun at Field Trip

This past weekend my baby daughter got to experience her first ever music festival. We spent a good chunk of Saturday, as well as Sunday evening, down at Fort York/Garrison Common experiencing Field Trip. Now in its fourth year, Field Trip is about as family-friendly as a music festival gets. There's an extensive kid-focused "day camp," lots of kid-friendly food (including pizza) and a very laid-back atmosphere (it's the kind of event where someone quickly apologizes if they bump into you).

Still, it is a music festival with lots of people, loud noises and unpredictability. Because of that, I was a little worried about how Baby would take it all in. Thankfully, she seemed to really enjoy Day 1. She was mostly all smiles and she even squeezed in a short, early evening nap. Headliners The National went on at 9:30pm and we were able to catch over 45 minutes of their set before we decided we should head out with our sleepy baby. Once home, she ate and then immediately settled into an almost five-hour long stretch of sleep, which is great for her.

The Grove Music Festival

On Saturday, Husband and I spend the late afternoon/evening down at The Grove Music Festival. This is the festival that was originally scheduled for Niagara-on-the-Lake and originally scheduled to have 13 different performers. But then the people of Niagara-on-the-Lake complained and four of the acts dropped out and we ended up with nine acts performing in downtown Toronto.

None of these changes bothered me because I didn’t buy tickets to this event. I was only there because I won a pair from Factor (thanks!) earlier in the week. Getting to see a $60 event for free should have made me feel special but it didn’t because there were so many free tickets to this event. Seriously, I saw over a dozen different contests that were awarding Grove tickets, including one contest that was giving away 15 different pairs.

The Grove’s Facebook page tells me that yes, some people did pay for tickets but everyone I talked to at the festival got in for free, either by winning tickets or getting a pair from a sponsor. While the crowd size seemed decent, and people were certainly spending money on booze and food, I do wonder if this festival made money.

Field Trip

Congratulations to Toronto-based record label Arts & Crafts on throwing not only one hell of a birthday party but also on organizing one of the best outdoor, music festivals that this city has ever seen.

Yep, that’s a pretty strong statement but I think it’s one that the majority of the people who spent this past Saturday at Arts & Crafts’ Field Trip festival would agree with. The record label organized the day as a 10th anniversary party for itself (and I think as an excuse for the disbanded Broken Social Scene, who helped to found the label, to play one more show) but in the end, they created the model for a perfect festival.

(Before I write anything else I should mention that this entry is photos-free because I only had my phone with me and I didn't want to waste its battery life on taking crappy images. If you want to see some great Field Trip photos, check out these ones over on BlogTO.)

While our day did have a shaky start thanks to ill-formed security people who sent us in the wrong direction, the rest of it was basically perfect (okay, it could have been warmer). Once we got to the correct ticket window, we were quickly given our tickets and then whisked inside.

My Favourite Songs of 2012

A few weeks ago, when I first put this list together, I was really struggling to fill in the last three slots. Then I started flipping through other people’s top-tracks-of-2012 lists and I quickly found myself with way more than 10 songs. But after a bit of thinking and a lot of listening, I narrowed things down to the listen below, which is presented alphabetically because it’s just easier that way.

Also, just in case the title of this blog wasn't clear enough, these are my favourite songs of 2012, not the best. That would be a separate list that would require way more time than I have on my hands right now.

1. Chromatics: Kill For Love
Chromatics’ album of the same name is one of my favourites of this year due to its icy, ‘80s-filtered sound electro sound. This track, with its simple lyrics and strong melody, sums it up perfectly.

The 2012 Polaris Prize Gala

I wish I was cool enough to have been invited to the 2012 Polaris Prize gala, which sees one amazing, and lucky, Canadian album win $30,000, but I’m not. I only ended up at this event because of pure luck.

Earlier on Monday, I won tickets to the gala’s viewing party at The Drake. Husband and I were only at that event for a few minutes when we won upgrade passes to the gala itself.

We were then whisked off to the Masonic Temple, which was hosting the awards show (even though it was called a “gala," jeans and a t-shirt were A-OK to wear). We arrived a few minutes after it had started, right at the end of Fucked Up’s performance.

Osheaga 2012 Review: Some Ideas for Next Year

Last Osheaga post, I swear!

Today the focus is on ways Osheaga could be improved. Now, I know what you’re thinking, what gives me the authority to offer suggestions on how a major music festival should be run? Well, I currently work in the music industry in a position that touches on ticketing, touring and VIP packages. I’ve also toured with a major pop star and I’ve attended dozens and dozens of shows, including large festivals. Plus I've spent countless hours planning my own dream music festival.

1. Sell fewer tickets: According to the numbers I heard, Saturday sold 2,000 fewer tickets than Friday and, while you think that number wouldn’t make a big difference when Friday’s crowd was 40,000 strong, it really did.

Osheaga 2012 Review - The Bad

On Friday, I highlighted my favorite aspects from this year’s Osheaga festival. Today I look at what I didn’t like.

The Bad 

View from the top of the hill

1. The crowd: When I attended Lollapalooza in 2008, I did so alongside 75,000 other people.  On Osheaga’s first day, I was one of 40,000 attendees. But despite the fact that Lollapalooza had 35,000 additional people at it, it somehow felt less busy and much less crowded than Osheaga (and had shorter lines for everything from food to bathrooms).

At times the congestion caused by the crowds was just over-the-top and made me really question if I would ever attend another Osheaga weekend. Several festival veterans that I talked to agreed with me about the crowds and said that this year was the busiest they’d ever seen Osheaga, something that none of them were happy about.

Thankfully both Saturday and Sunday were noticeably less crowded and because of that, they were a bit more pleasant.

Osheaga 2012 Review - The Good

One week ago today I was in Montreal at the Osheaga music festival, which this year was headlined by The Black Keys, Snoop Dogg and Justice.

While it wasn’t the best festival I’ve ever been to (Lollapalooza still holds that title), it was very pretty good. Below, my five favourite aspects of it (and yes, there will a future five least-favourite aspects post).

The Good

1. Having the main stages side-by-side: Most festivals have their biggest two stages at either end of their space but at Osheaga, they’re side-by-side. While it’s an unusual set-up it’s also a great one because it means that as soon as an act on the one stage is done, the act on the other stage can start playing (and yes, performances usually did start within minutes of the last one ending). If you positioned yourself in the right spot, you could easily watch band after band perform, without having to leave your spot.
The main downside to this layout is that the festival can’t have opposing headliners each night but given the lineup for the festival, I was OK with this fact.

Bands I Saw At NXNE 2011: Art Brut, Braids, Nightbox & More

This year, I didn’t get to go to as nearly as many NXNE shows as I would have liked to have gone to. That was partly because last weekend was just packed with other plans and partly because I didn’t have a pass buddy to go around to shows with (there’s no point in going from venue-to-venue without a pass/badge). Hopefully next year I’ll get to see a few more shows.

And maybe by next year my ability to write about music will have improved. As you’ll read below, I’m far from a great music writer but I do have an excellent ear when it comes to identifying talent so if I say that something’s good, it’s good.

Friday, June 14 – The Mod Club

The Most Serene Republic
If I had to sum up this local band in one phrase it would be: Solid but not sparkling. There’s no question that TMSR is a better-than-average indie-rock band that delivers an engaging, professional show. There are catchy melodies, sing-a-long moments and a brass section that gives a nice polish to some of the songs. But none of those songs were really grabbing me, or sparkling, for lack of better wording.

Quick Thoughts On NXNE & NXNEi 2011

Last week, from June 16–June 18, I attended NXNEi, a three-day conference here in Toronto that looks music, social media and all kinds of internet stuff. There’s also a music festival side to it called NXNE, which I also took part in.

I was at this event because of my day job, which combines the internet and music. I won’t bore you with the details of that but over this post and the next one, I will tell you what I thought of this year's NXNE/NXNEi and then, if all goes as planned, on Friday I’ll post about the bands I saw.

My Top 5 Concerts of 2010

It’s the last day of 2010 and I’ve decided to celebrate by posting my top five shows of 2010 (that I attended anyways). Unlike my top 10 songs list, this one is in order.

1. Arcade Fire – August 14, Toronto Island
OK, so it was an outdoor show and the sound wasn’t perfect but otherwise this was about as an ideal of a show as you can ask for.

The band members were totally into it, the audience was totally into it (people were crying!), all the right songs were played and because we were on a nice, green island with tons of space, there was plenty of space for all and no coked-out 15-year-olds were invading my dance bubble.

I enjoyed this show so much that I have actually included it in my top five shows of all time list (a list that currently exists solely in my head). It’s actually replacing another Arcade Fire show (Massey Hall in 2007) that while technically tighter and visually fancier, just wasn’t as fun and, as odd as this sounds, joyful, as this year’s island show.

Here’s to another island show next year! (Yeah right, I know the next time they’re in time it’ll be the ACC).

2. LCD Soundsystem – May 23, Terminal 5

So I heard the Toronto show was pretty great but I don’t know if it was as good as this one, which at the time was being billed at LCD Soundsystem’s last NYC show. This was the band’s fourth show in a row so I was a bit worried about how their energy level would be but they all in fine form, playing all the songs I wanted to hear. And when it came to the actual sound, four shows in a row must have been the magical number because our night had none of the sound issues that the previous nights had.

The only sad part was that our night was treated to just a few bars of the band's cover version of Jay-Z/Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind”, while the other nights go to hear the full thing. But we did get a balloon drop at the end of it all and that was pretty fun.

Also, to any New Yorker who complains about Terminal 5 being NYC’s worse venue, you need to check out something called “Sound Academy” up here in Toronto.

3. Gorillaz – October 14, Air Canada Centre

Tickets for this show were originally $80 so initially we passed on it, even though Husband really wanted to go. Passing turned out to be a smart move because ticket prices were eventually halved and we ended up getting some great seats in the 100 level for $40 each.

And what did we get for our $40? Well, two hours of solid, big screen (and I mean that literally) entertainment. By the end of the show, I understood why tickets were originally so much; this was no doubt an expensive show to put on. At times there must have been 20 people on stage plus there was a truly massive screen up that showcased the animated members of Gorillaz in a series of vaguely related videos.

The ACC really requires a band to go big or go home and Gorillaz definitely delivered on the “big”. While I have no doubt that this show wouldn’t have been to everyone’s taste (at times it was easy to forget that there were live musicians performing, you could get that into the videos), I was certainly wowed.

4. Sleigh Bells/Die Antwood – July 20, Phoenix

Here’s another show that’s definitely not for everyone for so many reasons: bad sound, obnoxious audience, obnoxious performers (Die Antwoord; Sleigh Bells were more on the adorable side). But of all the shows of 2010, this one sticks out in my head the most after Arcade Fire.

I went to this show specifically to see Sleigh Bells, who delivered a super-energy, super-short set that left me wanting more (not that they had any songs left to perform). The sound was poor but this was sort of blessing-in-disguise since it help to hide singer Alexis Krauss’ weak vocals. But while the girl can’t sing, she can certainly move and get a crowd going.

However, her stage presence was nothing compared to what Die Antwoord delivered. Say what you want about their lyrics and overall shtick, this South African group can entertain and, as long as you keep things superficial, it’s incredibly fun (in other words, don’t think about how the majority of the audience seems to be taking Die Antwoord seriously). While I wouldn’t go out of my way to see Die Antwoord again, if they were say, performing at a festival I was at, I’d certainly check them out again.

5. The Dead Weather – July 15, Sound Academy

I had low expectations for this show because for one, I’m not a big The Dead Weather fan and two, it was at Sound Academy.

But a few tracks in and I was won over. Though the music’s too heavy and blues-influenced for my tastes, it’s damn fine songwriting that translates into a surprisingly watchable live show. A big part of this is due to singer Alison Mosshart’s stage presence. She’s like a crazy woman on stage, a crazy woman who can actually sing. Plus you have Jack White up there up who, without question, is one the most talented rock musicians out there (and apparently his talents extend to picking great sound guys because sonically this show was great, at least from where I was standing).

The fact that this show was in July meant we could take advantage of Sound Academy’s sole redeeming feature, its outdoor patio, which helped to make the venue more bearable.

The crowd didn’t move too much but given the music and the large number of white guys in attendance, this wasn’t surprising. And actually, this was probably a good thing since this was a sold-out show and sold-out dance parties at Sound Academy suck (if I was doing a “Worse Shows of 2010” list, Girl Talk’s June date at this venue would be in first place).

Top Ten Songs of 2010

Since it’s top 10 list season, I figure I might as well list off my top 10 songs of the year.

Now, these aren’t necessary the top 10 critically best songs of 2010 (though I would say that the majority would be on any music critic’s top 20 list, unless that critic specialised in say, jazz or hip-hop). Instead, they are 10 songs that I happen to really love, respect and think deserve some praise.

So here they are in no particular order…

A true most-own

Arcade Fire - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

The Suburbs was, without a question, my favourite album of the year as well as one of 2010’s best albums overall. Picking one song off it was hard but in the end I went with this one because how can you not love a song with this line: “They heard me singing and they told me to stop, Quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock".

Japandroids – Younger Us

You know how every now and then you hear a song and it just fits you so perfectly you think its lyrics could have been pulled from your mind? Yeah, this is one of those songs for me. Plus it’s stupidly catchy.

Titus Andronicus – A More Perfect Union

This song is the result of the above two songs having a baby and the baby being raised in New Jersey.

Broken Social Scene – World Sick
Sometimes you just want to listen to some grandiose and indie-pop music doesn’t get much more grandiose then this track.

Buy it!

Robyn – Dancing On My Own
Everyone loves this song and with good reason. It’s the perfect blend of pop and dance and very, very fun. Plus I love the lyrics. Maybe the next time people see me dancing by myself, they’ll think I’m stalking an ex-lover and not just someone who couldn’t find a friend to bring to the show.

Sleigh Bells - Tell 'Em
Many top 10/20/50 lists are including Sleigh Bells’ “Rill, Rill” track on them instead of this one. I have no idea why. This song is way more fun and much, much louder. Plus I have a sentimental attachment to it since it was our “grand entrance” song at my wedding.

Crystal Castles needs your
money. Have you seen how they
dress?

Crystal Castles - Not In Love (ft. Robert Smith)

This is one of those songs that, a mere five seconds in, I knew I was going to love. Yeah, I know it’s a Crystal Castles but I don’t care because it’s also one of the year’s best songs. I have no doubt that five years from now, I’ll still be loving it.

Diamond Rings – Show Me Your Stuff
I almost gave this slot to an LCD Soundsystem track but then I decided to give it to a very talented, local up-and-comer who I have no doubt will be appearing on future versions of this list.

The Limousines - Internet Killed The Video Star
You know how earlier I said that most of these songs would be on any music critic’s top 10 list? Well, this isn’t one of those tracks. But I don’t care. This song is the sonic version of I don’t know, Fun Dip, though the lyrics actually are pretty clever. Plus the video has zombies!

Really? You don't own this yet?

The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio

The National put out some great music this year but ultimately, when I think about everything they released in 2010, it’s this track that pops into my head. While definitely not a traditionally “catchy” song, it’s one that gets in your head and stays there (and that’s a good thing).