Virgin Festival Canada Cancellations – Canada Deserves A Major Outdoor Festival
I was sad yesterday to hear the announcement that there would be no Virgin Festivals in Canada this year. Financial reasons were cited, as well as the lack of availability of headline acts.

Admittedly, V-Fest ’09 in Toronto was a bit of a disappointment. I can’t speak about the other V-Fests held across Canada because I wasn’t there. In Toronto, festival goers bemoaned the lack of quality in the line-up, but the biggest let-down to me was the decision to move the festival from an outdoor setting north of Toronto to within the confines of Molson Ampitheatre. Sure, having a festival downtown in a major city is convenient and cheaper for fans, but where’s the adventure? Half the fun of music festivals is the journey getting there.

One of my favourite festival experiences in my life so far was at Sunderland, England for BBC’s One Big Weekend 2005. At that time I was working a minimum wage part-time job in north Scotland but I had a car, and I scraped together the petrol money to make the journey – all the tickets were free, with mine coming from a friend who’d won a pair. At the end of the festival, I remember having the time of my life driving around the muddy field that was a make-shift parking lot, and I picked up a few weary festival goers who were hitchhiking home. That was a lot of fun! The whole weekend had felt like a proper music festival: It was outdoors, it was in a field, the weather was crazy (both good, then bad – hail stones in summer!), there was tons of great music, and there was a sense of community.

I could write pages recounting my favourite festival experiences, but they all have the same thing in common – they were held in wide open spaces, either in the countryside or on the edge of a town. Stavern and Tromso festivals in Norway, Speyside Music Festival in Scotland, heck, even Warped Tour ’06 at some field in Barrie, Ontario where the mosh pits created sandstorms. Epic. And travelling back on a bus from Barrie to Toronto while sharing experiences with others was a blast.

My point is, with all this land that Ontario (and Canada) has available, why can’t we have a major outdoor festival? Forget about the financial stuff – just find a park or field somewhere and book the bands. Most music fans are short on cash, or plain dirt poor, myself included, but if you get a great line-up in a great location then people will find a way. Waynestock, anyone?

Virgin Mobile Canada using the recession as an excuse for not putting on festivals this year is absolute nonsense. Perhaps more of the truth lies in the fact they weren’t able to find the bands for the dates. But, where there is a will, there is a way. As a music fan, I am gutted about the loss of Virgin Festival’s in Canada for this season because it leaves a gaping void in the festival calendar. Sure, NXNE in Toronto this June will be brilliant, but that’s a multi-venue showcase format festival – in terms of a major outdoor festival Ontario is left sadly wanting.

I really hope that Virgin Festival makes a triumphant return to Canada in 2011. If they get their act together, then there is massive potential for V-Fest to become the major outdoor festival that Canada so dearly deserves. You don’t have to look far for inspiration: Across the pond in the UK, the festivals are looking great this year and are largely all already sold-out – and the UK’s economy is in no worse health than Canada’s! (The Canadian Loonie has been stronger than the British Pound Sterling for many months).

Maybe in 2011 Ontario will have an outdoor festival to be proud of – for this year though, for those who can make it, the best festival action in Canada is happening in Montreal. Read about that in our freshly posted Montreal festival guide.

Football Fever – A Week To Go Until The World Cup Kicks Off!
Just seven days to go! Wow. The 32 nations competing at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa will confirm their final squads of 23 players today.

I noticed on Twitter that Rolo Tomassi have created their own fantasy football league, allowing fans of the band to compete against them for bragging rights. How about that for being involved with your fans? To join Rolo Tomassi’s Fantasy League you’ll need to register for the McDonald’s sponsored official free fantasy World Cup game on FIFA’s website here. Once you register for the game, you can join Rolo Tomassi’s league with this code: 366397-85660.

I’ll be selecting my own fantasy football team as soon as the World Cup squads are confirmed. The first name on my team sheet will be Lionel Messi, and I suspect that’ll be the same case for nearly everyone. Here’s a reminder of why many people consider Messi to be the ‘new Maradona’ – oh, and bonus, another hilarious commentator!

You Sank My Battleship! – Politics And Football
There is always a political understory or two to any World Cup. One story this year is the presence of North Korea who are competing in the tournament for the first time since 1966 – but it’s unlikely the North Korea public will get to see any of it. North Korea are currently in a lot of hot water for sinking a South Korean navy ship, an incident that killed 46 people. As tensions grow between North and South Korea, the North Korean public look set to miss out on watching their team in action on TV. And despite North Korea being allocated 17,000 match tickets from FIFA, none of their fans will fly to South Africa due to rules imposed by their ruler Kim Jong-il.

Foreign journalists rarely get access inside of North Korea, but recently the BBC got inside and here’s one interesting video that shows a glimpse of the bubble that North Korean people find themselves living in.

North Korea compete in this year’s World Cup in Group G, the so-called “group of death”. There is a wealth of threat and talent in Group G: Brazil have a host of superstars including Kaka, Portugal have their wonderboy Christiano Ronaldo, the Ivory Coast have Didier Drogba, while North Korea… well, North Korea have nukes!

My Own Personal World Cup – My Preparations For The Charity Football Match at NXNE
Well, this past week I’ve ixnayed on the Crunchies but also inxnayed on the crunches. I didn’t get the chance to get out on a pitch this week either, so no fresh tales of being chased by pooches. However, I have been getting a good sweat by working out at the 99 Sudbury gym. I’ve been there four or five times now so far, and I feel like I’m making some kind of progress. I pretty much just stick to the exercise bikes and yesterday I hit the ‘Fitness Test’ button on a bike. That was an experience. After 15 minutes I could no longer pedal fast enough to keep up with the target RPM’s. An on-screen message gave me a bunch of numbers and percentile’s that mean nothing to me, but according to this machine’s analysis using the Cooper test, my fitness level is ‘”above average”. I guess it could be worse! I think I’ll set a personal goal of trying to get that machine to tell me something a bit nicer within a couple of weeks time.

Match day for the NXNE game is Sunday, 20 June, so I have just over a fortnight left to prepare. In the meantime, I’m pleased that my personal sponsorship goal for the Right To Play charity is now at the 50% mark. Should you wish to make a donation to the charity to help kids play sports, here’s the link to the page on Right To Play: http://righttoplay.akaraisin.com/p/banks.aspx Thanks to anyone who donates to the cause.

Final Thought
Heard about Rick K and the Allnighters yet? If you haven’t seen this video, then you’re in for a treat – keep your eyes on the drummer, he’s awesome.

© Brian Banks, Music Vice

Virgin Mobile Canada has pulled the plug on all of it’s Virgin festivals for this year.

Speaking to the Toronto Sun, they blamed the economy and the difficulty of finding headlining acts as the reason for their decision. Virgin Mobile Canada Chief Marketing Officer Nathan Rosenberg said, “Like everybody last year, 2009, for the entire world, and in every industry was a bit different and a bit challenging. And when we got into 2010 we didn’t have luck in securing the headliners that we would have liked to have pursued. If we can’t produce a festival that provides a talent lineup that we think is appropriate, we won’t go ahead with it.”

The news is a shock but not a complete surprise as there had been no dates or line-up news announced at all for this year.

© Brian Banks, Music Vice

Virgin Festival 2009 Toronto, Ontario at the Molson Amphitheatre
Festival review and photos – words by Liz Keith, photos by editor Brian Banks – September 5, 2009

With a lineup that seems as though it were randomly pulled out of a hat, “eclectic” barely begins to cover it – scattershot seems more apropos. General attendance for the bands were greatly off balance, with the massive crowds coming and going as though to the pull of Nine Inch Nails’ and The Pixies’ orbit, and yet if you only showed up for those two evening shows, you might miss out on a few hidden gems. But that’s how it is at these things…

Gig/Concert: Sunday at V-Fest Ontario, Toronto, 2009
Venue: Molson Ampitheatre, Toronto, Canada
Date: August 30, 2009
Headliners:  Pixies
In one word: Pneumatic

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29 (for a review and photos of Sunday at V Fest, click here)

Mates of State open the weekend to a sedate turnout that barely covers the main pit area, with a few folks lounging around on the lawn. Raucous upbeat near-minimalist pop consisting of drums and keys, they start the fest off fairly quietly, but not disagreeably so – kind of like having tea first thing in the morning when you’re used to jet black coffee. They finish off their set with an agreeable cover of Tom Waits’ Long Way Home.

An hour later waiting for the next band, my ass is bouncing around on some cherry-red inflatable cushion that’s just begging to be stolen – really, it’s got “I was stolen from the Virgin Music Festival” written on the side. I’ll do my best to oblige, you pneumatic little ass pillow, you! Unless someone else beats me to it…

Lights comes on after MoS, a time-warped 80’s-tinged pop sound sung by someone who hardly looks old enough to have been around for it the first time… but no matter. She has the right kind of spacey quality to her voice to pull off the sound, and although I’d say she’s perfectly marketable to the Hannah Montana set, this does not send me fleeing in the opposite direction(!). Brian tries to convince me that she’s on the cusp of The Big Time. I think it’s the beer talking. Still, I have yet to get any sort of groove on. Moving on…

I am distracted from the beginning of Grizzly Bear’s set by the overwhelming urge to tackle the guy dressed up as Waldo (or Wally, as the stripy geezer is known in the UK). I have seen guys in similar getups at other non-Virgin sponsored events, so at first I figure it’s just some random dude who has figured out the next best thing to taking your puppy for a walk in order to make yourself a chick magnet… but no, he’s actually just a V-Fest employee. Or something. Between him and the kids dressed up as trees – who bob around the venue in groups of two or three, possibly to dissuade any anti-mascot rage – we’re doing fairly well raiding the costume department.

Moody, at times channeling diverse sources from The Smiths to Yo La Tengo, Grizzly Bear play straight-up indie-rock that pretty much kind of flits all over the place, style-wise. Some songs are very spacey, very moody without falling down a well… good summer afternoon in the grass music, with drifting melodies. But – as I discover through the rest of the weekend – sometimes having such a broad range of artists works against the flow of a music festival, making the arrangements of the different sets seem more fractured than complimentary…

And while we’re visiting the complaints department, I have to say that the amphitheatre, as choice of venue, while I realize it was last minute…really… REALLY… NOT IDEAL. While it may be fine for an evening event, stadium seating is not conducive to day- or weekend-long events; you’re faced with the choice of spending all day with your ass going numb in those hard plastic seats, or squinting down from the lawn (although it still offers a good view); and beyond that you lose some of the intimacy, the communal vibe that open-air festivals are all about. I like wandering around freely from stage to stage, which I discover is another missing point when I try to head over to see Thunderheist at the Virgin Radio stage, and find out that I can’t bring my overpriced beer past the gates, as I have to travel – briefly – through the CNE grounds. I chug what I can – it was freshly opened, and I’m not 16 anymore – and then give up and just stash the rest in my purse. Thank god this thing’s bottomless…

Anyhoo.

Finally the sonic caffeine I’ve been waiting for hits me as I finally make it to the other stage… damn! Where were they two hours ago?! I keep hearing of this band, and keep missing them, but not today. Thunderheist is MC Isis and Grahm Zilla, from Toronto and Montreal respectively; collectively they are thumping beats and heavy pop-techno sliced with sassy lyrics that gives your ass no excuse not to get shaking… Onstage they deliver the wake-up call the crowd needs, with Isis diving back and forth from the stage to the crowd, taking advantage of the photo-pit guard’s gallantry to help her get back on stage. Goddam it is one hot set, from the tease of Isis’s workshirt dress and equally cheeky lyrics to Zilla’s smooth sometimes-retro beats (I caught a streak of the Eurythmic’s Sweet Dreams slipped into suenos 2k8). I missed half the set so for me it’s over too soon; hoping to score one of their CDs I find out later that there was a mad rush for the merch tent at the end of their set, and all were snapped up. No matter. I’ll be sure to catch them later.

After Thunderheist, I am 20 minutes late to catch longtime CanCon pop icons Sloan. Longtime favorites from my musical heyday – the golden time known as the early nineties – Sloan came out of the Canadian – specifically Haligonian – indie pop scene, survived the now-they’ve-made-it-we-hate-them backlash, and now… where *is* everybody? I haven’t kept up on their last album.. but.. the music of my youth…. damn. But still I catch a few old favorites, mostly from the Twice Removed EP, arguably one of the most solid indie pop albums around. With lead singer Chris Murphy still recovering from a hit-and-run accident nearly a month previous, I’m impressed they’re even here… they pull off a good set, nevertheless.

Up next, Paolo Nutini… kinda like a bluesy Rod Stewart with a bit more soul and backed up by The Little Big Band… Not bad. Clearly the contingent of flag-waving Scottish expats are loving it, going nuts for the bluesy – big band kinda rock. He’s got a great voice, all husky croon and personal lyricism but the sound isn’t really my thing, although their closing cover of The Coaster’s Down in Mexico is balls-out good.

The crowds are finally filling out to some sort of decent capacity… ish… could it be that Franz Ferdinand’s set is near? Fuck yeah. Kicking it out with Dark of the Matinee off their first album, and tossing in a few tracks from their latest offering Tonight, they inject some much needed energy into the day and seem to feed a symbiotic exchange with the crowd, like a hyperactive child that suddenly goes apeshit in the middle of what would otherwise have been a fairly sedate day, causing everyone else to do the same. (I love it when that happens.) With a few exceptions, actually, the day was kind of exactly like that… FF play quite a few earlier hits, kick stomp through the raucous Take Me Out and thunder to a close with what ends up starting a trend for the weekend: the tumultuous all-band dogpile on the drum kit – with lead singer Alex Kapranos telling the crowd “Sometimes it’s alright… to just go fucking mental.” Cheers.

“Sometimes it’s alright… to just go fucking mental!“

The tide is in, bringing with it the rest of the crowd, in varying vintages of Pixies t-shirts and stories of I-saw-them-whens. What to say? It’s the effing Pixies. Frank Black is all cranky frontman, Kim Deal is super-sweet, constantly thanking the crowd; the tunes are classics and are performed spot-on. There is no rust on this machine, and no deviation from the high expectations set up for them. It kinda of feels like a best-of touring show, but still, I can’t complain. It’s the fucking Pixies.

Battling the receding tide of concertgoers after The Pixies finish up, we catch up with The Rural Alberta Advantage, only one member of which is actually from Alberta… who, like me, fled east to the great smokestack in the sunrise (although I headed a little further east for some decent bagels). Most of their songs have some sort of reference to the province, however, and they do my fair homeland justice. They are, however, crushed into Virgin Fest’s version of intimacy, the Boardwalk Stage – is the name a reference to its size? – which is a small vendor’s tent in the middle of…. other vendor’s tents. Twenty feet behind me is the beer stall, where annoyed alcoholics vie with annoyed hipsters for space (imagine *my* sense of conflict). The small space is packed, and unless you’re three feet from the tent, you can’t see any faces to put to the fast-paced organ-fringed thumpy indie-rock. It’s a shame. I predict RAA will rise above this indignity, to stake a claim to larger stages, mine more hearts and minds, and then inadvertently drown a bunch of ducks in a toxic tailings pond. No, wait. But they do have a lot of passion to back up their promise, and now I will have my own I-saw-them-when to tell about RAA, of this I am sure.

You know those awkward moments, when you feel like you should apologize, but you really just want to run? After The Pixies’ set, half the stadium promptly emptied, no excuses made; just a lot of seats, emptied, as the stage was set up for the next act. I am not overly familiar with Ben Harper, in any incarnation, but damn….ouch. I stick around while the remaining loyalists crush in tighter for Harper’s set, but I make it through half an hour before calling it quits. I’m just not getting into it, and I need my rest for day two…

© Liz Keith

Brian’s view: For me day one at Virgin Festival was all about one band: The Pixies. Undoubtedly they were the band that people had came to see on Saturday, as was evident when followed by Ben Harper a.k.a. Captain Buzz Kill, who caused a mass exodus. Having Harper as the Saturday headliner was a VERY strange call that nobody I spoke with during the weekend could seem to fathom, but no matter: The Pixies were brilliant and I’ll never forget standing just a few metres away in the photo pit as I was walloped by a wall of ear-piercing combined guitar fuzz from Joey and Frank’s line of Marshall stacks. It was an eerily beautiful concert moment when they played “the Fight Club song” Where Is My Mind with everyone immersed in the sound and the moment, as guys and girls up in the standing areas and on the lawns danced their crazy dances. Brilliant.

I enjoyed a lot of other music before the Pixies, with thumbs up for Thunderheist, The Rural Alberta Advantage and Grizzly Bear, as well as a couple of swaggering displays from my compatriots Paulo Nutini and Franz Ferdinand. But yeah, the Pixies! Wow…pinch me. – Brian, Editor.

Photos from Saturday of Virgin Festival Toronto 2009

(click thumbnails to enlarge)

Virgin Festival 2009 Toronto, Ontario at the Molson Amphitheatre
Festival review and photos – words by Liz Keith, photos by editor Brian Banks – September 5, 2009

Gig/Concert: Sunday at V-Fest Ontario, Toronto, 2009
Venue: Molson Ampitheatre, Toronto, Canada
Date: August 30, 2009
Headliners:  Nine Inch Nails
In one word: Farewell

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 (for Saturday V Fest review and photos click here)

Missing out on local (Montreal) talent Coeur de Pirate, we start our day instead by catching Scandinavian sensation Datarock – if yesterday’s early lineup had been a bit sleepy to start, Datarock are not content to keep the status quo. They are electric, hyperactive, damn funny and incredibly catchy – and coordinated, in their vaguely cult-like obsession with wearing matching red jumpsuits. They amply demonstrate how you start a music fest – punk/funk electro-rock calisthenics, topped off with lyrics that run the gamut from cheeky to geeky. To wit: Computer Camp Love, followed by Nightflight to Uranus - the former is a nerdy harlequin update of that goddamn song from Grease that seems to tunnel into my brain whenever I hear it (and yet I adore Datarock’s version) while the latter is fairly self explanatory – really, it’s all about space. They do not sit still, they do not tolerate the crowd sitting still, and they more than claim their space on the stage. Go check these guys out – not a party to be missed.

I stick around to check out Danish band Mew, admittedly on the strength of the fact that they opened a few shows for tonight’s headliner, Nine Inch Nails; and two more different artists you could not find. My first impression of this band is skewed by the fact that there seems to be something wrong with the sound system – at one point the piano being played by the lead singer seems to sound like it was bleeding over from another stage. True, they incorporate off-kilter beats and can have a very dreamy sound… but here something just sounds off. I give the show a pass, in hopes of getting a better impression later on…

… Ever been cuddled by a tree? I highly recommend it.

Before you check out Fritz Helder and the Phantoms, do yourself a favour and seek out their predecessor, Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Go ahead. Ja? Good. We continue now.

The similarities are palpable, but not at all in a derivative way – FH are strictly on the rock and techno side of the spectrum, rarely slowing down as they dish out the high camp and rock star strut. Their theatric antics almost seems out of place in the harsh light of the sun – they’d definitely be more at home in a club setting - but they do nothing halfway and put on a damn fun show. Think early nineties club music mixed with a little Hedwig, with songs like Sex Robot and Lagerfeld Lady setting the tone for some slinky sexy booty-shaking.

Catching the last few songs of Mutemath’s set, I have clearly missed something here – the drummer’s got something taped onto his head, the lead singer is going apeshit doing headstands on the keys, and *again* with the dogpile drum finale – Franz Ferdinand started this, but where will it end? – stuff is being thrown around, then used for percussion; the whole close to the set is chaotic, confused and loud. Must’ve been fun…

Nothing really immediately grabs me with Cold War Kids’ performance – I can’t explain it, but the ass numbing seats aren’t helping with my attention span any. I don’t give up on them, however, and by the time they run through Relief, with its slinky grind and groove juxtaposed with high pitched croons and calls, they’ve grown on me. I promise to give them a bit more effort.

Starting late, N.E.R.D. catch up quick and waste no time revving the crowd up – as Pharrell says – “Our job is to warm it up for Trent,” – cue crowd going nuts. Seriously – every other band on the main stage has acknowledged the mad love for NIN (that’s clearly overshadowing the weekend, especially today. Still, they won’t stand to have the usual hipster shuffle during their set and start pulling people up on stage during Rockstar, and keep the craziness going through Lapdance. High on the audience interaction, the band throws down a mean hip hop – rock hybrid that works a hell of a lot better than some earlier variations I can remember from the early 90s. They even manage to work in a White Stripes riff into their finale – making Seven Nation Army sound like it was made for this. I first caught them at last year’s Osheaga Festival in Montreal, and was pretty stoked to see them again.

I won’t lie. I had no interest in Our Lady Peace when I was in junior high, and I have none now. I am in the minority here, though, as the crowd attendance has swelled considerably. I stick around to finish my beer and then head off to catch another act, apparently missing Raine Maida parting the crowds and mingling with people, so I hear later on. I’m sure it was fun.

My attention is waning, and I have not much to say about hip hop artist Sean Kingston. I made it through a few songs. I left. I hugged another tree.

I take my place as far down the aisle as my lowly reporter’s pass will get me in order to have a good spot for NIN, and behold the technicolour cubist orgy that is the Pet Shop Boys. While not overly familiar with their output over the years, I can still dig their sound and eccentricity – they’re one of the pioneers in the club scene, and deserve respect as such. And tonight, they bring the weirdness that I’ve come to expect – opening with Heart, dancers move robotically in solid-colour spandex outfits made up of random geometric shapes with cubes for heads emerge from the giant Lego blocks that get moved around and played off of. Chris Lowe is dressed up as a mirror ball, with a giant screen is playing – kinda cheesy – Nintendo-esque graphics that illustrate the songs in a fairly literal manner; at the very least, you should be entertained. The fratboy NIN fans around me are having a hard time with this, but, hey, fuck’em – the show is a stellar spectacle, and the music has definitely held up over the years. They cover the Village People’s Go West and Coldplay’s Viva la Vida, and that’s just about all I can recognize. Lowe and singer Neil Tennant’s costumes shift from kingly to priestly to befeathered, as for the finale of West End Girls, that, despite my utterly paralyzing fear of being onstage, I can admit it – I want to be one of the dancers. For once I want to run around with a block over my head and not get carted away.

The clock is ticking slowly past the minute when Nine Inch Nails are set to take the stage, and there are still stage techs running around. I turn around for a split second to witness the crushing influx of people that bought tickets for the whole day and only showed up for the headliners, when the crowd roar and the drummed opening of Somewhat Damaged whips my head back around to the stage. I hear later that the band casually walked onstage and just started playing while there were still people setting up for them, but again… turned around. My timing is legendary.

The only two other shows I’ve seen were on the previous tour, in Calgary and Montreal,

and while the setlists then included some lesser-played songs, they did sometimes feel a bit singles-heavy (not that I complained). Tonight NIN are trim, tight and sample a diverse range of songs; the set is favorable to those who saw The Fragile for the overlooked genius it is, with La Mer, The Frail and The Wretched playing in a row, and The Day the Whole World Went Away showing up later on.

To my utter ecstatic joy I get to hear Burn and Dead Souls played live before the band’s upcoming hiatus; another surprise is the way March of the Pigs closes with the remixed version of the single – All the Pigs, All Lined Up. Suck and Gave Up, from Broken, also get a play.

As per usual, there’s not much interaction with the crowd, except when Trent Reznor apologizes for the quality of his voice, attributing it to an illness that would eventually postpone three of their final L.A. shows. I wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t mentioned it, and by the time Head Like a Hole closes the show I wouldn’t have cared.

This is the NIN show I have always wanted to see. It will most likely be the last one I ever see (….or not? Please?). It was a fuck of a ride, and an amazing sendoff.

Thank you for the music. Thank you for everything.

© Liz Keith

Brian’s view: I’ve never really got into Nine Inch Nails, so to be able to see one of their last ever shows felt like a bit of a guilty priviledge. I felt like a loose screw in a big box of nails, if you can allow that bit of imagery. I didn’t have the same kind of die-hard knowledge and passion for NIN as all the ecstatically happy people surrounding me, but witnessing the mix of happy/sad/euphoric passion pouring out the pores of the thousands of NIN fans for this historic gig left me with a desire to explore the band’s back catalogue a little deeper.

NIN aside, the personal highlight for me on Sunday was catching The D’Urbervilles at the Boardwalk stage. There was a bi-polarity to their performance, with a high-level intensity exuding from the band that captured an attentive crowd, which was a rather stark contrast to the low and slower pulse rate of the music… although sometimes, like a shot to the arm, everything would spike to a frenetic pace. The D’Urbs sound a lot like Joy Division, at least with the vocals and keys, and have similarities to other 80′s post-punk and pop like Echo And The Bunnymen and a bit of The Jesus And Marychain. This set was a welcome jolt of energy after an afternoon that had become rather lacklustre. - Brian, Editor.

Photos from Sunday of Virgin Festival Toronto 2009

An interview with Warren Oakes, the drummer of Against Me! This interview happened backstage at Virgin Festival Toronto, September 6, 2008. Interview by Brian Banks. Topic’s discussed include the move to a major label, the change in demographic of AM!’s fan base, and working with producer Butch Vig on New Wave as well as the next album.

Virgin Festival 2008 reviews:
Virgin Festival Toronto ’08 – Saturday
Virgin Festival Toronto ’08 – Sunday

Interview by Music Vice editor Brian Banks – September 16, 2008

Listen to an interview with The Airborne Toxic Event. The interview was recorded in the band’s trailer backstage at Virgin Festival Toronto. The ATE talk about their origins as a band/top-secret-US-military-project, the unique appeal they have to U2 fans who don’t like U2, and of course, and of course, world domination…

Meeting The Airborne Toxic Event, from left to right: Anna, Steven, Noah, Mikel and Daren.

Festival review and photos by Music Vice editor Brian Banks

Gig/Concert: Virgin Festival Toronto 2008 by Virgin Mobile
Venue: Toronto Island Park, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: 9 September 2008
Headliners: Oasis, Paul Weller
In one word: Opopo

Alright, first things first… the whole world seems to be talking about THAT incident on the second day of Virgin Festival in Toronto, so let’s get that out of the way. Noel Gallagher, Oasis guitarist, and big brother of Liam, was attacked on stage by some guy who came from behind and pushed him over into his sound monitor. I’m sure you’ve seen the video on the TV, or maybe on YouTube. Maybe you thought it was funny enough to watch ten times. Anyway, yeah, I saw it happen. I also saw the band, security staff and management have what looked like a heated discussion right after the incident, as they talked at the bottom of the ramp and around the band’s wine-coloured van. I actually thought that Oasis would leave there and then, but after five minutes or so they were back on stage. You can forget about an encore though – it never happened. As soon as Oasis finished their set they drove off in that van and most likely made a quick getaway on a waiting private ferry.

So that was the big news story. Now, want to know about some of the music that happened that day? I mean, it was a music festival after all. Ok, read on…

My first stop was over to the second stage to catch a few songs from Paper Lions. However, I was soon drawn away to the nearby Oh Henry indie stage where I saw a band called Opopo. Now the thing is, I had checked out these guys’ music on MySpace before arriving at V Fest, and I was less than impressed by their rather overworked and over mixed electro synth tunes. Yet it was a completely different story when I saw these guys play live. Opopo were magic!

“The band’s look was also less than typical; with a drummer adorned in war paint providing some comedy and intrigue, while the singer lures you in with his leaping, swaggering, fall-on-the-floor performance.“

Watching Opopo live gives you a stripped down showcase of their music. The traditional rock instruments of guitar, drums and bass mix it up in frenetic harmony with some tasty synth beats, creating a live performance that is totally immersing. It’s a sound and show that is far from average. The band’s look was also less than typical; with a drummer adorned in war paint providing some comedy and intrigue, while the singer lures you in with his hopping, swaggering, fall-on-the-floor performance. Having a front man who is so genuinely into the music is something that the audience feeds off of and it’s what creates that fantastic atmosphere. Opopo put on the best live show of Virgin Fest on Sunday. It was a trip.

I ventured over to the main stage for the first time on Sunday and saw The Weakerthans. The Weakerthans are a Canadian band that exists in semi-obscurity both at home, and more so abroad. Every now and then they stick their heads above water and make themselves known, like when they pick up a Juno award, (the Canadian version of the UK’s Brit Awards), and also on days like this when the band take to the main stage at a big rock festival. The Weakerthans brought something a little different to that main stage audience. They’re not a mainstream band, not even in Canada, but boy do they deserve to be – their performance here put other bands to shame who had shared the same stage. For example, Stereophonics, that Welsh band who are somehow still around. Kelly Jones of the Stereophonics must dream he could write lyrics as good as John K. Samson, the introvert front man of The Weakerthans. The lyrics are the outstanding strong point of The Weakerthans, a band who have the narrative of a poet, an underdog… a normal guy. It was cool to zone out and listen to this music.

“And Stereophonics? Their performance was as stale as their music, and about as interesting as Kelly Jones’ tan leather jacket.“

As I alluded to in the previous paragraph, the next two bands that came on after the Weakerthans weren’t that great. Silversun Pickups, a band from Los Angeles, have a few good tunes, but as a performance it was instantly forgettable. And Stereophonics? Their performance was as stale as their music, and about as interesting as Kelly Jones’ tan leather jacket. I made a quick exit over to the TD stage to see Sons And Daughters.

Sons And Daughters were a real treat. Their set was totally enjoyable. The band comes from Glasgow, and they were a mile better than that of fellow weegies the Fratellis who had played the same stage on Saturday. Sons And Daughters had a genuine grittiness about them and a fantastic stage presence. The chemistry between the lead singer Adele Bethel and guitarist/back-up vocalist Scott Paterson was a real spectacle. It seemed like a battle for attention, with Bethel winning for the most part, as she looked out into the crowd with dark eyes and bright pink socks. It was interesting to observe this stage battle, because Bethel did take on a dominant role as lead vocalist on the latest Sons And Daughters record Gift. The interplay between Bethel and Paterson was something that had me and a few hundred other people mesmerised.

Back over at the main stage, the night was coming to an end. Before Oasis were on it was the turn of one of the Gallagher’s mates to take to the stage – The Modfather himself, Paul Weller. I’ll admit that I only really know the best known singles from Weller. It was clearly the same situation for most of the audience, but everyone cheered with respect after each song. For the real Weller fans in attendance it must have been a delight – the sound quality at all the stages at this festival was excellent, great job to the organisers on that.

And then the night ended with Oasis. I used to be a fan. Back in my early teenage years Britpop was the thing and I was happy to lap it up as an easily-influenced teenager. Then back in ’97 they released Be Here Now… which was pretty painful. I kept some kind of blind faith for this band and went on to purchase Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, which was genuinely crap. So it’s been eight years since I listened to anything from Oasis, aside from the occasional public rants about people they dislike and anything to do with Man City football club, the team whom the Gallagher’s hold so dear.

“If that bloke hadn’t have pushed over Noel then there’d have been nothing much worth mentioning.“

Listening to Oasis play at Virgin Festival was nothing special. Yeah sure, most the crowd seemed to love it, but I was unmoved. If that bloke hadn’t have pushed over Noel then there’d have been nothing much worth mentioning. He has probably done them a favour, especially with the new album Dig Out Your Soul coming soon in October. There’s nothing like a bit of worldwide publicity to boost a band’s public profile.

© Brian Banks

Peace out Oasis

Festival review and photos by Music Vice editor Brian Banks

Gig/Concert: Virgin Festival Toronto 2008 by Virgin Mobile
Venue: Toronto Island Park, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: 8 September 2008
Headliners: Foo Fighters, Bloc Party, Against Me!
In one word: Intoxicating

For the second time this summer I was taking a ferry to Toronto Island Park for a music festival. Wakestock, back a few months ago, had been fun, but Virgin Festival was a much bigger occasion. V Fest had a strong British influence this year, especially with Britpop stars Oasis, and uh, Stereophonics, on Sunday’s bill. It felt a bit like the organisers had tried to create a mini version of the Isle Of Wight Festival. Frankly the British invasion of headliners for Sunday looked dated and worn. I was much more excited by Saturday’s line-up…

I arrived on the island in style… well slow and frustrating style… as I jumped aboard the little VIP/media ferry. A journey that should have taken 7 minutes, from Toronto’s quayside to the island, actually took over 40 minutes.  Perhaps the captain was relishing in his annual moment of glory.  I could picture him addressing his crew; “This is what we’ve been training for lads. This is our time to shine”. Captain Birdseye must’ve had one too many bottles of rum, as the ferry went around in circles for what seemed like an eternity before finally docking. I wouldn’t have normally cared, except I was supposed to interview Against Me! at 2.00pm and that time had passed.  Thankfully, when we finally docked, there was a helpful Virgin media rep waiting at the shore with an eight-seater golf buggy.  I hitched a ride over with her to behind the main stage and got my AM! interview.

“It’s a simple but very cunning ploy which captures your imagination, holding it hostage and slapping it around until it gets your attention too.“

I was soon back around the other side of the big stage to see my first band of the weekend – The Airborne Toxic Event. The A.T.E., as I will now refer to them, are a once top-secret US military project hell-bent on infiltrating the minds of the world’s population. Standard rock instruments are taken, combined with the odd violin and keyboard, and blended to create a formula that sparks a chemical reaction in your head.  It’s a simple but very cunning ploy which captures your imagination, holding it hostage and slapping it around until it gets your attention too.

A perfect example of The A.T.E.’s ability to pull off these mind-influencing hi-jinks is with Sometime Around Midnight. Sometime Around Midnight is the most epic track from the band’s self-titled debut album, and it’s also a song that reminds me a lot of U2. Now, I spoke with The A.T.E. about this, and the thing is I am not exactly a fan of Bono, The Edge, and The Other One. And yet somehow I find myself enjoying an instant appreciation and interest for The A.T.E.

I stood there at V Fest and, together with a few thousand other people, heard a lot of this music for the first time. Let’s not forget that this is all new for The A.T.E., who are only beginning to get used to playing to large audiences. The band seemed humbled to even be in this position but they did not falter. Front man Mikel Jollett sings about messed-up relationships with a pleasing openness and vulnerability, while the rest of The A.T.E. build up audio soundscapes around him, providing an upbeat and comforting backing. At their strongest, like with the brilliant Sometime Around Midnight, and also the ascending dance-y Innocence, they deliver music that is worthy of finding its way into the collective consciousnesses of people everywhere. Time will tell if they have the goods to build on such a promising debut.

“Every festival should have a band like Flash Lightnin’.“

I left the main stage and headed to the other side of the island to check out the other stages. Shudder To Think were playing the TD Stage and their quirky rock held my attention for 20 minutes or so before I moved over to the Oh Henry indie stage. Here I sat down on the grass to enjoy Flash Lightnin’, a blues trio from Toronto. The music is nothing new; it’s like watching a live history lesson about the roots of rock and roll, and that’s not a bad thing. The vibe for this band was just really cool and chilled-out.  Every festival should have a band like Flash Lightnin’.

I was back over to the main stage to catch MGMT. Now these boys are making a name for themselves over here, or should I say an acronym, and you’d think that with a reported 18,000 people attending each day at Virgin Festival that there’d be an immensely awesome atmosphere. Well this was not the case; not for this band anyway.  Watching MGMT wasn’t anything to write home about. I retreated back over to the TD stage where to see The Fratellis, where I found more of an atmosphere.

Bands from Glasgow usually know a thing or two about getting their crowd up for it, and watching the Fratellis play was almost like being back home in Scotland. This was not so much because of the band, but the crowd. I wasn’t blown away by what I saw and heard from The Fratellis, which I’d only rate as being a decent set. Nothing sensational.  It was all sounding repetitive by the middle. The crowd, however, were great and seemed to be hanging on every samey note and riff, and gladly made a lot of noise for the band’s biggest tunes like “Chelsea Dagger”. The crowd was clearly largely made up of fans of the band, but at least they reacted like a crowd should. After all, this was meant to be a rock festival, not a corporate VIP-overrun picnic.

Tom Gabel of Against Me! - photo Brian Banks, Music Vice

It was early evening, about 6pm, by the time I made my way back over to the main stage, where I’d now spend the rest of the evening. Against Me! were on stage and they  raised the bar in terms of everything that had happened here so far. This punk rock outfit from Florida played a mix of older and newer material, and it was all good. I really wonder how many of the critics and old fans who abandoned AM! after they signed for a major label have actually seen them live – probably not many. AM! played with aggression and fervour, with everything sounding tight. They managed to raise a few pulses amongst a largely conservative and lethargic main stage crowd.

“ And now for the second time I’ve seen Bloc Party live, I still don’t see it, or hear it. They’re a decent band but not the sensational act that they still get hyped as…“

Dusk was setting in and soon the legend himself, Lord Grohl of Dave, would be taking to the stage with his posse of Foo Fighters. Before that though, the penultimate act of the night… Bloc Party. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to join a half-mile long queue for a slice of pizza. I was hungry and the 5 cans of free Pepsi I had drank in the media tent weren’t doing much. I got my slice of pepperoni and wandered back to the photo pit at the main stage just as Bloc Party were finishing their third song. I was hoping I’d see or hear something that might make me reconsider this band, a band who I consider to be one of the most overrated artists to ever come out of Britain.  I listened to Silent Alarm back in 2005 and never really saw what the fuss was all about. And now for the second time I’ve seen Bloc Party live, I still don’t see it, or hear it. They’re a decent band but not the sensational act that they still get hyped as being from some quarters.

On to the Foo Fighters. Well, as to be expected they were great. One observation I’ve got to make though is that Dave Grohl seems to be becoming more and more like Wayne Campbell from Wayne’s World. Grohl’s gags and antics between songs were funny, but at times it was a little bit too much pantomime. Granted, the drum solo by Taylor Hawkins was nothing but immense, but the triangle solo from the percussionist Drew less so. There was a violin solo, too. Don’t get me wrong, the Foo Fighters still sounded awesome, but all the interruptions with the solo stunts sapped energy from their show. The audience still lapped it up, including a smiling Sir Richard Branson who watched from the stage side.

When I first saw the Foo Fighters back in 2005 it was one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen – Dave Grohl sang through laryngitis and spearheaded a totally immense show which lept from one Foo’s hit to the next. That was legendary. I was just hoping to see another Foo’s tour de force like that.

© Brian Banks

Continue for a review for all the action from Sunday at Virgin Festival ’08