Day Four of Canadian Music Week
After 3 days of some amazing music, excellent panels and the usual networking opportunities, it was time to bid farewell to our time in Toronto*. But today it was Australia’s turn to truly shine, with its annual Aussie BBQ showcase.
Taking place at the semi-legendary Horseshoe Tavern, the day party was very much modeled after the SXSW event, albeit in a smaller fashion. Some complimentary hot dogs were provided, and an afternoon of fine Australian talent was on display for all to enjoy. Much to the promoters delight, the room packed out for the event, although for bands like Blue King Brown, who were ‘headlining’ the event, this was very much an intimate affair.
Having regretfully missed the talented Stone Parade, I arrived just in time to catch The On Fires, a Melbourne based band who don’t seem to be based at home at all – enjoying the majority of their year performing around Europe. Indeed, they have had quite a bit of success away from home, and as such this was my first time catching the energetic group. That is indeed an energetic group to say the least – lead singer Max, wearing a bright yellow dress, with red fire at the base, is an eccentric and entrancing performer, who was having an absolute blast on the stage. Intoxicating, I think it’s fair to say the crowd was swept up in the energy.
Melbourne ska group The Resignators continued the party, a band who I’ve been wanting to catch for quite some time, living up to all expectations. With a whole heap of trumpet, a stupid amount of energy from their frontman, and some killer tunes (including a self promoted ‘western inspired ska track’, which they reckon is the only one of its kind, and damn was it good). Following on from Rocket Surgery (who I unfortunately missed due to interview commitments), Adelaide’s Mayfield grunged up the Tavern next. Their take on early 90s grunge rock isn’t exactly anything new, but they do it quite well, and definitely are getting a grip on “owning the stage”. I’d put them alongside Violent Soho in terms of Australian bands hitting a similar vibe.
Brisbane’s Drawn from Bees brought along tracks from their EP Fear Not The Footsteps Of The Departed, and seemed to impress the crowd. They are a great band, and with their international touring seeming to be non-stop over the past year or so, I can’t wait to see just how far they go. Wagons, fronted by the talkative Henry Wagons, were sounding better than ever on the Toronto stage, playing a set focused on their past material – though some teasers from the upcoming album (Rumble, Shake and Tumble, set to be released in April) were thrown in for good measure. This is one entertaining band, and they fact they pump out some amazing music at the same time is a testament to their talent.
Hungry Kids of Hungary played a standard high energy, enjoyable set, with the audience having a similar reaction to what we experience back home – plenty of making out. Was I even IN Toronto!? It’s bizarre when you think you’re on the other side of the world, feeling so at home. “Coming Around” ended the set. Closing out the show in a pseudo headlining position were Blue King Brown, who were enjoying some decent attention as they toured around North America. While the venue was much smaller then we have experienced them at home in recent years (think Annandale Hotel size), Natalie and her troupe were unwavered in their high energy, beautifully sounding set, with material running through their back catalogue, up until the most recent Worldwize Part 1. This is the setting they, like all bands, rose to fame in, and seemed to enjoy the experience of returning to their roots (though with that many members on the stage, I’m sure the lack of space is taking some getting used to…).
My festival experience came to an end back at the Royal York, with the Canadian Indies – a non-televised award show which celebrated the best in local and international music. Arcade Fire and The Black Keys were some of the nights biggest winners (though not in attendance), while Sammy Hagar (Van Halen) was on board to present awards to winners Hollerado and Crash Karma (Favourite Rock Group). The full list of winners can be found here.
With only a few awards presented on the night (based primarily on the artists who showed up no doubt), this was a night surprisingly all about the performances – the headlining artist playing for an hour and a half, and the rest getting pretty generous sets, pushing the event well into the early hours of the morning. Desperate Union were first up, and pumped out the sort of generic ‘punk rock’ that is all to prevalent in commercial music today. I though these were the “Indies”? Indeed, with some of the artists nominated and awarded tonight, many were left scratching their heads with exactly what the term ‘Indie” even means any more…
Luckily, Hannah Georgas was next to take us back to a more palatable ‘Indie’ setting. The gorgeous Canadian singer/guitarist/songwriter was every bit the talent of her contemporaries – throw in a mix of Regina Spector, with some Sarah Blasko, add in an ounce of extra enthusiasm, and you have an idea of what we’re looking at here. If you’re a fan of female performers, she’s one of a high class to definitely keep your eyes and ears open for.
Bombay Bicycle Club played a 7 song set next, though showed that the smaller club gigs are where they feel more at home. The material, which at first glance seems quite simple, is impressively layered, and sounded great here tonight – however with a crowd of predominantly industry types, they seemed to have little energy to work with. What was a set filled with a stupid amount of on stage energy the night prior, was played much safer tonight, the band focusing on getting the music out and making it sound great – which it did, however it goes without saying the showcase was the better performance.
Hollerado, who won an Indie earlier in the night for their music video “Americanarama”, were next, after K-OS presented an award to Urban artist Shad (who would be playing later in the evening). They play unapologetic Indie Rock (not that we know what that means anymore…), and seem to enjoy to repeatedly bounce along to their own music. Is it fun? Hell yeah. Is it anything new? Probably not.
Canadian Hip Hop was well represented when Shad hit the stage. The hip hop scene up here isn’t overly known back in Australia, beyond the likes of K-OS, and Shad hits a very similar mark. I truly enjoyed this set, which reminded me that I probably need to pay closer attention to the scene up here…
After a few delays, headliner Janelle Monae hit the stage, and during an impressive opening we were told there was only one rule: “dance or die”. I didn’t know what to expect from her set – I’m not familiar with the album, and the track “Tightrope”, while quite fantastic in its own right, hits the sort of commercial mark that led me to expect a set of much the same. However, this hour and a half set showed Janelle off as an incredible vocalist, exceptional performer, and a gracious host. To say I was impressed is putting it lightly: by the time she covered “Smile (and the world smiles back)”, I realised goosebumps were shooting up and down my body, and had been for quite some time.
Jumping between Soul, R&B, Funk, Hip-Hop and just about everything in between, Janelle can rock it in just about any genre, providing yours truly with a rare jaw dropping experience. This girl can SING – any label induced gloss is merely a cover for some true talent. It really was a pity she didn’t make Good Vibes in Australia – here’s hoping she makes it down soon.
Canadian Music Week provided me with a great opportunity to catch up on the Canadian scene, while grabbing a taste of the Toronto experience. It was a great one, though rather cold (even snowing at times!) and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new musical experience. Until next year!
*Although the festival still had one more night of (limited) activity, this would be our final night at the event. Like SXSW, the last day of the festival doesn’t have too much going on, allowing the large amount of attendees to start moving onwards. In our case this meant heading along to the Aussie BBQ in New York City the following day. Stay tuned for our coverage from that event!
