Photograph by Liam Maloney
When I saw Arcade Fire at Massey Hall during their Neon Bible tour in 2007, I was rather irritated that I missed the opener, Handsome Furs. It was prior to the release of their debut album Plague Park, but I had a feeling anything to do with Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner would have been worth seeing. It wasn’t quite the disappointment of missing Wolf Parade play the Ford Plant, a small venue in Brantford, Ontario, but it was still a sore subject. When Handsome Furs announced they would be playing a one-off show at Lee’s Palace to close off their 2009 tour, I jumped on the opportunity to finally see them. My only previous experience with Lee’s Palace has been through the Scott Pilgrim books, so I was eager to add to the list of Toronto venues I’ve conquered.
Since the famed mural had been torn down ahead of renovations and a Big Fat Burrito franchise in the process of being put into the building, I was basically looking for a crowd of people on Bloor. Following a prior engagement, I arrived in time for the opening act’s final song. The website listing simply stated Handsome Furs was being supported by “Guests”, leading me to wonder whether that was the actual name of the band. After a rather fruitless and, in retrospect, ridiculous Google search, I decided that it couldn’t possibly be the band’s name. Either way, the unknown band impressed with a high energy synth-rock closing song. It wasn’t until Dan Boeckner thanked Germans for opening that their identity was revealed.
The crowd was clearly amped up and ready for the headliners. The mere sight of Dan Boeckner or Alexei Perry was enough to elicit cheers. Perhaps succumbing to the pressure of a full house, the show started ahead of schedule with ‘Legal Tender’, a song about “the current economic situation.” Amusing descriptions of songs’ subject matter continued throughout the night, with the best being ‘Evangeline’ being described by Boeckner as being about “Doin’ it.” This was quickly corrected by Perry, who insisted it was about “Fuckin’.” The chemistry between Perry and Boeckner added so much to the performance; being husband and wife, the “I love you” glances were frequent and adorable. I was worried the large stage would engulf them, but the duo had a presence that filled the entire room. Particularly amusing was Perry thrashing about behind her keyboard/drum machine set up, bouncing in tune in her shiny golden attire. Her backing vocals are somewhat lost in the mix on record, but they made ‘All We Want, Baby, Is Everything’ and its New Order referencing far more powerful in person. Boeckner, admittedly somewhat intoxicated, shredded like few guitarists I’ve seen before. I was amazed at how much sound came from two people.
Handsome Furs – All We Want Baby Is Everything
Handsome Furs – Dead + Rural
Handsome Furs – Evangeline
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All Photographs by Jan Kucic-Riker
For those unfamiliar with Halifax, the timid Canadian city performs an annual Megatron-like transformation at the end of each October. Barrington Street goes from mildly intoxicated and raucous to Amy Winehouse on amphetamines with a megaphone. Venues crank subwoofers from comfortable thumping to post-tracheotomy Barry White levels. Mornings involve waking to find a group of five Icelandic men sleeping on inflatable mattresses in your living room. This metamorphosis has occurred for nearly the past seventeen years earning the title of Halifax Pop Explosion. Boasting over 125 acts through the five-day period, Jesse F. Keeler, Gregg Gillis, and Brian King sightings between classes become a commonplace occurrence. Donair pizza, glow sticks, countless layers of clothing, and failed midterms fuel the East Coasts celebration of music.
The festival took place in just over a dozen venues across the city, ranging from theatres and halls, to clubs, pubs, and even a couple of churches. Coincidentally, Halifax claims the highest rate of bars per capita in Canada and as such, there was no shortage of settings to get cozy and personal with the musicians – and Alexander Keith. With most locales within walking distance, reasonable taxi fares, and hospitable residents getting around was painless. This was of paramount importance as the headliners, MSTRKRFT, Final Fantasy, Japandroids and Girl Talk, each played sets within the last two days, driving even the most organized hipster to scheduling psychosis. The packed agenda caused certain acts to have up to five openers and sets running late into the night. Here are a few photos, tracks, and intimacies shared at Halifax Pop Explosion 2009.
Japandroids – Wet Hair
You Say Party! We Say Die! – Dancefloor Destroyer
MSTRKRFT feat. N.O.R.E. – Bounce
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Shifting gears towards the heavier side of Saddle Creek’s roster, Cursive headlined their first show in Toronto on August 1, 2009 at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern, with local rock band Arietta opening. On paper this seemed to be an odd mix, with Arietta known for their upbeat catchy hooks and Cursive known for a far heavier and darker tone.
Opening for a band like Cursive, Arietta had something to prove. Arietta was clearly happy to be there, reveling at their second night at the Horseshoe within ten days, and that infectious spirit spread through the crowd. The band’s shortened set stuck to the more upbeat tracks from their May release, Migration, a wise decision, keeping the energy up for the entire performance. All members were firing on all cylinders, with a special mention to utility instrumentalist Pat McCormick, who added a delightful stage presence, roaming about the stage and crowd throughout the set. The band left the stage as abruptly as they came, leaving audience members happy, and likely impressing the Cursive fans previously unaware of their existence.
Arietta – Northearned
Cursive – The Recluse
Cursive – From the Hips
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Walking towards Horseshoe Tavern in the late afternoon with headphones clad and high spirit, I was leaping at the premise of hearing Peter Silberman’s distort vocals lull me into trance and shouting back the lyrics to ‘Head Rolls Off’ by Frightened Rabbit. Meandering past the dimly lit bar and a few security officers, I found a snug position next to the stage between a set of speakers. The following three hours consisted of worn vocal cords, stolen set lists, and intermittent declarations of undying love to the various performers and audience members alike.
Glowing underneath crimson stage lights, a serene Joshua Bertram approached the stage alongside drummer Kerry Latham as the evening’s first act. The pair modestly introduced themselves as Our Brother the Native and began their set to what can only be described as an hour of shattering ambient bliss. With melodic layers abound and warped vocal loops, the duo from Ann Arbor, Michigan flooded the patchwork dance floor with sound. Hidden between two boxes overflowing with wires and electronics, Joshua thanked the now burgeoning audience and finishing the set, left the stage, leaving a comforting ring and gratifying resonance in the crowd’s ears.
Our Brother the Native – Well Bred
The Antlers – Two
Frightened Rabbit – The Modern Leper
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This concert was not broken. On July 11, 2009, 18 Torontonians got together to do something they’d all done before. Arriving in town from disparate locations, they met at Toronto’s Harbourfront and went on to play a concert which will undoubtedly be forever engrained in Toronto music history. One of a kind, symbolic, chaotic, harmonious, an end and a start – and to think, it was all born out of an extended apology.
The day was meant to host an annual festival curated by Arts&Crafts Records on Olympic Island. A few months after announcing the show, to the chagrin of many, the festival was cancelled due to worries of competing with the noisy Molson Indy 500 cars racing on the Gardiner Expressway, across the lake only a few kilometres away. In its place, Captain Kevin Drew announced that his band would play a free show on that same evening at the Harbourfront Centre and hoped, with a cherry on top, that this show “with special guests” would be enough to redeem themselves for not cross-checking their dates with David Miller’s calendar first. I was lucky enough to be there, and let me tell you, it was most definitely enough.
From the moment I got there, seeing the multiple cameras rolling, gathering footage for the upcoming concert documentary This Movie Is Broken…I knew that something out of the ordinary was about to happen. For starters, the setting felt more right than any other venue I’d seen them or any derivative of the collective at. Don’t get me wrong, I love Olympic Island, but everything about an experience on the islands feels separate and distinct from an experience in Toronto-proper.
Standing at the Toronto shoreline for a free concert in the nano-sized amphitheatre, I looked around and realized that this wasn’t the typical audience that I’d seen at past BSS shows. Sure, the tweed jackets, fedoras, ironic t-shirts, plaid shirts and dirty-man beards were all there, but they were all interspersed among a crowd including families, young and old, black and white, yellow and brown, from neon-coloured hipsters to urban b-boys, and more. Did these people even know who Broken Social Scene are? I sent a text to a friend, as I settled into a space I found apt, saying that I was praying to the rain gods to wash the riff-raff spectators away, so that I could get closer to the band that I loved more than they did. But rain clouds refused to appear, and I soon ate my e-words.
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