The Toronto Urban Roots Fest (TURF) has established itself as one of the highlights of an already impressive local live music scene over its first three years, and this relatively new yet proud tradition continued at Fort York from Sept. 16 to 18.
TURF 2016 began for me with the last part of Margo Price’s energetic honky tonk set at the West Stage. Her Midwest Farmer’s Daughter debut solo album created a buzz when it was released in March by Jack White’s Third Man Records, and Price’s sassy performance with her five-piece band brought the LP’s songs into vivid life. The 33-year-old is based in Nashville and reflects more Grand Ole Opry legacy than most country artists making the rounds these days. That’s good for fans of rootsy Americana, but it’s not likely to get her a lot of exposure on mainstream country radio.
Price’s Nashville and White connection was evident in her cover of Loretta Lynn’s “Rated X,” while other highlights included “This Town Gets Around” and a closing rendition of the single “Hurtin’ (On the Bottle).”
For pure showmanship, The Hives had it over everyone else who played TURF on Friday. The Swedish garage punk band was preceded on the East Stage by two roadies dressed in respective black and white ninja outfits, and the group followed a Dave Hodge introduction by making the scene decked out in eye-catching black and white suits. After seeing The Specials on Tuesday, I guess I was catching my second 2 Tone act of the week. If I ever get invited to another wedding, I’d like to wear a Hives suit to it.
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| The Hives |
Things got off to a bang with “Come On!” and a slew of high-octane, hook-filled songs followed. These included perhaps the group’s biggest North American hit, “Hate to Say I Told You So,” as well as “Abra Cadaver,” a crowd participatory “Go Right Ahead,” “Bigger Hole To Fill,” “Main Offender,” “Won’t Be Long” and set-closer “Tick Tick Boom.”
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| The Hives |
Lead singer Howling’ Pelle Almvqvist went into the photo pit and crowd a few times to engage the fans and addressed them frequently between songs, including declaring “I’m your favourite rock and roll asshole” before launching into “Main Offender.”
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| The Hives |
The Hives drew a healthy-sized audience to its 4 p.m. set but, judging by its performance and the enthusiastic response to it, these rockers deserved a later time slot so more people could have felt the joy.
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| The Hives |
London, England sextet Skinny Lister plays Celtic-infused folk music with punk rock spirit, and I was happy to share in the spirits when singer Lorna Thomas passed a jug of whiskey around to those of us at the front of the Rebellion Stage. I thoroughly enjoyed the band’s set at the Horseshoe Tavern earlier this year and the subsequently released The Devil, The Heart and the Fight seems destined to be among my 20 favourite albums of the year. The set was heavy on songs from the new record but also included such older numbers as “John Kanaka,” personal favourite “Trouble on Oxford Street” and “This is War.”
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| Skinny Lister |
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| Skinny Lister |
I arrived at the West Stage just in time to catch the end of Jake Bugg and his three-piece band’s set. The young British musician impressed me with his guitar playing and the influence of Donovan and Bob Dylan are ensconced in his songs and delivery. The new “Gimme The Love” was solid and the set-closing “Lightning Bolt” from his self-titled 2012 album had me beaming.
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| Jake Bugg |
I used Explosions In The Sky’s 6:40 p.m. set on the East Stage as an opportunity to check out TURF’s large selection of food trucks and made good choices with a jerk chicken sandwich and Sichuan French fries. The Texas post-rock band’s instrumental drone served as background music while I ate, drank and chatted with friends at the Bricks & Sticks Lounge.
I’ve seen Boston Celtic punk sextet Dropkick Murphys a handful of times in the past and, while I don’t think this performance was quite at the level of those occasions, the group still delivered a rollicking good time. The fans right in front of the West Stage with me certainly got into it, fist-pumping, singing along and generally getting their butts kicked to such anthemically catchy numbers as “The Boys Are Back,” “Which Side Are You On?,” “Famous For Nothing,” “Sunshine Highway,” “Bastards On Parade,” an extra fast version of “The Irish Rover,” “Rose Tattoo” and “Going Out In Style.”
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| Dropkick Murphys |
The Murphys paid homage to another Boston band by covering The Cars’ “Just What I Needed.” Despite being adopted as a signature song by the Toronto Blue Jays’ American League East rival the Boston Red Sox, baseball hatred took a back seat to band idolatry as the crowd exploded and eagerly sang along to “I’m Shipping Up To Boston.”
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| Dropkick Murphys |
I listened to Drive-By Truckers’ new American Band album the day before TURF began and, while I don’t think it reaches the high water mark of the group's early 2000s output with Jason Isbell, it solidly ranks ahead of 2014’s English Oceans. There was a mix of old and new coming from the Rebellion Stage, with “3 Dimes Down” and “A Ghost To Most” among those representing the former, and “Baggage,” “Ramon Casiano” and “Ever South” introducing people to some of the latest politically charged repertoire.
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| Drive-By Truckers |
Drive-By Truckers’ brand of well-played Americana and southern rock combined with Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley’s insightful lyrics have created a dedicated and long-term group of followers despite a band lineup that has undergone several changes over the years. While I’ve enjoyed other Truckers’ performances more than this one, this was a step up from the group’s afternoon set at TURF 2014.
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| Drive-By Truckers |
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| Shovels & Rope |
The momentum created on the first day of the Toronto Urban Roots Fest on July 4 had no problems continuing the next day with another slate of top talent and sunny and warm weather.
I began my day at 2:30 p.m. with Shovels & Rope, the Charleston, S.C. husband and wife duo of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst. The chemistry between the pair was obvious as they traded off instruments and vocals on almost every song but still made sweet music that never failed to flow. Laid-back folk, blues, mid-tempo toe-tappers and roots rock all formed part of the repertoire, which included a handful of songs from the forthcoming Swimmin' Time LP, their best known number, "Birmingham," and the set-closing "Hail Hail." Shovels & Rope are the perfect band for a festival like this.
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| Drive-By Truckers |
I've always enjoyed the Drive-By Truckers' approach to southern rock and, while I still enjoyed this performance, it didn't seem to be as vibrant as past gigs. Perhaps it was partly attributable to seeing the band on a large stage in the great outdoors instead of a smaller club like in the past. But the group's latest album, English Oceans, has also left a very minimal impression on me. Still, there were moments of magic when the three guitarists cranked things up. "The Righetous Path," "A Ghost To Most" and "3 Dimes Down" left the biggest impressions before I moved on from the east to the south stage at 4:10 p.m.
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| The Stanfields |
The Stanfields are one of the most dynamic and energetic bands to come out of eastern Canada in a long time and I've never seen a duff performance. The Celtic-influenced rock band didn't disappoint again, although, according to my hijacked notes, "I got to sit beside the wonderful Tanya, so that was my favourite part of the day." While that was certainly alright, hearing songs like "Blacktop Blues," "Don't Make Me Walk Away," "Mrs. McGrath," "Run on the Banks," "The Boston States" and "Money Changers" didn't hurt either.
I saw Violent Femmes at the 1990 Mariposa Folk Festival and again at Toronto's Massey Hall in 2006, but this was still the band I was most looking forward to seeing at TURF because its catalogue of songs means the most to me. It seemed I wasn't the only one with that opinion, as the large crowd was singing along, clapping and dancing throughout a great 80-minute set that began with the Milwaukee, Wisc. group's 1983 10-song debut album played from beginning to end. Almost every song on the record can be considered a classic of early '80s alternative music, with "Blister In The Sun," "Add It Up" and "Gone Daddy Gone" perhaps being the most familiar to those who don't own the self-titled effort.
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| Violent Femmes |
Former Dresden Doll Brian Viglione has replaced Victor DeLorenzo on drums, but singer/guitarist Gordon Gano and bassist Brian Ritchie are still front and centre in the Femmes, who were augmented on certain songs by the Horns of Dilemma to add more depth to the often sparse material. The good times continued after the completion of Violent Femmes with an array of favourites from more recent albums, including "Jesus Walking On The Water," "Country Death Song," "Old Mother Reagan," "Freak Magnet," "Never Tell," "Black Girls," "I Held Her In My Arms" and the finisher, "American Music," which included some predictable pandering by inserting "I like Canadian music" into one part.
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| The Gaslight Anthem |
While the Femmes were definitely the high point of my day, there wasn't a huge let up when The Gaslight Anthem came on the east stage at 6:30 p.m. and began with what remains my favourite song from the Brunswick, N.J. group: "The '59 Sound." The band's blend of classic New Jersey rock and roll and melodic punk (let's call it Bruce Springsteen meets The Replacements) shone brighter than the last time I saw it as songs from the forthcoming Get Hurt album easily held their own with older stalwarts including "Miles Davis and the Cool," "Old White Lincoln," "Biloxi Parish," "We Came To Dance," "Old Haunts," "Film Noir," "High Lonesome," "Too Much Blood," "The Queen of Lower Chelsea," "American Slang," "The Backseat" and a cover of "House of the Rising Sun." Charismatic frontman Brian Fallon promised that The Gaslight Anthem would be back in Toronto soon to further promote Get Hurt, and the audience voiced its approval. This is a band that looked like it might have reached a plateau but now seems like it's back on an upward trajectory.
I moved to the south stage to see the last of The Strumbellas, who had attracted the biggest crowd yet to the hillside vantage point. The sextet won the Juno Award for best roots and traditional album by a group earlier this year and has built a deservingly large following in a relatively short period and apparently packed the Horseshoe Tavern the night before as part of TURF's club component. I know I'll be seeing The Strumbellas again.
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| Waco Brothers |
The Waco Brothers returned to the south stage, where it had played the night before, and the lads were more boisterous than 25.5 hours before. There were no repeats in an insurgent country set that rollicked on for an hour and included "Harm's Way," "Too Sweet to Die," "The Death of Country Music," "Nothing At All" and "Wreck on the Highway." Sally Timms joined her pals to sing "Old Flames Can't Hold A Candle To You," "Seminole Wind" and "Wild and Blue." The covers component of the concert was complete with playful dancing on stage and amped up interpretations of T-Rex's "20th Century Boy," Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," The Who's "Baba O'Riley" and The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks." Two shows down; two to go.
Sam Roberts, unfortunately, hasn't done much for me since his first album came out in 2003. So when given the choice of watching his headlining set on the east stage or chatting over a few beers with friends in the artist compound, I opted for the latter. I'll give Roberts and his band credit, however. They made pretty decent background music.
We decided to continue the socializing at Lee's Palace for a reprise performance from Shovels & Rope at midnight. Since I'd just seen the cute couple 10 hours earlier, I didn't bother taking any notes but am pleased to point out that the late show included a cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Johnny 99."
The music was over but the party continued with more conversation and beers on a friend's stoop until about 4 a.m. when it was decided it would be wise to break things up since Sunday's music would begin at 12:45 p.m. and two of my drinking companions were due to be playing it.
Drive-By Truckers show is a big to-do
Toronto's Lee's Palace was the fourth stop on the Drive-By Truckers' tour in support of its new album, The Big To-Do, but the Athens, Georgia-based band seemed right at home.
"No wonder The Rolling Stones keep coming back here," singer/guitarist Patterson Hood told the packed house as the southern rock band returned for its encore on Tuesday night, saying the group had spent a couple of days in Canada's largest city leading up to the gig.
The Truckers' stay will continue today with a free in-store performance at 5 p.m. at Sonic Boom (a non-perishable food item donation for the Daily Bread Food Bank is requested) and another show with opener Langhorne Slim at Lee's tonight.
The large crowd at Tuesday night's show made the Truckers feel at ease and gave warm receptions to the songs in the first part of the set that was packed with The Big To-Do material that patrons still might not be too familiar with.
Things got off to a solid start with "Drag The Lake Charlie," and five of the next seven songs were from the new album. It might actually have been six, as there was a cut sung by bassist Shonna Tucker that I couldn't make out because her voice was somewhat drowned out.
The same thing happened later in the show during Tucker's second time in the spotlight. I don't mind her songs on the Truckers' recordings, and there was nothing wrong with them musically last night, but I'm not sure if her voice can carry them on a stage shared with her bass, three guitarists, a drummer and a keyboard player.
Hood and fellow singer/guitarist Mike Cooley essentially alternated and took turns on lead vocals for each song during the set, which early on was highlighted by "Gravity's Gone" and "Girls Who Smoke."
Things slowed down a bit and John Neff moved from guitar to pedal steel for "72 (This Highway's Mean)," and stayed there for "My Sweet Annette," "Love Like This" and "Feb 14."
Hood's storytelling abilities were on full display during "18 Wheels Of Love," Jay Gonzalez was given a piano solo during "Self Destructive Zones" and "Steve McQueen" was given the extended treatment. "Hell No, I Ain't Happy" had the audience singing along to the chorus and ended the group's 100-minute set.
The encore began with another new song, "The Fourth Night Of My Drinking," as the band members continued to pass around the large bottle of Jack Daniels they'd been sharing all night. "Marry Me," "Dead, Drunk And Naked," "Guitar Man Upstairs" and "Lookout Mountain" closed things out.
The Truckers had ended their set in New York City last week with a cover of Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," and I was hoping to hear the group's version at Lee's. It wasn't to be, but by no means did I leave the show disappointed.
It was good to witness a full show after catching just three songs during a short set at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas last month.
Here's the set list for the April 6 Drive-By Truckers show at Lee's Palace:
"Drag The Lake Charlie"
"Get Downtown"
Shonna Tucker song
"This Fucking Job"
"Gravity's Gone"
"Daddy Learned To Fly"
"Birthday Boy"
"Girls Who Smoke"
"3 Dimes Down"
"Ronnie And Neil"
"72 (This Highway's Mean)"
"My Sweet Annette"
"Heathens"
"Love Like This"
"Feb 14"
"18 Wheels Of Love"
"Self Destructive Zones"
"Steve McQueen"
Shonna Tucker song
"Hell No, I Ain't Happy"
ENCORE
"The Fourth Night Of My Drinking"
"Marry Me"
"Dead, Drunk And Naked"
"Guitar Man Upstairs"
"Lookout Mountain"
