Toronto Urban Roots Fest finished with a flourish on Sunday

Jean Cook and The Burlington Welsh Male Chorus

I got my earliest start (after my latest night) for the third and final day of the Toronto Urban Roots Fest, and it was worth it.

Jon Langford, backed by members of The Waco Brothers and frequent contributor Jean Cook on violin, came on stage at 1 p.m. to perform songs about southern Wales from his 1998 Skull Orchard album and this year's follow-up, Here Be Monsters. The early focus was on three newer songs ("Drone Operator," "Mars" and "Lil' Ray O' Light") and the vintage "Tubby Brothers" before the musicians were joined by a few dozen members of The Burlington Welsh Male Chorus to sing material they recorded on the Skull Orchard Revisited re-do of that 1998 album as well as a few other tunes.

It's quite an amusing collection of songs in its own right, especially with Langford's witty introductions of them, but the choir adds another entertaining element. The addition of vocalist and longtime Langford musical foil Sally Timms was the icing on the cake as the small but appreciative audience of fans and choir family members were treated to "Pill Sailor," "Butter Song," "Youghal," "Inside the Whale," "Deep Sea Diver," "Come Home Tom Jones," "Tom Jones Levitation" and "Are You an Entertainer?" The choir then sang a Welsh folk song that none of us could understand, but it's apparently about how angry the Welsh still are with the Romans, according to Langford. The set ended, fittingly, with a sing-along rendition of one of the frequently-referred-to-in-the-set Welsh superstar's signature hits, "Delilah."

Twin Forks

I was much less familiar with Twin Forks, the Americana music project from Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba. I arrived just in time at the west stage to hear a jaunty, acoustic-based cover of Talking Heads' "And She Was." That was my highlight of the country-folk-based set from the sextet, which I liked but certainly wasn't blown away by. The female harmonies were a nice counterpart to the frontman, and I got to hear "Blister In The Sun" for the third time during the festival (joining Violent Femmes on Saturday and a cover by Hollerado on Friday), which was okay by me.

July Talk

July Talk has been creating a buzz and playing to increasingly larger audiences, which was evident in the reaction it received on the east stage at 3:20 p.m. There's great chemistry and vocal counterbalancing going on between Tom Waits-like singer Peter Dreimanis and cohort Leah Fay, who definitely adds a degree of sex appeal. The quintet's self-titled debut album has a unique mix of indie rock and Americana, but it's taken to another level on stage and the group proved it can hold its own on a big one. "Guns + Ammunition" and "Paper Girl" may have been the standouts, but the entire set showed that July Talk is a band to continue to look for big things from.

I confess that I spent more time chatting with friends than paying attention to Jenny Lewis during her set on the west stage. There was nothing wrong with the performance; it just didn't make much of an impression.

Gogol Bordello

That certainly wasn't the case with Gogol Bordello, which was probably the most frenetic and eclectic act of the festival -- and that energy carried over to the healthy-sized crowd. "My Companjera," "Last One Goes" and "Start Wearing Purple" were standouts from the rotating cast of gypsy punk masters fronted by wine bottle-swilling Eugene Hutz. An encore was demanded and granted. Good times were had by all.

Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy will release his Sukierae solo debut album in September and he's assembled a new backing band that includes his 18-year-old son Spencer on drums. Much of the new material was on the mellow side, and the sometimes plodding delivery was, frankly, a comedown after Gogol Bordello. While the pacing didn't pick up much, and Tweedy banished the band to play solo towards the end of the set, my enjoyment heightened with such favourites from the Wilco catalogue as "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," "Passenger Side," "Jesus, Etc." and "I'm The Man Who Loves You." Tweedy also performed: "You Are Not Alone," the title track he wrote for Mavis Staples' Grammy Award-winning 2010 album; Uncle Tupelo's warmly welcomed "Give Back The Key To My Heart;" and Woody Guthrie's brilliant "California Stars" from the 1998 collaborative Wilco-Billy Bragg Mermaid Avenue LP.

Neutral Milk Hotel is one of those bands that inexplicably flew below my radar when it was in its prime back in the '90s and I've never made a major effort to remedy that -- even after group member Julian Koster played his singing saw in my living room at a Christmas party I hosted a number of years ago. But I've appreciated everything I've heard and was happy to have the opportunity to see the influential band perform since it looked for so long like that would never happen again.

We ducked over to the south stage to catch a couple of songs by Hollerado and I was pleased to see that not everyone at TURF was watching Neutral Milk Hotel. The young Canadians had a large throng of folks eating out of their hands.

Waco Brothers

The TURF staff party was held at the Horseshoe Tavern, but open to the public, and the Waco Brothers performed for the fourth and final time to end the festival. There were no concerns with repeating songs from the first two nights, just with letting loose and having a great time. Mission accomplished.

TURF has made great progress in its two years and hopefully has established a strong enough foundation for it to become a staple of Toronto's busy summer schedule from now on.

Violent Femmes highlight excellent second day of Toronto Urban Roots Fest

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TURF 2014 started strong out of the blocks on Friday

Lucius

The Toronto Urban Roots Fest showed a lot of promise in its inaugural year and followed it up with a bigger and better event in 2014.

A third and smaller stage was added to Toronto's Fort York location this year, and that's where I found myself sitting on a hill at 4:50 p.m. on July 4 to see Lucius, a Brooklyn, N.Y. band fronted by two sweetly harmonizing blonde women in matching yellow mini-dresses. The indie pop quintet had an interesting look and songs that sounded familiar yet different enough from each other to keep your attention from wandering. Guitars, drums and keyboards were augmented by additional percussion on some songs in a 40-minute set that included "How Loud Your Heart Gets," "Wildewoman" and my favourite, "Turn It Around," which closed things off and incorporated some of Whitney Houston's  "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)." If you like Rilo Kiley, you'll probably enjoy Lucius.

Willie Nile

Willie Nile has been making music for 40 years but has never received the acclaim he deserves for his rock and roll, and that wasn't likely to change judging by the exodus before he began his 55-minute set. Guitar, bass and drums played by black-clad musicians younger than Nile brought added life to his singing and playing in a performance that opened with "This Is Our Time" and also included "Heaven Help The Lonely," "Holy War," "Give Me Tomorrow," and covers of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" and The Jim Carroll Band's "People Who Died" before finishing strong with another original, "One Guitar."

The Waco Brothers

The Waco Brothers have been one of my favourite live bands since I first saw them more than a decade ago, and they've now become friends, so that's added incentive to see them as much as possible. That wouldn't be difficult since the Chicago-based group was booked for three shows of their own and a fourth playing songs by Jon Langford along with a Welsh choir, and the goal was to avoid duplication.

The quintet began its south stage set at 7:20 p.m. and zipped through a performance that provided its usual share of roots, punk, rock and roll and humour -- with lead vocals shared by guitarists Langford and Dean Schlabowske as well as mandolin player Tracey Dear. "Fox River," "Walking On Hell's Roof Looking At The Flowers," "Do What I Say," "Red Brick Wall," "Plenty Tough, Union Made," "Do You Think About Me?," "Blink of and Eye" and covers of "I Fought The Law," "Small Faces' "All or Nothing," George Jones' "White Lightning" (with Jo Walston joining the band on harmonies), Johnny Cash's "Big River" and Bo Diddley's "Hey Bo Diddley" were all part of the fun.

Deer Tick

The south stage audience grew considerably for Deer Tick, a solid roots rock band I'd liked but never seen in person. Now I'm glad I have. They're talented players that form a tight unit and lead singer John McCauley's raw delivery suits the material well. The Rhode Island quintet had people in its hands from the beginning and didn't let up as it played "Main Street," "Houston, TX" and "Mr. Sticks" among others. The group also played "Shitty Music Festival," which certainly didn't apply to TURF, but was still good to hear.

Beirut

Beirut is another group that I've enjoyed only on record until I finally eased myself over from the south to the much larger east stage for its 9:30 p.m. slot. Zach Condon's project was unlike anything else I saw on day one,  full of horns and accordion and fusing Balkan folk with baroque indie pop to create a distinct sound that more than made up for a lack of magnetic stage presence. "Elephant Gun" and "Scenic World" were highlights.

I caught a couple of songs from Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears from afar, and his crew sounded as soulful and tight as ever. This is definitely a band to catch if you haven't before.

Club shows at Lee's Palace and the Horseshoe Tavern awere also part of TURF, and a cab got us up to Bloor Street to that first venue to see the last couple of songs by Andrew Jackson Jihad -- which I'd previously seen open for Frank Turner. But with festivals like this, it can sometimes be pretty difficult to see all of everything you want to and I'm sure there will be other opportunities.

Hollerado

But we certainly got our money's worth with Hollerado, the only Canadian band I saw on Friday, and which was expanded from the usual four-piece lineup on occasion by three female backing singers. We've come to expect confetti canyons at Hollerado shows, which add to the party atmosphere that their music and good-natured approach to their fans engender, and several were fired off during the course of the gig. "Fresno Chunk (Digging With You)," "Juliette," "Fake Drugs," "Americanarama" and covers of The Count Five's "Psychotic Reaction," Violent Femmes' "Blister In The Sun," Blink 182's "Dammit" and Neil Young's night-closing "Rockin' in the Free World" drew deservedly fervent responses from those in the packed club.