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.

Stanfields were the class of Wednesday’s Canadian Music Festival

I arrived toward the end of the Collective Concerts-Ticketfly party on Wednesday to kick off my Canadian Music Festival. I missed the smoked meat sandwiches courtesy of Caplansky’s, but was in time to grab a couple bottles of Labatt 50 before the open bar closed at 8:30 p.m.

The Danks

That gave me time to reach The Silver Dollar Room by 9 p.m. to see The Danks, whose 2009 Are You Afraid of The Danks full-length debut was my fourth favourite album of that year. I hadn’t seen the Charlottetown, P.E.I. group (which shares members with Two Hours Traffic) perform, however, and had high hopes for this set.

They were soon dashed, however, as lead singer/guitarist Brohan Moore’s voice already seemed shot — which didn’t bode well for the rest of the band’s shows the rest of the week. Maybe it was Moore’s voice that threw me off, but I didn’t hear all of the power pop goodness that made Are You Afraid of The Danks so special.

“Die Young” was my favourite of the original songs and although The Danks tried to elicit bigger reactions from covering Devo’s “Girl U Want” and Pixies’ “Alec Eiffel,” it wasn’t in the cards. There was a lack of stage presence and little talking between songs as well, but I’m hoping that was just another part of a young band having an off night in front of a relatively small audience.

Toronto’s Rattlesnake Choir followed on the Silver Dollar stage at 10 p.m. with a roots rock and country set featuring Screamin’ Sam Ferrara on saw, cheese grater and a Slinky-like instrument to augment lead singer/acoustic guitarist/harmonica player John Borra, upright bassist Tony Benattar and keyboardist/accordionist Michael Boguski. The originals were perfectly decent, Handsome Ned’s “I’ve Come to Get My Baby Out of Jail” brought back fond memories and a familiar-sounding instrumental was also enjoyable.

Crazy Strings

Crazy Strings inherited the vibe that Rattlesnake Choir established and kept it going for a larger crowd that was looking to dance by opening with an excellent finger-pickin’ instrumental, covering Lefty Frizzell’s “My Baby’s Just Like Money” and capping things off with The Carter Family’s “I Ain’t Gonna Work Tomorrow.” These five guys certainly know their way around acoustic guitars, mandolin, banjo and upright bass, and their harmonies are nothing to sneeze at either. Humorous song introductions were the icing on the cake for a fun set from what may be Toronto’s favourite contemporary bluegrass band.

 

The best was saved for last, however, with a midnight set by The Stanfields at The El Mocambo. This Halifax quintet possesses both power and instrumental virtuosity and was riding high on two recent East Coast Music Awards, including the coveted entertainer of the year. This show illustrated why it won, as the crowd down front was dancing from the start to Celtic rock songs that tell stories and include both humour and social commentary.

The Stanfields

Passionate renditions of “Mrs. McGrath,” “Federal Hall,” “Run on the Banks,” “The Road to Guysborough,” “The Boston States” and “Invisible Hands” from last year’s excellent (and ECMA-winning) Death and Taxes sophomore album earned each band member a shot purchased by a fan. The group reached back to its 2010 Vanguard of the Young & Reckless debut for “Ship to Shore” and a rowdy “The Dirtiest Drunk (In the History of Liquor),” which ended the set and left the crowd roaring for more. It didn’t get it, but there was no-one in the room who should have left unhappy.

Three great bands made me happy on CMF's Saturday

Saturday's Canadian Music Fest began for me when I arrived at the El Mocambo for the Aussie BBQ at 4 p.m., which gave me just enough time to eat a free sausage on white bread with barbecue sauce and caramelized onions before Oh Mercy began playing a few minutes later.

Oh Mercy

The first song reminded me of a cross between Wilco and Velvet Underground, and the band didn't top it during the rest of its 25-minute set. The lead singer is a lefty who plays a right-handed guitar upside down and has a good vocal range, and the rest of the band plays guitar-driven but rhythmic indie rock. It was okay.

I went upstairs to hear a couple of songs from Melbourne duo Big Scary, but it didn't do much for me either so I returned downstairs for DZ Deathrays. The Melbourne guitar and drums duo was noisy and not particularly entertaining, so I left.

The Screwed was playing three sets of classic punk rock covers at Graffiti's, but unfortunately the band was taking a break when I dropped in, so I carried on to the Music Nova Scotia party at The Rivoli.

I talked to some people who I probably haven't spoken to since this party last year and had two bowls of delicious chowder and some sauteed scallops before singer/songwriter Mo Kenney began her solo acoustic set. Joel Plaskett is producing her upcoming record and she has talents as both a singer and a whistler, but I preferred her final number -- a cover of David Bowie's "Five Years" -- over her originals.

Ben Caplan, a bushy bearded artist with a deep voice and delivery that was occasionally reminiscent of Tom Waits, delivered a solo acoustic performance and engaging between-song banter. I most enjoyed his final song, "Stranger," which had an eastern European folk element.

I'd never heard of Ria Mae, but she played a hollow body electric guitar and had another woman named Margot singing back-up and showed me a lot of talent. She writes depressing songs, but displayed a good sense of humour and humility between them and after her set when I spoke to her at the bar.

Jon Janes is The Mountains & The Trees, and the Newfoundland native who now lives in Nova Scotia sang and played electric guitar -- most impressively when he used a bow on his final song.

Mike O'Neill

Former Inbreds member Mike O'Neill took the stage on his own with an electric guitar at 8 p.m. and played a longer set, which included my favourite Inbreds song, "Any Sense of Time." He also performed material from his new solo album, Wild Lines, including "Don't Forget To Breathe," and older songs like "Camera Shy." He also performed "Andy," which Neko Case covered on her 2001 Canadian Amp EP. O'Neill writes good songs.

Ron Sexsmith, Damhnait Doyle, The Pursuit of Happiness' Moe Berg and Sloan's Chris Murphy and Patrick Pentland were among the non-performing performers at the party over the almost four hours that I was there. Murphy was standing behind me during O'Neill's set and, when he saw me taking notes, he suggested including "Lose the moustache" in my review.

Chains of Love

It was time to head a wee bit west from The Rivoli for the Horseshoe and the band I was most looking forward to: Chains of Love. The Vancouver sextet is fronted by Nathalia Pizzaro and singer/guitarist Rebecca Marie Law Gray, and they both downed a shot before beginning their impressive set. If you took a Phil Spector-produced '60s girl group and a band from the Nuggets compilations of garage rock from that era and then added a dose of soul, you'd get Chains of Love. But you don't have to, since Chains of Love already and thankfully exists. In addition to loving their music, Pizzaro and Law Gray seem like the kind of women that would be fun to party with, so I hope they return to Toronto soon.

Katalina Kicks

I'd never been to Underground Garage before, and was surprised to find that I had to go up stairs to get there. England's Katalina Kicks was supposed to start at 9:45 p.m., so I thought I'd catch its last few songs, but things were delayed until 10:10, which allowed me to order a Strongbow for myself and a friend who asked to remain nameless but had previously seen the band in its homeland and liked it.

The trio is equally influenced by '60s rock by The Who and The Kinks, '70s punk and 21st century alternative rock. It also has a Strummerville connection, which further piqued my interest. I liked it, but it seems to be missing something that would take it to the next level.

The rain and wind had let up a bit so I decided to take a bit of a hike to C'est What, where I figured I could find a seat, enjoy a few pints of craft beer (which I hadn't had all festival, unless you count the Blanche de Chambly at The Hideout on Friday night) and hear some good music.

French Wives

I'd seen the last two songs of Scottish band French Wives at the Easy Tiger Patio in Austin, Texas during last week's South By Southwest Music Festival, and liked them enough to see a full set. I wasn't disappointed. The single "Numbers" ranks among the best songs I've heard this year, with Siobhan Anderson's violin adding an element of class to the indie pop number and singer/guitarist Stuart Dougan's understandable lyric delivery which belies his Glaswegian roots. It went down well with a Granite Hopping Mad from the cask.

The excellent set also included "Halloween," which was a hit in the group's homeland three years ago, "Sleep Tight," and the closing number, "Younger."  There's an epic quality to the music, but it stays away from the pretension that can creep into the repertoire of lesser acts who aspire to have that word used in concert with its work. French Wives' debut album, Dream of the In Between, is scheduled to be released in May.

I ordered a cask-conditioned 8.5-per-cent alcohol Wellington Imperial Stout, and I enjoyed the nutty chocolate flavour and the punch it packed as I sat down at a table in front of the stage while Nash set up.

Nash

I wrote the bio for Nash and his debut solo album, The Death of Reason, last year. But I'd only spoken to the multi-talented artist via phone and email and had never seen him perform, so I introduced myself before the set. Nash has a colourful history and he sang, played bass, guitar, keyboards, programming, omnichord and glockenspiel -— pretty much everything but drums —- on The Death of Reason, which he also recorded, engineered and produced. He played both guitar and keyboards for this performance and the backing by another keyboardist and guitarist, along with bass and drums, added a more muscular quality to the pop music that wasn't as evident on the record.

I appreciated the rawness of "Broken Down Satellites," "Sad Robot Harmonies" was excellent, a trumpet came out for "In a State of Mind" and the set ended with "Suit Up." I'm always pleased when people I work with and like turn out to be even better than I originally expected when I entered the relationship, and Nash certainly proved himself with this performance.

I headed back out into the elements and ducked my head into the Horseshoe to say hello to a few friends before moving on for The Stanfields' 2 a.m. set at The Hideout. I've become a big fan of this Halifax Celtic rock group over the past few years and was happy to see that the place was packed and people were dancing in front of the stage. Band manager Ian McKinnon, who I'd spoken to at the Music Nova Scotia party earlier in the evening, was also pleased by the raucous performance and the rabid response.

The Stanfields have started recording a new album that I'm looking forward to. But in the meantime, I recommend you see the band and listen to its Vanguard of the Young and Reckless debut album.