To date only four bands announced and no action on the blogosphere - except here, your exclusive source. Okay I don't have any sources except the official website.
- Thunderheist returning after her dance-inducing Saturday afternoon set at Hillside outside this year. (Like Shout Out Out Out Out last year I imagine they were specifically sough out by the Hillside committee based on their outside performance).
- Great Lake Swimmers hopefully won't be lost in the massive arena.. they filled Center in the Square when opening for Feist but that was a seated venue, and they were opening for Feist.
- That 1 Guy. This year's version of Xavier? With all his instruments played at once by one man. He played Outside '07 I believe.
- Bell Orchestre.. also played this summer's fest and with many members and instruments produced a huge sound. I'll have to give them another legit chance to impress me after I was underwhelmed by the last performance.
Maybe by becoming a volunteer I'll get the Inside scoop - so check back.
Monday, October 27, 2008
HI, Countdown to Hillside Inside
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Oh Mother Mom
Mother Mother took to the stage after a lengthy soundcheck. Off the top they played a lot of new stuff which is not quite as quick and catchy as Touch Up, but a lil more complex and enjoyable in a different way. These new ones included the title track to O My Heart which was solid, and I'm pretty sure I've heard them play live before. The Canadian election night crowd was much more raucous than I anticipated (on a Tuesday night no less!) and featured some frat-boy types raising devil-horns and rocking out to everything, including the acoustics. In the latter half of the set there was a stretch of tunes from Touch Up that was solid and included Verbatim. Dirty Town, Polynesia, Body of Years, Touch Up were all excellent. A three song encore followed and was capped off by Oh Ana which I'd been hoping for and though I was already very impressed with the show this made my night entirely satisfactory. 8
Wooden Sky opened as I'd seen them in the past for Two Hours Traffic, and I thought much the same as before. They weren't bad however they just weren't engaging or interesting (which perhaps does make them bad?). A bit of a country feel with some otherwise standard, boring, not-even-rock.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
D'urbervilles and Slow Eyed Someone
Ebar - Thurs Sept 25.
Albeit it was supposed to be a Land of Talk/D'urbervilles show, and with voice problems from Land of Talk the lineup was changed the day of the show, but who the heck are Slow Hand Totem. [Edit: I did this entire review calling them that.. the name is actually "Slow Hand Motem", how memorable *ahem] A three-piece, with a guy with some keys and a Macbook, a dude with a keytar and another other interesting looking man doing something to the mic. There was a whole whack of bass coming from the speakers and equally as much confusion from the crowd. I had to just smile and laugh since the spectacle was so bizarre. Plus trying to watch the quote-unquote singer was difficult because of his shifty eyes, that often rolled into his head as if he were on drugs - which he very well may have been and would have explained a lot. (3 for uniqueness alone)
Some explanation was given when a member from the openers stepped onstage with the D'Urbervilles. This show was a return to form for the local heroes who had been lacklustre when opening for the Born Ruffians in April. Being the headliners helps their cause and they rocked out as they have the potential to every time. Favourites like 'Dragnet' and 'Hot Tips' pleased the long-time local fans in the crowd, while a few new tracks also piqued curiousity (well at least mine) and also went over well (in my books). An odd moment occurred when the aforementioned funny-eyed lead from Slow Hand Motem appeared (uninvited?) on-stage during one of the song's breakdowns and began to freestyle overtop. From what we could gather it had something to do with the city of Guelph but not much else was intelligible (not in pronunciation, and likely not in content either). The guys from the D'Urbervilles looked on somewhat surprised and intrigued, but not angry or anything, and just took it in for what it was - same as we did in the crowd. Overall the show was solid, and though they didn't blow anyone away the few people with me who hadn't been previously exposed to their music came away having enjoyed the set, but probably not dedicated fans for life. (7)
Shad with a new (JD) Era
Arriving just as JD Era was taking the stage I leaned up against the Indian statue and took in the show. I enjoyed his set - more than Shad's previous hiphop opener - and he did write a few interesting hooks. DJ TLO rolled the beats for him, which already helped to improve his status in my mind but he actually could rap in addition to that. Whereas Shad sings "I self-deprecate more than I boast - and I boast a lot", JD Era just boasted. He claimed on more than one occasion to have the best flow in Canada, which I'm going to have to disagree with despite his solid performance, but there are a number of excellent Canadian hip hop artists these days. (6.5)
Of course a name that shoots right to mind when I think of them is the man himself - Shad K. Coming off a performance at the Polaris Music Prize gala the night before (where Shad sadly missed out on the prize to a deserving Caribou) Shad still seemed just as stoked about playing a small, though packed room in little old Guleph. The crowd was behind him the entire way, waving hands and clapping at the request of the main man, or singing their part without much encouragement necessary. The set was much the same as in Waterloo the week before, with the notable addition of the acoustic part of the set as it wasn't plagued with technical difficulties as before. Actually there were a few tense moments for me as he picked it up and strummed without anything reaching my ears. This went on for a few seconds, before a bit of fiddling and switch flipping remedied the situation and the chords burst forth from the speakers, filling the Vinyl with sound. Using the acoustic he played 'Rock to It' and the 'Fugees sampled 'Nappy Heads' tune. After packing the guitar back up he had TLO whip out the 80's mix for a bit til again it was cut off in favour of 'I don't really like to'. 'The Old Prince Still Lives at Home' went over extremely well yet again and Shad seemed to feed off the energy for the rest of the show.
As an encore Shad broke into the free-verse style a capella that he'd used in place of his acoustic set a week earlier. Having the opportunity to listen to it twice (this time sober too!) made me appreciate not just how lyrically dynamic Shad is - but in his style and mannerisms as well. For example, rather than just say what he meant to with words, he would do things like start a verse that was a joke, then say he was playing, rewind it back and start it again similarly but this time seriously. I hadn't realized how calculated this approach was on the first go around, but I was thoroughly impressed upon realization this night. Shad really is a hip hop artist that is a cut above the rest in Canada - many would probably argue that he has the best flow in Canada. (9)
