Monday, April 22, 2013

Hillside 2013 Lineup Reaction

Mentionables, in my humble opinion.

Akron/Family!
AroarA!
Diamond Rings!!
Eight and a Half
Fucked Up!
Hayden!!!
Jim Guthrie
July Talk
Aidan Knight!!!
Shane Koyczan
Metz!
Pack AD
Sadies!
Said the Whale
Snowblink
Colin Stetson!!
Two Hours Traffic!
Weather Station
Whitehorse!
Wilderness of Manitoba
Yamantaka//Sonic Titan!!!
Yukon Blonde

A few on the heavier side this year with METZ, Fucked Up and even YT//ST - should be swell.

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Friday, April 19, 2013

Hillside 2013 - Lineup Rumours

Keys n Krates who had to cancel last year are likely to be back on this time around.

Whitehorse who have had a string of success this year and would fit Hillside well are rumoured to be playing as well.

Official announcement Monday so not much more time to wonder.

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Thursday, May 03, 2012

Cadence Weapon, Woodhands (Van Gogh's Ear - Oct 8, 2008)

A unique double bill that seems odd in theory works out quite well when played out in real life. Mind you there seemed to be a bit of a divide in the audience between the two sets.
First up were the electro-indie dance duo, Woodhands, who brought their keytar, synth, drumset and effects up the yahoo. They got a sizeable crowd up front, while drawing in many others from the fringes of the bar to at least stand up and check them out. Dancing ensued. Midway through the set saw a visit from Cadence who nearly burst blood vessels in his forehead trying to spit out a ridiculously paced verse into a mic that was turned down wayy too loww. He even tried singing into the reverb mic without luck, while finishing the verse and then going make some noise by fiddling with Woodhands' board of dials and buttons. After his departure "I wasn't made for fighting!" screamed through the room.
- wanna do it one more time to the extreme, with audio and visual cues, improv
-Dancer closed, and more improv with DJ coop

Cadence Weapon
-shot with dj
-closed with iggy pop cover with woodhands

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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Hillside Reviews 2011!

All the goodness should be pouring out over the next week or so if I stay motivated. Going to be all over at the new blog - AudioVernacular.blogspot.com

Check it for Harlan Pepper, Kidstreet, The Midway State, Graveyard Train and more. Plus much more to come!

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Monday, July 18, 2011

Hillside 2011 Gameplan

Geeked out!



  • Green is priority numero uno
  • Yellow is a close second
  • Red is my choice if I'm not distracted by swimming, or ice cream, or Hillside eats, or beer.


  • Kidstreet are gonna kill it! 
  • I think Harlan Pepper are properly following in the Arkells footsteps - fellow Hamiltonians. 
  • And Midway State are new to me, and catchy catchy.


  • OMMMG! Oh, Mother Mother Mangan Georgas! This workshop gives me goosepimples. Dan has collab-ed with everyone to great effect (Veda Hille, Shayne Koyczan, Hey Ocean - watch the amazing vid
  • How do you choose between Mother Mother and Hooded Fang though?! MM come from further.. and I haven't seen them since the new album. Still tough with talk of Hooded Fang's new album being amazing and it's not even out yet.
  • Sheepdogs personify the '70s.
  • Hollerado should be a fun closing party too!



  • Gobble Gobble's Boring Horror is in the fight for my song of the summer. Their live show is supposed to be spectacular too. But Modern Field Recordings are really unique and I never see them touring..
  • RAA vs Braids vs Fred Penner is a tough tough choice. I really love Braids' album even if I didn't love their set last Hillside. Whereas I just saw RAA - but their first Hillside set was fantastic. (A mere 2 years ago?!) Sorry 5-old-Stefan, not seeing Fred.
  • Common Grackle are super interesting, and local! Pumped, even if I have to skip Paper Lions for them (grumble grumble... why can't I set the schedule?)
  • Shad always brings it in Guelph. Or anywhere.

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Thursday, June 23, 2011

Hillside 2011 Preparatory Playlist

My silence has no correlation to my Hillside excitement level. To bring yours up, here is a little preparatory playlist with a song from each of this year's Hillside bands (available on Radio3 anyhow), personally selected by yours truly. Listen up, click through to the artists that grab your ear, and get ready for a whirlwind weekend of fun, sun, ice cream and swimming.


You're welcome ;)

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Friday, April 22, 2011

Hillside 2011 Announced

Well I guess I slacked this year and only manage to post 6 of 53 bands early this year.. 


Regardless here is my initial list of excitement.

Dan Mangan - Finally!
Braids - Back again from last year, now with one of my fave new albums out
Hollerado - Gonna be a party!
Common Grackle - One of a few firsts at this Hillside
Karkwa - besides Karkwa
The Beauties (with Kevin Drew of BSS) - Fun last year, now back with more BSS front-men
Hooded Fang - Woohoo
Kidstreet - Waterloo family affair were amazing when they introduced themselves at a Shout Out Out show
Lights - She's back
Memphis - Torq doesn't miss a Hillside does he?
Mother Mother - Triumphant return
Old Man Leudecke - Banjoooooooooo
Rural Alberta Advantage - New album, new set (cuz the old one was great)
Shad - Perennial favourite
Gobble Gobble - I've heard good things
Serena Ryder - First!

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Hollerado, Hollerado, Hollerado (PCH, Apr 1)

Hollerado get an A+. While taking in their spectacle in the University of Guelph's basement I considered how this show would grade on Chartattack's annual "CMW Report Cards".

First there was the crowd interaction. If music doesn't work out for them (which it obviously will) then comedy could be a line of work. With cheeky lines and boyish energy they took cracks at everyone from themselves to the Republican party and kept the show rolling for their entire allotted time (and even beyond - playing an extra song beyond their timeslot).

Secondly the music was gosh-darn great. They've got one legit album out, the so-damn-literal Record In a Bag full of great tunes that they played like opener Juliette and Hard Love, but as they proved this does not come close to comprising their entire catalog. It also includes self-professed cheesy sing-alongs, and newly minted songs that are so new they had to pause to remember the chords. (They then ripped through On My Way to Shanghai so loud and fast in the dark that whether or not they got them right it sounded pretty sweet.)

Even the visuals and stage-use were something as the only time you'd take your eyes off the guys standing on top of their drum set or having a dueling guitar circle was when confetti exploded from side stage sending shrieks and cheers throughout the crowd.

Speaking of the young, university audience - they usually don't show much emotion in this notoriously energy-free venue but this set pulled them in. Even before Hollerado invited a Dinosaur Bones member on-stage to drop a freestyle rhyme people were clapping and dancing along.

All told it was a high energy display of party rock rooted in big, classic guitar riffs. If you like the band at all, or like a party, you'll effin' love these guys after a show!

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Friday, April 15, 2011

2011 Roundup #2: Dala etc.

Dala: The lady duo returns!
On the Beat and Pathh
Rundown Royalty
Chris Velan
Etran Finatawa - Africa


    * All are unconfirmed 

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Monday, March 21, 2011

Hillside 2011 - Opening Peek

The first leak of 2011 performers for the ultimate in summer festivals!



Les Tireux d’Roches


And seeing as there isn't much dirt here I'll include this year's poster

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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Hooded Fang (Noon Hour Concert UoG, Oct 31, 2008)

Arriving after the beginning of their set I found the zombie-basketball squad (it was halloween afterall) in the midst of their fine young set. They played all the stuff from their online repertoire and a handful of others. It was pure creative Canadian indie music - right up my alley. Not sounding the same, but akin to Born Ruffians (who incidentally they were playing with the following evening). I ate it up as their drummer handled primary singing duties, and even gave up the drums at one point to allow one of the girls to unsteadily drop the backbeat while he sang and played guitar up front. They had a xylophone (who doesn't these days?) and the 6 piece impressed me enough to request a CD afterwards (which i was disappointed to hear they'd forgotten)

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Friday, February 25, 2011

Blog Transition - AudioVernacular

As all three of you readers likely haven't noticed, my recent posts have all been about Toronto shows. Well the fact of the matter is that I've joined the migration and moved to the big smoke. In honour of this, and in wanting a fresh start of sorts, a remodel, a makeover, I've begun a NEW blog.


It is likely to follow in Vernacular's format but instead of focusing on the Guelph region will now highlight primarily Toronto-based concert reviews, and perhaps the odd bit of music news & reviews as well. Don't you fret it will still offer up the same mediocre, amateur writing-style.

Please follow me on over to..... drum roll please.... 


and check that colour scheme while you're at it!

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