Toronto Urban Roots Festival

[headhunter]

July 4,5 & 6

Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, Gary Clarke Jr., Steve Earle, Gaslight Anthem, Willie Nile, Jenny Lewis & Black Joe Lewis among others.

Wow, great line up!

Hoping I can make this one.  Who wants to join me?

[oistheone]

I'll be there! Picked up my VIP tickets this morning. Only 80 bucks extra for guaranteed front row access! Can't wait. 'Bout damn time Toronto put together a multi-day festival with a stacked lineup!

[GO4IT]

This is very tempting.

[oistheone]

Jeff Tweedy got added to the lineup!

[Northern Neighbour]

Tempted to go, but that's the same time as the Ottawa Bluesfest (July 3 to 13), and many of those same acts will likely come to Ottawa. Lineup for the Ottawa Bluesfest likely will be announced next week (was suppose to be today).

So if you, the Mrs., and Mr. and Mrs. GO4IT are in the area, let me know.

[oistheone]

A lot of the money acts on this bill (Black Joe Lewis, Deer Tick and the London Souls, to name a few) just added TURF after-shows at awesome (and tiny) clubs in the city! Should be an awesome weekend!

[Jaimoe]

Great venue too: fest staged within the walls of Fort York (the location of a key battle between British/Canadian troops vs Yankee invaders during the War of 1812)!

[oistheone]

TURF went down at Fort York this past weekend, and man, what a shiny fucking gem of a independently-run festival. Other festivals take note, because TURF does it right.

The setting: Three stages, tucked away in a cozy park with a capacity of 10,000. The all-too-familiar overcrowding of other festivals was a non-issue.

The scheduling: Two main stages at opposite ends of the park housed the big acts, with no overlapping sets, PLUS a bonus ten-minute break in between each main stage set so that you could go get a good spot at the other stage without missing a single note. Genius. TURF also had a smaller stage tucked away in a corner of the park, where the natural slope made for great sound and great sight-lines. This incline also made for difficult balancing later in the night, but that was no fault of the organizers.

The atmosphere: Fuckin' perfect. The organizers must have paid off the weather gods because TURF received three beautiful days without even a cloud in the sky until late on Sunday. This was also the most chill festival I've ever been to, with artists just chilling on the grass, watching sets and drinking beer with everyone. At what other festival could I just walk up to Gary Clark Jr. and shoot the shit?! TURFiffic!

The experience: I knew I was in for a good weekend when a friend of mine with an artist pass offered me complimentary access to the backstage hospitality lounge -- open bar and free buffet all weekend?! HELLLLLL YEAH!

The musical highlights...



Jeff Tweedy -- Pardon my frequent cursing but Tweedy's set was fucking beautiful. The set gained momentum as it went on, similar to the trains that kept rudely interrupting the set. Jeff commented that trains are assholes. A slew of new originals at the start that saw the crowd thinning out rather quickly. But they were idiots because the tunes were fantastic -- at the same time as brooding as they were pleasant. Spencer Tweedy is a little Levon in training, with a great sense of the pocket and also a fabulous harmony singer as well. The Wilco tunes performed acoustic left me so fucking hypnotized, I swear I'm still a chicken. "Hummingbird" pushed me to the brink of tears of joy and then "California Stars" knocked me outta the fucking park. Good fucking LORD I've never been happier in my life than when I was dancing to that tune, nor have my moves been more interpretive. It was pure joy, mainlined right to all my senses. Contender for set of the weekend.



Violent Femmes -- What an act! It's only Brian and Gano left from the original Femmes, but when you've got two guys that charismatic and talented in your band, that's pretty much all you need. Brian was a giant, both in stature and in his slaying of the bass, and his trademark Cruella DeVille glasses made for a hilarious contrast with the tiny and nerdy Gordon Gano. One of the only shows that I could laugh at, boogie to and also close my eyes and just get lost in the amazing music. The entire field turned into one big, dirt-kickin dance party, one so joyous and filthy that I'm still blowing nasty dust from my nose three days later. Another contender for set of the weekend.



Sam Roberts Band -- I doubt many here even know of 'em, but they are huge in Canada and rightfully so, because they are a national treasure. I'm pretty sure you can't even enter the country these days without humming a Sam Roberts chorus at the border. Now sporting a horn section, their tunes are bouncier than ever. It's probably a little too late for them to break it big in the States, but NEVER pass up the chance to see these guys if you get the chance. Guaranteed enjoyment.

Me and Jenny post high five!

Jenny Lewis - In the words of Forrest Gump, "I love you Jenny". I'm a sucker for a chick with a voice, but when that woman can also play guitar, keyboards and also wear boots like this, I'm over the fuckin' moon. Special shoutout to her for coming right over to me and giving me a high five for boogiein' in the front row. No chance I'm ever missing a Jenny Lewis set again. Also, her band is fucking lethal. "Next Messiah" was some next-level jam. Some of the best musicians I saw all weekend.



The London Souls -- Saw these guys play twice, and ended up hanging out with them and Black Joe Lewis for a good chunk of the day on Friday. These guys can fucking PLAY! Flawless musicianship and harmonies so pitch-perfect they make CSNY sound like a fucking chainsaw tearing through a garbage can. And SUPER nice guys to boot. After their first set, I made some requests for their second set, and they played all of 'em!



Willie Nile Band -- I'd never even heard of this guy, but ended up seeing him twice as well because his songs are so damn catchy and his band is so fucking talented. Special marks to bassist Vinnie and guitarist Matt Hogan who put on a hell of an over-the-top rock show as they jumped all over the stage and even into each other's arms.

(not my photo)

Black Joe Lewis -- Black Joe had the best jokes of the weekend. "People say we're a shitty Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. But I say we're just shitty." Also, "Man, people keep callin' me Gary fuckin' Clark." The new shit is sounding tight and he got the boogie goin' for sure.



Gary Clark Jr. -- Does this guy ever dissappoint? I'm glad to see he went back to the power trio blues format, as opposed to the rhythm guitar guy he had at some shows last year. I don't care if this shit is derivative, Gary could serenade me with "Please Come Home" on an endless loop for the rest of my life and I'd die a happy man.



Deer Tick -- A disappointingly short set, one that included "Shitty Music Festival", naturally, but any set that closes with a cover of "La Bamba" gets an A+



Shovels & Rope -- Nothing musically that hasn't been done before, but how can you not like 'em? Their energy is infectious, and when Michael had a false start on a song, she accused him of "premature tunelation, but don't worry, it happens to everyone". Winning banter.



Hollerado - Another shoutout to a local act, but don't pass up the chance to see these guys. Their sound on record is catchy and crafty, but ultimately a tad generic power-pop in the Weezer vein. But live, oh mama they stretch out. MMJ-level jams here we're talking. Give these guys a shot. After their sound got cut at curfew, they finished the set a capella and sang O Canada. O Canada indeed.

Overall, this fest really showed that Toronto can indeed make noise in the festival scene, and every out-of-towner I talked to was just as ecstatic as I was. Even COS sent a correspondent to review the fest, who heaped upon it glowing praise as well. The organizers expressed concern that TURF could even happen next year due to lack of support from city council, and they also seemed sure that a "major" player would enter the Toronto scene next year too. Frighteningly, Lollapalooza Toronto-version in 2015 seems like it's actually a possibility. But I am going to be sure to express support for this festival to anyone I can, because as far as festivals go, the experience was absolutely TURFect.

[headhunter]

Great review O.

I so wanted to go to this Fest.  Glad to hear you saw and LOVED Willie Nile.

Willie is one of the nicest guys in the Music Industry (if not the world) and is an electric live performer.   I've seen MMJ over 40 times and I've seen Willie much more than that.

One of my all-time favorite live acts.  His bass player is Johnny Pisano who also happens to be as nice a guy as you can meet.  His band kicks ass.

[APR]

That is a thorough and solid review of what sounds like an awesome festival in a great spot.  I'm glad it was such a blast oistheone.  I would love an excuse to go to Toronto especially if the festival organizers have enough pull to make it perfect weather again next year.