This past Monday night marked my second time seeing The Heartless Bastards live. The first time was on the final day of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival 2015. At that time, I knew I wanted to see the band again so when I saw the announcement for this show with Old 97's, it went on my calendar.
The Cincinnati band play rootsy rock tunes that feature Erika Wennerstrom's unique vocals and an earnest energy and passion from the whole band. I love the soulful plaintive wails and riffs that the band produces. They keep things interesting with great dynamic shifts and jams of extended musical interludes.
The end of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival always brings mixed emotions. There's the exhaustion that comes from shooting over thirty bands in just a few days, the looming task of going through thousands of pictures to find the right ones to post and the elation of having seen some incredible bands in a fantastic, downtown Toronto setting, at an amazingly well-run festival with a wonderful vibe.
The third day of TURF's outdoor festival presented a great line-up of artists and was rain-free, too. Here are links to each of my posts on the bands of TURF day 3. Enjoy!
And in case you missed them, don't forget to go back and experience Day 1, including the Club Bonus Series and Preview Series, and Day 2 through my camera's eye.
Heartless Bastards was the last act that I caught on the South Stage of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival for 2015. I've been listening to the band's alternative rock since their début album Stairs and Elevators in 2005. This marked my first time seeing the band live. I enjoyed their performance and I really hope I get to see them on stage again soon.
TURF announced its fantastic line-up a while back and has been adding more great acts to it. They've also announced a preview series of club shows (my pics of Northcote's fantastic show go up tomorrow).
Now they've announced the initial set of gigs for the Club Bonus Series that takes place after the main festival grounds at Fort York have gone to sleep. Straight from the TURF team, "The TURF Club Bonus Series, which runs September 16th – 23rd at the Horseshoe Tavern and Lee’s Palace, is a great opportunity to catch rising roots artists in a small club and see your favourite bands twice during the TURF weekend!" More show announcements coming July 14 and 22.
You can get in by buying a VIP Plus ticket for access to all TURF shows or individual tickets to the club shows. Individual Club Show tickets go on sale Thursday, July 9 at 10am.
The following shows are at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern:
September 16 Cold Specks and Grand Analog
September 17 Fishbone, Sate and Les Hôtesses d'Hilaire
September 19 Elliott Brood, Ron Hawkins and Jim Bryson
September 20 Punch Brothers and Gabriel Kahane
September 21 Heartless Bastards and Kitty, Daisy & Lewis
Here are some tunes from these artists. I'm still reeling from the thought of seeing Fishbone at The Horseshoe.
