Riverfest Elora 2019: A compendium of posts - Concert Photos

Diversity is strength; inclusion is the only path.

Riverfest Elora has so much diversity in the artists and the audience. It’s wonderful. As you go from stage to stage, to artists that cross so many genres, there are always people singing along and so happy to see the artist that they know and love. Equal in number have to be the people who are out there to discover new artists and open their minds to new music. It’s a beautiful thing that wouldn’t be so notable if we saw it everywhere.

Riverfest Elora creates an inclusive environment. Artists, attendees and everyone involved works to create an environment of peace, harmony and acceptance. It's our only path to a future world that we'll all want to live in, and it has to start being the guiding force in our lives.

This year, my fourth Riverfest Elora, I experienced and captured images of thirty-three musical artists over the three-day festival. I hope you'll spend some time checking out the links below, checking out photos of your favourite artists, and checking out photos and music by some artists you've never heard of. Perhaps you'll find a new favourite.

Day 1: Friday

The Sheepdogs

Men Without Hats

Kandle

Joel Plaskett

Kalle Mattson

Hot Kid

Moscow Apartment

Club Shows:
Monowhales
Billy Moon

Day 2: Saturday

City and Colour

Begonia

Black Caviar

Alice Merton

Reykjavíkurdætur (Daughters of Reykjavik)

K-OS

Skye Wallace

Los Poetas

Darcys

Dennis Ellsworth

John Jacob Magistery

Ben Rogers

Hyness

Merival

Club Show:
The Anti-Queens

Day 3: Sunday

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Narcy

Terra Lightfoot

A Tribe Called Red

Art D'Ecco

Mix Master Mike

Hubert Lenoir

Brett Newski

The Redhill Valleys

And if that wasn't enough for you, here are links to my coverage of Riverfest Elora from 2018, 2017 and 2016.

Thanks, as always, to the organizers, volunteers, vendors, artists and everyone else involved in making Riverfest Elora such a fun, must-attend and special experience each year.

Can't wait for 2020's Riverfest Elora.

Riverfest Elora 2019: Day 1: Men Without Hats - Concert Photos

I follow a bit of a pattern when I cover Riverfest Elora. The schedule is organized so that when the main stage has an artist performing, the other two stages are quiet, and in between main stage performances, the two other stages have music simultaneously. For those other stages, I tend to capture the performance at the Koop Tent first, then head over to the Wax on Wheels stage, and then enjoy whichever artist most resonated with me for the remainder of their set.

This time I followed that pattern and headed over to see Men Without Hats after their set had begun. I have never seen the WoW stage so packed. It was actually difficult to navigate through the crowd that had packed the area to witness Men Without Hats’ set.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d seen Men Without Hats when they performed at The Ex back in 2018, You can check out my photos from that amazing show here. I was also stoked when I saw the cryptic announcement of Men Without Hats’ addition to the Riverfest Elora line-up.

So I knew they’d be great, I just didn’t quite expect that everyone else would be as excited as I was to see the band play tunes both classic and recent. They have emerged as one of my favourite live bands. Not content to play a set trotting out the classic tunes by rote; they play with vigour, power and enthusiasm that many younger bands would do well to emulate.

I came upon the band during “Antarctica” which was followed by “I Got the Message”, “I Like”, “Pop Goes the World”, “Head Above Water”, “The Girl with the Silicone Eyes”, an awesome cover of one of their favourite prog-rock songs, ABBA’s “SOS”, and finishing off with, of course, “Safety Dance”. Sorry, I’m not sure what songs I missed at the beginning of the set.

Check out some of the band’s music if you’re not familiar with them, and, really, see them live. They rock.

All of my Riverfest Elora 2019 posts can be accessed from one master post here. I hope you'll take a look and a listen.

"Safety Dance"

"Antarctica"

"I Got the Message"

"I Like"

"Pop Goes the World"

"Head Above Water"

"The Girl with the Silicone Eyes"

ABBA’s "SOS"

Men Without Hats at The Bandshell at The Ex 2018 - Concert Photos

Montreal synth pop band and 80s legends Men Without Hats, consisting of the Doroshuk brothers Ivan on vocals and Colin on keyboards, plus their great band, played The Bandshell at The Ex this past summer. Although I'd been a fan for many, many years, and their songs grace many a personal playlist, this was my first live experience of Men Without Hats.

The band sounded great, and Ivan's command of the stage was remarkable. The tunes, both new and classic, sounded so good. It was a great night of reliving the 80s and how these great tunes have an incredible timelessness.

Men Without Hats' set included the tunes below, plus a superb version of Abba's "S.O.S.". The set ended with another rendition of "Safety Dance" and we got an encore of The Rolling Stones "2000 Light Years from Home". The band expressed their support for the striking technicians who were locked out during The Ex.

Spoons opened up the show. Click through to check out those photos.

"Safety Dance"

"Antarctica"

"I Got The Message"

"Living In China"

"I Like"

"Head Above Water"

"Pop Goes the World"

"This War"

"Girl with the Silicone Eyes"

"Where Do the Boys Go?"

My favourite songs: Awesome and cool songs of 2012: My best of list: Top 10 Canadian Songs of 2012

It's been a great year for indie-alternative music. Maybe it's because I've been putting more emphasis on seeking out great music for the blog, or maybe it's just intergalactic forces. Whatever it is, I'll take it.

Just to avoid consistency of any kind, I've abandoned last year's idea of doing 2-year best of posts, like doing "The Best of 2011-2012".

And just because I'm Canadian and I live in Canada and I love great Canadian bands, I've extracted 10 Canadian tunes from the Top 60 and I present them here.

Here is the list of my Top 10 Canadian Songs released in 2012.


10. "Are You Gonna Waste My Time?" Zeus

9. "In Came The Flood" Wintersleep

8. "I'm Just Me" Diamond Rings

7. "Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It" Stars

6. "Let's Fall In Love" Mother Mother

5. "This War" Men Without Hats

4. "You Read My Mind" Ladyhawk

3. "Fire's Highway" Japandroids

2. "Katana Rock" Dirty Ghosts

1. "House that Heaven Built" Japandroids

The live shot of Japandroids is mine, taken at their recent gig at The Phoenix.

Check out the rest of my best of posts.

My favourite songs: Awesome and cool songs of 2012: My best of list: Top 60 songs: #20-1

It's been a great year for indie-alternative music. Maybe it's because I've been putting more emphasis on seeking out great music for the blog, or maybe it's just intergalactic forces. Whatever it is, I'll take it.

Just to avoid consistency of any kind, I've abandoned last year's idea of doing 2-year best of posts, like doing "The Best of 2011-2012".

Here's the final post featuring songs 20-1 of my favourite 60 songs released in 2012.

20. "Happy Pills" Norah Jones

19. "Let's Fall In Love" Mother Mother

18. "Sunday (Psychic Conversation #9)" Crocodiles

17. "Sex" The 1975

16. "This War" Men Without Hats

15. "You Read My Mind" Ladyhawk

14. "Where Will We Go" IAMDYNAMITE

13. "5678!" Butterfly Boucher

12. "Would That Not Be Nice" Divine Fits

11. "Fire's Highway" Japandroids

10. "Cholla" The Joy Formidable

9. "Angels" The xx

8. "Anything Could Happen" Ellie Goulding

7. "We Are Young" Fun.

6. "Katana Rock" Dirty Ghosts

5. "How Long Have You Known" DIIV

4. "Creeping" 2:54

3. "House that Heaven Built" Japandroids

2. "The Descent" Bob Mould

1. "This Ladder Is Ours" The Joy Formidable

Check out the rest of my best of posts.

The live shot of The Joy Formidable is mine, taken at their recent gig at The Mod Club.

Men Without Hats are back!

If you lived through the 80s or listened to popular music since the 80s you've probably heard "The Safety Dance" by a Montreal band called Men Without Hats.

Well, they're back!

Here's a track from their recently released album Love in the Age of War. Sounds good, with an unmistakeable Men Without Hats sound courtesy of those classic keyboards and Ivan's voice.

You can get the mp3 at Spinner.

And just cuz I can, here's "The Safety Dance". An all-time classic.