TURF 2015: Day 2 Compendium - Concert Pictures

Day 2 of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival took place on September 19. Rain threatened and then followed through on the threat during The Strumbellas' set. It dampened us but not our spirits as the day continued with more of the fantastic music and festival atmosphere that we have grown to expect at TURF.

If you missed my individual posts, here's all of day two in one place.

Skydiggers

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

St. Paul and the Broken Bones

Cake

Rich Aucoin

Passenger

Choir! Choir! Choir!

Lucinda Williams

The Strumbellas

The River and The Road

The Elwins

Julian Taylor Band

In case you missed it, check out my Day 1 Compendium.

TURF 2015 Day 2: St. Paul and the Broken Bones on the South Stage - Concert Pictures

St. Paul and the Broken Bones' popularity seems to be growing quickly. From high-profile fans like David Letterman through to bigger and bigger gigs, this is a band that's going places fast. They were the second last act to appear on the South Stage of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival on the second day of the festival. They also played a jam-packed Club Bonus Series show at Lee's Palace on Sunday night, which was impossible to get into.

Getting the band up on stage without singer Paul Janeway for the first track has a number of advantages. It gets the crowd on their feet and dancing, amping up the anticipation of Paul coming on stage and the show really getting rolling. It also allows photographers and the crowd to get a good look at the band. Because Paul is such a magnetic presence that once he hits the stage, no one is looking at anyone else.

St. Paul and the Broken Bones' set featured the biggest crowd I've seen at South Stage. They played a high-energy set that was just what everyone needed to get themselves fully dried out and warm. Someone called them the highlight of the festival and they weren't wrong, although TURF is a festival of many highlights. Paul is a super dynamic performer and the tunes go down like smooth bourbon. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm a sucker for a horn section, and this type of music never gets old for me.

Check out some of St. Paul and the Broken Bones' music:

"Call Me"

"Half the City"

"Grass Is Greener"

"I'm Torn Up"

"Don't Mean A Thing"

Or, if you want, check out the whole KEXP performance:

TURF announces Club Bonus Series: Royal Canoe, Murder by Death, Desaparecidos, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Restorations, CATL, Will Butler and more at Lee's Palace

So we got the TURF festival line-up for Fort York. We got the Club Preview Series with Northcote (check out my pics from that show) and upcoming shows from Birds of Bellwoods August 13 at Lee's Palace and Union Duke August 21 at The Horseshoe. We get the Club Bonus Series, where you get to go from a fantastic day of the sights, sounds and tastes of TURF at Fort York, to the cozy confines of The Horseshoe or Lee's Palace to take in more great music. The announcement of The Horseshoe shows came about a week ago. Now we get the Club Bonus Series details for Lee's Palace, with one more show announcement to come on July 21. I think that TURF may turn out to be the music event of the year here in Toronto!

The Club Bonus Series at Lee's Palace runs from September 16-21 and features acts including Royal Canoe, Murder by Death, Desaparecidos, St. Paul & The Broken Bones and Will Butler. Fantastic bands like CATL, Restorations, Highs, Hop Along and Julian Taylor Band are opening. Off the top, I think that Desaparecidos, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, CATL and Restorations are not to be missed. I'm just getting acquainted with some of the other artists.

You can get in by buying a VIP Plus ticket for access to all TURF shows or individual tickets to the club shows. Tickets go on sale this Thursday, July 16 at noon.

The dates / shows are:
September 16 Royal Canoe w/ Highs
September 17 Murder By Death w/ Restorations & CATL
September 19 Desaparecidos w/ Hop Along
September 20 St. Paul & The Broken Bones w/ Julian Taylor Band
September 21 Will Butler

Listen and pick your shows:

Royal Canoe

Murder By Death

Desaparecidos

St. Paul & The Broken Bones

Highs

Restorations

CATL (check out my pics from their show at The Shoe in January)

Hop Along

Julian Taylor Band

Will Butler

Toronto Urban Roots Festival (TURF) reveals line-up

So many important things happening today. First, it's 420.

Second, today's the day that The Toronto Urban Roots Festival, TURF for short, has unveiled their line-up for 2015! The big names include Of Monsters and Men, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Wilco, The Avett Brothers, Neko Case, UB40, Cake and Lord Huron. Also on the bill are Desaparecidos featuring Connor Oberst, Deerhunter, Built to Spill, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Shakey Graves and Will Butler. I'm personally excited about some more of the small-print acts like Fishbone, Skydiggers, The Elwins, NQ Aruckle, Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins and Restorations. In total, there will be 46 acts across three stages, so more acts will be announced as we get closer to the show date.

Due to the Pan-Am Games, the festival is later than usual. It's scheduled for September 18-20 at Fort York Garrison Commons. This year's focus is on the Toronto scene with a local artist kicking things off on each of the three stages each day. The biggest challenge that I see for TURF is the other festivals, including Riot Fest, that are scheduled for the same weekend.

TURF ticket info:

• Earlybird Tier One 3 Day Passes, 3 Day Front of Stage VIP Passes, and 3 Day VIP Plus Passes go on sale Thursday April 23 at noon through Ticketfly, and then at Rotate This, Soundscapes, and The Horseshoe Tavern Friday April 24 at noon
• Earlybird Tier One ticket sales end on Wednesday June 10 at Midnight
• Single day line-ups and tickets will be announced June 8 and on sale June 11
• The Club Bonus Series, which features many of the festival performers, appearing in venues like Lee's Palace and The Horseshoe Tavern, is back and will be announced in early July

Here are some of the acts that I'm most looking forward to. Of course, one of the things that I like best about TURF is the acts that I discover by seeing them at the festival.

Of Monsters and Men

The Avett Brothers

Neko Case

Desaparecidos

Deerhunter

Built to Spill

St. Paul and the Broken Bones - quite the build-up from Mr. Letterman. I think these guys will put on a super-fun show.

Fishbone - I haven't seen these guys since the second Lollapalooza tour back in 1993

Skydiggers

Chuck Ragan

The Elwins

NQ Arbuckle

Ron Hawkins and DGA (Do Good Assassins)

Restorations - really like what I hear on first listen. Look for a more in-depth post on these guys.

Just in case you missed it, you can see all my TURF coverage from 2014 and 2013 by clicking right here. I've got pics of such artists as July Talk, Gogol Bordello, Gaslight Anthem, Hey Rosetta!, Drive-By Truckers, Shovels & Rope, Black Joe Lewis, Deer Tick, Gary Clark Jr., London Souls, The Hold Steady, Frank Turner, Lowest of the Low, Matt Mays, Dawes and more.

Pic from Indie 88.