Wayhome Music & Arts Festival has announced their 2017 line-up. Headlined by Imagine Dragons, Frank Ocean, Flume, Justice, Solange, Marshmello, Vance Joy, Schoolboy Q, Tegan and Sara and The Shins, plus a cool list of others and more TBA, it looks like another great festival.
Festival passes go on sale this Friday February 17! Don't miss this summer festival highlight!
Who would I most like to see from this stacked list of artists? Thought you'd never ask.
Click on the artist names for my shots of these artists from past shows!
The fine folks who give us such a great summer highlight in Wayhome Festival want to make sure we get through the cold winter months with dreams of next year's summer fest. They did so by putting on Wayhome for the Holidays at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto last Wednesday night.
The Darcys introduced their major genre shift from sprawling and intense art-rock and Steely Dan cover albums to Miami Vice neon pop with their gig at The Mod Club back in May. My pics from that show are here. Since then, they've been riding high on the success of super-catchy 80s tinged single "Miracle" and their brand spanking new album Centrefold, which came out at the beginning of November.
They were down to the core duo for this gig which showed off their catchy, hook-filled and danceable tunes with copious 80s nods for a full Phoenix Concert Theatre crowd. The crowd was longing for the summer days of Wayhome, the hot Pacific breezes of San Diego in 1988 and from the actions of some folks near me, almost-unbridled passion was in the air.
We did get a couple glimpses at The Darcys of old, with "The River" and their cover of Steely Dan's "Josie" from their full-album cover of Aja. They remarked on 2016 and how it's been a year of tragic rock star deaths, including Prince. They broke into a cover of "Purple Rain" and I thought, wow, this is an ambitious tune to cover. Well, they only gave us a taste by limiting themselves to the first verse an chorus. The rest of the set focused on Centrefold and finished off with an encore of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is" before we shuffled out into the drizzly fall night.
With The Darcys' solid set along with Bear Mountain's dance party and The Beaches' rock, it was a great night of tunes that makes us look forward to next summer's Wayhome Festival.
The fine folks who give us such a great summer highlight in Wayhome Festival want to make sure we get through the cold winter months with dreams of next year's summer fest. They did so by putting on Wayhome for the Holidays at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto last Wednesday night.
Vancouver BC electronic band Bear Mountain was an unknown entity to me as I walked in the doors of The Phoenix. I heard from a staff member that their sound check sounded awesome and just based on the sound check she became their biggest fan. High praise.
They got a big cheer when Beaches shouted out to them and again when they hit the stage. They delivered a set of big, groovy beats - disco beats with a 90s then 80s - vibe if that makes no sense whatsoever. Their 80s synth sounds and cool, triangular light show made it all complete.
The fine folks who give us such a great summer highlight in Wayhome Festival want to make sure we get through the cold winter months with dreams of next year's summer fest. They did so by putting on Wayhome for the Holidays at The Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto last Wednesday night.
First up on stage were one of my favourite bands, The Beaches. They came out in their holiday best to rock the growing crowd. I love seeing this band live and I enjoy them more every time I see them. I think they get better each time and have more fun every time, too. Go see them next time you have the chance.
Their short set was filled with tunes both new and old. Highlights for me were their new single "Give It Up", the first Beaches song I ever heard "Loner" - I love the live power of that tune - and the one-two punch of closing tunes "Boy Wonder" and "Late Show". Fantastic!
