TURF 2015 Day 3: Ron Hawkins and the Do Good Assassins on the East Stage - Concert Pictures

Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins was the local band to kick things off on the East Stage of Day 3 of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival. I'm a pretty big Ron Hawkins fan and I've covered The Do Good Assassins on these pages many times including photographing them at The Drake Underground and at The Horseshoe Tavern, twice. This was a great opportunity to see the band do their musical thing on a beautiful Toronto day.

They put out a new album of mostly previously-released tunes called Garden Songs earlier this year and their set featured a number of these tunes including the beautiful closing tune "Peace and Quiet" plus "Propellers" and "Waitin' On Something That's Already Here". They also played an old Ron Hawkins and The Rusty Nails tune "Bite Down Hard" and a Lowest of the Low tune, "Eternal Fatalist". I loved hearing horns on that latter tune. Maybe The Low should consider adding a horn section. We heard "From the Alta Lima Hotel" from Ron's 2006 solo album Chemical Sounds, "Public Transit" and "Spotlight" from The Assassins previous album Rome, and a new song called "Strum and Drag".

The band sounded fantastic, the songs are perfection and it was a great way to start off the last day of TURF.

Their setlist was:

"From the Alta Lima Hotel", Ron Hawkins solo
"Bite Down Hard", Ron Hawkins and The Rusty Nails
"Public Transit", Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins
"Strum and Drag", Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins
"Propellers", Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins
"Deadman", Ron Hawkins
"Waitin' On Something That's Already Here", Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins
"Eternal Fatalist", Lowest of the Low
"Spotlight", Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins
"Peace and Quiet", Ron Hawkins

And here are some of my favourites:

"Bite Down Hard"

"Propellers"

"Deadman"

"Eternal Fatalist"

"Spotlight"

"Peace and Quiet"

New tune Believe You're Mine from forthcoming Nada Surf album You Know Who You Are

When Nada Surf appeared here in Toronto at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern a few weeks back, they played some tunes from their forthcoming new album. Soon after, they announced details of the album, which will be called You Know Who You Are and will be out March 4. Of course they'll embark on a tour and they'll be back in Hogtown on June 3 at Lee's Palace.

Check out the easy-going tune "Believe You're Mine" from the new album and get your tickets for their upcoming show in your town.

The Strumbellas at The Horseshoe for the venue's 68th birthday - Concert Pictures

The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern is a Toronto live music fixture, having been in action since 1947. Many, many established and upcoming artists have graced it's stage. Each year, the venue celebrates its anniversary with more of what they do best - bringing Toronto live music audiences the best in local and international acts. Last year, I caught The Hold Steady, who played a multi-night stand to celebrate the venue's birthday. This past Friday, Toronto independent music legends The Lowest of the Low performed for a sold-out audience while I was out seeing Wolf Alice, and this past Saturday, The Strumbellas performed for another sold-out audience.

I was highly impressed with The Strumbellas' performance at The Toronto Urban Roots Festival back in September so I jumped at a chance to see a longer set by the band in a fantastic venue, and hopefully without the downpour that accompanied Strumbellas' TURF show. I got what I wished for in volumes.

The Strumbellas are a fantastic group of musicians who bring to life high energy, danceable and singable songs to an ever growing and enthusiastic audience. They were very appreciative of the attention they're getting and were thankful to The Horseshoe Tavern for supporting them and so many other local musicians. The show was a great celebration of The Strumbellas and The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern.

Their set was a great mix of music from their 2013 album We Still Move On Dance Floors, their 2012 album My Father and the Hunter. We even got to hear some brand new tunes from their forthcoming album Hope which comes out February 5, including some tunes that had never before been played for a large audience. 

Check out some highlights from The Strumbellas' Horseshoe 68th Birthday playlist:

"Sheriff"

One of my personal favourites "End of an Era"

"Ride On"

The incredible "Spirits" from the new Hope album

"Long Road"

"Lakes"

Main set closing tune "Sailing"

Encore-starting tune "Home Sweet Home"

Wolf Alice at The Phoenix Concert Theatre - Concert Pictures

Wolf Alice has become one of my favourite bands. They've been through Toronto three times in the past year and I've been lucky enough to photograph them and experience their live show each time. They first appeared at The Drake Underground back in early March, then at a sold-out Adelaide Hall at the beginning of October, and this time at The Phoenix Concert Theatre. Each time I've seen them they've brought their show up a notch with greater energy and enthusiasm, not to mention the bigger venues and audiences.

At this point, I don't know what I can say about the London band that I haven't said already. They're songs rock with a great blend of influences and originality, growing more attractive with repeated listenings. They deliver their music with enthusiasm and excellent musicianship and they seem like very cool people.

Watch for a number of Wolf Alice songs to feature on my Best Songs of 2015 list and their album My Love Is Cool to feature on my Best Albums of 2015 list, when I get around to compiling them.

Give a listen so some of the highlights of their highlight-filled set.

"Freazy"

"Bros"

"You're A Germ"

"Storms"

A song they said they hadn't played in a million years, "Baby Ain't Made Of China"

"Fluffy"

"She"

The last song of their set, "Giant Peach"

Encore tune "Moaning Lisa Smile"

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.