There are plenty of milestones in life, and lots of them seem designed to make us feel old. The thought that an album from your youth has hit a significant milestone like 10 or 20 years old does the trick. Here's an example of a classic album turning 30.
Tears for Fears made it into the world's consciousness with great tunes like "Mad World", "Change", and "Pale Shelter" from their 1983 début The Hurting. Their next album, Songs from the Big Chair, came out 30 years ago - in 1985 - and propelled them even further.
Here are a couple of personal highlights from this milestone album.
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
"Mothers Talk"
"Shout" was the big, big hit, but as I recall, it got so overplayed back then that it pretty much drove me nuts.
There's a new festival coming to town. It's called WayHome and it's taking place north of Toronto, near Barrie, in Oro-Medonte, at Burl's Creek, July 24 through 26. All the details are on the festival site. It's put together by Republic Live and AC Entertainment who just happen to be the co-founders and producers of Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, so you know this is going to be a well-run festival. Tickets go on sale today, so check out the great bands that are playing, get excited, choose your camping options, and break out your credit card!
Here are a bunch of the bands that I want to catch at the festival:
Modest Mouse
The Decembrists
Passion Pit
St. Vincent
Vance Joy
Future Islands
The Gaslight Anthem
Walk the Moon
Hey Rosetta!
July Talk
Metz
Alvvays
Yukon Blonde
Broods
Viet Cong
Lowell
Just for starters.
Looking forward to this new addition to the Toronto area festival season.
Late last year, Stars released their latest album, No One Is Lost. They just finished up a three-night sold-out residency at The Danforth Music Hall here in Toronto with Hey Rosetta!. I caught the show on Friday the 13th, the night before Valentine's Day. Two meaningless days, as far as Torq is concerned, but Friday night proved to be a fantastic night to catch some great music.
I've seen Stars five times, and that's enough to be confident that they do not disappoint. They're seasoned professionals who love what they do and it shows. They played songs from across their career, weighing heavily on their current album, but going all the way back to 2003's Heart.
Sometimes it's the unplanned things that make a live show special. During "Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It" the stage was invaded by Hey Rosetta! who were decked out in 20-minute workout style garb and ran through some fun choreography. I wonder what the February 14 revenge by Stars will look like.
The Danforth Music Hall is a great venue with great sound and a big stage with room for the kind of fantastic light show that Stars brought in. They provided copious amounts of dry ice to fill the room with light beams and made the show a visual as well as an auditory feast.
Stars played tunes for everyone. From cool songs that sound-tracked our psychological breakdowns (anything from Set Yourself on Fire) and up-beat disco numbers that allow us to find community in our insecurity (main set closer "No One Is Lost") to all the beauty in between ("Backlines", "Elevator Love Letter", "A Song is a Weapon", "Dead Hearts") and high intensity ("Ageless Beauty", "Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It", "Take Me to the Riot").
Check out some of my personal highlights from their setlist.
"From the Night" from No One Is Lost
"Ageless Beauty" from Set Yourself on Fire
"Backlines" from The North
"A Song Is A Weapon" from The North
"Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It" from The North
"Dead Hearts" from The Five Ghosts
"One More Night" from Set Yourself on Fire
"Take Me To The Riot" from In Our Bedroom After the War
On February 7, I saw a band that I loved back in the 80s. The band is Canadian prog-rock legends Saga. I loved the 1981 album Worlds Apart and 1983's Heads or Tails. They had a great combination of musicianship, catchy song writing and energy that I loved. I hoped that they still sounded great and that they wouldn't ignore their old hits.
Turns out I was right on both counts. The band sounded great; tight and polished. Singer Michael Sadler was in great voice. And they played some (but not all) of my old favourites. "Don't Be Late", "On The Loose", "Scratching the Surface", "Wind Him Up" and "The Flyer" all made it into the setlist. Considering that they've got 22 albums in total, it's pretty great that the set was as packed in my favour as it was.
I do have to call out one thing that seems to come up in these shows by old, classic bands; the drum solo. I called it out in my review of classic rockers April Wine show this past summer. Drum solos are an anachronism. Seriously. Who likes drum solos? They're one thing from old rock that I definitely don't miss. And they take set time away from what we're all really there for - the songs!
The new songs didn't resonate with me the way the old favourites did. I know that I immediately like lots of tunes so I don't think it's just a case of the new tunes being unfamiliar, but you never know. They just didn't seem to have the immediacy and hooks of the old tunes. Overall, for those looking to hear some classic 80s hits, a Saga show is a great sounding place to do it.
The Subways have just released a new, self-titled album. Back in June, I featured the song "Pumping to a Brand New Beat" and now we get the official video for "Taking All The Blame". They're streaming the whole album on their site, so check it out.
These guys are a high-energy alt-rock band that I would love to see when they hit a Toronto-area stage.
"Taking All The Blame"
And jus cuz, here's the official video for "Pumping to a Brand New Beat".
