TURF 2015 Day 2: Cake on the West Stage - Concert Pictures

Cake graced the stage on Day 2 of The Toronto Urban Roots Festival. They're a classic of alternative rock music, originating in the 90s, that put on a very fun performance. Singer John McCrae was battling bronchitis but it sure didn't show. They put on a fan-pleasing set that eased us quite nicely into the evening.

They started off strong with a one-two punch of "Love You Madly" and " Sheep Go to Heaven". I never realized until during the latter song just how much fun it would be to sing along with those quirky lyrics.

"The grave digger puts on the forceps

The stonemason does all the work

The barber can give you a haircut

The carpenter can take you out to lunch

Now, I just want to play on my panpipes

I just want to drink me some wine

As soon as you're born, you start dying

So you might as well have a good time 

Sheep go to Heaven

Goats go to Hell"

I was off shooting St. Paul and the Broken Bones, so I didn't witness it, but I heard that Choir! Choir! Choir! joined the band for their rendition of "Short Skirt Long Jacket". That had to be cool!

Check out some tunes from Cake's setlist:

"Love You Madly"

"Sheep Go To Heaven"

"Sick of You"

"Going the Distance"

"Never There"

"Short Skirt Long Jacket"

Surfer Blood at The Drake Underground - Concert Pictures

Surfer Blood from West Palm Beach, Florida have a whole ton of influences all wrapped up in their catchy alternative rock / power pop style. There's plenty of loud guitars, with rhythmic shifts, pop melodic hooks and I swear I heard shades of Boston in a few of the guitar harmonies. Overall, the band presented a very pleasing music package to their Toronto audience at The Drake Underground last Sunday night, November 22. To answer the band's question, no, the hotel is in no way, shape or form named after the Canadian hip-hop basketball mascot. I wonder if they got to stay in the hotel for the night?

They played a solid set featuring songs from Astro Coast, Tarot Classics EP, Pythons and their most recent release, 1000 Palms. This gig marked their new bassist Lindsey Mills' first trip to Canada. Hope she had fun. There was a point in the gig when singer John Paul Pitts gave a shout out to original guitarist Thomas Fekete who had to leave the band to fight cancer. All the best to him and his struggles with his health and the American health care system. And if you're a guitar player, practice up and you may get a chance to take the stage and borrow Pitts' guitar for some soloing.

Check out some of the highlight tunes from their setlist.

"Grand Inquisitor"

"Floating Vibes"

"Twin Peaks"

"Island"

"Demon Dance"

"Swim"

"I Can't Explain"

New music from Lowest of the Low and tour dates

Ron Hawkins has written a couple of new Lowest of the Low songs and recorded them with David Alexander, Brian MacMillan, Lawrence Nichols and Dylan Parker. They're solid tunes called "The Kids Are All Wrong" and "In The Blink of An Eye" that will fit into the Low setlist just fine. I will truly never get tired of Ron's songs.


They've also announced a few Ontario gigs. They're in the pic above and text below. Check 'em out, although the Collective Concerts website shows The Horseshoe show as sold out.

December 4 in Toronto at The Horseshoe Tavern
December 5 in Hamilton at This Ain't Hollywood
December 10 in Waterloo at The Starlight Social Club
December 11 in Peterborough at The Red Dog Tavern
December 12 in Barrie at Roxy Sideroom

New video for Chvrches Empty Threat

Chvrches are absolutely one of the best bands crafting pop music today and one of my favourite bands. Their songs are incredible, their live show is amazing, and they truly seem like cool people. If you're looking for some evidence of their live show mastery, check out my pics from their Danforth Music Hall show.

Their most recent album Every Open Eye is certainly one of the best albums of 2015. They've just released a video for the primo tune "Empty Threat". Watch kids in all-black do what they do and listen to this great tune.

El Vy at The Opera House - Concert Pictures

As 4AD's web site puts it, "El Vy (pronounced like a plural of Elvis; rhymes with ‘hell pie’) is the musical collaboration between Matt Berninger, vocalist and lyricist of The National, and Brent Knopf, the Portland musician and producer best known for his work in Menomena and his more recent band, Ramona Falls." They released their album Return to the Moon earlier this year and indie alternative radio has been playing the heck out of the title track. It even graced these pages.

The band sounded great and the light show was very cool and unique for a venue of this size. After a while, there can be a tendency to walk into a venue with expectations of what you're going to see in terms of things like a light show, and it's awesome when an act can bring something unique that makes the show and the resulting pics special.

The show was super sold out and I was lucky to have arrived early to get a good spot. Moving around was near impossible and a friend who came late couldn't get to the front. This shouldn't have been a surprise because getting to see a performer like Matt in a club this size at this point in his career, even for a side project show, was something special. At the end of the set, Matt acknowledged what we all knew, they only have so many songs and there wasn't going to be an encore, so enjoy this one - it's the last tune.

Overall, it was a cool show by a cool project.

Check out some tunes from their setlist.

"Silent Ivy Hotel"

"Return to the Moon"

"Paul Is Alive"

"I'm The Man To Be"

"Need A Friend"