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THE TOP FIVE ACTS ON THE RIOT FEST UNDERCARD

Last year I started my Riot Fest coverage by getting kicked in the head and ended it with a man drinking whisky out of a catheter bag. In between some bands played. While topping that experience will be difficult, this Saturday and Sunday I am venturing out to the Downsview Park, a giant field north of the city that is still technically a part of Toronto, to cover this year’s festivities. If you’re into long distance, out of focus, photos and acerbic commentary you can follow my exploits on twitter.  

This year’s line-up is headlined by the Alexisonfire reunion, The Wu Tang Clan, and two nights of Weezer (Because clearly the lively and energetic live show that is Weezer could not be contained to just one evening). The festival also features performances by site favourites Frank Turner, Andrew WK, and Rancid who will be playing …And Out Come The Wolves in its entirety (Because someone at Riot Fest clearly wants me to blubber cry in front of a bunch of strangers).

By now I’m guessing that concert goers have figured out who they want to see on the main card, but below I’ve thrown together some of my suggestions for some (slightly) lesser known acts. If you’d like to argue with me about why this list is the best or the worst, again, twitter.

Five: Fidlar 

Fidlar play up-tempo California indie punk. They sing about drinking and getting high. They’re one of the first acts on the second day of Riot Fest. They are the hair of the dog. They’re gonna be the morning booze that lets you keeps you going. (Roots Stage. Sunday September 20^th. 12:40)

Four: Moneen

While never quite reaching the commercial success of Alexisonfire or Billy Talent, Moneen were mainstays in the Southern Ontario scene around the turn of the century. Admittedly it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the band play – they’ve been mostly inactive since 2013 – but during my formative years Moneen were the bench mark for live bands. I’m willing to vouch for them. (Riot Stage. Saturday September 19^th. 3:00)

Three: THE OBGMS

Toronto’s OBGMS (Oh Baby Gimme Mores) are danceable Thrash-rock in the vain of Death From Above 1979. Their music would serve equally well as the soundtrack for the best house party of your life or that day when you drank too much and decided to fight a mailbox. That’s something you’re either going to understand or you’re not. (Riot Stage. Saturday September 19^th. 1:45)

Two: The Cancer Bats

Earlier this year the Cancer Bats released Searching for Zero, a contender for 2015’s best hardcore record. Equal parts Black Sabbath and Black Flag, The Cancer bats seamlessly blend metal and punk, beating their audiences into submission with a seemingly relentless energy. Plus the band looks like game of thrones extras dressed like kids from Detroit Rock City.  (Riot Stage. Saturday September 19^th. 4:25)

One: The Diry Nil

The Dirty Nil play dirty, guitar driven, rock and roll. Earlier this year singer/guitarist Luke Bentham quit his day job after crashing a limousine and celebrated by buying a clear guitar. The story kind of works as a larger metaphor for the whole band. It’s the devil may care irreverence accompanied by a lo-fi balls to the wall grit.  (Radicals Stage. Saturday Septmeber 19^th. 8:00)

Photo of the Dirty Nil via YOSH PHOTOGRAPHY 

Earlier this week I was browsing my twitter feed when I noticed the a number of posts using the hashtag #ImagineOctober20th . The tweets were Canadians speculating on what the country might look like if the Conservatives are voted out of power in the October 19^th federal election. The tweets also highlighted some of the controversial decisions made by the Tories including their commitment to fossil fuels, reduced funding for the CBC, and Prime Minster Stephen Harper’s refusal to speak with journalists, among others.

One of the main contributors to the hashtag was Stars frontman Torquil Campbell, who answered questions and chatted with fans, while encouraging posters to get involved in any way they can. In response to the hashtag a series DIY arts events have popped up across the country where musicians, writers, and other artist are coming together to share their distaste for the current administration. Campbell is hosting his own event in Toronto on September 30^th. The show will take place at 918 Bathurst and features performances by Feist, The Sadies, Dave Bidini, and more.

I recently had the chance to speak with Campbell about #ImagineOctober20th and the role artists play in politics.

Graham Isador: The first I heard about #ImagineOctober20th was through your twitter. Can you explain when the hastag is and why you got involved?

First I want to EMPHASIZE that this has no leader. There's no bank account. There's no office. There's just an idea and a bunch of people who feel hopeful about change in this country. What we hope is that people use their hearts, minds, and energy to imagine a new chapter in this country. That simple. It can come in the form of something as small as poem, or as large as a concert. If we all imagine the country we want to live in, maybe we can start to shift the dialogue and actually get it closer to that dream. And when another party does take over, they will know what the people who elected them expect. And they should be held to account for it just as toughly as Stephen Harper. I’m one voice among many. It’s just as much your thing as it is mine.

One of the main things you’re doing to promote #ImagineOctober20 are arts events across Canada. What role do you think artists have to play in politics?

In a healthy society artists can reflect the conscience and the emotion of the community. Artists speak about matters of the heart, which politics often dismisses as simplistic or unhelpful. I believe very strongly that art spreads compassion and empathy, and I think those things are sorely missing from a lot public policy.I think the reason so many artists have responded to this (#ImagineOvtober20th) is that they feel powerless and they feel afraid of public censure and judgement. The shut up and sing syndrome. This is a platform for the imagination. I think artists feel most comfortable in that realm, not in the realm of so called "politics".

I’m not a political person- I care about people and I see how public policy effects the lives of the vulnerable and the powerless. When they are it ignored, it fucking makes me angry. I think it makes a lot of us angry. Not just artists, but everyone. You know, conservatives think people suck. They base their policies around fear and selfishness. But people don't suck. Most of us know that. If you invest in people's goodness, good things happen.

There are a lot of parallels between #ImagineOctober20th to The Rock against Bush campaign in 2004. Are you at all concerned that associating a political cause with artists might mean people take these cause less seriously?

Anyone who would take a cause or issue less seriously because an artist spoke out about it is an idiot. Not to put too fine a point on it. I don't really have much more to say about that. We pay taxes. We raise our kids. We work for a living and we have as much right to speak as anyone else does. The idea that we don't is ridiculous.

The #ImagineOctober20th website lists a number of reasons to be tired of Harper and the Conservative Government. Is there any of their actions that stands out to you as particularly offensive?

For me, although I think almost all of their policies are wrong, the real problem with the Harper era is that it has made Canada a more divided, fearful and angry place. That's not leadership. I know lots of truly great people who don't share my political views. I have great, respectful, passionate arguments with those people that end in a beer.

The Harper government doesn't want to talk; they want to fight. For too long the left has shied away from the battle. I think people are ready now to stand up and call this government what it is: a divisive, arrogant mess that doesn't represent this country as we all imagine it. This movement is an attempt to move beyond that and say; ok, they are on their way out. We've had enough. Now what is going to emerge in their place? What kind of country do we want? And how do we get to that beautiful idea? The connection to that dream is what I think is resonating about the imagine October 20th movement.

You’ve expressed multiple times that what #ImagineOctober20th is a community. What do you mean by that? How can other people get involved?

All you have to do to get involved is do something. Make a t-shirt or a lawn sign. Have a party where you and your friends read essays about the Canada you imagine. Set up a concert in your town. There's a website you can send the info too and all that stuff will get posted there. All you have to do is find your positive energy and direct towards the morning of October 20th. That could be one amazing party, man. That's what we're suggesting. It's up to us, and if we take action and follow our hearts and imaginations, they will be beaten. We will have the chance to start again.

Please understand that I, nor Dan, nor anyone else is the leader of this thing. There is no leader. There is just an idea and a community. And that's all we need to have an effect.

Photos via: Twitter and Wei Ye Chen 
Graham Isador is a writer living in Toronto. You can follow him on twitter: @presgang

NOFX, Lagwagon, Dillinger Four, Strung Out, Swingin' Utters, The Flatliners, Masked Intruder, toyGuitar, Bad Cop/Bad Cop

The Myth

Maplewood, MN

August 28, 2015

No review, see photo gallery below.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Manning Bar

Sydney

August 7, 2015

As Karl Marx said, the relationship between a band and the context it is playing in is metabolic. Both are changed by the process of interaction. Actually, Karl Marx did not say that. If he did, he certainly was not talking about bands and the venues they hold court in.

In a dark and sweaty club Jon Spencer and comrades shine like a diamond, in this slightly bigger affair with an audience mainly comprised of burly men, they still worked their magic. The immediate and long-term impact of Jon Spencer's ouevre is difficult to overstate. In modern design "form follows function," but what form do you choose if you decide that it should function in any particular way? Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is a lil' bit more out there than their descendents The White Stripes and Black Keys. The trio is operating in a space that's completely their own: mixing a myriad of styles  from funk to hippity hop via hard rock to punk to a unique, subversive melange. Less than Spencer's theatrics and the tight machinery that JSPX has always been, your humble narrator was enthralled by Russell Simins pounding like a madman while locking grooves in perfectly. A highlight of the show was him taking over vocal deliveries along with Spencer wildly gesticulating to put his Theremin to good use.

Another enjoyable, chilly Friday night on the beautiful campus of the University of Sydney.

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Photo by T.

“We were standing in the middle of the square. There were snipers on the roof. Riot cops all around. People had already been killed. And she turned to me and said: we could die at any second, are you okay with that? And I thought, well, this is where I have to be. So we lived in seconds. We went second by second. It was all that mattered.”

I’m sitting with Mark Marczyk and Marichka Kudriavtseva. For the past twenty minutes or so I’ve asking the couple questions about their time on the Maidan, the site of the Ukrainian protests that turned violent early last year. In the aftermath of the protest Ukraine was invaded by Russian troops, and since that time the country has been at war over annexed territory. While media coverage has dwindled, Marczyk and Kudriavtseva stress to me that the struggle is still happening. People are still fighting.

Later this week the couple – who met on the Maidan - will premier Counting Sheep at Toronto’s Summerworks Festival alongside their gypsy-punk band Lemon Bucket Orkestra. Counting Sheep is an interactive mixed-media performance that uses music, movement, found footage, and food to tell the story of revolutionary Kyiv. Marczyk and Kudriavtseva created the performance as a gateway to their experience as protesters. They wanted to share the intense joy and utter terror that they found on the square.

“Everything I’ve done with my band, from the type of music we play to the way we perform, I learned through Ukraine,” explains Marcyzk, “When I saw what was happening I knew I needed to be there. I wanted to help with the skills I knew best: storytelling and music.”

Marcysk, a Canadian of Ukrainian heritage, was scoring a film near Kyiv during the protests over the government’s decision to bring the country closer to Russia. When Marcysk arrived on The Maidan – Kyiv’s centeral square - he found people of all walks of life, from all areas of the country, who had organized around the cause. The Maidan had turned into a functional tent city. People were sharing food, helping out with various chores, and protecting each other for the greater good of their country. Marcysk was floored by the sense of community and overwhelming warmth of the people. The same night he arrived the first of the protesters were killed.

Marczyk and Kudriavtseva speak about their experiences in a calm and precise manor. Rather than scaring them away the first deaths on the square intensified their need to stay where they were. The two connected because both were writing about their experiences, blogging and sending out reports through news outlets and social media, and because in the wake of everything that happened they began to play music for people living on The Madian.

“Making any art in Ukraine became political,” adds Kudriavtseva. “Most of the artists in the country became protesters and drawing attention to yourself during the protest was dangerous.”

Marczyk and Kudriavtseva stayed until the tent city was broken up and after that visited hospitals as well as battle sights to share their music and collect people’s stories. Counting Sheep is an effort to continue that work and bring those stories, as well as their own, to a wider audience.

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I caught an earlier incarnation of Counting Sheep earlier this year while doing coverage for Now Magazine. The performance – much like Marczyk and Kudiavtseva’s band Lemon Bucket Orkestra - isn’t the easiest thing to explain. It’s an experience more than a piece of theatre. The audience is invited to participate in the show, playing the part of the protesters as they slowly descent from celebration into sorrow. 

I left the theatre that night overwhelmed with mixture of emotions and feeling truly grateful for the chance to create and write like I do. The show offers a unique glimpse at people whose lives were turned political by circumstance and is a reminder of how quickly those things can be taken away.

Marczyk and Kudriavtseva for their part aren’t looking to beat anyone over the head with a message, but by sharing their experiences honestly, they point to a situation that is much, much bigger themselves and the overwhelming need to stick up for the things you believe in any way that you can

Dates for the show can be found here.