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So as I made my way out to the main stage to check out Winnipeg’s The Weakerthans, I was pleased to see that the sun was coming out to make an appearance and I couldn’t be happier: sunshine and the Weakerthans tend to go together pretty well, even if the songs they are singing about are about wanting to ritually kill your neighbors and wear their pet dog as a hat. Come to think of it, that’d be a pretty bitching song. Err, anyway. The band had a great set and chased away the rest of the clouds, leading to a completely sunny VFest for the rest of the day. Awesome!

More Weakerthan pics here!

Pic post time!

Danko Jones is a maniac, and I kind of love it. He’ll be like, “Okay you f*ckers, make some noise! I’ve got big problems and I need to feel better!” And then he’ll snarl and sing about oral sex and growl and sneer.

My favourite thing about watching The Weakerthans is that lead singer John will introduce each song by saying, “this is a song about Bigfoot. It’s called, ‘Bigfoot’.” Or, “this is a song about Arctic exploration.” I’m a fan of the subject matter. And now, some pics!

(photos by Wendy)

Before deciding on my schedule for the day, I had a quick listen to Paper Lions, who I’ll admit, I judged solely based on their band name (in a good way). “Paper Lions” sounds like the kind of band I’d enjoy listening to, and my instincts turned out to be correct. Thankfully I saw the band post-February 2008 name change, cause if they’d been listed under their original name (”Chucky Danger Band”) I may not have followed through with checking out their set. Isn’t Paper Lions a way cooler name?

Despite the early call time (2:30pm at the TD Stage), there was a considerable crowd of fans out for Paper Lions’ set, notably a large group draped in a Prince Edward Island provincial flag. There’s something about east coasters and their provincial flags - they love flaunting them (we saw Nova Scotian flags out for Wintersleep as well!). I couldn’t even tell you what Ontario’s creed/flag looks like. Literally couldn’t pick it out of a lineup. Hmm.

Let me just say that siner/guitarist John MacPhee’s voice is incredible. Absolutely note perfect and unwavering in its strength. He was givin’ er for the entire set, and his brother Rob MacPhee (on bass) and guitarist Colin Buchanan provided accompanying harmonies. Throughout I was focused on how beautiful these harmonies were - and at the precise moment that I thought it couldn’t get any more perfectly tuned, they broke out the ultimate harmony: a cover of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody - you know the part (”is this the real life…is this just fantasy? caught in a landslide…no escape from reality…”). It was breathtaking!

Then there was the epic, nearly ten minute long monster jam (I wish I knew the name!) and another strong vocal jam that had drummer David Cyrus MacDonald hop onto the bongos while guitarist Colin Buchanan took over drumming duties for a bit. Can’t wait to hear more from this band - singer Rob mentioned that the band was hoping to pop into the studio this fall to record some new songs, some of which they previewed for the VFest crowd.

Now whenever you’re talkin about Prince Edward Island (which, let’s face it, should be more often), you’ll have something besides Anne Of Green Gables and fingerling potatoes to talk about!

Links:
MySpace: Paper Lions

My inner diva was almost reluctant to trudge (yes, trudge) over to the Oh Henry stage to catch the first performance of the day because it was so wet and miserable. The trek from the cozy and dry media tent to the smaller stages was brutal. Michael Kuss had predicted only one millimetre of rain but what we got was more like ten times that amount. Gross.

What followed though was well worth it. A 30 minute set from my current Canadian indie fascination, Winter Gloves. I absolutely adore these guys - they played to a tiny crowd (I guess that’s what you get when you’re the first act of the day) and showcased most of the material from their debut full-length album, About A Girl. The guys had some technical difficulties with an amp blowing out halfway through, but they improvised like champs by playing with the remaining powered instruments. Each band member contributed to the percussion components of the songs, rockin’ the tambourine, electronic drums and various other maraca-esque instruments. Nice work, lads. Can’t wait to see a full set from you on your tour this fall!

Ew. It’s piss pouring rain outside right now, and it has been since I got here at noon. APPARENTLY it’s supposed to clear up this afternoon (*shakes fist*), but even if it doesn’t, we’ve got our ponchos ready to bring you more pics and video! We’ll do our best to update throughout the day but for sures you can expect tons more tonight. For now, here’s a few randoms from yesterday and the video below shows you what the park looked like when I got here this morning (note: EMPTY and RAINY).

Oh yeah, and don’t forget - if you were here, upload your pics to Show Me Yours so we can see ‘em!!

(pics by Trevor and Wendy)

From the moment I saw Foo Fighters t-shirts on the street this morning, I knew today would bring a dedicated Foo crowd to Toronto Island - and the dudes did NOT disappoint. Dave was in a crazy good mood (is he ever not?) swigging beers and cursing like a sailor, getting the audience amped for a good time. And seriously, when you pack a wallop in the form of “All My Life” and “Learn To Fly” straight off the top, you know it’s gonna be a good show.

Full review and setlist coming from our resident FF expert Alberto but for now, here’s some pics from the set!

(Photos by Wendy)

I made a few realizations during the absolutely killer performance by The Kooks.

1. The fans love The Kooks. Like, that “go ape-shit” kind of love:

2. The Kooks love their fans. Energetic, enthusiastic and obviously very happy to be here:

And 3. The Kooks fans love other Kooks fans, no matter what part of the world they are from:

In the end, we could all learn a little something from The Kooks.

(Photos by Soja)

One of the bigger bits of disappointing news that came late today was the fact that French electro DJ SebastiAn had missed his flight and wouldn’t be performing in the Bacardi set. Major bummer. And then later the news that “fidget house” guru Switch wasn’t going to be on the island either, and you can bet that being a huge fan of both DJs, I was majorly disappointed.

HOWEVER - one way to satisfy this girl is to announce that local superstar DJ/producer/remix duo MSTRKRFT will be taking over the reins for the no-shows. I’m a huge fan of the music that MSTRKRFT plays, DJs and remixes so it was basically a no brainer. Thankfully Jesse Keeler and Al-P were both in town and available to take over on such short notice. The guys did not disappoint, playing a range of tracks that spanned multiple decades, including some of their own stuff (and maybe new stuff from their forthcoming album? Hard to say…) and lots of their remixes. Some of the standouts were the extremely lovable remix of Justice’s D.A.N.C.E., a mashup of Daft Punk’s Da Funk and One More Time as well as Robin S.’s Show Me Love. And then there’s their new song Bounce, featuring vocals by Isis of Thunderheist, who just happened to be rocking out during their set, and she came up on stage to join the duo and sing along (albeit without a mic). Also, Jesse managed to down what looked like a bottle of Jack Daniels and smoke a pack of cigarettes during their set. What a rockstar.

I’ve recently accepted the fact that MSTRKRFT DJs pretty much my favourite set time and time again - lots of harsh and bumpin’ electro and then other familiar songs. I’m really eager to hear a second album full of bangers.

(Photo by Kat)

No matter where you see the Foo Fighters you will be guaranteed a great show. These guys just love to rock out and today was no exception. This was the third time I’ve seen them live and each of the three shows were different and rocked in their own way!

To see these guys rock out at an outdoor festival was amazing. With 20,000 screaming fans and a 7 year old who is witnessing his first Foo Fighters where others have waited 14 years, these guys pumped out hit after hit after hit. The Foo’s opened up with All My Life where Mr.Grohl encouraged the crowd to make some noise. Then came Times Like These followed by Learn To Fly.

Dave had help from the crowd with great sing a longs that included My Hero, Everlong (which started off as a solo then ended with the whole band) and Long Road To Ruin. He also took the time to introduce everyone in the band starting off with lead guitarist Chris Shiflett, followed by bassist Nate Mendel and then to former member and touring member Pat Smear.

Then came the fun solos, he introduced Jessy Greene who rocked out with Dave for her violin solo which was then followed by a triangle solo performed by Drew Hester which was greatly appreciated by the crowd.

Following the solos they continued to pump out songs that included Let It Die, Monkey Wrench and Taylor Hawkins’ A Cold Day In The Sun. And they ended their show with Best Of You which was a great way to end an amazing show, having 20,000 fans screaming ‘Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?’ After seeing that show I think I got the best of the Foo’s! Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.

Here’s a list of songs that they played (if I’ve missed any please feel free to comment them and I’ll add them)
My Hero
The Pretender
Everlong
Monkey Wrench
Stacked Actors
Long Road To Ruin
A Cold Day In The Sun
Learn To Fly
All My Life
Let It Die
Break Out
Best Of You
Cheer Up, Boys (Your Make Up is Running)
Times Like These

(Photos by Wendy)