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Sebastien Grainger & the Mountains - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
Ex-Death From Above 1979 drummer/singer Sebastien Grainger stepped forward with his new band, the Mountians, to rock V-fest on a wet, Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately for Grainger, due to the weather and the set time, not many people came out to hear his new tunes. Drastically different from the harder, dirtier sounds of DFA, Grainger‘s new band sounds like a harder rocking Bloc Party. A little less dancey, a little more classic rock. Despite the sparse crowd, the band put on a great performance. Dressed like an amalgamation of a cop and a cowboy on Church St., Grainger gave it his all, collapsing to the floor like a rag-doll mid-solo, while his more than competent bassist pounded out some sick rhythm. Although they lacked the urgency of his old band, Sebastien and the Mountains should have a healthy future ahead of themselves.
- Sam Stilson
The Weakerthans - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
Dressed in plain t-shirts and jeans, the Weakerthans put on a typically boring performance, to suit their boring songs. The Winnipegers modestly played on the main stage to a fairly large crowd who swayed slowly and mouthed the words to all of the band’s hits. “Civil Twilight” and “The Reasons” in particular got a strong response from the audience. Each song was introduced with a clever “This song is about [Bigfoot]” which illicited a smirk from the concertgoers but despite their jovial nature the tunes that followed were still mediocre. It was a polite and forgettable set, from a polite, forgettable band.
- Sam Stilson
Silversun Pickups - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
Dressed in a striped sweater with a full beard blazing, Brian Aubert from Silversun Pickups left it all on stage at Virgin Fest. From the moment the band took the stage you could feel their energy; they came to play and play hard. Alternating between high toned melodies and guttural screams the front man was awe-inspiring and the band behind him pounded away on their instruments with equal fervour. Even the keyboardist seemed possessed as he rattled on the keys. Thanks to some major radio-play over the past year or so, the audience was engaged and excited to see the Californian quartet. It was a great performance by a burgeoning band.
- Sam Stilson
Shad - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
Playing on the much smaller, hidden-in-the-corner-of-the-island, Oh Henry! Stage had to be a bit of a letdown for the less popular bands at Virgin Fest, but this didn’t stop Toronto’s acoustic MC Shad from delivering a charismatic and cool show. Sounding like a live full-band Tribe Called Quest (whose beats he freestyled over mid-set) Shad held his audience captive as he plucked on an acoustic guitar and rapped with ease. His band which consisted of an amazing bassist, a solid drummer and a Canadian national DJ champ, provided solid grooves for Shad to drop his rhymes over. Not your typical MC, Shad’s lyrics consists of love songs, songs about making fun of his own love songs and astute observations on the indie culture we’ve all grown up in. Shad was funny, affable and most importantly a fantastic display of true hip-hop in an indie-rock dominated lineup.
- Sam Stilson
Sons & Daughters - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
No one showed up to watch Sons & Daughters. The field in front of the TD stage was empty come set time, and maybe that’s why the band decided to go on twenty minutes late, in the hopes that somebody might show up to watch. Eventually some teenagers and media members waited with their arms crossed to see what they had to offer. When the lead singer emerged in a bright yellow top, with neon pink boots, posing for the invisible cameras, this reviewer died a little inside. The whole band and performance was incredibly pretentious and forgettable. Thank God only a handful of V-festers had to sit through that set.
- Sam Stilson
Moby - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
Headlining the Bacardi B-Live tent for day 2, Moby had a tough act to follow after MSTRKRFT ‘s sensational showing the night before. However, Moby was more than up to the challenge as his DJ set was phenomenal. The tent was absolutely packed with just as many people there just to see the electronica star as there were to hear his music. Moby on occasion would leave his decks to shake hands with the crowd and pump his fists towards the mass of dancers revving the energy up to fever levels. It was truly inspiring to watch Moby work as he is obviously a master of his craft. At one point he managed to use the same piano riff in three or four different ways over the course of fifteen minutes, keeping it fresh each time, as the crowd roared in ovation. It couldn’t have gotten any hotter if the flaming backdrop behind him had been real.
- Sam Stilson
Paul Weller - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
Maybe Sir Richard Branson is a big fan of Paul Weller. Or maybe he offered to play for free. But the inclusion of the 50 year old Brit and his band, as headliners no less, felt very odd. That’s not to say Paul Weller isn’t an incredibly talented musician and a legend in some people’s eyes, but when you’re sharing the stage with the Foo Fighters, Bloc Party and Oasis and playing to a crowd of teenagers and twenty-somethings, you should have had a hit in the past five years. Weller’s bluesy rock sounded quite dated and just wasn’t relevant. The large English contingent in the crowd roared loudly for him and waved their St. George’s cross flags and the rest of the audience was probably just drunk enough that they were happy to hear anything. The band was top-notch and everyone played with masterful skill, but it was the kind of skill that comes from playing for 30 years, not raw talent. All said and done, it was a professional set from a talented group of old hands. No one complained, but his CD sales certainly won’t be spiking any time soon.
- Sam Stilson
Oasis - Sunday, September 7th, 2008
Virgin Festival – Toronto Island
It was obvious that Oasis were the big draws at this year’s Virgin Fest. The crowd assembled for the Brit-rock legends nearly doubled that of the Foo Fighters the night before. When the Gallagher brothers and co. hit the stage Toronto Island went absolutely nuts. Featuring a hell of a light show and a massive wall of sound Oasis were truly mesmerizing. Liam, dark shades and scarf on, sneered and swayed with all of his bravado as Gem, Noel , Andy and this tour’s drummer all played brilliantly behind him. The setlist was truly a crowd pleaser as a good chunk of Definitely Maybe was hauled out to the delight of the old fans. “Cigarettes and Alcohol” set an early tone of ballsy rock, but a spirited rendition of “Slide Away” really had the crowd shredding their vocal chords singing along with Liam. Promoting their soon to be released album, singles “The Shock of the Lightning” and “Falling Down” both were played, and held their own amongst the cavalcade of hits. A barn-stomping version of “Songbird” was a definite highlight as well as a stark solo “Don’t Look Back in Anger” from Noel Gallagher.
Then it happened.
Half-way through a gritty performance of “Morning Glory”, some guy came barrelling from the side-stage and pushed Noel Gallagher in the back sending him flying into his monitor. He tore towards Liam in hopes of tackling the singer when he was pounced upon by security guards and dragged off-stage. Liam followed his fists cocked and within seconds the stage was empty, and a confused audience, both laughing and concerned, were left scratching their heads. Finally someone emerged to inform the crowd that the band would in fact return, and they did. Noel, fractured ribs and all, shuffled up to his mic after fifteen minutes back-stage and instantly broke into “The Importance of Being Idle”, Liam was noticeably absent, which prompted much speculation from the restless crowd. Liam then emerged, sour-faced as ever, and was surely about to launch into a tirade against the band’s attacker, we all thought. He grabbed his mic and said one word... “Wonderwall.” The band’s greatest contribution to music was played, the crowd lost their minds and it was as if no assault had taken place at all. A few songs later they closed with a cover of “I Am The Walrus” and like that Virgin Festival was over until next year, and the thousands in attendance had a great “I was there when Oasis...” story to tell.
- Sam Stilson
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