Virgin Music Festival: Day 1
Sept. 8, 2007
Toronto, Canada

This was my first trip to the 2nd annual Virgin Music Festival in Toronto and I didn’t really know what to expect. I was informed the concert would take place on an island and I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t realize that Toronto even had an island. Saturday morning I went down to the press check in and after getting sorted out I was told to wait for the next ferry. Ferry? This is where the differences between V Fest and other festivals began. I took a short ferry ride across the water to the Toronto Island Park. I exited the boat, roamed around the grounds for awhile and saw a beautifully laid out theme park filled with rides, food vendors and four concert stages. This was trippy! It seemed to me that this was Perry Farrell’s original vision for Lollapalooza, “Come out to the island to see some great music, learn about some worthy causes, eat and drink and take a break and ride a roller coaster or a bumper boat.”

My day of music began with the 20-year-old Scot that I just can’t get enough of. Paolo Nutini took to the main stage at 2:15 in the afternoon and the crowd couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the show. Nutini and his boys played a terrific 45-minute set which included his hits, “New Shoes,” “Rewind” and “Jenny Don’t Be Hasty” along with an amazing new track “Rainbows.” The band also threw in an excellent rock cover of Moby’s “Natural Blues.” The kid is really coming into his own as a live performer. He’s always had the material but in the early days it seemed hard for Nutini to interact with the crowd, choosing to look down at his feet instead of making eye contact with his fans. These days he’s moving around, having fun, talking to the audience and the crowds are eating it up!


Next up on the main stage was K-OS. To be perfectly honest, I’d never seen the man and his band live. On stage, K-OS combined all the great elements of The Fugees, Rage Against The Machine and Bob Marley. One minute he was crooning like Lauryn Hill with Pras and Wyclef backing him and the next he’d fire up the political stance like Zach De La Rocha with a less aggressive Tom Morello on the axe. It would be hard to classify K-OS into any musical category because he doesn’t define himself. From rock to reggae to r&b and hip hop, the man put on a show that I consider to be one of the festival's best.

Anticipation boiled over as M.I.A. was taking the stage. She’s played at so many festivals that I’ve attended but, for whatever reason, I’ve never had the chance to watch her perform. While I really enjoy her recorded work it just didn’t seem to translate well live. The songs were there but the energy was lacking. That special something just didn’t seem apparent. That being said, the lady’s outfits were bangin’! Pink sunglasses and black leather daisy dukes will go a long way when it comes to remembering what to write in a review. It is hard to forget such a memorable ensemble.

While sitting on the shore I took a much needed break and enjoyed my slice of pizza and a hot dog. The venue offers up the most amazing view of the downtown skyline. The break was short lived, however, because the Arctic Monkeys were about to take the stage. I really wanted to see what the hype was all about. I loved the Arctic Monkeys debut album but was less than impressed with their recent follow-up, Favourite Worst Nightmre. The kids from Sheffield were quite impressive as they ripped through an hour long set that included the wonderful “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor” and the current hit “Brianstorm.” It was a much needed energy injection near the end of a long day. It got the crowd riled up and everyone wanted to see more! One of the highlights from the festival occurred hours later when I listened to the boys playing acoustically outside of their trailer. They played with assorted friends, drinking Strongbow cider and singing James Blunt’s “Beautiful.”

As with all festivals, multiple acts play at the same time and you’re forced to make decisions as to what band(s) you’d rather see. Interpol vs. Mute Math was case in point. I decided to see the second stage headliner, Mute Math, and keep up my streak of skipping Interpol festival performances. This was the best decision I made all weekend long! I’m new to the phenomenon that is Mute Math but I’m a definite convert. Without hesitation I will tell you that this was the best performance all weekend long. For whatever reason, these guys remind me a lot of The Police during their heyday but with added pop sensibility. Terrifically catchy songs combined with a great light show made for the most memorable performance of the day.

To end the night I needed to catch a glimpse of Bjork’s performance so I could leave with a smile on my face. The queen of Iceland always makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and this was no exception. She took the stage wearing a golden dress and it seemed as if she had painted her forehead green. The cast of characters behind her reminded me of the Polyphonic Spree on acid. Like the Spree, multiple members donned multi-colored robes but these backup performers had painted their foreheads, as well. It was awesome! I stayed long enough to hear the first couple of songs and then hightailed it to the ferry for fear that I’d be stuck on the island all night long.

Stay tuned for a report of Day 2 of V Fest...

LOLLAPALOOZA DAY 3
Sunday August 5th, 2007 – Grant Park – Chicago, IL

The day the earth stood still…

THIS IS THE REASON MUSIC FESTIVALS EXIST! What sucks about music festivals is that there are so many bands and so little time that you wind up missing a lot of what you wanted to see. The only problem I had with Lolla this year is that practically every band I wanted to check out was on Sunday! Juliette & The Licks, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Heartless Bastards, Lupe Fiasco, Amy Winehouse, The Black Angels, Paolo Nutini, Kings of Leon, Iggy and the Stooges, !!!, Peter, Bjorn and John, My Morning Jacket, Modest Mouse, Café Tacuba, TV on the Radio and Pearl Jam all in the same day!? WTF! I stopped crying, picked up a highlighter and marked which bands I 100% had to see and I just went for it. Here’s what I saw…

Rodrigo y Gabriela – The Mexican guitar duo who moved to Ireland (that makes no sense but it’s true) were AMAZING. One guy, one girl, two guitars, INSANE!

Amy Winehouse – I, like the rest of the crowd, was afraid she wasn’t going to show up. Let me tell you something, this bitch is the best thing since sliced bread. I swear to god that if Amy Winehouse is able to keep her sobriety in check, she could be the next Barbara Streisand or Celine Dion or some other female singer who plays in front of millions and makes billions of dollars. The only difference would be that Amy is totally cool and those other chicks are not. Her voice is off the chain and her little shimmy, shimmy, shake dance moves are super cute. She’ll need to work on her crowd interaction but that comes with time. The only question is whether or not this girl wants to be a superstar because she’s got all the tools.

Paolo Nutini – This kid just brings it! At only 19 years of age, this kid from Scotland writes the most perfect pop rock songs. The crowd was packed with women swooning over his good looks and dudes actually singing along (most likely to impress the chicks but singing, nonetheless.) He’s going out on tour with Ms. Winehouse and together the two might just take over the world.

Kings of Leon – There are a lot of reasons that I want to hate these guys. They’re young, cocky, good looking, talented… DAMN THEM! Additionally, I will go on record as saying that their skinny jeans are the single worse accessory I have ever seen on a band. Having said all that, they couldn’t rock any harder. They just write great rock and roll songs and when they perform live they just go all out every single time. A sponsorship from True Religion or Rock & Republic could make these guys the biggest band on the planet.

My Morning Jacket – So good it hurts. Talent just oozes out of every pore of this band. I want to be in MMJ. I’m not sure what I bring to the table because I have no musical ability whatsoever but maybe I could learn to play the triangle.

Pearl Jam – I would be lying if I told you I could write a fair review about PJ because they are my favorite band of all-time. I don’t really care for the fact that one of my heroes has turned into Sean Penn and uses concerts as his forum to speak on political matters (long gone are the days of climbing rafters and diving into the crowd) but that is his prerogative and based on crowd reaction, people obviously want to listen. To show my respect for Mr. Vedder I will not purchase gasoline from BP or Amoco (I can’t remember why but he told me not to, so I won’t.) Regardless, musically, they can do no wrong. Every show, in every city, in every country these guys give it their all, 100% of the time. They play hits, they play b-sides, they play covers and they all sound fabulous. I love this band and hope they continue playing for 30 more years because practically every other band I grew up with is gone.

I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank Tito’s Handmade Vodka and Vitamin Water for sponsoring my trip to Lollapalooza. They didn’t actually pay me anything and they won’t acknowledge the connnection but without them I wouldn’t have made it through the weekend. I wanted to thank Camel and their fabulous product Camel Lights but I woke up Saturday and Sunday and couldn’t breathe so I’m pretty sure that’s not good.

Backstage at this year's Lollapalooza, Mike Patton held an interview with G4TV about some of his upcoming projects. During the interview, Wolfmother took the stage, and it didn't take long for Patton to change the topic of discussion accordingly:

You can see the whole thing here.

I personally don't care for Wolfmother, either, although I don't mind them nearly as much as Patton apparently does. But I, too, think that new music should stop trying to sound like it came from 10, 20, 30 years ago. Being influenced by the greats of the past is one thing, but the bands of today need to find their own sound.

And, on a side note, G4TV should go back to games and technology. Just because MTV refuses to do their job doesn't mean G4 should have to pick up their slack.

With Lollapalooza X taking over Chicago's Grant Park this weekend with Ween, Gnarls Barkley, and Queens of the Stone Age among those leading the charge, it might feel a little early discussing the next one before this one is over. But, Perry Farrell is no superstitious man. He's fearless. He wears girls pants.

And makes them look good.

In an interview in this week's NME, the Festival's founder talked about bringing the show to England. While the Festival will be enjoying its first jaunt across the pond, most of Perry's picks for who'll grace the AT&T and Bud Light stages are locals. Farrell revealed to NME:

He also spoke of lining up Paul McCartney and David Bowie. A pretty decent line-up thus far, but right now it's all just party talk.

Photo Location