Tag Archives: Music

How Linkin Park Managed to Mask Their Tardiness at Edgefest ’08

18 Jul

Want in on a little secret? Linkin Park breached their contract this past Sunday for Edgefest ’08. Despite Linkin Park showing up very late, Edgefest returned with a bang! The lineup included newly reunited rockers Stone Temple Pilots, Canadian favourites: Sam Roberts Band, Attack in Black and The Flatliners and making an appearance for the first time, to make this year’s Edgefest the biggest one yet, were International superstars Linkin Park.

I guess if you’re a globe touring act, playing sold out venues, winning multiple Grammys and performing in front of millions of people for Live Earth it gets to your head a little bit, because they were AN HOUR AND A HALF LATE FOR THEIR SET!

LP managed to keep their obvious lateness to a minimum though. Stone Temple Pilots who were also half an hour late for their set time, could have been stalling in order to break up the wait time for Linkin Park at the end of the night.

Linkin Park were supposed to go on at 9:05 p.m. but didn’t get on stage until shortly before 10:00 p.m, which meant they played for a little over sixty minutes of their planned 90-minute set. Toronto by-laws restrict concerts from continuing past the 11:00 p.m. curfew.

As a major Linkin Park fan I was a little peeved that they couldn’t manage to play a full 90-minute set especially when they have a reputation of non diva-like behaviour and the supposed reason for their lateness was because five of the seven band members were shopping in New York.

I received a text message from a very reliable source at 9:30 p.m., 25 minutes after they were supposed to be on stage. The text message read ‘Linkin Park still haven’t landed at Pearson! It’s going to be at least another hour.’  

After standing on my feet for the last five hours straight and anxiously awaiting my favourite band to take the stage, I quickly phone back the text messenger for more details.

“What?! But they’re supposed to be on stage now!” I ask. 

“Yep, two of them are going to play an acoustic set while they wait for the remaining five members to get here,” my source said.

Sure enough, 20 minutes later, Chester and Mike the singers of the band walk quietly onto the stage. Mike sits down at his keyboard and without any introduction they begin an acoustic rendition of Breaking the Habit. 

The acoustic performance continues for another few songs before the other five members suddenly appear on stage. Chester and Mike stop right in the middle of a song and join the other members for What I’ve Done, not such a smooth transition but they had a lot of catching up to do.

Nobody around us seemed to be phased by the few acoustic songs in the beginning used for stalling, except for one guy who yelled, “play some real music!”

The show itself was great as usual. I’ve seen LP in concert three times and they never come up short on entertainment. 

Apparently the other band members were whisked away to Downsview Park by helicopter once they arrived at Pearson Airport….fancy.

Putting the Fun in FUNky and Catchy Pop Melodies in Your Head

18 Jul

Last weekend at Edgefest, I had planned on seeing some of the better known acts like Linkin Park, Stone Temple Pilots, Sam Roberts Band, The Bravery, Attack in Black and The Flatliners. Little did I know that I would stumble upon an amazing Pop/Funk/Post Punk band from Montreal by the name of Creature

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Walking by the side stage I heard an awesome sounding pop melody, so I stopped to listen. The band made up of two males and two females appeared to be having a great time entertaining the crowd. At one point the lead singer/guitar player asked the crowd, “who was it that asked for more cowbell?” So they got out the cowbell for the song Who’s Hot Who’s Not.

The keyboard and guitar player took turns singing the verses which included a lot of rapping over infectious beats.

Each member of the band was fashionably glamorous in fedoras, vintage tees and the keyboardist even rocked a lycra gym suit and matching headband. They looked very rock n’ roll but stood out among the hardcore rock fans that Edgefest attracts.

I guess I’ve been paying more attention than usual to electronic dance pop music lately. Acts like Dragonette and the Ting Tings are constantly playing on my iPod. It must be those catchy melodies, hard-to-ignore danceable beats and the fact that I’m a sucker for pop music…yes I’ll admit to liking Miley Cyrus.

As soon as I got home I looked up the Edgefest lineup to learn who this band was, whose songs I couldn’t get out of my head.

It’s safe to say now that I am a fan of Creature and not Modernboys Moderngirls who I thought was the band I was listening to.

NXNE a little bruised up from the Monotonix

20 Jun

Who says that a concert has to be on the designated stage the venue has supplied? According to the Monotonix, the wildest band to come from Israel or maybe the world, their stage consists of the venue floor, the bar, on top of the drum kit or in the hands of fans. The Monotonix played a series of shows as part of the North By Northeast Music Festival and Conference this past weekend.

 

Their antics are notorious, their live shows are legendary and I had the chance to experience said anarchy at the Bovine Sex Club on June 12.

 

Before the show, I was briefed about just how out of control their concerts tend to get. I was informed that they carry their equipment with them throughout the venue during their set, so they are constantly moving around. But that was all I had heard. What I didn’t know is that the show at times was going to seem so out of control that I was going to fear for my safety.

 

At first the show started out like a normal concert; on stage and in control. Then the lead singer jumped off the stage and ran through the audience, followed by another guitarist who lifted the drum kit off the stage and into the audience. This doesn’t sound so bad right?

Now comes the chaos. The lead singer gets on top of the bar, sprays the audience with his beer, takes the microphone, puts it between his legs and then continues to sing with it. If that’s not enough during the course of the evening, he moons the audience several times, crowd surfs, dives into crowds of people and pours beer on to someone’s head.

 

That’s what you come to expect with the Monotonix. If you don’t enjoy that kind of experience then get out of the venue or don’t go, because it’s hard not to watch the show without involuntarily becoming part of it.

 

So even though there were times I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it out unscathed, it was an awesome live show, and something worth experiencing. I would call it a concert but really it was like watching an out of control frat house party with music playing in the background.

 

Here is a taste of what you can expect, if you get the opportunity to see them live.

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