CMW: The Bonfire Ball & Fucked Up
Fucked Up @ The El Mocambo | Cord Photography | 2010
Canadian Music Week, compared to NXNE, may not have as many bands I’d really like to see, and may push headliners that alienate people who really like music, but who can really complain about a handful of badass acts playing venues all over Toronto? Plus, with a media pass through Steel Bananas, I can avoid the shitty headliners blow off some steam this weekend while checking out both bands I love and some I’ve never heard. Not so bad!
Last night I went to two shows: The Bonfire Ball Revue at Lee’s Palace, which was a kickoff to the Jason Collett, Bahamas and Zeus tour, which ended just early enough to give me time to hop down to the El Mocambo for most recent Polaris Prize winner Fucked Up‘s late time slot.
The Revue was fantastic, as all three acts mingled, walking on and off to play one another’s songs in a jam-esque performance. Though Jason Collett and Zeus are fantastic, and I lost my shit during performances of Collett’s “I’ll Bring the Sun” and Zeus’ “Marching Through Your Head” Bahamas really stole my heart last night – the man’s got soul.
Later we moseyed to the El Mocambo to mosh at the Fucked Up show. Damian Abraham (who I still can’t believe is/was a correspondent for CNN) is a badass motherfucker. He jumped into the crowd, sweaty and shirtless, and put his arm around me mid-song. Who doesn’t love big fat sweaty punk-as-fuck dudes?! Many of the bald leather-clad moshers looked at me skeptically. I guess it’s not too often that tiny chicks in country hats can be found moshing at shows in Toronto, ha. I didn’t even lose my hat! The crowd was more raucous than I’d seen in Toronto in a while, which was awesome and totally refreshing, and the band was feeding off all of the energy. This show really reinforced my belief that there are still some hardcore kids in Toronto.
Reviews of these and other shows to come in the next issue of Steel Bananas. I’m heading out for more CMW shows this weekend, if only I can finish this mound of thesis work on my desk…
I’m heading to Handsome Furs tomorrow night at the Elmo wit-yo-brudda. It’s the Sirius Quebec showcase, you should join us.
Great photo!
[...] Wood Hands and Mother Mother. All very good, Mother Mother was the hot ticket at CMW as well. …CMW: The Bonfire Ball & Fucked Up | >fruitletI’m heading out for more CMW shows this weekend, if only I can finish this mound of thesis work on [...]