In our recurring feature Wha’ Happen?, we find out what happened to those Toronto artists that were all over local airwaves and MuchMusic during the ’80s and ’90s, but are less visible today.

Who were they: Mainstays of the early-’80s Queen West new-wave scene, the Pukka Orchestra comprised Scottish vocalist/lyricist Graeme Williamson, English ex-pat guitarist Tony Duggan-Smith, and Torontonian guitarist Neil Chapman (formerly of Heat Exchange and the pre-Saga band, Truck). Utilizing a host of sidemen, the Pukka Orchestra—along with Parachute Club and Boys Brigade—made the Bamboo Club their spiritual home until a record/publishing deal (and that newfangled music-video format) provided sudden national exposure.

“Our live band was huge,” Chapman says. “We had a saying that went: ‘Are you in the Pukka Orchestra? Why not, everyone else is?’ There was a whole new-wave scene coming in, but when you’re in it, you’re not really conscious about what it is—it becomes a ‘scene’ very much after the fact. We were just doing the music we liked to do with the sounds of the day.”

Read More

In our new featured, Geared Up, we get the stories behind local musicians’ favourite/weirdest/coolest/timeworn pieces of musical equipment.

Who: METZ bassist Chris Slorach

What: His Gibson RD Artist bass. “They were only made from 1977 to ’81,” says Slorach. “All the electronics inside of it were made by Bob Moog. He made it with Gibson, which is why it’s ‘RD,’ for research and design. They’re really hard to find.”

Read More

Drake claimed that the fourth edition of his annual summer festival would happen at the SkyDome. Tonight, we can confirm that he lied, but that doesn’t mean that his annual love-in with his hometown crowd won’t be taken to the next level in 2013.

Toronto’s very own has just revealed the first few details of OVO 2013 via his blog, and naturally, the announcement is huge news: a two-day event at the festival’s traditional home of Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, with day one featuring R&B icon Frank Ocean and UK star James Blake, and Drizzy hitting the stage on day two with a number of special guests.

Tickets go on sale Friday, May 24 at 10 a.m., and we’re expecting they’ll sell out in the blink of an eye. The poster says two-day festival passes will be available, with “tickets starting at just $49.50″ (we’re assuming that’s for lawns).

OVO Fest is always one of the highlights of summer in the city, and this year it’s bigger and better than ever. We can’t wait.

—Rob Duffy

PHOTO: CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR

In My Toronto, we ask musicians to discuss the hometown artists, institutions, and phenomena that have had a profound influence on their work. In this edition, Decades take a break from crafting glam-slammed, dry-ice-covered dream-pop—in bountiful supply on their just-released self-titled debut for White Girl Records—to tell us about the things that turn their frowns upside-down.

Read More

In our recurring feature Wha’ Happen?, we find out what happened to those Toronto artists that were all over local airwaves and MuchMusic during the ’80s and ’90s, but are less visible today.

Who were they: Formed in 1985 at Lawrence Park Collegiate, the Bourbon Tabernacle Choir became a major presence on the live R&B circuit that then existed across Canada and the U.S. Though the band made significant inroads on campus charts nationwide, the eight-piece(-plus) ensemble was primarily renowned for delivering spirited live performances, honed through a relentless old-school regimen of cross-country gigging. Despite attracting hordes of undergrads to their shows, this was definitely a musician’s band.

“We started playing together when we were ages 14 to 16,” says keyboardist Chris Brown. “Collectively, we were listening to a lot of music—Funkadelic, Curtis Mayfield and songwriters like Bob Dylan and Van Morrison—and we just developed an audience. We were doing 300 shows a year by the time we were 18 or 19.”

Read More

Review: Appice Drum Wars, May 10, The Rockpile

Oh, the indignities drummers must endure. Rarely receiving royalty cheques, many develop mercenary outlooks and a tendency to park cars in swimming pools. Of course, this is a massive cliché. But embracing cliché is all part of the Rockpile experience. The question is, will the Appice Drum Wars—that drum clinic/sibling grudge match/questionable cover act led by legendary rock drummers Vinny and Carmine Appice—reveal a softer, gentler side to the golden age of heavy-metal timekeeping?

To offer some background: younger brother Vinny Appice (pronounced Ap-ah-see) first cut teeth with John Lennon and Rick Derringer in the ’70s. In 1980, he landed the Black Sabbath gig (after Bill Ward stumbled off mid-tour), eventually becoming synonymous with the Dio-fronted lineup of that band. Vinny later followed the metal goblin on to his solo career, as well as to the more recent Dio/Sabbath reunion known as Heaven and Hell (which performed until the singer’s death in 2010).

’80s bangers will also remember the mustachioed Carmine Appice (pronounced A-piece) twirling sticks in Ozzy Osbourne’s “Bark at the Moon” video, as well as in lesser-known clips by hair-maestros King Kobra. But the senior Appice’s CV goes back even further. Not only did he play with famed ’70s acts Cactus, Jeff Beck, and Rod Stewart, but those who’ve read Hammer of the Gods will know he also drummed for ’60s proto-metal band Vanilla Fudge. Appice therefore may have witnessed (or worse, filmed) Led Zeppelin’s infamous mudshark/red snapper episode at Seattle’s Edgewater Hotel. Legend.

So it feels a little anti-climactic to watch such storied talent in this context. The drumming duo, along with a band of capable young interns, delivers the expected Dio/Ozzy/Sabbath cuts (“We Rock,” “The Mob Rules” and “Bark at the Moon”). A respectable, metal-ized version of “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” even emerges. Other songs on the setlist (“Paranoid,” “Crazy Train”) aren’t songs either brother ever recorded, but are merely tracks they’d performed live countless times (which seems a bit of a stretch, but you don’t ask questions at the Rockpile).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEsRFD5IIxM

There are also some original drum compositions. One, Carmine explains, is rhythmically based on the Flintstones theme. It makes senses, contextually—Vinny is renowned for hitting hard (Bamm-Bamm Rubble-hard). Indeed, a highlight is watching him repair his own snare drum after demolishing it. (Seriously, they didn’t bring more than one snare on a Drum Wars tour?)

But the most enjoyable thing about this dubious show is watching the onstage relationship between brothers—not only their ferocious interplay, but also the knowing grins they flash each other after one has tripped the other up by turning the beat around.

There’s also some major comedy riffing—Carmine surely missed his second calling. It’s all corny as hell, but the execution is flawless (though they probably counter Vanilla Fudge requests nightly with that organ joke).

The final song—Cactus’ stoner-blues take on Howlin’ Wolf’s “Evil”—is the least known but best of the set. It’s definitely impressive to see such massive talents up close, though also somewhat a drag seeing them reduced to percussive cheerleading and eliciting chants of “Dio” from the Molson-clutching audience. Then again, a gig is a gig. And this cliché-ridden one clearly isn’t to be taken too seriously.—Chris Rolfe

Toronto music fans got one more excuse to have fun in the sun this week with the unveiling of Electric Island, an electronic music festival that aims to get you moving from your idyllic spot on the Centre Island grass.

“Grab a picnic table or bring your own blanket to relax and dance in the park with the beautiful Toronto skyline by your side” is the call to action for this multi-part concert and picnic series, which is spread out over four days this summer.

The first one in the series goes down May 20, and it’s headlined by Detroit’s own Seth Troxler, who was voted by Resident Advisor as the best DJ of 2012. Troxler appears on a bill that also features Nitin, My Favorite Robot, Nathan Barato, and more.

The fest’s other (hopefully) sun-drenched dates are July 1, August 5, and September 2. Head to the official website for more details.

—Rob Duffy

PHOTO: DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR

Review: Foxygen, Wrongbar, May 9

1. A lot of songs that sounded like other songs

It’s undeniable that the Californian duo of Sam France and Jonathan Rado are skilled songwriters. They’re even better copycats. The nine songs that comprise the band’s infinitely satisfying recent LP We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic are homages to the glory days of rock ‘n’ roll, the kind of idyllic, long-lost moments that Millennials can only experience through books and documentaries. Luckily for Foxygen, a decade of recycled sounds has altered the notion that great rock ‘n’ roll must sound original (The Sheepdogs made the cover of Rolling Stone, after all), and, to their credit, the 22-year-olds aren’t ashamed of their obvious inspiration points: pressed by the NME to explain why their song “On Blue Mountain” sounds suspiciously like Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds,” they own up to just plain ripping it off. Which is actually the reason that the first half of the band’s set was well received. Bearing all the hummable innocence of hits from the Summer of Love, tunes like “No Destruction” and “In the Darkness” need no introduction—they’re familiar enough to feel innate.

2. A carefully curated stage setup

Forget the classic Fender Jazzmaster, the Farfisa Compact Deluxe organ, and France’s retro-patterned sheath dress: How many bands program a vinyl record player to spit out eerie, whistling psychedelic sounds beneath their songs?

3. A long, strange trip

It took Foxygen approximately 20 minutes to burn through the best of their Ambassadors material, which set the stage for this show to take a turn for the erratic. Blame it on equipment problems (a malfunctioning bass amp and frustratingly uncooperative mic stands), or the band’s need to pull themselves back together after each successive song unraveled into a psychedelic near-drone, but the breaks slowly turned longer and more tedious, and the songs in between them far less compelling. France’s nonsense stage banter (“Ever wake up in the morning and have cartoon flowers shooting out of your eyeballs?”) wasn’t a welcome distraction. The Toronto crowd should be thankful (or perhaps disappointed?) that the band didn’t repeat their SXSW meltdown and start screaming at the fans.

4. A total wig-out

As Foxygen’s set began to come unglued, it seemed inevitable that France’s mildly batty stage persona would go with it. Approaching midnight, when yet another psych-jam collapsed upon itself, the singer followed suit, tumbling forward onto the floor of the venue in mock exhaustion. When the band took roughly five full minutes to regroup, France dusted himself off and launched headlong into a full-on diatribe. “Jesus Christ is the Lord!” he hollered. “Love God! Love! Love! Love!” Somewhere along Wrongbar’s elevated left-hand platform section, a man cried out, “How long have you been doing karaoke?”

5. Scores of fans departing early

Throughout the set, it was hard to miss the slow but steady parade of dissatisfied customers heading for the exits, cooling off the dense humidity inside the venue. What they missed was a set-closing epic that whipped together old-timey sonic hallmarks like a Magic Bullet, darting swiftly through everything from Motown to funk to early heavy metal to psych-rock, a couple Flaming Lips-style oohs, and maybe even a hint of yacht rock. It was equal parts thrilling and ridiculous, but by this point, the once-packed Wrongbar floor was too sparse to properly react. Once it all came crashing to a close, the lonesome curbside clothing vendor outside the Wrongbar doors felt perfectly placed, offering up a rack of randomly assorted vintage pieces, “$10 or less.”

—Rob Duffy

Tonight, face-melting guitar solos won’t cost you a dime. Thanks to a partnership with Levi’s, The Drake Hotel hosts a set by the Polaris-nominated Kingston duo, who crafted one of the most thrilling albums of last year.

As a celebration of Levi’s 501s, we’ve all been afforded the opportunity to take in the breathtaking shredding skills of frontman Paul Saulnier, who recently landed a spot on SPIN‘s list of the greatest guitarists of all time. Tonight’s action gets underway at 9 p.m. with an opening set from local dream-pop outfit Breeze.

The event is actually part of a series of shows that includes an evening with rugged rocker Reignwolf on May 16, and a culminating show on May 23 starring none other than The Sheepdogs. The trick to getting into that one is apparently to win a contest that could involve showing up tonight clad in a pair of Levi’s famed pants. Best of luck!

—Rob Duffy

PHOTO: COURTESY OF VANESSA HEINS

Absolutely Free play this Friday’s Feast in the East second-anniversary special.

For a few years now, many people have been saying that food is the new indie-rock in Toronto, and that Leslieville is the new Queen West. Two years ago, a pair of music promoters ticked off all of those boxes by creating an event that appealed to both foodies and music fans, while big-upping the east-end neighbourhoods near Dundas and Carlaw.

Feast in the East, as it was dubbed by creators Tad Michalak and Neil Rankin, wasn’t exactly trying to capitalize on any existing hype, but was instead intended as a new and interesting way to present a show. “When you come in, it’s definitely this multisensory experience, because the place smells like the food and it’s been decorated a certain way, and then there’s the music on top of that,” says Michalak. “That’s part of how we were trying to draw people from the west—it’s not just another show they can see in their neighbourhood.”

So what does it take to organize one of the city’s most successful mashups of food and music? In honour of Feast of the East’s second anniversary show this Friday, we had Michalak crunch the numbers for us to find out.

Total number of Feasts: 27

“Our anniversary will be number 25, but last June we actually ran three Feasts in three weeks as part of Art of the Danforth, billing them as Feast 14, parts 1-3.”

Number of bands that have played: 90

Most times a single band has played the Feast: 3

“If it was one person, Neil Rankin would probably hold this title for playing with different projects. Though for a single band, I think it’s Actual Water, three times, we actually try to not repeat anyone within a year, just to keep things fresh and varied.” Michalak adds that John Milner, You’re So Boss has also played the Feast three times.

Number of venues the Feast has occupied: 3

Dickens Street Theatre, Danny Green Billiards, and Polyhaus, their current location. “[Polyhaus] is a bit more set up. But Neil and I both look on Dickens Street very positively—we look at it like a home.”

Number of main courses: 24

Number of desserts: 7

Number of times they’ve had leftovers: 7

“We always try to plan for the max amount—the worst thing is to have people go hungry. The most we had was this one Feast where we served yellow curry and spreaded salad. The salad and the rice were proportioned perfectly, but the amount of curry was so much it was almost comical. Afterwards, they had curry for months.”

The time it took to prepare the most involved meal: 1 day

“Some of our most complex meals have been made with prep at home and assembled at the venue in mere hours, so it hard to say. Last February, Brandon Lim—who plays in Hellalujah, Teen Tits Wild Wives, and Hussy—made sushi and this raw noodle salad. He was also playing that night and releasing a ’zine, so he showed up with all this stuff and taught a bunch of us to roll sushi and then left to get the rest of his gear together from his house around the corner. So before the show we were all rolling sushi.”

Number of original cocktails/drinks that have been created: 2

Number of art installations: 25

Number of posters put up around the city: 1,250

Number of handmade advance tickets: 770

Number of broken plates: 6

Number of dishes washed: 1,000+

Best food and band pairing: “Maybe our fifth show, Ghostly Graves, Army Girls, and Huckleberry Friends played in November and we served big bowls of soup and homemade bread. It was just cozy. I think the music was also pretty cozy. Another night, Matt King’s band B’ling B’long played and their merch was dumplings. So they paired up with Brandon Lim, who was cooking some Asian noodle dish. It worked out so perfectly.”

—Chris Bilton

Feast in the East’s second anniversary, featuring Absolutely Free, Fresh Snow, Ostrich Tuning, and Black Walls, with an art installation by Augustina Saygnavong and food by Basil AlZeri, happens on Friday, May 10, at Polyhaus (388 Carlaw Ave.). $7 advance or $10 at the door. All ages. Free dinner with advance ticket. 9 p.m.