Youth Summer Reading Club 2008

Summer is incomplete without witnessing live music. I’m glad Toronto has its fair share of interesting concerts and music festivals this season.

July 20th
Three Sundays ago, Toronto was hit by what seemed like never-ending storms. The skies were filled with Nimbus clouds everywhere, pouring bucketfuls of rain. But the weather was deemed trivial as concert-goers flooded the Historic Fort York to attend the anticipated Rogers Picnic.

This year’s line-up included Toronto’s very own Born Ruffians and Tokyo Police Club – both of which have already established favourable reputes in the indie scene and at the tender ages of early-20s, to boot! Both bands released their first ever long play albums earlier this year – the former’s being Red, Yellow and Blue, released in early March under Warp Records, and the latter’s Elephant Shell, released in mid-April under Saddle Creek Records. Moreover, the audience were able to witness the alertness of Dave Monks (lead vox & bassist of TPC), 21, on stage, which is quite a contrast to his shy and unassuming nature in person. Although seemingly young, their fan base ranges from tweens to the more mature age group.

In a similar vein, Vampire Weekend, my personal favourite, graced the stage with their preppy presence and unique tunes about summers in Cape Cod and serial commas. The Ivy League graduates also performed a new song called, White Sky. Lead singer and guitarist Ezra Koenig, 23, rambles to the crowd before playing the new tune, “What better place than here, what better time than now” – most likely a quotable quote from a novel? Or something literature-related, I’m sure. After all, Ezra does have an English major up his sleeve. The New York-based band released their first self-titled album last January, after setting the precedent of being the first band to be shot for a cover of SPIN Magazine without a released album.

The Picnic’s predominantly indie line-up could not have worked without Cat Power’s presence. Chan Marshall (her real name) is considered indie-rock royalty. Her eighth album, Jukebox, came out January 2008.

But not only was the Picnic an 11-hour concert, it was also marking history. CityNews reveals that “the festival is the first in North America ever to have end-to-end wireless ticketing”, which means tickets can be purchased on-line using your Rogers mobile phone and the barcode is downloaded onto your phone ready to be scanned at the entrance.

While Toronto got rained on for most of that Sunday, the Rogers Picnic crowd made the most of it, rocking along ten bands and half a dozen DJs. And as the National Post’s The Ampersand puts it, “although Fort York was built for war, it’s a fine place for a music festival.”

July 26th
The North York Central Library also held a music festival of its own, devoted to Harry Potter. Despite the raging thunderstorm prior to the concert, almost two hundred avid HP fans showed up to bear witness the five Wizard Rock bands that came from all over North America. A great percentage of the concert-goers were returning fans from the March concert, but it was also a delight to see new faces. It was evident that that crowd had a blast and, undoubtedly, the bands did as well. Interestingly enough, a number of the fans travelled all the way from Buffalo, St. Catherines, Guelph, and London!

If you have not attended or bear witnessed live music this summer, don’t fret! There are many more concerts and music festivals coming your way! I have made a chart of just a few concerts that many of you might be interested in.

Carmel, 17