Just got home from the NXNE concert at Yonge and Dundas Square. The North By North East Festival is THE music event of the summer. Like last year, bands played all day and well into the night. The concert ended around 4:00 am, and thousands of music fans showed up for this once a year event. It's not only Yonge and Dundas that draws the crowd, bars and clubs all over the city hosts bands of all shapes, sizes and styles, and as an added bonus most of the bars kept serving till 4:00 in the morning, how often does that happen. Among the headliners for Saturday night included two iconic bands that need no introduction and certainly know how to kick it. Men Without Hats took the stage around 8 pm and played a fast paced set that lasted just under an hour, it really got the crowd going. DEVO hit the stage at approximately 9:30, what a set they put on. It lasted about an hour and a half in which they played many of the old classics plus some of the newer material including tracks off their latest album "Something For Everyone" the first studio release in 20 years . I'm glad I saw the show, wasn't certain I was gonna to make it...it's easy to see why their still doing it after 30 years ... I'm on my out the door to buy the new album right now.
As is the case with DEVO the occasional costume change seems to be one of their hallmarks. But don't let that that fool you, these guys are amount the most talented musicians in the world.
I was thoroughly impressed with Men Without Hats, this is a band I never got to see during the 80's. One thing you'll notice about these of 80's bands that you don't really see allot of today... singers that actually sing, and the musicians actually play instruments... No lip syncing...
Below is DEVO's opening from the NXNE concert in Toronto. Yours truly was at the very front just to the right of the stage, although I don't think I'm in this footage. This will give you an idea of just how energetic and electric this show was.
Last Night at The Revival, a club along College street in Toronto The Spoons had their CD release Party for the new album "Static In Transmission". As usual the venue was filled to maximum capacity and everyone there had a great time. This is the first release of new material by the Spoons since 1988s "Vertigo Tango", and the new album is nothing short of spectacular (of course it should be, it's not like they haven't had 23 years to write it). New member Casey MQ (keyboards) and Chris McNeil (Drums) did a fantastic job fitting right in to their new roles as part of one of Canada's greatest bands. The resurgence of the Spoons continues to move ahead full throttle, as newspaper articles, TV and radio appearances along with a fantastic new video in support of the latest single "You Light Up" has once again garnered lots of attention. How far will Gord and Sandy take it this time?, well that's anyone's guess. With a Canadian tour planned as well as an album of great new material to perform I'd say the possibilities are limitless. I've included some pics I took a the show... very dark at the Revival, very hard to get anything worthwhile... The link to the entire album is at the very bottom (smaller icon) enjoy... .
