Chromeo Oh Oh

March 24, 2008
Crowd-Surfing in Heels!?!
What current touring act passed through Toronto last Saturday night and caused such a scene....(yes, she's wearing heels!)Foo Fighters? Ladyhawk? Chromeo? or Sebastien Grainger?"CHROM-E-O, OH, OH...CHROM-E-O, OH, OH"
Those were the words reverberating throughout the Opera House last Saturday night.
For the 800+ 1980's born hipsters in attendance, the wave of Montreal's Chromeo has surely caught on since last summer's sold out, over-flowing show at the tiny Social on Queen West. Tonight they headed East, Queen East.

The American Apparel-clad crowd sang-a-long to every song Chromeo shot their way, all the while dancing up a storm. From "Bonafide Lovin'" to "Tenderoni", to my personal favourite, "Two Step"Chromeo's Arab/Jewish collaboration of P-Thugg and Mike 1 had the crowd eating of their hands. And just as the crowd was loving it, so were the duo, easily having a great time on stage.Having two albums to play with, Chromeo kept their set disappointingly short; a mere 50 minutes (including two easy encores). However, judging by the crowd and the constant cheers, all that was given, was appreciated, and everyone left with a familar vibe flowing through their veins...
Welcome back to the 1980's
Flashbacks by Jess Watt and Corinne Copreni

Posted by Corinne Copreni

Edgefest 2008

A sweet surprise, an accessible location, familiar songs, an abundance of food options, a few heavy downpours, a new twist to an old game, a million planes passing overhead and a sole beer tent: this was Edgefest 2008.

The discovery of the day and one to watch out for, came from Montreal's kitschy Creature.With their rock-pop debut album "No Sleep At All", Kim Ho, CowBella, SidZ and Anna Ruddick can definitely make you dance! They came out singing "Who’s hot Who’s not?" and ended with my already personal favorite "Pop Culture". Worth mentioning: crazy AA outfits; Kim Ho's and CowBella's funky ultrasound like voices; and many a cowbell on stage! If you're ever in need of some "booster kicking" songs in the morning, you should check them out…http://www.myspace.com/creaturecreature or http://www.creatureband.com/
Former Tool guitar tech, Billy Howerdel and his band, Ashes Divide debuted their inaugural cd "Keep Telling Myself it's Alright" to the first rain drops of the day with the song "The Prey". Alternating mellow to more hard rock songs, this alterna/rock band somehow managed to move some heads in the crowd.
By the time the infectious sounding The Bravery took the stage the first major downpour of the day began. Surprising the crowd didn’t seem to mind and actually started dancing, singing and getting into the mood and mud! Even at 4pm on a rainy afternoon vocalist Sam Endicott (who's looking very Crispin Glover-esque) manages to rock it all. With a massive backdrop of the cover of their last release "The Sun and The Moon", the New York band caught everyone’s attention. With songs like "An Honest Mistake", "No Brakes", "Every Word is a Knife in My Ear", "Believe" and the must-clap-your-hands, "Public Service Announcement", Edgefest finally seemed to get a much needed kick-start. As the rain kept on pouring down Endicott reminded the drenched audience, "this is not the end of the world" and dedicated the next song "No Brakes", "to the big fat man singing and dancing with only a towel in the back!"And so he went on, talking to the crowd in between songs, encouraging them to sing and dance, and while candies were flying on stage making it the "sweetest stage" the band as ever been on, others continued dancing in the rain while waiting in the massive beer lineup. I however wondered when and if the band might put of something as good as their debut.
Attracting the 30+ crowd, Sam Roberts Band rocked into their new release "Love at the End of the World", which inspired the first crowd surfers of the day, some to the point of getting up at least three times! But this is the Sam Roberts crowd: true pop rock lovers, the ones that can sing along to "Oh Maria", and dance along to songs like "Bridge to Nowhere". The 2003 album "We were Born in a Flame" is still a crowd favorite and the Sam Roberts Band is well aware that their first single "Brother Down" and "Where are all the Good People Gone?" cannot go missing in each of their performance, as the crowd eats them up. With his dreamy eyes, Sam Roberts still manages to catch all the attention and rocks out hard. But would you consider it edgy? I think not.
Though the wait time was lengthy we managed to get some of the best entertainment in and out of the sole beer tent.Fenced in like animals, afraid to leave, as the lineup to get in was pushing a 4 hour wait at times, the Bud-infused beer drinkers came up with a reincarnation of the classic Slip 'N Slide. Let's call it Extreme Table 'N Slide: 4 round tables, some with a plastic covering, others with exposed wood, lined up, dowsed in water and one crazy dude sprinting 20m to slide over the tables in craziest way possible: flips, flops and many wipeouts. Ouch! This had to hurt. Just as the tables were raised to get some air involved in the tricks, the cops broke it up to much disappointment by the crowd.
Now what were we to do while waiting for STP......For those who didn't have the patience or the necessary id to enter the beer tent, the fences were the next item of attack, as at least 100 people broke through before security could control the breach.And for those guys who couldn't walk the crowds to the port-a-potties, and were teased by the many behind the fence in the beer tent, a lone, empty fence behind the media tent and adjacent to the stage was taken over by guys and girls alike. (Yeah we all saw you!)
An hour in a half later the reconciled Stone Temple Pilots took to the stage. It was as if it was a test to weed of the true fans from the fakers, as upon settling into "Big Empty" another downpour occurred. Soaked, the crowd ate up all the band had to give: every hit imaginable. "Vasoline", "Big Bang Baby", "Wicked Garden", "Lounge Fly", "Lady Picture Show", "Sour Girl", "Creep", "Down", and "Sin". With the mandatory crowd surfers afloat there was still, however something missing.... Was it the odd interstitials of Queen's We Will Rock You or Lou Reed's, Walk on the Wild Side that sucked out some of the energy or was it Weiland's failing voice? Though you can't blame Weiland's on and off stage efforts: when he wasn't singing from atop the drum kit or on raisers, or halfway though the crowd belting out "Plush", he was pacing the stage. STP played a solid set with an encore (odd for a band with second billing at a festival). If you haven't seen Scott Weiland perform in one of his few incarnations, do try to catch him while you can, cause if there's on thing for sure, you never know if he'll be back.
Following the STP set, we garnered some so-called inside information: some of the members of headliner Linkin Park were had yet to arrive in the country due to plane troubles. Knowing this, and knowing the event had a strict cut off of 11pm, and it was already after 9pm, we decided to pack it in for the day, feeling exhausted and 'dry' we set out to get 'wet'.

Experienced and soaked by Jess Watt and Corinne Copreni

Posted by Corinne Copreni

Osheaga Day 2 : Jack Johnson Review

As another day comes by, and we are back at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Île Saint-Hélène. As we don't dare defy the rain, we pack once again our ponchos, which will be only later be used just to sit on the damped grass to rest and relax while waiting for another show to go on. Day 2 saw us running from stage to stage to see the following bands: Jamie Lidell, Matt Costa, The Kills, The Black Keys, MGMT, Gogol Bordello, The Go!Team, Duffy, Broken Social Scence, CSS, Chromeo and Jack Johnson! Yeah, not much rest but with a wide range of indie, soul, electro, rock, pop and surf music who needs rest?

Jack Johnson is what Montreal was there for. As the head of Media Relations for the festival had said, Jack Johnson is the biggest artist in Montreal right now, so it would only seem right that he would headline the closing show. A sea of blanket sitters cascaded out from the stage to the hills, and top it all off - under a rainbow.

JACK JOHNSON"Its nice to finally be here with you"

And so Jack Johnson began his long awaited and first Montreal performance. In front of a thick crowd and under summer stars Jack Johnson started off with Hope from his latest album 'Sleep through the static'. Playing along, surfing from one song to another, the crowd responded to him singing and dancing. No better setting could have Jack chosen to sing his only French/Spanish song Belle. Although he had the crowd conquered even before getting onto the stage. Jack Johnson managed to have a chit chat with his listeners and make them laugh. He mentioned his wife telling him to stop being an idiot when singing in French, and then apologized for destroying the words! When he messed up Sitting Waiting Wishing the crowd sang words before him and he had to tag along to keep up with the lyrics. As per usual Jack presented the members of his band, including pianist Zach Gill who is about to release his solo album (he is also member of the group Animal Liberation Orchestra aka ALO), of which we heard a song. On stage also was singer and friend Matt Costa who had performed earlier in the day, with whom he sang Sweet Jesus.Jack Johnson went on and on, singing non stop for more than an hour and a half, playing the guitar and making the crowd dream of waves and surf. There was no doubt of an encore and what a surprise when he invited on stage Jimmy Buffet to sing the first song he ever learned to play on his guitar: Pirate Tale. We heard everything from Banana Pancakes to Sleep Through the Statics, a rapped Staple it Together and he ended with Angel and Better Together. Jack Johnson made me and the other 18,000 people in the crowd dream of Hawaii, of beach and sun, and long for a summer that feels just started and its about to end.

Posted by Corinne Copreni

Friday and Saturday Night in the World's Most Northern Capital City

Friday night is THE night in Reykjavik!With a population of only 120,000 (200,000 if you count the Greater Reykjavik area) the world's most northern capital has one of the liveliest nightlife's overseas. It might not seem like a lot of people for a capital, but give them live music, a few drinks and a whole weekend to dance and they'll show you what the word 'party' means. Quite frankly after driving the entire country (including off-road driving in the desolated interior) for 5 days in what I baptised "the land of no-one", a couple hundred thousand people seemed like a lot!Friday night is on...are you ready for it?

Alive and kicking merely describes the massive flow of Reykjavikurs bottle-in-hand antics that fill the downtown streets, bars and clubs. Yes you read that right: while the legal drinking age is 20, no rules seem to apply for drinking in the streets. Cellphone in one hand to find friends in the line-up and a bottle of wine in the other, people stroll the streets before our incredulous eyes.
Friday night we experienced some more local bands and a couple others from the UK.First on the list was the solo singer of Planning to Rock. Dressed up in a white one-piece that reminded me of a nucler fallout protective suit, a knight-like silver mask and supported by amazing visuals in the back, Janine Rostron is certainly 'original'. Once again it was all about the look more than the music, but just for that she certainly should get an 8 out of 10.
Was it mask night in Reykjavik? Maybe, since even our second pick of the night, locals Dr.Spock were all about their crazy attires, wrestiling masks and fortunately this time, their music and yellow plastic gloves! Hard rock, creapy screams and tight leggins made this band stand out while still filling the venue with testosterone! I have to hand it out to the lead singer: the outfit 10 on 10 and 2 thumbs up!
Definitely worth the wait was the Swedish band Familjen. With this year's one hit album "Det Snurrar I Min Skalle" the indie-electronic band is conquering crowds all the way from Europe to Australia. Both guys were entertaining, the crowd was singing and dancing restlessly to their songs and my feet lost control to their music! Count me in if they ever show up in Toronto: I'll be the first one in line!
After dancing to Familjen's eclectic beat the UK Indie band These New Puritans seemed to have a different kind of party in mind: dark and sombre, if not depressed! With the lead singer barely moving from his microphone, the band all appered stiff and somewhat unamused. Too bad I say to them, as the crowd is ready to party both inside and out of the club. While running from venue to venue I truly began appreciating this city. It reminded me of where I come from, a small town in Northern Italy where a couple of streets made the days, nights and weekends of my teenage years. I stopped for a moment, looked at the crowd, that honestly looked so young I still wonder how they managed to get into bars, and I remembered how it felt finally being suddenly under the spotlight when something big happened in the city. For 5 days during the Airwaves Festival Reykjavik gets to be the centre of Europe's musical attention, its population the life of the party, and I, the amazed spectator of this magical happening. I can only wait for Saturday to come and more to discover.
The Final DayHave you ever heard about the Blue Lagoon? No, I'm not talking about 1980's Brooke Shields movie, but aboutIceland geothermal top notch and must not miss out on destination. Saturday afternon, finally blessed by the sun we were off (bikini and flip-flops included) to the Blue Lagoon. Only 50 minutes away from Reykjavik, in the middle of literally no where there it was: turquoise blue water awaiting us at 38C degrees! With a DJ spinning and the crowd eating it up in the blue waters, this is a place I'd come back to in an instant. If the bus ride back to downtown was quiet the night that awaited us was certainly not! If Friday is the night to go out, Saturday night of Airwaves was my personal favourite and made me stay up till 4am with no regrets!
You want to hear some rock? You want to dance to a band that you are likely never to hear about here, in Canada? You want to be impressed? Than look out for this band coming all the way from the Faroe Islands: Boys in a Band is their name. Bjork's 'Declare Independence' introduced their performance, and the 23 year old lead singer annouced the band's intention of reuniting the nations of the Faroe's and Iceland. It was probably not the venue to be politically out there, but the crowd couldnt resist their energy. Besides their music, I must give it my 2 thumbs up to the keyboard player's beard and outfit! They have the moves, the music and style that only few bands have nowadays. They are THE band to look out for and if you're ever lucky enough to get to the Faroe Island do not miss one of their shows.
Hearts racing, we ran over to the next venue to catch Montreal's Handsome Furs. They were so handsome that the local English paper, The Reykjavik Grapevine gave them the spotlight in its Sunday issue!
After that it was time to line up: CSS was about to begin and we were still outside trying to get back into Reykjavik's Art Museum. The venue was perfect for lead singer, Lovefoxx's Bjork-like outfit. This was the band the Airwaves Festival crowd was waiting for and it was worth every single energizing note.
Lucky enough to sit in what has got to be the smallest pit in the entire Reykjavik music scence we saw Toronto's Crystal Castles performance. Though the venue's sound system gave the duo issues, it only made their show darker and fiercer. The crowed loved it and so did we!
French singer Yelle was next. Her intense voice,beat and an original outfit made her stand out in this long night. Another add to my renewed playlist, and definitely another surprise to this festivals line up.
Worth mentioning is another well known local band: FM Belfast. Somehow reminded me of Montreal's Chromeo with their flamboyant electronic beats. I must say I lost track of how many people were on stage at one point. But at the end of four intense days all that matters is that they had fun, we were amazed and the crowd was once again restlessly dancing the last night away.
For the more curious of you, here are some interesting fact about Iceland:
**Reykjavik's winter temperatures tend to be warmer than Manitoba!****Most Icelanders don't have a family name, therefore they use their given name and then father's-name-son (Jonson)or father's-name-daughter (Jonsdottir) ****Whale,shark & sheep heads can often be found on the menu****Beer was banned until 1989 ****Iceland has no army, navy or airforce but they do have a coast guard****The island of Grimsey in the north of the country is the only part that touches the Artic circle****Iceland is the oldest democracy in the World (about a 1000 years)**

Words: Corinne Copreni
Photos: Jess Watt

Posted by Corinne Copreni

Iceland's Airwaves Music Festival Heats Up Reykjavik: Nights 1&2

The Iceland Airwaves 2008 was this year on its 10th edition. What started off ten years ago as a talent show for local bands (10 bands in 1 night!) is today an integral part of the cultural and musical life in Reykjavik if not Iceland itself!
Over the years local bands like GusGus, Jan Mayen, <3 Svanhvitt, Emiliana Torrini (who performed "Gollum's song" in the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) or the more known Sigur Ros have shared the stage with international bands like Keane, The Bravery, The Kills, Bloc Party and Montreal's Chromeo just to mention a few.The land of volcanos, geysirs, fairylike landscapes and throlls (yes we saw a few) sure knows how to put on an outstanding music festival and party till dawn!
Spread out all over in Reykjavik's downtown, the festival attracts a fair amount of tourists, media and music-lovers from around the world. A few words can describe the Icelandic music scene: vibrant, energetic and powerful. The land of Bjork is certainly producing a fair amount of original and unique bands: we had the chance to discover and appreciate more than a few.
To start out our 5 night marathon (the festival line-up counts in at more than 200 bands)we headed out to see Who Knew. This six-piece boyish band from Iceland started off their performance dancing and shouting their songs with tons of energy. Musically defined has an indie/powerpop band they certainly are a band to keep an eye on in the future!
6+ band members seem to be the ideal number among Icelandic and Scandinavian bands. Among them was VICKY. Outfits, hairstyle and a faux moustache were all there, but what seemed to lack with these ladies was some actual talent. All show is what is was.
A Bjork in the making is the lead singer of Mammut's, Katrina Mogensen. With a distinctive voice she got our thumbs up delivering a solid performance. The band just put out their latest album "Karkari" which has been well received in the UK. If you like Bjork in her early days then you might want to check them out.
Described as the next Sigur Ros meets System of a Down locals, We Make God delivered an awesome looking performance: head shaking, hair flying and a fiddlestick to scrape the guitar. Unfortunately again, looks were all that got them through.
Certainly particular and unique was <3 Svanhvit's performance. I personally counted 11 members on stage, but a couple of rabbits might have fallen off my radar. Yes, they had mice ears on their head, a wok amongst their numerous instruments and unfortunately for them a stage too small for all to fit! Despite this, it didn't stop them from throwing a party, making the crowd sing along to their songs and making me grin for the remainder of the night. If you must, compare them to an Icelandic version of Toronto's Hidden Cameras.
Playing with the most energy of the night, singing/trashing & bashing was Ultra Mega Technobandid Stefan. Playing in a trendy Reykjavik bar this "Dark Knighted" band trashed the quiet party of attendees for a book launch and...made their night! People got up and danced while the lead singer Stefan seemed wildly possessed by his own music as well as the keyboard player who lost control of his own instrument sending it on the floor! They were wild and their music well worth listening to before going out to party all night. Two thumbs up!
Our second night saw a display of international and more Icelandic bands.
First performers of the night to catch my ear were the electro-pop Icelandic band, Sometime. The name might not say much about them, but their beat is catchy and can certainly make your feet tap and your body dance. Althought they have just released a couple of singles ( "Catch me if you can" being one of them), their first album is on its way for 2009 and shows around the UK and Northern Europe have already been booked. They stole their crowds heart from the first beat and kept it until the end of their performance! Well done.
Rekjavik's Art Museum was one of the main venues of the Festival and personal favourite, as it allowed the crowd to visit its art exhibits until 11pm. All art displays were from Islandic artists, and their originality and uniqueness made of thisvenue a perfect fit for some of the performers.
One of them the US band Mae Shi,who delivered a great performance. The lead singer was all over the stage if not sitting in the photographers pit or covering the crowd with a gigantic multicolored parachute.
The acoustics of the Museum exalted Florence and the Machine's already broad voice. Wearing a bowtie and waitress-like suite, her performance was theatrical, her voice grand and the crowd conquered! If you like Cat Power you will love her (and vice versa!). 'Wake up to Kiss with a Fist', go to your kickboxing class listening to 'Hospital Beds' and invite your date to dance on 'Girl with 1 Eye'. Yes, you got it: Florence and the Machine is my new must have on my playlist!
If Florence struck me with her powerfull voice, UK's Fuck Buttons just made experimental noise and the Swedish band El Perro del Mar hit me vocalist,Sarah Assbring's melancholic/sweet sounds.
One act definately worth mentioning is the Icelandic band Gus Gus, well known all over Europe as well as overseas. With their unique electronic and techno melodies they made the Reykjavik Art Museum crowd dance till the end and preparing them for a long week-end of dance, fun and party.All this and its only Thursday....What more can Reykjavik produce?
WIth that said, we ventured out to grab a bite...Icelandic style with a "boat". No, it wasn't a cruise under the stars but a sub-like sandwich in the main square! Montreal has poutine, Toronto perogies and hotdogs, and Reykjavik has boats, aka sandwiches whose most recurrent ingredient seems to be canned pineapple??!!

Posted by Corinne Copreni

discover where the adventure lays

find the thrill in life

enjoy every moment given

go wherever the flow takes you

never regret

...carpe diem