V-Fest after thoughts

As you might have heard, Toronto just hosted a massive concert on the island this weekend called the Virgin Festival.

Some thougths on the Good and the Bad (in no particular order). **there won’t be any notes on the Sunday lineup. Funds weren’t there to get me there.
Good:

Kid Koala never disappoints. Even though we got the feeling that because of time schedules he was being rushed off the stage, he laid down some huge beats to warm the crowd for the Flaming Lips. New record coming soon, and something about a Toronto show soon? Stay tuned. Highlight was Kid’s rendition of ‘Moon River‘, a homage to his grandmother and dedicated to his new wife (watching on a live feed) and the Flaming Lips.

Kid Koala

Bad:

The Flaming Lips‘ headline set was cut short (after the 4th or 5th tune) due to the 11pm noise bylaw. The show on the Virgin stage had been running 30mins late all day, and they were never able to make up that time. When the Lips were on stage, the audience had quite an experience seeing them. Equiped with giant confetti cannons, streamer guns, 30-50 giant balloons being kept in the air by the audience, large groups of onstage helpers as super heroes, aliens or santas, the Lips probably blew some minds. Wayne started off the show in a giant hamster ball! Wild. Great work, but the audience was left wondering how their set would come to a close. Would they play Bohemian Rhapsody? War Pigs?

The Flaming Lips

Good:

It was nice to finally see Phoenix. I would have been able to catch a longer set, as they played the Mod Club the night before. I made a judgement call, Tom Petty got my vote.

All dressed in black, Phoenix demonstrated tight, French garage-pop rock. Great translations live of Napolean Says and Long Distance Call, off ‘Its Never Been Like That’ (A&C Canada). I’d say they strongest was Consolation Prizes; super catchy track, pretty cool video. I thought the band would look like they were from Paris. Only the keyboard player did, sporting a fancy scarf around the neck. In his defence, it did get pretty cold that day.

Phoenix

Bad:

Everything on the island cost money. Everything. It was very easy to drop $100 (including the $50 one day ticket). And when the beer tents ran out of Creemore (which you had to twist arms to get), they relied on the small country sized supply of Bud Light. That was my Virgin (intended) experience with $5.50 Bud Lights and it hurt.

Good:

Adequate washrooms, no lineups for these. Brilliant.

**Stay tuned for Burtch’s thoughts, more about Dears, Wintersleep, Muse.