MY MORNING JACKET, ALABAMA SHAKES, THE WAR ON DRUGS, FATHER JOHN MISTY and others at FIELD TRIP, Saturday and Sunday, June 6 and 7. Rating: NNNN
Field Trip stormed Fort York and offered up some of the best live acts in music right now.
On top of tried-and-true pros like De La Soul (who wouldn’t continue until even security had its hands in the air) and Springsteen-via-slacker rock shredders the War on Drugs, the festival also put on excellent children’s programming, like the timeless Sharon and Bram, who did Peanut Butter with Kevin Drew. Drew and current partner-in-crime crooner Andy Kim also did some classics (Sugar, Sugar) and not-so-classics (an anti-kale song with the melody of Nirvana’s Come As You Are) for the kids.
Alabama Shakes capped Saturday with blistering stomp-and-holler rock ’n’ roll, lead singer Brittany Howard taking her signature howl to new heights. One gripe: the crew ran out of wristbands midday, which resulted in a pretty long wait for some.
Sunday’s highlights included Marina & the Diamonds’ unstoppably high-energy bubblegum pop and Father John Misty, who destroyed with his deranged Barry Manilow shtick. Jim James, a few songs into My Morning Jacket’s gorgeous closing set, summed up the festival best: “It’s a beautiful night. I’m glad we could all be here together. I’m glad that we could be together as a family.”
music@nowtoronto.com | @mattgeewilliams
