Advertisement

Concert reviews Music

Photos from WayHome 2016 and what you missed at last weekend’s fest

The hot-and-sticky second annual WayHome Music and Arts Festival took over Oro-Medonte on the weekend (July 22-24), and we were deep in the photo pit for performances by headliners Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem, plus Dilly Dally, Chvrches, Metric, Kurt Vile, White Lung, A Tribe Called Red, Black Mountain and others. But we were in the crowd, too. Here are five things you missed:

Ontario pride

It’s one thing to see your favourite locals – bands you’ve supported since before anyone knew their names – at the club or the bar, but seeing them blast away hundreds or thousands of fans is something else entirely. The Ontario faction was big: Bahamas, BADBADNOTGOOD, Dilly Dally, Arkells, Shad, Coleman Hell, River Tiber and Metric were all on hand for some killer sets. It was arguably Arkells, though, who made the most of theirs, with a typically high-energy hour and new music that included a tune called Drake’s Dad that revved up the Saturday night WayBright crowd. But for all that provincial pride, we’re pretty sure Killers’ Brandon Flowers referred to the location as Ottawa.

Don’t call it a comeback

There were no grand reunions over the weekend, but there were a lot of bands making comebacks of sorts. LCD Soundsystem smashed through Friday night in a big way with pounding, dance-floor-ready electro-funk Arcade Fire (more below) continued the trend Saturday with one of their first Canadian dates since 2014 Wolf Parade’s reunion run was a rollicking, stomp-heavy set of jagged rock ’n’ roll. The most obvious return was Third Eye Blind, whose entertaining nostalgia rock was punctuated with cringe-inducingly earnest posi-vibes speeches by singer Stephan Jenkins. But kudos to him for screwing with the GOP last week.

Copious covers

So. Many. Cover. Songs. Third Eye Blind did a little medley with their own Rites Of Passage and U2’s With Or Without You Dilly Dally did their well-honed, vicious take on Drake’s Know Yourself Nathaniel Rateliff offered up the Band’s The Shape I’m In and Arcade Fire did a haunted Born In The USA that led into their own Springsteen-indebted Keep The Car Running. But the best was Este Haim and her sisters paying tribute to His Purple Badness, with a passionate blitz through I Would Die 4 U that likely had Prince grinning down on them.

Arcade fireworks + new album rumours confirmed

With a nearly two-hour set that included lots of well known songs – including an especially riveting Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – a wild streamers dance from Régine Chassagne and Win Butler’s heartfelt speech about arts funding, Arcade Fire delivered Saturday’s big climax. Colourful explosions in the sky accompanied the already explosive Wake Up to cap things off. Also: “Next time you see us, we’ll have lots of new music,” Butler confirmed.

Some courage for Gord

This is Ontario, after all, and with so many Canadian musicians on the bill, it made sense that a few would want to show some courage for Gord Downie. Arkells were the first we heard do it, with a blistering rendition of My Music At Work on the WayBright stage to massive crowd response. Stars singer Torquil Campbell came out on the main WayHome stage later with a homemade “DOING IT FOR GORD” shirt. “This one’s for Gord fuckin’ Downie,” he said, introducing Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It.

music@nowtoronto.com | @mattgeewilliams

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted