BEACH HOUSE, BAND OF HORSES and BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE at Toronto Island. Sat Jun 19. Rating: NN
Your picnic blanket is a fire hazard and you kill everybody with it. That glass of precious draught beer is going to take over 60 minutes in an epic three-part lineup. Don’t think about strolling along the shoreline to admire the city because it’s off limits says omnipresent security. Perhaps you would consider drowning yourself spurred by the memory that outdoor rock concerts used to be fun events where you’d go to forget about everyday hassles.
If only the music could take you away.
Baltimore duo Beach House have released one of the best records of the year, Teen Dream, which they played the majority of it identically to the record. It was like the CD was playing through the speakers, putting the already sedate audience even further into a sun-baked slumber.
Band of Horses gave us every “It’s an honour to be…” platitude in the book as they sandwiched new material from Infinite Arms betweens the best cuts from their superior previous records.
World Sick was the opener for Broken Social Scene’s set as Kevin Drew attempted to rev up a crowd who had scattered under shady trees to get a snooze. BSS were lively and earnest and their new material sounded good, but they weren’t able to get Toronto island to resemble anything like a party. At least not like the party we bolted to at Dundas Square, just missing headliners Pavement.
But with so many barriers, restrictions and precautions at this event, such tasks are likely impossible.[rssbreak]
