Was it mentioned anywhere yet that Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs will arrive in 8 different covers? Because apparently, it will.

Frank YangThe demise – for this year, at least – of Toronto’s Virgin Festival had one positive side effect, in that the corporate title sponsor found themselves with some budget to spend on a music event and nowhere to throw it… and so they threw it at NXNE. This not only gave the festival the means to land a bona fide, big time headliner to build things around, but they were able to present said act for free on a big stage in the heart of the city. No question, Iggy & The Stooges was going to be an event.

But not the only event. The Yonge-Dundas mainstage had a full slate of acts leading up to the big show, including a number of acts who were significant draws unto themselves. My evening started with Florida’s Surfer Blood, who came into the fest as one of the bigger buzz bands and with a number of showcases on the schedule in addition to this one. And it’s a good thing they did, because if this were their only chance to impress, it’d have been a mighty flop. Presumably through no fault of their own, the young quintet’s equipment began self-destructing just a few songs into their set, causing extended delays on stage, clearly frustrating the band, boring the audience and killing any momentum they’d have hoped to build. They finally did manage to get it together to close their set out strongly, but this performance would almost certainly have to go in the better-forgotten pile. And even without the technical difficulties, I wasn’t especially impressed with what I heard. Decent guitar pop, but not really anything worth getting so excited over. Go figure. Clash and Spinner have features on the band.

Photos: Surfer Blood @ Yonge-Dundas Square – June 19, 2010
MP3: Surfer Blood – “Swim”

Though San Diego’s Wavves made headlines a year ago for an on-stage meltdown by frontman Nathan Williams, he was the model of composure this time out. Previewing material from his forthcoming sophomore album King Of The Beach, out August 3, Williams was chatty and good humoured on stage, if a bit odd and manifesting a Paulie Shore fixation. But no meltdowns and without the benefit of a home studio with which to layer on the lo-fi fuzz onto their songs, the sounded much more melodic and comprehensible than on records. Still fast and loud, but tuneful. A pleasant surprise. Yours Truly and PitchforkTV have video sessions with Wavves.

Photos: Wavves @ Yonge-Dundas Square – June 19, 2010
MP3: Wavves – “So Bored”
MP3: Wavves – “Cool Jumper”

I had arguably the best seat in the house, in the photo pit, when James Newell Osterberg, Jr – Iggy Pop to his friends – bounded out on stage and clad only in a pair of jeans and in both great and grotesque shape for his 63 years, wasted no time in letting everyone know that The Stooges’ advance billing as one of the greatest rock bands ever was far from just hyperbole...

Photos: Iggy & The Stooges @ Yonge-Dundas Square – June 19, 2010
MySpace: Iggy & The Stooges

Read more at Chromewaves →

Woods – “Death Rattles”

Fergus & Geronimo – “Girls With English Accents” This new track comes courtesy of the Transparent Blog, who are very elated that the duo will be playing for them in London next month (dates here).

Les Savy Fav - “The Equestrian” There is a 17-year-old still within me that was brought to life on Saturday, when I saw Les Savy Fav in Toronto. Their monstrous brutality, their charming mischief, and their boundless energy. The show began by a proclamation of "we are going to defile this space!" which garnered from me a mere smug grin. But they were right, we did. I am not a fan of Les Savy Fav, I recognized not a single song, but I danced like I did. Covered in beer, barely able to breathe, I thought to myself, “I'm 27 years old, but they're even older.” The show was vivisected, I couldn't even see the lead singer by the time the lights came on, but that was all the better. No bursting crescendo, no end page to the story where I acted like a teenager for one night. [Buy, or even better, see them live before you die (Newton Barge Park in Brooklyn on Sunday)]

Continue reading at Said the Gramophone →

Buke & Gass – “Medulla Oblongata” From the band’s forthcoming Brassland debut, Riposte, due out 9/14.