Toronto, ON – TELUS today announced that it is the first wireless carrier in Canada to offer over-the-air DRM-free (digital rights management) music tracks to Canadians.

Canadians now have the freedom to play back music purchased from the TELUS Music shop on any of their digital music capable devices. DRM-free music expands the TELUS music experience by allowing clients to transfer the music they buy from TELUS to their own electronic devices including cell phones, smartphones or PCs.

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In a bizarre incident at the Virgin Music Festival on Sunday, the evening’s last performance by Oasis was interrupted when Noel Gallagher was attacked on-stage.

Midway through the band’s set during a performance of “(What’s The Story) Morning Glory”, a man who looked like he was in his 30’s rushed came out from the backstage area and knocked the lead singer to the ground. The intruder was taken care of immediately as security guards pushed him to the ground and escorted him out of the building. Shockingly, the band shed any too-cool-for-school criticism by only taking a 15-minute break and then returning to close out the show, delighting nervous fans who had witnessed the altercation.

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The Foo Fighters returned to Toronto on Saturday night and rocked the Island in true Foo fashion.

The band headlined the third installment of the Virgin Music Festival in Toronto and played a set that lasted over an hour, mixing old hits with new tunes. Frontman Dave Grohl proved that he was the evening’s best showman by teasing and taunting the crowd by jokingly mocking their singing abilities.

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TORONTO—I believe in B-Live.

The Toronto leg of the Bacardi B-Live tour took place at the The Toronto School of Circus Arts on Nov. 3, and the location could not have been more apt as the combination of 2000 fans, three DJs and a night of unforgettable music made for an evening unlike any other.

Known as the largest spirit-sponsored music festival in the world, the Toronto stop of the 25-country free concert featured some of the top DJs in the world, including James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem, DFA), Diplo and local boy Nasty Nav.

The interesting thing about listening to DJs of this caliber is that it is almost impossible to predict or keep track of what is played or what will be played next. Each show is unique, and unlike an artist on tour that makes subtle to changes to their set list for every concert stop, Murphy, Diplo and Nasty Nav managed to keep the crowd entertained with their free-flowing jams and fast-paced dance mixes.

Combined with a spectacular lighting display, a custom Barcadi mojito bar and eclectic music throughout the night—and even some costumed attendees—the Barcadi event was unlike any other.

Perhaps the most noticeable aspect of the show was the wide range of observations that could be made by anyone that was there. Young ravers danced shoulder-to-shoulder with older fans obviously trying to recapture the feeling of partying late into the night with music to which they shouldn’t be listening. Beers were traded in for custom-made Barcardi drinks as guys still tried to buy drinks for attractive female singles (with the most receiving nothing more than a polite “thank you” for their misguided attempts). And yes, there were hot girls dancing in almost every corner of the room.

The best part was the fact that it was still easy to manoeuvre through the wide space, despite the number of people inside. While I went in expecting that securing a date with Posh Spice would be an easier task then getting to the bar, this was not the case, and drinks were just as easy to get as the good times.

What I liked most about the B-Live experience was the same thing that I appreciated at the B-Live tent during the Virgin Music Festival earlier this year—its originality. While electronic and dance music can be listened to almost everywhere, I have a hard time remembering the last time an event that even remotely resembled B-Live took place in Toronto.

Highly recommended.

The next Barcardi B-Live event takes place in Quebec on Nov. 16. More information is available here.

TORONTO—On a night that was supposed to be about returning Pumpkins that Smashed, Sunday’s Virgin Music Festival in Toronto turned out to be all and only about The Killers.

The Las Vegas quartet who have said that The Smashing Pumpkins were one of their musical influences easily outdid their returning muses by electrifying the crowd with new and old hits alike, and served as the final act before Billy Corgan et al took the stage.

Frontman Brandon Flowers, sporting a new “moustache,” seemed especially into the performance, belting out the last song with as much energy and gusto as the first.

This was in sharp contrast to The Smashing Pumpkins’ ho-hum performance, which clearly did not live up to the hype of the more than 25,000 fans in attendance. Despite a brilliant set-up with bright lights swirling around them, the Pumpkins’ set opened with what seemed like a game of Guitar Hero as the band basically just seemed to play instrumental riff after riff. It was almost as if they were practicing in a garage instead of in front of Toronto’s biggest music crowd of the year. Although the band started slow, slight shades of their former selves began to shine with their unique rendition of the Canadian national anthem and an uptempo version of “Bullet With Butterfly Wings”. The crowd’s pleas for “Tonight, Tonight” were finally answered midway through the performance and this finally seemed to win over festival attendees who had waited seven years to hear the band again. Although James Iha and Melissa Auf Der Maur did not participate in the reunion, new band members Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes did a better-than-you’d-expect job in replacement. Jimmy Chamberlain was flawless as usual on the drums.

The festival showed remarkable improvement from its inaugural edition last year. Every act hit the stage at their allotted time (or as close to it as you could get) and the organization of each of the four stages was perfect.

In addition to the Killers, one of the weekend’s highlights was the Bacardi B-Live stage, which featured a nightclub environment, dance music and some of the top DJ’s around. This was designed as an alternative and intentional option for any non-rock fans in attendance at the Virgin Music Festival, according to Bacardi Canada group brand manager Lisa Jazwinski.

“To put ourselves at V-Fest, where we are definitely very unique from everything, we stand out from the crowd,” she said.

Jazwinski explained that there was a specific focus for the stage which featured sizzling performances from Princess Superstar (pictured above) on Saturday and Sean Miller and Dirty Vegas on Sunday as well as free samples of Bacardi’s signature mojito.

“The entire concept is having an area for the audience to experience both amazing musical talent, sensory overload (not just from the music but from visuals that are choreographed with the music) and expert cocktail mixology,” she said. “For B-Live at V-Fest, it’s all about giving the audience at V-Fest another experience that is very unique to the whole V-Fest environment.”

Other acts that played on Sunday included The Constantines on the Future Shop stage, and The Red Romance and The Postage Stamps on the Budweiser platform.

Acts that preceded Sunday’s The Killers and The Smashing Pumpkins on the main stage included Metric, Stars, Tokyo Police Club and Louis XIV. All delivered standout performances and the Festival did not seem to suffer at all from the loss of Amy Winehouse who cancelled all North American appearances earlier this summer.

The rumored rain that was supposed to arrive never really got started and just like the entire weekend, it appeared that everything happened without a hitch.

The Virgin Music Festival returns to Toronto next year.

(Pictured: Smashing Pumpkins, Princess Superstar Photo Credit: Carrie Musgrave, Bacardi)

TORONTO—We’re not Virgins anymore.

The Virgin Music Festival returned to Canada today for its second stint at Toronto’s Island Park.

With the crowd steadily filling in as the afternoon wore on, it took almost no time at all for the park to be consumed by excited music lovers.

The show began strongly as one of the first acts on the Virgin Mobile main stage was a notable highlight. Smoothly crooning to the crowd and undoubtedly one of the best performances of the day, Paolo Nutini warmed up the festival’s early attendees, who politely applauded with their approval. The Scottish singer/songwriter’s polite response was in obvious contrast to the ruckus performances by Arctic Monkeys and Bjork which drew loud cheers.

k-os added a different feel to the festival line-up. In sharp contrast to last year’s inclusion of Gnarls Barkley, the predominantly rock-garnered throng responded loudly to the hip-hop artist’s calls for affirmation from the crowd.

As the opening acts took the main stage, there was also plenty of other music available for virtually any music fan with four musical acts playing on four different stages throughout the day. In addition to the main platform, the festival also featured the Future Shop, the Bacardi B-LIVE and the Budweiser stages.

The Future Shop stage hosted hot acts including Enter Shakiri. The English group took home four awards at the Kerrang! Magazine Music Awards including Best British Band, and Best Live Band also won the Best Album award for their independent release Take to the Skies, which went to #4 on the UK album chart.

The Bacardi B-LIVE stage included prominent disc jockeys which included DJ Dopey, Tommie Sunshine and Princess Superstar.

The Budweiser stage featured upcoming acts like Crowned King, Sybris and The Reason.

Other Future Shop stage acts included Jon Levine Band, Dragonette, The Wildbirds Voxtrot and Mute Math.

The best act of the day was undoubtedly the English act of M.I.A. (aka Maya Arulpragasam). Her unique fusion of house, electro and rap music left most of the crowd stunned.

The remarkable growth of the Festival cannot be understated. 35,000 people are expected to take in the weekend event which continues tomorrow with acts including the recently-reborn Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers, Metric, Stars and Tokyo Police Club.

New initiatives launched for the 2007 edition include Virgin Mobile’s steady and continuing commitment to a carbon-free environment. One of the main features of the environmentally-friendly plan involves costumed players standing on a green and black chessboard. Bands, celebrities and concertgoers call every move with each black piece representing the causes of global warming (oil rigs, trash and even lobbyists) and each white piece representing the actions needed to defeat the causes (solar power, recycling and bikes). The Festival also features the TRASHed Recycle Store, where attendees can trade recyclable items for prizes.

Other opening day highlights include a Dentyne kissing booth, a Calvin Klein scavenger hunt and Motorola giving fans the chance to dress up as their favorite celebrities.

Saturday’s show was headlined by a memorable performance from one of its most memorable featured artists, Björk.

More information on the Festival is available at VirginFestival.ca

(Pictured: Paolo Nutini, M.I.A., Photo Credit: Carrie Musgrave)