Brenda, Larry, a firefly eating a marshmallow, The Death of Auto-Tune, MJ, McNair, Michael Bay’s racism, mannequins, time travel and Talib Kweli… I’ve had a lot going on lately.

Good evening, people. The above seemingly random mentionings are the amalgam of experiences I had over the last few weeks, in no particular order.

Between apartment hunting and questioning my (non)existing relationships, I met Brenda and Larry. At Cafe Laguardia in the Wicker Park area of Chicago, my brother and I, along with some of his friends, watched a woman with that “why did I come here with this fool” look on her face as she watched her man act up with the live band at the Cuban restaurant. We took note amongst ourselves her attitude, that she was either ready to leave or ready for her mate to calm his behavior down to a notch below “tomfoolery.”

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Yes, I was privileged enough to be on the media team that was backstage during Foreign Exchange’s performance at the Double Door in Chicago on Friday night. It was amazing, people. And, it was an honor. There were so many more FE followers than I expected when I first arrived just a bit after 9pm. I know they are an amazing ensemble all together (YahZarah, Zo!, ELS, Darien Brockington were featured, Nicolay and Phonte as Foreign Exchange proper), but I think I just expected a more concentrated group of fans. I greatly underestimated the Chicago fanbase… and it felt SO refreshing to have done so. I love when a group as musically inclined as this gets the credit and support that they deserve.

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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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In retrospect, I should have known better.

Hanging all of my hopes for a good evening on a DOOM performance is like getting excited for a rendezvous with a really easy girl. Sure, you hear she’s good… but she’s probably got AIDS.

I should have known better than to think that a guy in a mask wouldn’t try to cheat me out of an evening. Especially since I’ve heard that he’s been doing just that since August. According to reports from concertgoers at Rock the Bells in San Francisco, Mr. Doom either sent a masked imposter to do the show for him or he chose to lip-synch his entire set himself. Similar stories have been recounted, posted, and blogged about since that initial disappointment.

Some die-hard Doom fans still don’t believe it. They say that he’s simply changed his mask or that he’s got some kind of cordless microphone built by weeded-out space aliens that makes his voice sound exactly like it does on recordings. Others, particularly those who have attended one of these recent shows, still try to give him the benefit of the doubt. They say that maybe he’s in the clutches of addiction again, going through one of the very same dark periods that changed Zev Luv X into Doom in the first place.

…or maybe I made up all these theories so I wouldn’t have to believe it…

Even in the hyper-masculine world of hip-hop, where the macho ideals of the mainstream ethos is almost finished crushing the enlightened safe space of the underground, I am willing to admit (without the obligatory “no homo”) that Doom was one of the last rappers that I looked up to. I realize that its dangerous to submit that kind of deference to an alcoholic in a Halloween costume, but every movement must have its leaders. Granted, the movement of post-modern, lo-fi, cartoon-character rappers is not a movement with a capital “M”, but Doom does represent the last vestiges of imagination in rap music.

Many of his fans are refugees from different eras of hip-hop that all got smashed together once white America decided it would only validate scary-black-man rap.

As one of those fans, I really hoped that he would know better than to try to pull it with L.A. fans… on New Year’s f’n Eve.

Fortunately it was a stacked line-up… 2Mex, Casual, Scarub, Grouch & Eligh and Haiku D’Etat were also on the bill, but when the host would ask if the crowd was ready for Doom, the place erupted everytime. Even the fifteen or so timed he had to do it to keep the crowd hyped during the tell-tale awkard pause that preceeded Doom’s set. In some of the other reports I’d read, there was always a long delay between the last act leaving the stage and Doom taking the stage. A long delay… with no music playing…

When he finally did take the stage, it didn’t take long to notice that at the very least it wasn’t him rapping live. He spoke no words to the crowd, he kept the mic completely over his mouth the whole time, and his vocals were studio-quality in a warehouse with more than 500 people in it. Each of his four hypemen could be clearly heard projecting through their microphones. The other thing he may or may not have realized was that there was a video camera right next to his face the entire set. The close-ups from this camera were shown on two 25-foot screens. One was right behind him and the other was in the middle of the warehouse.

His jaw was clearly not moving.

This was a farce that took some enormous balls to pull off. As egocentric as this might sound, it’s one thing to pull this in Nebraska or Idaho or North Dakota. Not only is it easier to fill a room with a recorded vocal in a small club, its also not going to unilaterally destroy your fanbase in one fell swoop. Why he would come to the second-largest market, gather all of his fans and then proceed to shit on them like that amazes me.

It’s also an insult to rappers that work hard to put on shows. 2Mex ripped that night, as did Casual and Haiku D’Etat. The host even brought up KRS-One to do the countdown and rock a couple of his classics. Luckily they put on the Legends after Doom’s abortion of a set. I’ve never really been a huge Legends fan but they put on capes and saved hip-hop that night. There were a few occasions while they were doing their thing that they reminded crowd that this is how it’s supposed to be done. They started a new chant that night that re-invigorated the crowd and probably saved the venue from owing fools money:

“This is L.A., and we do not f*ck around on microphones!”

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)

It’s been awhile since I’ve given new hip-hop a serious listen. Growing up I couldn’t get enough of Rakim and Slick Rick, but as the new millennium opened, glam hip-hop and retreat themes from the earlier years really turned me off to the point that when Pun died (even in the decline of hip-hop, anyone big from the Bronx would get my attention), so did my attempts to keep up with the genre.

Last week, I got an e-mail from Jeff Fernandez asking if I would cover this concert. I had my reservations, but I also had nothing to lose, so after one call to my hip-hop aficionado friend I was in for the concert. That my favorite hip-hop act of the last decade, Black Star, was at the Chicago show (which you can read about here) only got me more excited for the show. Well, I made the right decision, and even though no Black Star was around (in Chicago but not Brooklyn? What?) this was still a great, loaded show.

First up was Joell Ortiz. My friend, Charlie, told me to take note here and he couldn’t have been more on point. Joell is a star in the making. He got the crowd warmed up with a mix of humor, a smooth flow and crowd interaction that’s hard to match. By the time he took some quick classic tracks from the likes of Biggie and Pun he had the crowd in the palm of his hand. He closed with “Hip-Hop” and spent the rest of the day enjoying the show and chatting with fans.

Joell on what it was like take hip-hop back to its roots with his style: He’s flattered with the comparison, but he’s just trying to make the kind of music he enjoyed coming up. It’s great to hear, but he’s not brining anything back, just making the kind of music he loves.

After this came Cham, who wasn’t bad, but mostly kept the crowd going. After he set up the crowd with “I want to try something out” he did a solo version of his hit with MIMS, “This Is Why I’m Hot”. You could hear the anticipation in the crowd, but nothing came of it.

Cham says that he appreciates the love, but he’s going to get with a group to get new notoriety. Keep a look out for the new group.

The next surprise made up for anything and everything that MIMS could have. On the set times we were promised a “live” mix-tape. Maybe because of my unfamiliarity, but I thought that meant we were just going to get a live airing of J. Period’s DJ set. Nope. We got a “live” mix-tape recording from Smiff ‘N’ Wessun, Buckshot, Masta Ace, O.C., and finished with Special Ed’s classic “I got it Made.” Yeah, it’s as great as it sounds. And I was worried about not liking new hip-hop. Between realizing Joell was a star and this, my day had to be a success.

The concert continued with great performances by Clipse, Large Professor and Brand Nubian, but nothing made me happier than seeing the LOX again. I followed the LOX from when they were first signed, growing up between the Bronx and White Plains, Charlie actually saved J-Hood’s life once, but he wasn’t there. The LOX tore it down, just like expected and don’t seem to have lost a thing in the years since I followed them years before.

Closing the show was LL Cool J who was given a cart straight to the stage. You can see why he’s so big; he just carries a different energy with him, especially with the ladies.

I’m happy I got to check this out and want to thank both Zune and Jeff for setting this up. The food from The Soul Spot in Brooklyn was great and free Jack Daniels and Absolut are always appreciated. Great experience again and thanks for the hook up.

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It’d been a while since I’d last seen a hip-hop show in Chicago. Yes, I was able to check out Open Mike Eagle’s crew back in May while in L.A., but the last time I paid to see a hip-hop show at home was back in 2002, when I saw Del The Funkee Homosapien. I have no explanation for the drought, but I’d kind of missed it, honestly.

Then, last week, one of the promotional firms with which this site does business let me know about an upcoming event in Chicago the upcoming weekend. Apparently, Microsoft has set up its own urban-based concert series in order to promote the new Zune mp3 player. As the press release states:

Zune worked with artists directly, to give back to the cultural core consumer and connecting Zune with that core by giving them the opportunity to participate in the Zune mantra, which is to support Art, Music and Film in the digital space with technology and innovation. Consider these shows as rewards to those who have come to support the digital platform. By bringing music back to the community parks, they’re also a thank you to those individuals in the cities who have come to support the local and national Art, Music and Film community. It’s a nod to a time when this music was about community; community support and community interaction. The idea is to re-create that energy with the ultimate park jam experience.

Interesting, I thought. The Los Angeles leg of the concert series included UGK, E-40, Collie Budz and Common, and if that had been the lineup here I may not have been so inclined to go (I’m not going to drive an hour and spend another hour to find street parking just to see Common), but the organizers set up a much better roster for the Chicago show. While Common would have probably been a bit more logical for Chicago, they made up for it by calling in Mos Def, Bilal, Little Brother and Qualo (see, Mathan, you should have moved out here). Ergo, I decided that there would be no better time than the present to put the kibosh on my hip-hop show drought.

While the obvious choice for a venue would have been Grant Park (which is hosting Lollapalooza), the folks at Zune decided to make it a bit cozier, setting up shop at the historically racially integrated Union Park—well-known for hosting numerous cultural and social events including art exhibits and concerts—in the West Loop. They then enlisted Chicago’s own Robinson’s No.1 Ribs to set up a grilling Xanadu with a plethora of offerings including pork ribs, beef ribs, fried chicken, barbecue chicken, hot links and turkey wings. I was in pizzaface paradise.

While I was getting there just as Little Brother was finishing up their set (that’s that bullshit that is finding parking in the area), I was told by other concertgoers that their set was very good, even without 9th Wonder. Unfortunately, the check-in process prevented me from seeing much of their set, but what I did see was pretty damn good. I followed up that performance with a visit to the barbecue tent, and partook in some complimentary Red Bull as well. VIP kicks ass.

Bilal was up next, and boy does he need to release that Love for Sale album soon. That man can sing better that 95% of people who currently hold record contracts. He could be (and should be) bigger than Kelly Clarkson and Justin Timberlake combined. It’s apparent that this man truly feels the music that exudes from his vocal cords, as he almost seems in a trance while singing. He sang fan favorite “Soul Sista” as well as a lot of material from that in-limbo album. I was later able to speak with him for a few minutes:

Re the status of the Soulquarians (on which there are conflicting reports from Common and ?uestlove), Bilal does still talk to most of them, though the untimely passing of J. Dilla last year did serve to make any future projects much more questionable. Asked whether or not we’d be seeing any upcoming album produced by the group, he told me that he honestly didn’t know.

Re the release of Love for Sale, he said that he is determined for it to see the light of day eventually, though it won’t happen until Universal [Records] gives him back his master tapes. He really is disappointed that it’s been such a difficult process to get the material out, because he’s really proud of it, as the music is very organic and reflects his inner soul very much.

I was also going to try and ask him a few more questions, including what he thinks 50 Cent looks like, though I was cut off after a few minutes. Thanks to the people at Zune, though, for letting me have the opportunity.

The “special guests” were next, and they were Talib Kweli (as I had discovered on the itinerary upon check-in) along with Jean Grae (not included on the itinerary and a nice surprise). Yes, folks, that’s right, Talib Kweli and Mos Def would be performing together for the first time since I’m not sure but who cares because I get to see it. Talib Kweli did some fan favorites (including “Move Somethin’” off of the Reflection Eternal album), as well as a track sampling “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” that really got the crowd riled up. The crowd was really into this show, and the turnout was great. It’s really good to see people excited about rap music that doesn’t suck. Jean Grae tore it up lyrically as well, though I was expecting to see a bit more energy from her.

Mos Def came onstage unannounced near the end of Kweli’s set to a HUGE POP, and Black Star was reunited just like that. They did some tracks off of Mos Def and Talib Kweli Are Black Star, including “Definition”, and some material I’d never heard before. Could a new album be on the horizon? Probably not, but a man can dream. I was also pleased by random rapping over the beats for “The Message” and “Don’t Stop the Rock”, respectively. They put on an excellent show with great energy to close out an afternoon full of musical goodness.

The energy and people at this show were great. There was also free beer and vegetables in the VIP tent. While I did not seize the advantage to eat some celery, I did have a few bottles of Stella Artois. The best T-shirts I saw all afternoon were one that said, “De La City” (in the same font from the cover of Stakes Is High); one that said, “I AM NOT THE FATHER” (a nice little nod to Maury) worn by one of the guys from Qualo; and one that said, “J DILLA CHANGED MY LIFE”. Also, I got a compliment from Bilal for my shirt (which bears this this image with the heads switched). Also seen in the area were Chicago emcee Psalm One and former Chicago Bears defensive back Jerry Azumah (though not together) as well as numerous hot women. Numerous.

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