Best Week Ever?

So I've been really tired since Wakestock, so this is actual about last week.

After the long weekend here in Canada, the week was off to a nice start by shortening the work week. Tuesday went by so fast and as discussed earlier I got the surprise news of a free Metric concert at Union Station. The show was excellent and well worth the ticket price. For Thursday, I sort of wanted to go see Kesha and Rihanna play the Molson Amphitheatre, partly to check out the venue, which I've never seen a gig at. I couldn't find any cheap tickets and didn't want to fork out what Ticketmaster was charging, so I didn't go. Luckily, something else came up in its place. Like I often do after work, I opened up YouTube to play some tunes and see if any interesting movie trailers came out. The spotlight on Arcade Fire caught my attention, and I noticed they'd be playing a show in NYC that night and a live stream was available. Although I missed the live opening while planning my rides for the rest of the week's entertainment, I was able to see most of it when it replayed after the live set ended. Some of the guys in Arcade Fire really go all out, banging instruments and dancing like mad, generally working up a sweat. I hope their tour bus has a shower on it...
But like Win said, "remember when I saw Arcade Fire and they were a minute into a song, stopped and started from the top. Best night (or week in my case) of my life." Whoever caught the tambourine way back in the crowd must being really enjoying themselves. Nice to see Win toss it to the back instead of passing it to the front like most bands. They already had a splendid experience from being right up front, add something to the night of fans in the back peeking over people's shoulders just to see. Hopefully the concert will be posted in full for further enjoyment, like the U2 at the Rose Bowl was. And for the rest of the week, Wakestock 2010. Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker, Crash Kings, Hollerado, Public Enemy, KO, Rebel Emergency, the Katacombs and Alexisonfire all weekend long. Not to mention wakeboarding and bikinis.

USS was super energetic as I was expecting them to be, but I would have much rather seen a full set by them. They only had an hour which was shared with Maestro Fresh Wes. Some of the craziness included Human Kebab scratching with a severed hand, guest appearances by cardboard Twilight stars and Sarah Palin as guest DJ, and washing it all down with a smoothie concoction. Crash Kings performed a great set. Started off a little slow because of unfamiliarity with the crowd, but even the songs I didn't know I liked. As soon as they played "Mountain Man," the crowd really got into it and the Crash Kings never stopped after that. Their version of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" was amazing. I think they don't get enough recognition for their music, which is really good and loud.

(Thanks to Jenicka Wynne for allowing her photos to be downloaded and shared, check out her other shots.)

Now it was time for the headliners, and the crowd was going insane before AOF even took to the stage. I was almost impaled by a thick metal spike someone threw in the air with a shoe. Luckily, it just grazed my leg. Once on stage, the crowd got even rowdier. Full cans of Monster, hats, razors, glasses, ice, shoes, beach balls and people. Anything that was given out or people had, got tossed in the air. My friends and I stuck around to see Flava Flav and Public Enemy, but we really didn't enjoy it much and Flav was missing his clock, so we headed out. Although I discovered later that he had been hit by a shoe during that show, so I almost regret leaving.

On the Sunday, we watched more wakeboarding, but due to rain, it was delayed. After being soaked, we went for lunch and came back to watch some Katacombs, Rebel Emergency and Hollerado. Katacombs had a cool sound, but I didn't get to see too much of their performance. I am glad Hollerado played "Juliette" near the start of their set, because it began to rain again, so we had to head home. Overall, even with the rain, the festival was great and I am definitely going next year. One recommendation, if you decide to go, arrive early or if you have a 3-day pass go Friday. We couldn't go on Friday, but we thought we wouldn't have to wait in line for tickets because we bought online. We were so wrong and got in five minutes before USS started.

Here if you couldn't be there, enjoy some bikini girls (no band videos have good sound).

Looks like I have another awesome week coming up this month. I just won tickets to see Stone Temple Pilots, Cage the Elephant and Hot Hot Heat and they happen to be the night after Fan Expo ends. I love summer.

Metric @ Union Station, Toronto

I got a special treat this morning when I discovered Metric was to be playing a free show outside of Union Station in Toronto, Ontario to celebrate the release of the Samsung Galaxy S. I headed down after work to check out the show and I must say I was impressed. Metric played extremely well and Emily Haines' dance moves were crazy. They must have only played 10 songs or so, but I definitely would pay to see a full set. I even preferred some of the live versions over the studio recording, especially Stadium Love. A live album from Metric would be sick. If you weren't lucky enough to have been there this is a video someone else got at the event (unfortunately I was unprepared and had no camera).

I'll will update this post if I find any better videos, and if the few photos I got on my cellphone turn out, I'll add them too.

Female Lead Singers

Question for everyone, how come there are handfuls of female lead singers in rock bands, many successful ones, yet most people say they don't like female rock singers?

The Evidence:

Flyleaf

Paramore

Evanescence

Metric

Guano Apes

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Others:

No Doubt

VersaEmerge

Hey Monday

Stars

Lacuna Coil

Within Temptation

Arch Enemy

Silverson Pickups

And I could go on, but you get my point. I don't know why some people can't listen to female singers. Check out "My Apocalypse" by Arch Enemy, the vocals are more hardcore than many male metal singers. Some female vocalists are very talented, Haley Williams being near the top of the list.