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Virgin Festival - Saturday: Reviews!!!

S

sianspherica

TRIBE Member
HOLY FUCK

Bjork put on probably the best set I've ever seen at a festival. It was unreal, such a great set, jeeeeeeeeeesus. I'm not a huge Bjork fan at all, but she somehow played a greatest hits type set, everything I wanted to hear (Jago, Hunter, All Is Full of Love, Big Time Sensuality, Army of Me, Bachelorette, Pluto) plus a few new bits from Volta. Wicked visuals, lasers, streamers. The sound at the island for her set was spot on, ahhhh would love to watch the whole thing again. So worth the price of admission just for that set.

Interpol was alright...they were clearly not into it, they were much better at the Guv a few months back, Arctic Monkeys were pretty good. Kid Koala did a short last minute set after M.I.A. but it was too hot and he said his records were warping in front of his face and fucking shit up.

Can't wait for today!!! if you are going DO NOT MISS "EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY" one of my favorite bands and they were amaaaaazing this year at Coachella.
 
R

rentboy

TRIBE Member
plus side:

MIA - She rocked it big time. It must be hard to pull off a show like that at 3pm in blazing sun but she did it. Loved her interaction with the crowd and the beats where slamming. My respect for her has increased substantially.

Bjork - I'm not the biggest fan but she did play my favorite songs (All is Full of Love, Hyperballad and a rousing Army of Me). We took off a bit early (to beat the rush) so i'm punching myself for missing Big Time Sensuality. Her voice and dance moves are great.


The negatives:

The beer tent situation was total balls again. Positioned off to the side of the main stage... I didn't pay to drink and listen to the music. I want to see it too. I don't get why they couldn't create a closed off area in front of the stage, even off to the side where the ticket and food booths were located. Also, getting carded every single time was a pain...why not use wristbands and cut down on the never-ending line ups?

Lineups... probably the main reason i'm not coming back to this festival. You spend more time lining up than enjoying the shows. Everything felt so controlled and anal-retentive. Toronto needs to loosen up a bit.

Not a bad day out...it's nice to have a music fest to go to, but the hassles seem to outweigh the good moments.
 
Z

--[Zirca]--

TRIBE Promoter
rentboy said:
Lineups... probably the main reason i'm not coming back to this festival. You spend more time lining up than enjoying the shows. Everything felt so controlled and anal-retentive. Toronto needs to loosen up a bit.
Click to expand...

I bailed on going yesterday for this exact reason. Everyone I talked to that went has commented on this, saying it should be called "The Lineup/Waiting Festival". Something has gone down at the island this year with "beer tents" and the inability to use a wristband policy. Same thing happened at Wakestock. You had to line-up for beer tickets outside, then line-up to get in the beer tent, then line-up for beers, repeat. Very inefficient. I realize lines are the natural bi-product of a major event, but there are more efficient ways to manage them.

Talk about a change in weather for today. brrrrrrrrr
 
J

juice

TRIBE Member
Seriously the lineups were not fun at all, there absolutely has to be a better way to get it done with getting people in and our of alcohol areas. Line to buy tickets to get booze, line to wait in to get into the area where said booze is, line inside the area to finally pick up booze. We were just shot gunning beer and getting the hell out of that area, spent more time in the dance tent then we'd planned on just because we could drink in there and still feel involved in everything. Missed MIA unfortunately, Arctic Monkeys were very good, Interpol was boring, they are a great band in smaller venues and to just listen to in general at home, they were a snooze yesterday though. Princess Superstar and Tommie Sunshine were a lot of fun.

Of course Bjork stole the show though, amazing performance. It was quite similar to her set I saw a few months back at Sasquatch festival but just as good the second time around. Visuals were awesome for her show and I'm sure helped win over some of the people who don't really dig her stuff. Sucks to all of those that didn't catch her complete set, it's really something that needs to be seen start to finish. I love what Mark Bell brought to the performance as well. All in all a fabulous day though, perfect weather mega good times!
 
X

xtollo

TRIBE Member
Great fucking day on the island...

I made it early enough to catch Paolo Nutini... great voice and perfect for that hour in the day. Unfortunately he didn't play "Last Request" and mumbled something to the extent of "I have one last song, although I thought I had two more". IMO implying he was planning on playing it but the schedule was too tight. WHICH WAS RIDICULOUS given the fact that for an hour there was NOTHING due to Winehouse pulling out.

M.I.A was on fucking fire man. Those beats were retarded good, especially that loud! lol WOW. I'm hoping this is only the beginning of how crazy M.I.A will get.

Arctic Monkeys were good background music (lol) and Interpol were so boring they almost brought me to tears.

Seeing Bjork was worth the money for me, (tho I wasn't floored) I felt she delivered. "Hyperballad" and "Declare Independence" were the two highlights in her set for me.

I'm trying to find pictures from the day but to no avail...
 
M

madnezz

TRIBE Member
We got there late and only caught Interpol and Bjork. I'd never really heard Interpol before and thought they sounded totally generic. I love Bjork, but I thought her set was wayyy too mellow, and was putting our crew to sleep!

Thank goodness for VIP passes, that made it all worthwhile (hello salmon, beef, jerk chicken!).

Heading there tonight for Metric, Killers and Pumpkins.
 
V

vench

TRIBE Promoter
I had a great time yesterday, it really was fun to head to the island and listen to live music - a nice change from going to clubs all the time.

I didn't really check out too many bands but for me the Arctic Monkeys were great but I found Interpol to be kinda boring. no enthusiasm at all imo. Bjork was awesome. only caught about 20 mins or so of her set but enjoyed every minute of it.

the Bacardi tent was okay. Princess Superstar was playing when I went by and was really into it, getting on the mic and interacting with the crowd. Tommy Sunshine however did nothing for me (honestly, I wasn't in the mood for electronic music so maybe that's why I left after he started... ).

all in all I had a blast. too much sun and too many beers.
 
M

MoFo

TRIBE Member
Rents, she didn't play Big Time Sensuality.
The encore was an upbeat remix of Oceania and Declare Independence.
 
M

MoFo

TRIBE Member
I don't have any music reviews other than Bjork so I have a different take on the event...

Like Vench, I was part of the VIP/guestlist mess.
I took some photographs for CMTM for the Vfest website so I went thinking I was gonna get some perks in Perkville.

Arrived at the Queens Quay checkin to find a huge lineup out the door that didn't move. Checked in after seeing a Artist's Guestlist table and got my ticket and my pass. The lounge had a ferry coming every 30 minutes and free booze. All the food was gone and they didn't replace it. So starving and thirsty, I ordered 3 free beers and drank alone. Nice and buzzed and getting excited.

Suddenly, this girl comes out saying "there are 10 spots left for the next ferry" so everyone rushes out. I didn't see anyone return so confused, I figured they all got on. I decided to wait for the next one but found out there was already lineup for the next one (hence, why people didn't return). Headed out before 3 to line up and we were told we were 165 out of 175 but due to budders, we might not get on.

Well, there were at least 50 budders because A LOT of us didn't get on. 4:10 rolls around so we missed CMTM, Princess Superstar and MIA. And there was clearly plenty of space on that boat. I don't think there were even 100 people on that ferry. But can't do anything so we wait.

Ferry finally returns and we get to the island around 5 I guess? There were many media people bitching about this. I felt bad for the National Post guy in front of us.

Anyway, we get there and we think: VIP area here we come! Drinks, food (still hadn't eaten anything)... Get there and we have to buy beer tickets in the VIP area. We also can't access any of the hot food due to our passes (neither can backstage people apparently) so we sit and eat $4 hot dogs watching Virgin employees and sponsors get salmon and jerk chicken.

6 and 7 PM rolls around.. Still no access to the backstage. Even Hot Coworker's parents and girlfriend had to wander around. All the free beer backstage is now gone. Their rider and trailer didn't get ordered. So they have nothing and are left with a guestlist of people who are basically locked in a VIP area. Though some of us got interviewed by the Naked News girl. I'll post pics when I upload them. It was TRASHY but a good laugh. No ATM nearby so I had no cash and we were being told beer was on its way. No dice.

8 PM rolls around. sober as fuck and I decide to set up camp for Bjork. I came for her and I might as well enjoy myself. Beautiful day, gonna try to forget the lineups for the bathroom, the tickets, the ferry...

Bjork was fantastic. Mediocre sound IMO and not a great set but I'm a HUGE fan so I knew every song, every remix, every word.. But yah, I changed locations about 8 times because everywhere I stood, I kept overhearing people talking about their cottages or what they were up to this summer.. I heard a few "We're leaving, Bjork is too fucked for me" comments so that was a downer.

But having gone to a few Bjork shows (including the most amazing show at the warehouse where I was 15 feet away from her and the magically deafening island show 2 years ago), I'm picky.

I thought Bjork's set was more of a slower set than Glastonbury. She did a lot of her newer stuff but not the most amazing tracks for a live performance.. More of a tribute to hardcore fans though she did pepper the show with a few beat-heavy tracks.

Hyperballad and the remix of All is Full of Love are two big numbers for me so that was neat. But Cover Me, Unravel, Wanderlust and a few others went over a lot of people's heads.

Again, the sound was not loud enough. I was not pleased compared to past shows. Innocence (a very beat heavy glitchy Timbaland track), Pluto and Declare Independence should've been mind-blowing and ear-piercing. I danced a lot to those but it wasn't intense enough for me. Maybe I was standing in the wrong location (next to the AV stand in the centre).

All in all, I had a good day but I will think twice about going to an island festival the next time the offer comes around (unless Bjork is there again).
 
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M

MoFo

TRIBE Member
Oh. For anyone with a VIP wristband, here's my advice: DO NOT TAKE THE VIP ferry back. I saw it being delayed last night after bjork's performance.

Follow the crowd around the bridge, instead of heading to the ferry loading dock, go to the left where the Pizza Pizza is. There's a security entrance there for VIP people to bud in front of everyone else. The gate leads right to the ramp of the boat dock IN FRONT of where they shut the gate on people when the ferry is full.

That was a HUGE bonus as I totally would've been stuck had I not seen that gate with the little sign noting the wristband exit. It was on 8x10 paper in the dark so I was very lucky to see it.

If this is confusing, ask a security guard and/or a Virgin person with a clipboard when you're getting closer to the ferry dock. Bypass the VIP boat and go to the public one. It's so much faster than the chartered Virgin ferry.
 
T

terrawrist III

TRIBE Member
madnezz said:
I love Bjork, but I thought her set was wayyy too mellow, and was putting our crew to sleep!
Click to expand...

wow...that same mellowness was making girls literally weep from where we were...thought it bold to start out generally somber and work her way into high gear towards the end...Pagan Poetry gave me goosebumps :)
 
J

junglegirl

TRIBE Member
other then the fake vip bullshit I had a fantastic time :D

amazing weather, great friends and awesome tunes.

Missed M.I.A. waiting for the ferry which was sad cuz she was one of the reasons I headed to the island, but i wasnt gonna let it get me down. Got to the island and eventually made it to the beer tent where we proceeded to add to the major beer pyramid that was being built :D

Bjork!This was the first time ive had the pleasure of seeing her and I am her number one fan now ;) her music completely moved me and had me dancing my ass off. I loved the drum & bass-y elements. I cant say how much I loved her...her dancing, her singing, her smiles, her enthusiasm...so good!

I will definately see her the next time she comes around.
 
M

MoFo

TRIBE Member
terrawrist III said:
wow...that same mellowness was making girls literally weep from where we were...thought it bold to start out generally somber and work her way into high gear towards the end...Pagan Poetry gave me goosebumps :)
Click to expand...

Like I said, her "mellow" stuff is intense for me because I'm a huge fan and know what the songs are all about.. But for this crowd, I think it was a downer for the most part.
Which is a shame because at the Bjork concert she did on the island, it was mostly Bjork fans other than a few scenesters who wouldn't. stfu. I think location has a lot to do with it too. I was back where there was a clear view but no Bjork fans. I didn't see anyone mouth any words, pump any fists.. I didn't even really see people clap. Most of the people around me got tired and sat down to wait out several songs.
 
NemIsis

NemIsis

TRIBE Member
I was asked to go to this and do a write up + pics (media/vip treatment). After my first week back at work (exhausted) and having the opportunity to hang out with a good friend I haven't seen in over a month, I ended up declining.

Good to know that I made the right decision. Although, it would have been nice to see Bjork though :( .
 
Z

zoo

TRIBE Member
it's on right now

http://www.myspace.com/muchmusicofficial

also works in firefox

first song was plodding and wishy washy and bad

second song was bullet with butterfly wings, which was done satisfactorially but gave me the feeling of dishonesty

third song is a new song that is mostly boring

fourth song is on now, i also don't know this, slow .. i find it difficult to believe that a crowd of 10,000+ people wants to hear new pop/ballad songs from a band that lost relevancy long ago .. the crowd seems to be more into joking and irony than anything else ...
 
V

vench

TRIBE Promoter
MoFo said:
Like Vench, I was part of the VIP/guestlist mess.
Click to expand...

I don't think we've ever met Sunny, have we? having said that, we should say hi to one another next time we're at the same event.

I think something was in that food in the VIP area so you didn't miss much. I think it made me sick... it tasted good but it made me feel kinda rank.

anyways... fun times but I did not go back today.

ferry there was a disaster... we ended up taking a water taxi! on the way back it was much faster - we got on a ferry right away.
 
M

MoFo

TRIBE Member
vench said:
I don't think we've ever met Sunny, have we? having said that, we should say hi to one another next time we're at the same event.
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Haha. Keli came up to you actually at the table and I was at the next one over.
Yeah, I didn't recognize you because I used to see you with lots of hair.
Totally, next time I'll say whaddup.
 
billy

billy

TRIBE Member
zoo said:
seriously, bjork and MIA, sigh ..
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yup, would have been cool, but my housemate, currently here in the living room is thanking me for hooking up the computer to the LCD/stereo in the living room for the pumpkins. he is one happy pumpkins fan right now.
 
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