This year I managed to see and photograph just under 300 bands, which was a little shy of the 300+ I saw/shot in 2006. When you see that many bands, it’s very difficult to come up with a top 10 list, but I’m giving it a go and adding a few more. No particular order, except the top 5.
1) Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Berkeley Church - Sept. 7/07
This was a private show put on by Vice during the Toronto International Film Festival, and leading into V-Fest weekend. Given that I was scheduled to shoot V-Fest all weekend, I was insane for even considering this show, but there was no way I was going to miss it. There was a long, long wait (3+ hours), it was insanely hot and bodies were crushing my pelvis into the stage throughout the whole show, but damn it if it wasn’t worth every second. This was my first time seeing the YYYs and I’d been wanting to photograph Karen O. for ages, so having her sing right in my face was golden. I came out of that show completely soaked, battered and bruised…and grinning like an idiot.
2) White Stripes @ Bonnaroo - June 17/07
There were 3 acts at Bonnaroo that I’d been looking forward to for months, and all 3 happen to be listed here. I’d never seen The White Stripes before, but have loved them forever, and saw Jack White play with The Raconteurs the previous summer. It’s hard to take your eyes off of him when he’s playing guitar. I don’t even know what else to say, other than they make a hell of a lot of noise for 2 people and that show made the perfect ending to 4 days of wicked music. If you have the opportunity, go to Bonnaroo…the music is great and you’ll have a blast.
3) Gogol Bordello @ Bonnaroo - June 16/07
I caught the last few minutes of Gogol’s show at the Drake a few years back and though I didn’t even really know their music at the time, I swore I’d check them out at the first opportunity. To say I was excited to see this show at Bonnaroo would be an understatement, so the fact that I was able to watch the whole thing from the photo pit made it that much more special. It was hard to take photos because I couldn’t stop bouncing around. Gogol are quite possibly the most energetic band to watch and it’s infectious. If you don’t move your body at their show then you officially have no soul. Saw them again at the Kool Haus later in the year, and while that show was also great, it doesn’t quite make the list.
4) Flaming Lips @ Bonnaroo - June 16/07
Giant spaceship, lasers, confetti, balloons, santa, aliens, puppets, Wayne Coyne in a bubble, Wayne Coyne, period (hello!)…’nuf said. Although I still enjoyed their shortened set at 2006’s V-Fest more, seeing their show makes you genuinely feel like a kid again.
5) Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings @ Phoenix - Nov. 13/07
I’m just going to use the same summary that I used in the entry below: If you’ve never seen Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, you have no idea what you’re missing. They’re a slice of funk heaven, and make you feel like you’ve been transported back a few decades to the height of the soul/funk era. Sharon Jones is also amazing to photograph…the energy she puts out shines through in every frame.
6) Snow Patrol/OK Go @ Ricoh Coliseum - Mar. 31/07
I love Gary Lightbody’s voice. Love it. Of any musician’s voice, his speaks to me most. I saw them twice in the span of about 6 months, once at the Kool Haus and the other time at Ricoh Coliseum. Normally I’d rather see a band in a smaller venue, but their music seemed perfect for an arena…and I didn’t even mind sitting alone up in the stands watching the show after shooting my 3 songs. OK Go were the openers and were so much fun to watch…I would easily go see them again.
7) Maximo Park @ Mod Club - July 14/07
I was so exhausted coming into this show that it took every ounce of energy to force myself to go. I’d seen so many great jumping shots of Paul Smith that even if I didn’t enjoy the show, I’d go to capture that alone. Luckily, the band’s energy rubbed off on me and I actually felt quite revitalized after the show.
Apostle of Hustle @ Rivoli - Feb. 7/07
This was the third show of their Rivoli residency and my first time seeing AoH. I’d been trying to get to a show for ages but something else always came up. What a fantastic show…the layers of sound and Andrew Whiteman’s eccentricities really impressed me. I’ve seen AoH several times this year (4 or 5) and the Rivoli show was by far the best…all the other shows were stripped down by comparison, so I’m glad that was my first.
9) Rheostatics @ Massey Hall - Mar. 30/07
I admit it — I’ve never really been a Rheos fan. I agreed to shoot this show for Chart and thought I’d be shooting and leaving after the 3 songs, but as it turned out, a woman offered me a ticket for free just before the show, so I decided to stay. This was the band’s farewell show, and you could immediately feel the emotion in the building, like something special was about to happen. People all around me were crying at one point or another…everyone such diehard fans that I almost felt guilty for occupying a seat. That said, I loved every minute of the show and am glad I was there to at least see this iconic Canadian band play once in my lifetime.
10) Golden Dogs @ Lee’s Palace - Feb. 3/07
Fun, fun, fun. Another band who’s energy is infectious and who give everything on stage. Considering how often they play Toronto, I’ve only been able to see them once, sadly. I’ll get my shit together for 2008 and be sure to catch a few more gigs.
11) Handsome Furs @ Lee’s Palace - July 31/07
This was my third time seeing HF in a matter of months, and to be perfectly honest, I was fairly underwhelmed the first two times, so wasn’t expecting much. The evening couldn’t have been any hotter and we were all soaked to the bone, but they poured everything into each song like I hadn’t seen before (maybe because they were headlining and not opening). From that point on I was converted.
12) Harmonica @ Rivoli - Mar. 10/07
This show happened during Canadian Music Week at around 3am, and I was completely wiped after running around from venue to venue shooting all night. I’d heard rumblings about the Norwegian band putting on a good show, but knew absolutely nothing about them, so thought I’d give them a go and if it sucked I’d leave. If there’s one word to sum the band up, it’s FUN! There were only a handful of people at the show but it made no difference to them. They were definitely the band that impressed me most during the whole festival.
13) Mando Diao @ Horseshoe - May 12/07
I walked into this show not really knowing anything about Mando Diao, but decided to check them out/shoot them anyway. Most of the time I don’t expect much in these cases, but I walked out of that show a fan. To be honest, I don’t even really remember much about the show itself other than I really had fun and they seemed to be really enjoying it, too. Sometimes that’s all it takes to make a show (for me, at least).
14) Wolfmother @ Kool Haus - Mar. 6/07
3 hours of solid rock. I saw Wolfmother 3 times in less than a year and although every show was awesome, this was by far the best…including Andrew Stockdale throwing all of his pedals into the crowd at the end of the show. It was the last of their North American tour, and each song was about 15 minutes long, mostly jamming (which I’m normally not much of a fan of, to be honest). They’re a band I’d go see every chance I got.
15) Young Galaxy/Besnard Lakes @ Horseshoe - Oct. 12/07
I can’t really explain why I enjoyed this show so much, other than they make a good pair of bands to tour together. I came to appreciate Young Galaxy a little more (who I found kind of boring the first time I saw) and was glad to have finally seen Besnard Lakes, who like AoH, I’d been meaning to see for ages.
16) Hives @ Phoenix - Oct. 3/07
Flat out one of the best live bands today…they could put on a clinic for almost every other band out on tour. I’ve never really been into The Hives, but damn if they didn’t impress the hell out of me. I was sick as a dog for this show, but couldn’t bring myself to go home early. Pelle is one hell of a showman, with just the right amount of Jagger swagger and cockiness to make you love him. I could’ve hated their music and still loved the show…luckily the music was pretty good, too.
17) Matt & Kim @ Mod Club - May 4/07
I only caught the last 2-3 songs of this show, but Matt & Kim’s giddiness was so infectious. I’ve never seen a band have so much fun on stage, giggling and goofing around, while also not coming off as gimmicky. It was nice to see a band genuinely having a good time with the crowd…and everyone in the room ate it up.
