AWmusic

Now how do I even start this review? There was so much that went on within those four days that I was there that I have no idea where to start or where to end. I guess the best way to start off this review is to say that those four days upon the long weekend at the start of august were the best four days I’ll ever spend upon this sweet planet we call Earth.

Well where better to start off then my trip down to Grand Bend, Ontario for my first night of camping. It was basically a giant lightning storm all the way down there, no rain whatsoever, only lightning, it was a beautiful sight to see and started off the whole trip with a bang. So after about two hours of driving from Toronto to Grand Bend, I finally found the Motorplex and drove in to find that the party had already started without me. I was directed over to the registration office where I showed them my ticket and as soon as I told them I was VIP the pampering began: free parking, VIP lanyard and pass, exclusive and early access to certain events, and a ton more. As soon as I could get all this VIP stuff back into my car, the mother of all storms happened, and I was stuck camping in my car for the night drinking a cold beer on my own and wondering what kind of spectacles awaited me the next day.

The next day I woke up at around 9am thinking that there were things that were starting up because I was really confused with the itinerary I had been handed the night earlier. Turns out nothing was opening up until around noon so I started walking into the campsite where I started making friend after friend but one of the first people I met there that I won’t forget was Mo who ended up fighting for his VIP stuff and finally got it from registration in the end so him and I became friends fast and decided to check out the concert grounds before anyone else could have a chance.

We found everything you could ever dream of there at the concert grounds. They had a bunch of Rockbands and Guitar Heroes set up at the Xbox 360 tent, an ice cream truck, a bunch of merch tents, an autographed Gibson guitar up for raffle, a bunch of other food tents, a hemp van, a Budweiser Camp trailer, a Budweiser High Top bar for VIP’s to drink at, a couple tents selling booze, the Underground Operations tent where various band related events happened, and the two main stages where all the best bands would play over the next two days.

First thing Mo and I decided to do in the meantime while everything was being set up was to head to the Underground Operations tent where we received a whole plethora of free things ranging from CD’s to bandanas. We sat down on the couch and just watched Grandma’s Boy until the opening bands for the band started up at which time we headed to one of the two main stages to watch Awaking State perform and were treated to a sampler CD from them.

It was soon lunch time and us being VIP and all were treated to a VIP lunch with the bands where I picked up a veggie dog and a cooler and found myself talking to Charlie from Hello Beautiful who turned out to be one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, he was just so chill that it was just incredibly easy to talk to him. I then got him to sign my chest and then found myself getting signed once again by Vegas of Guns N FN’ Rosez who also turned out to be an incredibly awesome person to talk with an little did I know that I would be seeing them front row within the next couple hours.

Soon enough I noticed that I had being talking with so many celebs that I had lost all track of Mo and where he had wandered off to so I decided to check my itinerary and what should I see but Sex Ed Session with The Johnstones: Learn everything you need to and more about sex from Julian and Brent of The Johnstones. Alas this is where I leave off for now, hoping that that little bit there would intrigue you to catch Part 2 of the Cutting Edge Music Fest Review next week. Part 1 this week doesn’t even start to encompass the epicness of the entirety that was my long weekend at CEMF 2008. I’m just getting started here, so be sure to catch next weeks’ second part for more excitement and intrigue. As always keep on rocking.

Heaters by illScarlett
Boiled Frogs by Alexisonfire
Hollow Point Sniper Hyperbole by USS
2 and 15 16ths by USS

We first went to the free concert, part of the Grey Cup festival. First off the stage was badly done with a 6-foot high dog-type fence which was like 5 feet back from the stage. The fence was constantly pushed forward (by the screaming 14-year olds) but who could blame them? It was a shitty fence and this is a thumbs down to the Grey Cup organizers.

The first band we saw was The Reason. An emo type band based on impressions, Kevin and I did not really like what we saw. Must suck to be an opening act to a free show though. IllScarlett was decent, I felt weird standing with 14-year old girls screaming and Kevin… I wasn’t much of a fan of them but I do admit that they have a pretty good bassist and guitarist. I don’t have any pictures due to the fence and I just didn’t bother. A pretty good band, a mainstream act that has some talent but being mainstream can really wreck some bands.

Sebastien Grainger -former singer/drummer of Death From Above 1979 walked in with what I would call it the Freddy Mercury look. I’m not a fan of tight white pants and I could barely recognize him and on a hunch (based on skill) figured he was from Death From Above. Kevin really dug this performance and I’ll have to agree. I was good shit with Grainger’s backing band showing energy with solos and awesome transitions (with the occasional chug of beer). Granger and his backing band were awesome despite the small crowd they drew (I guess people didn’t know who he was). The sound at Lee’s wasn’t too good but I think we should all look out for Grainger. He’ll be rocking some shows eventually. I didn’t specifically recognize any songs that stood out (most if not all songs were good) so here’s a random track I found online:
The Rhythm Method

The Stills had a packed crowd waiting for their arrival. They played a few old tracks while some people sang along and cheered. They really set up for nice photo opportunities. The Stills fresh off signing to Arts & Crafts, planned to play some new songs. They played at least 6 new tracks for us. It was really tough to sit through as they played the majority all in a row. Without anyone really knowing any the songs it was kind of a crowd killer. If you are a Stills fan then you should know that they had Tim Fletcher on vocals the majority of the time, a move I strongly agree with. However the new stuff seemed very experimental and more complex to what they would normally do. It relied less on vocals with louder bass and harder drumming and more complex guitar solos. I think this may be a disadvantage as The Stills relied on the simplicity to capture my brain. I’m not too sure what to think about the new stuff.. I’ll wait to hear it when it’s released in ‘08.

Here’s a track off Without Feathers (which is grower but I have neglected it) with Emily Haines of Metric
Baby Blues by the Stills

Click below to see various pics (you could find the rest on my facebook if you wish to add me):
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We actually haven’t gotten the tickets to see the Stills but crossing my fingers Rotate This will have it.

I am pretty excited for today, Illscarlett is playing for free and in the outdoors. and it’s freezing like hell. A storm is expected but meh it should be a fun day out.

The Stills have always been one of my favorite bands so I’m really happy to be finally seeing them. It’ll be my 4th concert (or 4th and 5th if you want count literally). Bands like the Arcade Fire, White Stripes and Muse are hard to compare to! Hopefully on Saturday I’ll have some pretty good pictures.

Here are some mp3s as usual:

Nothing Special by IllScarlett

Yesterday Never Tomorrows

The first time I watched this video, I was pretty stoned and it was pretty hilarious.By the way, did you know that the “S” in the Ill Scarlett logo is a sideways treble clef?