Cat Power Damp At Rogers Picnic

Historic Fort York

Toronto, ON

on Jul 20 2008

Zack Vitiello (CHARTattack)

07/21/2008 12:04pm

When I was asked how much music I could handle if I were to cover both the Warped Tour and Rogers Picnic in one weekend, I was a little overconfident in my response. With my shoes still soaked from Warped, I begrudgingly made my way to the Rogers Picnic for yet another adventure in music, mud and willpower.

Due to a TTC service change, I ended up getting to Historic Fort York just as The Carps were wrapping up their opening set. Unfortunately for the Toronto-based bass-and-drum duo, they were dwarfed by the massive stage and seemed to be having a hard time rousing the damp afternoon crowd with their dancey electro-punk tunes. In what seemed to be an attempt to catch some attention (it worked), frontman Jahmal Tonge ended the set by smashing his bass to bits and tossing it off stage (the remains of the cheap Fender Squire were left scattered through the press pit for the rest of the day).

Born Ruffians were next, and as people poured in from the never-ending lineup outside the gates and rain poured down from the never-ending expanse of cloud overhead, the Toronto trio managed to pull a sizeable audience to clap along with their infectious pop-rock. Playing songs off the new Red, Yellow & Blue album, including a 10-minute version of lead single "Hummingbird," the Ruffians definitely earned themselves some new fans with quirky stage banter and tunes so cheery they almost made you forget about the rain.

In what was sure to be the worst scheduling decision of the day, Dizzee Rascal was next. His hip-hop seemed hugely out of place at a concert dominated by white hipsters. So off I went to the beer tent to find some shelter and liquid warmth, where I watched in amusement as his call-response attempts were met with awkward silence. I'm still amazed that Rascal thought an encore was necessary.

As I waited out the rain under one of many tents (a luxury not afforded to the Warped Tour audience), Vampire Weekend began setting up. Judging by the conversations happening around me, the New York Ivy-leaguers were the most anticipated act of the day. Sticking to the buoyant indie-pop of their much acclaimed full-length, the quartet had no problem getting the audience to chant "Blake's got a new face" during "One (Blake's Got A New Face)." They even tossed in a new song that will hopefully find its way onto an EP in the near future.

The ground was quickly turning to mud under the sea of umbrellas, and things were getting messier by the minute. Trekking through the premises while trying to decide between souvlaki and jerk chicken (the food choices were incredible, a welcome opposite of Warped), I ended up sprayed with grit and grime, my shoes turning a darker shade of brown with each step. But the hipsters didn't seem to mind, so long as Animal Collective hit the stage soon.

With just Panda Bear and Avey Tare, the not-so-collective Animal Collective played for 40 minutes without a break in the music. Songs flowed into one another almost unnoticeably, creating a wall of sound that was more interesting than it was good. Though I was disappointed they didn't play some of my favourite tracks off Strawberry Jam and Feels, I couldn't help but be impressed with the density of noise produced by just two members.

In fact, it seemed to be a good day for two-pieces not called "The Carps," as Chromeo were up next. This electro team finally got the audience moving with voice-synthesizer antics and funky dance tracks off their Fancy Footwork full-length, including "Bonafied Loving (Tough Guys)" and "Tenderoni." On the perimeter of the crowd, a few groups of people began muddy dance parties, and when Chromeo came back out for an encore of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing," it was obvious that the duo had stolen the show.

Keeping the energy levels high, Tokyo Police Club were up next. Always in good form, the boys rocked out fast and hard while playing a bunch of songs off Elephant Shell, and crowd favourites from their A Lesson In Crime EP. I always get a kick out of these guys, especially keyboardist Graham Wright, whose intensity is infectious as hell.

After the awesomely energetic performance I had just witnessed, Cat Power was a disappointment. The fact that the folk singer was on the verge of one of her "episodes" didn't help, as she paced aimlessly from one side of the stage to the other, often looking confused and fidgety. Her voice lacked the power found on her albums, and not once did she change her volume or pitch. Her lack of stage presence was also disappointing. She didn't say one word until her last song when she introduced her band and threw a bouquet of flowers into the audience.

With a lacklustre performance like Cat Power's to drop the bar down a few levels, City And Colour was ready to make his headline appearance. But rather than coming out with an acoustic number like I predicted, Dallas Green took the stage with a full band, jumping into some impressively powerful electric renditions of songs from both Sometimes and the more current Bring Me Your Love. While he started strong, Green soon transitioned into acoustic mode and played a couple of boring covers and a handful of slower numbers from his two full-lengths. Though the hipster count had significantly dropped by this point in the night, Green retained a large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers, whose singalongs often overpowered the songster.

I suppose that it would be an unfair comparison to say that City And Colour weren't quite the headliner that The Roots were last year (apples and oranges, really), but I couldn't help but yawn as Green crooned, his face buried in his microphone. Maybe it was two days of unrelenting rain or the fact that I was on my last legs after a busy weekend, but I would have rather seen a day of great tunes end with a bang. Instead it went out with a drizzle, much like the one that continued to dampen all the Picnickers at Fork York.