TIME Festival @ Sunnyside Pavilion
By: Ama Scriver
August 10, 2008
Toronto, Canada
There must be a god up there in the heavens who loves techno, electro and all things bass heavy. As I looked up to the sky at 1:30pm I thought there was no way that the TIME Festival was going to be taking place. For one thing, the fashionistas couldn't bear to get wet and soggy. And I couldn't imagine watching A-Trak getting electrocuted in the rain. Big ol' raindrops kept pouring down and I thought time was slowly ticking down on the TIME Festival.
Apparently I was wrong. The weather gods shooed those clouds away and by the time we arrived at the TIME Festival, all was well. It seemed that the rain scared people off though, as the festival was nearly empty and it was almost 3:30pm. After checking the schedule it looked like the bands and DJs were running a little bit behind, but I was in luck - Fritz Helder & The Phantoms were taking to the stage.
I've had the chance to see this band grow and morph over the last few years (my first encounter being at the Vazaleen party in the summer of 2006). Since then their showmanship and stage presence has been tightened beyond belief. While Fritz is the obvious leader of this five-piece, each person within the group has a role, with Pastel Supernova taking lead vocals and guitars on a track and Silk Helder doing a freestyle. They played some of their hits like "Fritzmania" and "Making a Scene," but I would have to say it was their performance of "Vogue" that stole the show. Fritz Helder & The Phantoms clearly hyped up the crowd.
Next up were Toronto boys VND/LSM - which stands for Very Nice Dave/L.S. Murphy. I don't know if it was me or if I'm late to the hype of these guys or what, but I wasn't overly impressed. Maybe it was just the beginning of their set that didn't impress me much. It just felt like your run of the mill electro. But nearing the end of the set, as the main stage began to fill up with more of a crowd, the rolling bass lines and dirtier beats made their set much more enjoyable. Maybe the people showing them a little more love gave them something to play for.
I would be lying to say I wasn't stoked for Fool's Gold Records back to back of Jokers Of The Scene and A-Trak. First up on the decks was Ottawa's Jokers Of The Scene. They've been making huge waves all across North America with their B-more (i.e., Baltimore-style), hyphy (yes, this is a form of music) and blog house sound. Since they've been signed to A-Trak's Fool's Gold imprint and have just released their first single, "Y'all Know The Name," Toronto was here to show mad love to DJs Booth and Chameleonic of Jokers Of The Scene. They layed down some sick and original tracks while their label mate and boss A-Trak looked on - and the crowd was going nuts. People began to climb the trees, climb onto speakers, climb onto any ledge they could possibly get themselves on and let the beat and bass of the music take control of their body. I looked over and saw one girl dancing in a bra top and nothing else. I felt as if the rave era had officially been brought back.
A big rain cloud loomed overhead as A-Trak put his sunglasses on and got behind the decks. Everyone threw their diamonds up (the ROCAFELLA diamonds just to keep all y'all in the loop) as everyone chanted "FOOL'S GOLD". The switch-off between Jokers and A-Trak was pretty seamless while Chameleonic ran to the front of the stage to take pictures of the crazed crowd.
With A-Trak being a DMC Champion, not only do you get your straight up techno and electro but you also get your crazy ass scratching and remixing. After the two or three times I've had the opportunity to see A-Trak live now, this set did not disappoint.
What did disappoint was the stage setup. A-Trak seemed so distant from the crowd, hurting his usual stage and crowd interaction. He did, however, have a microphone, which helped make up for it. He played tracks like "Beeper" by Sinden and "Stronger" by Kanye West but the biggest crowd reaction came from "Everyone Nose" by N.E.R.D.
As someone who has grown up with the Toronto electronica scene, it was refreshing to see a new and different electronic music festival here. Considering that we've just lost World Electronic Music Festival, one of our only tried, tested and true electronic music festivals, we can only hope that the TIME Festival can make a comeback next year. Only time will tell.
Video: Atrack @ TIME Festival
