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Virgin Fest Weekend Recap

Posted on 2007.09.11 at 18:58
Mood: sleepy
Well, David and I went to Virgin Festival Toronto this past weekend, seeing many awesome bands and enjoying the company (not to mention gracious couch/floor/bedspace) of my awesome friend [info]systematiccalm and her kick-ass boyfriend Richard. If all goes according to plan, I should have a review of the actual shows up on AllMusic soon, and I'll post a link to it. As for my adventures in the great white north including Mexican wrestlers, guys dressed as shrubberies, and a shit-ton of talking, laughing, and general bonding with my beloved best friend David, that's what you'll find here.




Staying at Liz's place didn't just provide a free roof to crash under, but a really awesome chance to hang out with a friend I otherwise only interact with on the internets. She and Richard showed us Porkchop Sandwiches, and we showed them Robots vs. Dragons. By the end of the first night, we had a giant cache of hilarious quotes to pull from in the many moments where we found ourselves standing around waiting for something or other.

Then came the actual festival, a two day event that we photographically documented as best we could. I stuck all the photos up on flickr, and if you prefer that format you can check them out here.

Otherwise, to see pics of our journey, just look

Day 1; sunshiney and lovely...















There were to guys there dressed as bushes. I have no idea if they were affiliated with something or just a couple of street performers who specialize in horticulture...



Then again, this guy who was standing in the crowd with us waiting to catch the ferry back to the city seemed interested in wearing this Lucha Libre mask purely for his own enjoyment...







Aftermath...looking dead at the bus station...










The morning of Day 2, loading up on candy at the gas station...






At mega discount store/terrifying museum of brickabrack, Honest Ed's...









Day 2 at the show was considerably colder...


























Back on the ferry, high on GI Joe quotes and rock and roll...



And on the subway, coming down and preparing for a few meager hours of sleep before the trek back home...














Despite the fact that I've been collecting a shirt from every band I've seen since my teenage years, I somehow managed to only come away with four shirts from this weekend, including one completely awesome festival shirt with a pair of headphones on it. Of course, it was easy to narrow it down when "Smashing Pumpkins" (in quotes because it was just Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain...a review of their performance is forthcoming in my article) wanted $95 for a hoodie.



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Comments:

Laureth
[info]laureth at 2007-09-12 00:25 (UTC) (Link)
It's like, whatever expression is on your face at any given time, the picture clearly displays that emotion with a greater purity and intensity than anyone has ever displayed before in the history of time. If you're whimsical, you're the whimsiclest. If you're geeked, you're the geekedest. If you're calm, you're more intensely calm looking than anyone has ever looked. It's like a superpower.
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-12 03:22 (UTC) (Link)
Wow, thanks! That may be one of the coolest compliments I've ever received. And not just because, up until now, my only known superpower was "useless when tired." :)
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je suis la petite bete de person
[info]systematiccalm at 2007-09-12 22:45 (UTC) (Link)
I also need to add serious-est, when being serious. For really real.
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-13 02:06 (UTC) (Link)
Serious Cammila is serious.


Oh, btw, this is serious cat:

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(Anonymous) at 2007-09-13 03:12 (UTC) (Link)
Dang, he is serious.
I can has cheezeburger? There are some really good ones about Dune on there..
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je suis la petite bete de person
[info]systematiccalm at 2007-09-13 03:12 (UTC) (Link)
Dang, he is serious.
I can has cheezeburger? There are some really good ones about Dune on there..
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Steve
[info]walrusoct9 at 2007-09-12 02:11 (UTC) (Link)
I really need to go on ebay and get a Bjork shirt from this tour...I was pretty piss-broke after actually buying tickets to said Bjork show, but I really want one.


So um, since you have a shirt, does that mean you can justify some kind of non-suckiness of the second Killers album? Like, they were so hyped when they came out that I just kind of ignored it (plus their name starts with 'The,' never a good sign in this post-Morrissey world), but eventually I kinda learned to like Hot Fuss in a sort of guilty pleasure, Duran Duran kind of way. But I tried to listen to their new one for the first time a week or two ago and...I just couldn't. It was...bad. Oh music genius, am I missing something?


Glad you guys had fun...Canada is awesome. I love it.
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-12 03:28 (UTC) (Link)
Oh man, I am SO not arguing music with you. ;)

No, seriously though, the new album was indeed a disappointment. I don't actually mind the whole sawdust joint, Vegas cowboy theme, but the cd is not the best. About half the songs are weak.

Hot Fuss is a really great album though, and I think it's completely musically competent, not just in a "guilty pleasure" kind of way. Hating a band for being the "It" band of the moment is just as bad as loving them just for the same reason, and I think that Hot Fuss stands on its own in the complete absence of hype. It's new wavey and relies on a lot of synth, but it's also crunchy and heavy with expertly crafted hooks and rifts, which is why I'm actually surprised you wouldn't give them credit. Anywho, that's my take on them. I'm confident that with the pressure off, they'll create another great album.
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Steve
[info]walrusoct9 at 2007-09-12 03:46 (UTC) (Link)
Oh, I didn't HATE them because they were the "it" band. It was just that kind of hype that made me really apathetic, you know? It's like Hollywood making 8,000 comic book movies...one of them might actually end up being really special, but eventually you're just like "eh." That's all I meant.

Also, they had to stop playing Mr. Brightside every time I walked into a public place for me to really feel like listening to the rest of the album. It's catchy as hell, but it got overplayed before I even had a chance to hear the rest of it.

I think Hot Fuss stands on its own, but it's so simultaneously ridiculous and pompous that it's kind of this weird blend of U2 and Duran Duran...which still lands it in the "borderline guilty pleasure" category. But then again, I like Meat Loaf. :) It's catchy as balls though, and I totally give them credit. It's just a little silly at the same time.

I didn't even get the "concept" of their new album...I just listened to it and there wasn't really anything musically memorable about it. The Killers are a pop band...they're not Porcupine Tree; they don't write those kind of subtle songs that seep under your skin, ya know? They're as subtle as a Tommy Lee sex tape and need to just run with that.
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the_macnab
[info]the_macnab at 2007-09-12 15:46 (UTC) (Link)
"hooks and rifts?"
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-12 15:59 (UTC) (Link)
I'm sorry, J-P, did you just motherfucking point out a motherfucking typo in my motherfucking comment you fucking son of a bitch? I'm just fucking checking.
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-12 19:39 (UTC) (Link)
...that was supposed to be in a Samuel L. Jackson voice...
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Marlespo
[info]marlespo at 2007-09-12 02:21 (UTC) (Link)
A. What brand eye makeup do you use??

B. Gorgeous photos, as ever, so much fun to look through!

C. Ages ago you posted that the only piece of ugly clothing that can not be somehow turned into Ironic Chic is a little hemp + bead necklace. And I swear to god I'ce been thinking abuot that ever since... and then this morning out of nowhere I thought HOLIDAY SWEATER!! And then goddammit I had to go and find this when I was looking through google image for the uglist holiday sweater I could find: http://www.mndaily.com/articles/2006/12/07/70196
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-12 03:37 (UTC) (Link)
Okay, let's see:

A)I'm pretty sure that pink shadow I'm wearing in the photos is from the HiP Shocking Shadow Pigments from Loreal. I'll check though!

B) Thanks, I'm so glad you had fun looking at them!

C) Oh my Christ. Okay...how about that wooden theme jewelry that elementary school teachers wear. You know, the kind where blocky, 2D painted wood cutouts of candy corn and jacko lanterns are strung on twine? Seriously, we need another too-ugly-to-be-ugly-cool item, because the hemp necklace is probably about to be taken out by a girl in skinny jeans and Vanns...
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Marlespo
[info]marlespo at 2007-09-12 12:06 (UTC) (Link)
I had really bad luck using the HiP pigments, I tried the green, did you use the one in a stick? Or powder form??

Also, I was POSITIVE that teh holiday sweatshirt thing was golden. But perhaps instead.... a cat sweatshirt. On a very poor quality sweatshirt no less.
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-12 13:42 (UTC) (Link)
I use the powder, though I use my own makeup brushes instead of the crappy one that comes with it. I have a really hard time with non-powder shadow as a rule. Blending becomes a giant mess of fingerprints and smears.
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je suis la petite bete de person
[info]systematiccalm at 2007-09-12 22:49 (UTC) (Link)

Yes, I am a movie star.

That's a metric shit ton of wicked good photos. I'm going to steal some. Hope that's alright.
The picture in the Bjork shirt is fucking wizard. (Yeah, I went there.)
And the album cover one of you and David.
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Nasty Canasta
[info]cammila_radio at 2007-09-13 02:03 (UTC) (Link)

Re: Yes, I am a movie star.

Damn it! Oh well, I guess I can deal with "wizard" catching on as long as "metric shit ton" does too. Oh and thank you! The other shot of me in it looked we-todd-ed, so I'm really glad I had David take another.

Of course! Take them all! There's actually a few more if you follow the flickr link. Thank you again SO MUCH for such a rocking weekend! It was so fun to spend time with you guys. And thanks for letting us completely invade your apartment. And thank you for showing us porkchop sandwiches! And for...for..I don't know what else but I'm sure there's more!
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David
[info]djwidmayer at 2007-09-13 13:51 (UTC) (Link)

Re: Yes, I am a movie star.

BWA HAHAHAHA! WIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZARD!
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