Roger’s Picnic
W/ The Roots, Bedouin Soundclash, Bad Brains, Tegan and Sara, The New Pornographers and more…
July 29, 2007
Historic Fort York

Six degrees of separation. The Roots made a song inspired by Bad Brains called “!!!!.” Daryl Jenifer of Bad Brains produces the Bedouin Soundclash albums. So where the hell do Tegan and Sara, The New Pornographers and The Dears fit in? And what about Little Brother and Apostle of Hustle? Before Sunday, you’d be hard pressed to find a connection between all of these bands, but now, it can be said that they put on one of the best festival shows in recent Toronto memory. 

The day started off a little bit disappointingly, missing Apostle of Hustle while in line. After a brief ten minute break, hip-hop act Little Brother took the stage to pump the people up for the day ahead. Bouncing around the stage to beats, both original and familiar samples, the group managed to transcend above hip-hop mediocrity, if only because of their energy. Sure, it was 2:15 in the afternoon, but had their performance been at 1:00am in a club, it likely wouldn’t have been much different, and if the movement in the crowd was any indication Little Brother had succeeded incredibly.

Taking the energy down a notch, next came Montreal’s own The Dears. That’s not saying that their performance was necessarily bad. However for any rock band performing after a hip-hop act, it must be tough to at least keep people’s energy up. However, the band succeeded admirably, performing tracks from across their library to feed the appetite of all who came to catch the holy trinity of Canadian indie acts.

With one down, out came the second of the three big indie stars, Vancouver’s The New Pornographers. Their last visit to Toronto was back at the end of January, where they played an outdoor show in extreme cold but this was quite the opposite. With the sun beating down and the band literally cooking onstage, you’ve got to wonder if their booking agent just doesn’t really like them, or if they just have terribly bad luck in the city. Playing a slew of new tracks, interspersed with favourites like “Use It” and “The Bleeding Heart Show,” the band gave added energy to a crowd that was starting to feel the heat, quite a feat considering the recent departure of their highest profile member Neko Case. As their set finished, everyone wanted two things. The band’s new album, Challengers, and a dose of cold water. I’ll let you guess which one they received.

With matching hairdos, and a recently released CD, Tegan and Sara took the stage to close out the concert within a concert. Much like New Pornographers, they played plenty of tracks off of their recent release The Con to a crowd that seemingly all had a copy. What makes Tegan and Sara so great on stage is the banter between songs. It’s self-deprecating, yet at the same time very humble. There’s a shyness that doesn’t come across in their songs and makes you love them that much more. As they closed out the indie triple bill with hits “Walking With a Ghost” and “Living Room,” the indie show was done, and the people who went for it, left happily.

But wait! There was more music to come. When all the indieness was said and done, there was still the original trio of groups that made the Rogers Picnic a possibility. First up were Washington DC’s hardcore legends, Bad Brains. Judging by the amount of people wearing Bad Brains and other hardcore shirts, a fair amount of the crowd were only there to see HR and company rev things up. The one thing that I can say about their performance is “wow.” For a band that’s been around nearly 30 years to still have that much of a hold over its fans is a testament to the band itself. The band tore through tracks like “Re-Ignition” and “I Against I,” starting the only mosh pit of the day (though really, who else on this bill could work the people into enough of a frenzy?). After an insane 50 minutes, the band departed the stage, and with that came the second mass exodus of fans, because really, how do you follow or match the energy and intensity of Bad Brains? It’s just not possible.

With two bands left, and everybody exhausted from a hot day in the sun, it’s rather unfortunate that Bedouin Soundclash was the first to go. Though the band has the perfect sound for a hot summer day of relaxing, at a festival like this, it just didn’t fit in well. To be honest I felt really bad for Bedouin, as their set was solid, but lacked the energy that was needed to keep everybody interested. The crowd did come alive a bit with the emergence of Alexisonfire’s Wade MacNeil performing backup on one of their new tracks, and for their more upbeat fare like “Gyasi Went Home” and their closer” When The Night Feels My Song,” but in all, it just seemed like more people were ready for bed, which could explain why many people left afterwards.

SACRELIGIOUS! The Roots were up next and people were leaving?! What the… Has this world gone mad? There’s a reason why The Roots refer to themselves as “The Legendary,” and it’s not because they’re cocky. Touted as the best hip-hop act you could ever see, they do everything it takes to back it up. As Black Thought walked onstage with replacement drummer Frank Knuckles (?uestlove was unable to make it) the crowd awoke and thus began 75 minutes of excitement and enthusiasm, After the first song, out came the rest of the band to thunderous applause and cheers. As the cheers got louder, the build-up onstage exploded into “Game Theory” and The Roots were off and running.

After an extended solo bass tutorial from Hub, the crowd was treated to a surprise appearance from De La Soul’s Pasdnous and Maseo for a couple of tracks, only to be joined later on by up and coming superstar Lupe Fiasco and Black Thought. Lupe seemed right at home amongst the hip-hop legends and anybody who can’t see how ridiculously talented this guy really needs to take a closer look. As the guests left the stage, everybody knew they had seen a once in a lifetime thing, and everybody wanted more. As the Roots finished up their short set (this band is used to playing almost 3 hour long sets) that longing for more lingered, and was all but relieved when the video screens flashed “See you next year.”

- Ryan O’Shaughnessy

For more pics from Rogers Picnic click here...