Toronto’s own festival Field Trip returns this year for the 5th year and they hope this year runs much more smoothly than last year. Everything ran smoothly on their end of things, but Mother Nature had different ideas as Day 2 was beset with heavy rainfall causing most of the early part of the day to be cancelled, with condensed sets occurring in the evening.
The festival which was created by Broken Social Scene and their record label Arts & Crafts put together one of their strongest lineups yet, with BSS headlining the fest again after a three year absence. This is also their third overall time playing as a group as in year’s side projects like Kevin Drew, Feist, Jason Collett, Apostle of Hustle and Hydra have all played as well. It’s now been seven years since Forgiveness Rock Record, making us wonder if there will be a new BSS record coming out but they have played many shows since 2010 without so much as a hint of a new album. Except them to pull out all the stops and have plenty of guests join them on stage, especially with Feist playing the festival too.
Field Trip continues to pull in fantastic non-Canadian headliners year after year, this year booking French synth rockers Phoenix. The band has been diligently working on a following up to 2013’s Bankrupt!, and while no new single has been released yet it would be foolish to assume there won’t be some new tunes before June.
Although she won’t actually be headlining, Feist is being billed as a top act showing her the respect she deserves in Toronto. It’s been a long time since her Polaris Prize winning album Metals came out and the world is desperate from some new music from Leslie. If other shows aren’t announced beforehand you know the world will eagerly be paying attention to what she plays. Along with her playing with BSS you can probably expect some friends to pop up during her set too.
Field Trip routinely books the best Canadian acts and this year they have a few stunners as well. A Tribe Called Red might one day become the most influential electronic act to ever come out of Canada representing people who don’t get the recognition they rightly deserve all while making people dance. BADBADNOTGOOD has positioned themselves as THE hip-hop backing band while the fuzz their love for urban music with their classical jazz training. Other highlights include Hannah Georgas, Royal Canoe, Harrision and Jaunt.
While the festival tries to focus mostly on CanCon acts, many international stars will grace the stages with Portugal. The Man being one of the biggest gets. After releasing seven albums in six years it has been very quiet on the P.TM front as we await the release of Woodstock from them, hopefully coming this year. Bassist extraordinaire Thundercat made his name working with Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar, but his own music is something to behold. Thundercat just released his newest album Drunk and it is a stunner. Irish folk rocker James Vincent McMorrow continues his global rise in popularity and will be sure to bring in a big crowd while hip hop legends The Pharcyde will educate the crowd about their role in the formative years of the genre. Other great international up and comers include post rockers Cloud Nothings and the female trio with amazing harmonies Joseph.
The fifth annual Field Trip might be their best yet and with ticket prices so affordable and the city skyline as the backdrop at The Historic Fort York will ensure that guests have a great time.
