There’s nothing quite like the deafening noise of thousands of rowdy concertgoers the moment a favourite band from their past kicks into a set. For Floridian nu-metal icons Limp Bizkit, Fred Durst and company had plenty left in the tank to give their fans want they wanted – a riotous show at Toronto’s Budweiser Stage. Photos by Myles Herod
Author: Myles Herod
Jazmin Bean, the enigmatic 20-year-old alt star from across the pond, was quite intent on disrupting expectations and giving concertgoers something certainly eye-catching recently. Performing their first-ever headlining show in Canada at Toronto’s Velvet Underground, it marked a perfect introduction to the UK singer’s playfully absurd world. Pulling from their soon-to-be-released Traumatic Livelihood album – and its predecessor, 2020’s Worldwide Torture – songs such as Yandere and B4 the Flight felt dreamy and grunge, sledgehammered by buzzing riffs and Bean’s unpredictable nature. Stylistically dressed in yami-kawaii (a Japanese aesthetic) the London musician was no stranger to garish make-up. Drawing on sweet and…
It was quite the dance party at The Axis Club in Toronto with a headlining performance by ATARASHII GAKKO! The four-piece Japanese girl group offered up a killer, pop-infused mix of hip-hop and jazz that delighted the sold-out crowd of 620 people. Currently on their Seishun Tour – a Japanese word meaning youth – bandmates Mizyu, Rin, Suzuka, and Kanon were in the midst of zig-zagging the U.S. before travelling to Mexico City, and finally Asia. In-between (on one of their few Canadian stops) Torontonians made their way over to the city’s Little Italy neighbourhood in what was a balmy November evening. Met with…
At Toronto’s Opera House, Utah-raised musicians The Aces took to the stage in what turned out to be a memorably energetic evening. Consisting of sisters Cristal Ramirez (vocals), Alisa Ramirez (drums), bassist McKenna Petty and guitarist Katie Henderson, the four members took the stage in blazers and sunglasses launching into tracks from their new album, I’ve Loved You for So Long. The band performed with an effortless quality pulling out all the stops, flawlessly fitted between rhythm and their guitars. Individually, each member’s stage persona shimmered, particularly Cristal Ramirez, who uniquely danced coolly across the stage looking like Neo from…
Hollywood action icon Sylvester Stallone made an appearance at the Toronto Film Festival to coincide with his Netflix career-spanning documentary Sly, from director Thom Zimny, which is set to close the festival. Since it is a streaming title, the film is not covered by the SAG-AFTRA TV and theatrical agreements, which is why the Hollywood legend walked the red carpet at the Bell Lightbox ahead of his keynote conversation with TIFF CEO, Cameron Bailey. The Toronto Film Festival concludes on Sunday. Words and photos by Myles Herod. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KJw3NRHMBs
He looks worn down. Something is weighing on him. A cold case he’s been assigned is 20 years old. And now here he is, in the middle of the Australian outback, an arid landscape of opal mines and an unsolved murder. The only thing keeping Detective Travis Hurley functioning is heroin and his job. And it’s not getting any better. Simon Baker (unrecognizable with tattoos and a buzzcut) plays the aforementioned cop, embodying an individual dangling by a thread. Photographed in bleak, yet luminous, shades of black and white, Australian director Ivan Sen litters his wide sky, sun-scorched wasteland with a spattering…
Director Ava DuVernay’s newest movie Origin made its Atlantic crossing from the Venice Film Festival to TIFF for its North American premiere earlier this week. Based on a adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, the Long Beach filmmaker dazzled in yellow, reinforcing the fact that she certainly knows the power of visuals. Words and photos by Myles Herod.
Leave it to 50-year-old Harmony Korine to bring the most experimental and derided film to TIFF. AGGRO DR1FT is unintelligible, irritating, deliberately one note and careless of the ways in which people watch movies. Yes, pushing the envelope is part of Korine’s modus operandi, that’s a given knowing his track record. Nevertheless, we as the viewing audience deserve at least something in return. Many walk into the theatre with open minds and a degree of compassion, expecting a director to engage its audience in an entertaining or artistic way. However, in AGGRO DR1FT, he demands us to do every ounce…
As Hollywood continues its war on the future of cinema, cult American filmmaker Harmony Korine descended upon TIFF with something completely different. Included as part of the festival’s popular Midnight Madness programming, the director was accompanied by a crew of masked associates for the premiere of his off-the-wall, infrared experiment AGGRO DR1FT. Words and photos by Myles Herod.
Boy Kills World is an arcade game for the multiplex screens, a bruising orgy of violence that goes for some of the same beat-em-up high octane found in today’s superhero franchises. Bloodier for sure – but not much better. Inspired by high-flying button-mashers like Mortal Kombat, the movie stars Bill Skarsgard as the titular Boy, a muscular mute raised in the jungles by a martial arts shaman (Yayan Ruhian). Since childhood he’s been taught one thing, and one thing only: destroy Hilda Van Der Koy (Famke Janssen) the malevolent matriarch of the world’s Hunger Games-esque hellscape. Supported by a wild-eyed,…
Taika Waititi returned to TIFF over the weekend with his underdog soccer story entitled Next Goal Wins. Inspired by the true story of the American Samoa soccer team, it specifically focuses on the inspiring tale of how the team lost with a score of 31-0 against Australia in a 2001 World Cup qualifying match. The 480-year-old Oscar-winning Waititi cut a fashionable figure on the red carpet signing autographs for Toronto fans, effortlessly riding the line between a smart and silly style. Words and photos by Myles Herod. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRH5u5lpArQ
The world premiere of Lil Nas X’s documentary Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero at TIFF 23, scheduled for its gala screening at 10 pm on Saturday evening, was halted after a bomb threat was called in singling-out the artist. Nas’ arrival was postponed 30 minutes while festival security administered a sweep of the Roy Thompson Hall area. After determining the threat as unserious, the rapper joined the film’s crew on the red carpet with the delayed screening following shortly afterwards. Word and photos by Myles Herod.
Nickelback walked the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival ahead of the world premiere of their film Hate to Love. In the new documentary, the Canadian rockers took a step back from recording and touring to wrestle with their legacy at home and abroad. Directed by British documentarian Leigh Brooks, the filmmaker was originally hired to capture behind-the-scenes moments for the band’s 2017 album Feed the Machine. Word and photos by Myles Herod. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F__QwEkQeeQ
A towering figure dressed in a flowing robe and white guitar, Mdou Moctar (birth name: Mahamadou Souleymane) stood awe-inspiring to an enraptured Toronto crowd. Dubbed “the Hendrix of the Sahara”, the 38-year-old Nigerien guitar virtuoso played the Phoenix Concert Theatre with his three-piece band in promotion of their acclaimed new record Afrique Victime. As an album – one that straddles the line between manic electric playing and softer acoustic detours – every moment translated beautifully live and in-person. For example, a key track such as Chismiten, with its exceptional wall-of-fuzz tone and guitar soloing, wasted no time immersing attendees into…