Le Tigre is the kind of band that inspires fervor. Not everyone knows them, but those who do love them. On tour for the first time in almost 20 years, the feminist electro-punk sounds of core bandmates Kathleen Hanna, JD Samson, and Johanna Fateman had the crowd clamoring inside Toronto’s cavernous concert venue History. With many dancing and jostling in complete adoration the night moved at a kinetic pace, affording minimal pauses in the music itself – save for between-song talk or quick outfit changes. Likewise, nearly every choice in Le Tigre’s set-list felt like a visceral hit as the…
Author: Myles Herod
Back in the late 1960s, British-born Aubrey “Po” Powell and childhood friend, the late Storm Thorgerson, founded Hipgnosis: a photo-design company that would change rock music forever. Responsible for such iconic designs as Pink Floyd’s mysterious The Dark Side of the Moon, Led Zeppelin’s paganistic Houses of the Holy, and AC/DC’s censored everyday deviants with Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, both men flipped the script on what album art could be. In the new documentary entitled Squaring the Circle (directed by Anton Corbijn), Powell candidly looks back on the history he made with Thorgerson, along with some very famous friends.…
The thing about Seal (born Seal Samuel) is this: they simply don’t make versatile singers like him anymore. It had been well over a decade since he last played Toronto, yet the iconic UK artist didn’t miss a beat at Massey Hall. While sharing anecdotes between songs about living in Canada years prior, one couldn’t help observe how he patrolled the stage, right to the corners, making unbroken eye contact with audience members. It all made for a commanding presence, especially for an evening that saw him perform his first two albums (Seal I & Seal II) almost verbatim –…
This interview first ran in October of 2021. Bruce LaBruce may very well be Canada’s last punk artist. An iconoclastic filmmaker, photographer, and writer, he just can’t stop creating. Defiantly sexual, and often political, LaBruce’s filmography has found longstanding acclaim at home and abroad since his debut No Skin Off My Ass in 1993. His most recent work, the 1970’s-set Saint-Narcisse, presents a reimagining of Narcissus – the Greek myth of youth and self-obsession – now updated to the clandestine backwoods of Quebec. LaBruce spoke with ADDICTED’s Myles Herod about the themes of twins and religion woven throughout Saint-Narcisse, the…
Recognized for its cheeky name, unique artistic showcases, and scenic backdrop of Quebec City, the Le Phoque OFF festival is set to return this month between February 10th – 18th. Celebrating its 9th season, the event aims to highlight nearly 100 artists from home and abroad; a welcome return from last year’s edition which was presented in the Metaverse. Among the roster of entertainers this year, guests include METZ, The Winston Band, La Patente, Azo, Felukah, Velours Velours, Jessica Moss, and Elfo Van de Velde, to name a few. In keeping the artist line-up intact and eclectic, ADDICTED’s Myles Herod…
Perth, Australia psych-rockers Pond proved to be a perfect fit for Toronto’s iconic Lee’s Palace. Small it certainly was, the venerable venue nevertheless housed the band’s booming synths amid a sold-out crowd all while lead singer Nicholas Allbrook pouted his best Mick Jagger antics, arms akimbo. Chances are the quintet will forever be linked to like-minded countrymen Tame Impala – if not for the fact that they share members (past and present). However, whereas the former pursue sonic profundity, Pond remains less experimental, instead grabbing one by the collar with full-throttle charisma. Opening with the propulsive America’s Cup, taken from…
American singer-songwriter Dora Jar had a rollicking good time with fans at Toronto’s Drake Underground. Having opened up for Billie Eilish on tour, this occasion marked her first headlining slot in Canada – crossing the border to alert audiences as to what all the fuss is about. Jar (real name: Dora Jarkowski), now 26, uncannily justified the hype. Skipping through a breezy, occasionally acidic track list of Tiger Face and Opening, she generously pulled from 2021’s Digital Meadow as well as this year’s Comfortably In Pain, which Britain’s NME declared “the year’s best EP so far”. It’s no surprise then that the…
Kurt Vile and the Violators are psych-tinged country-fried rock personified. The very type that washes over you like a soothing, albeit heavy, wave. At Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall, band leader, singer-songwriter Kurt Vile, lurched amid assorted guitar pedals, his long hair obscuring any discernible facial features while flannel flapped about. The songs (long and jamming) spilled from his mouth, seemingly stream of consciousness. Or maybe they were endearingly half-finished? Either way, a broad range of his catalogue, songs stretching as far back as 2013’s Walkin on a Pretty Daze were dusted off. For newer fans, there was also ample material…
Although the music of 1990’s alternative rock icons The Smashing Pumpkins may be dour, the atmosphere inside Scotiabank Arena was anything but. Celebrating the 27th anniversary of their seminal 1995 double-album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Billy Corgan and company performed a setlist of their 30-year catalogue overstuffed with standouts. It was no less than two hours of energized rock ‘n’ roll that exalted the original musician’s history as one. Utterly captivating, classics such as Cherub Rock and Bullet with Butterfly Wings swung between reliable rock and heavy metal. Add to that a pinch of punk and the results…
Eighty-two-year-old Tom Jones has impeccable taste in choosing songs. Inside a packed house at Toronto’s Massey Hall – his booming voice still distinctly his – he played an array of covers including ones by Leonard Cohen, Prince, and Jerry Lee Lewis. He also played selections from his successful newest album, Surrounded by Time, ecstatic in sharing news that he’s now become the oldest male singer to have an album chart in the U.K.’s top spot. That’s not to say that the Welshman didn’t perform his best-known hits from the past. He certainly did that, too. In fact, in the first…
One of the details that The Fabelmens gets just right is how family and home shapes one’s journey from adolescence and beyond. The movie is about the Fabelmans, computer engineer Burt and former concert pianist Mitzi (Paul Dano and Michelle Williams) who have built a good life through hard work and principle in post-World War II America, and about their children – especially Sammy (newcomer Gabriel LaBelle) who loves making home movies. Clutching his film camera and editing machine like talismans, he increasingly becomes skilled and innovative as an aspiring young filmmaker. Tracking shots via baby strollers, blood squibs exploding…
Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke walked the red carpet at Roy Thomson Hall for the TIFF premiere of their film Raymond & Ray, in which they play long-estranged half-brothers who reunite to bury their father. By all accounts, director Rodrigo García, best known for gentle female-fronted dramas (eg. Albert Nobbs), has brought together a double-act we never knew we needed, the unlikely pairing of both seasoned actors in a similarly unexpected dramedy. It premieres globally on Apple TV+ on October 21, 2022. Words and photos by Myles Herod.
Typically, the two basic approaches to obesity in cinema are to regard it as tragic or comic. In director Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, he has somehow avoided both. And unfortunately, therein lays its fatal flaw. Here’s a movie with the unique distinction of creating in its audience an almost unremitting anxiety about how they’re supposed to respond to what’s on-screen. The film comes with a skilled filmmaker (Requiem for A Dream, Black Swan), and its cast does what it can, particularly with Brendan Fraser’s brave, physical transformation. However, its screenplay remains uncertain, and often misplaced, constantly feeling the need to…
Legendary director Steven Spielberg along with his cast, including Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, and Paul Dano, walked the red carpet ahead of the The Fabelmans world premiere during TIFF 2022. The coming-of-age picture tells the story of a young man named Sammy Fabelman (based on Spielberg’s own childhood) discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of film can help him see the truth. Words and photos by Myles Herod.