RiotFest reviewed with Sloan’s Patrick Pentland

--taken from: The Grid TO

by Signals

In our new feature +1, The Grid’s Liisa Ladoucuer reviews a concert in tandem with a local musician to get a pro’s perspective on the performance. For this inaugural edition, Liisa hits the second day of RiotFest at Fort York with Sloan’s Patrick Pentland for his take on two resurrected punk-rock institutions: Iggy and The Stooges and, playing their first show in over two decades, The Replacements.

The pre-game show

Lissa: RiotFest’s second day is for the old-timers. I even see a gentleman wearing a t-shirt that simply says, “Still Punk.”  Oh, there are kids here, on their dads’ shoulders, and teenagers, too. But Fort York is mostly filled with folks who, depending on their age, have been listening to The Stooges and/or the Replacements before they broke up—1974 and 1991, respectively—and there’s an especially huge buzz for the first show from the latter in 22 years. Myself, I’m here to see Rocket From the Crypt tear it up—in snazzy suits colour coordinated to their Marshalls, it turns out—and then watch Iggy Pop do what he does best: display the raw power of rock ‘n’ roll—with his shirt off. And to find out what my first guest musician co-reviewer will think.
Patrick: I’ve seen The Stooges before, at that free NXNE show. Sloan actually played the night before The Stooges, and we had the largest crowd ever for Yonge and Dundas Square. But then the next night The Stooges broke that record. We were big for one night. The thing is, Iggy should be dead—like Keith Richards or Lemmy. But he never took a break from performing and he brings all that experience to the stage now. I think that’s why it’s called Iggy and the Stooges, and not just The Stooges.
Lissa: Do you think he’s going to come out with his shirt off?
Patrick: I hope not. But probably.
Lissa: What about The Replacements? I am admittedly not well educated about them.
Patrick: Me neither. This will be my first time seeing them. They’ve had such an iconic status after they broke up. It’s kind of like the Pixies. And I know there are a bunch of people that came here just for them and it’s a huge deal for them to see them play. For me, that band was Jesus and Mary Chain so I know what that’s like.

Post-game analysis

Patrick: I liked the Stooges. They opened with “Raw Power” and it sounded great. I think it was a really good performance overall, better than the Yonge and Dundas one. Even though they did some new songs. And there was a lot of sax. Unfortunately, they do have a lot of saxophone in their stuff. I don’t mind it as sort of a rhythmic instrument, but I don’t like sax solos too much. I think a lot of people feel that way.
Lissa: Yes, I feel that way. I always think of that oiled up guy in the Lost Boys movie. But at least when they played “Fun House” they have the crowd on stage dancing with them to distract from it.
Patrick: I feel that Iggy spent a good amount of the show lying down and I couldn’t see him. We play a lot of festivals and they are not ideal. It’s more of an event, something to do for the day. If you’re really just coming to “see” the band, you might be disappointed. But this was an impressively high-energy show. Iggy certainly can deliver on a big stage.
Lissa: Even when I can’t see Iggy, because he’s down in the crowd or something, I just like hearing those songs like “I Wanna Be Your Dog” played live and loud. It does feel like history coming to life.
Patrick: The way they’ve been playing these songs is pretty close to the originals. I’ve seen The Rolling Stones a few times and they don’t do “Satisfaction” the same way as on the record; it’s more modern sounding, and that’s a pitfall I think for various reasons. The Stooges don’t do that and I’m more into that. With Sloan, we try to play the songs as close to the albums as possible. It’s weird: The Stooges weren’t the headliners but they played a lot longer than they were supposed to. But who is going to pull the plug on Iggy Pop?

Lissa: Now what about The Replacements? I completely get why people love them. I thought Paul Westerberg was really quite funny and playing right into the hands of this crowd by joking right off the top about their being away for so long over a wardrobe argument. That first song “Takin’ a Ride” was blistering and more fun than I was expecting from them. But then I’m embarrassed to say I thought they were doing a Crash Test Dummies cover with “Androgynous”—I didn’t know they wrote that. It’s still a really boring song. I think the highlight for me was “Love You Till Friday” into the “Maybelline” cover. I didn’t come here for ballads.
Patrick: They look really cool, that’s for sure. But it’s a little bit like Springsteen to me. I don’t understand. The first song was kind of exciting but I need to have a certain degree of excitement in every song. That’s why I like an AC/DC riff, or why I write songs the way I do. Songs that are two chords back and forth and a good story? I’m not a lyric guy so, overall, there’s just a spark that’s not there for me. And I think I heard Paul say in reference to Tommy Stinson, “It’s been a long time since me and him were in Toronto together.” He should have said “he and I.”
Lissa: Patrick, thank you for letting this go out on a grammar joke.

--taken from: The Grid TO