Over The Top Festival Launch

blogTO: Over The Top Festival Launch

All my photos have been posted!

What a great show! Great Lake Swimmer kicked things off with a very soft and slow performance, but that’s pretty much what we were expecting from Tony Dekker, who happens to be my favorite Toronto singer-songwriter at the moment. His songs are incredibly personal. You can see in his face the passion he has for his work. I can’t get over how shy he is on stage. He must have said 10 words the entire performance.

Akron/Family blew my mind! Incredibly lively and entertaining. I loved their antics and stage banter. I couldn’t get over the lead singers facial expressions. He reminded me a lot of John Belushi. I’m pretty sure everyone in the band was tripping on something. They kept drinking from Starbucks cups, which I’m bet were not filled with coffee. At the end of their set they also thanked someone for the cookies. "Special" cookies no doubt. I wish I could have seen their hoedown at the back of the Great Hall, but I wasn't giving up my prime third row spot fo nut'n.

Owen was accompanied by a string quartet which gave Final Fantasy a much fuller and more layer sound than his solo shows. The quartet seemed very talented and professional, but what the fuck do I know. Owen didn't seem in top for this night. He appeared very nervous about following the highly animated performance of Akron/Family. He also was experimenting with a few instruments that were out of tune due to the heat in the Great Hall. In addition, he was performing mostly "new" songs, although I'm pretty sure I've heard him perform most of them before.

My only complaint with the concert, was that Akron Family should have headlined. The flow of the show was ruined by having the most lively and energetic performance in the middle. Having Final Fantasy billed second would have been a great build up from Great Lake Swimmer to Akron/Family.