I Heart the Music: Your Online Source for Live Music Reviews and Interviews in Toronto!

The first ever Peace Dot Love music festival took place during NXNE at the Koolhaus. It was a musical tribute to Dylan Ellis and Oliver Martin who were gunned down in a parked car in June 2008, a horrible crime that has yet to be solved. The fest was put on by 102.1 the Edge, D.O. It! (an organization formed to raise funds for youth violence prevention groups), LOVE and Peacebuilders International in partnership with NXNE (as well as some other sponsors, including iheartthemusic).

It began with DJ duo TMDP. Despite their early start time they had the crowd that was there grooving to their tunes. It wasn’t a large crowd, but that didn’t seem to affect the tunes coming off the turntables as these consummate professionals performed with the same energy as when iheartthemusic witnessed them spin to an at-capacity Circa crew. (If you missed them you can see them at the TIME Festival at Sound Academy on July 25.)

Stereos were met with a plethora of pre-pubescent screams from the throngs of teenyboppers who rushed the stage. Personally I thought it sounded like watered down radio dribble with too much auto-tune. However, I also think the latest album from Black Eyed Peas had too much auto-tune and Stereo’s song “Summer Girl” was number one on iTunes so they mustn’t be doing much wrong (but I’d be hard pressed to pick out what they were doing exceptionally right). In any case, the PG-13 prepubescent portion of the Koolhaus seemed to dig it as they screamed and sang along to every song, including “She Only Likes Me When I’m Drunk” (love the title). Perhaps it’s just a matter of taste… or lack thereof.

Feeling Stereo-ed out, I popped through the rabbit hole into the side room where I discovered a polar bear playing bass, an Elton John-looking lead singer and a percussion apparatus that resembled a mix between Dick Van Dyke’s instrumental outfit in Mary Poppins and a medieval torture contraption. The band sounded like a lot of fun… unfortunately no one was able to tell me who they were (if you’re reading this and you know the answer, let us know).

True to form Down With Webster gave a high-octane performance. This large ensemble band is an amalgamation of high energy electro with large doses of rap and rock. One of the highlights was the when the drummer had a fun video game soundtrack solo (the low light was when one of the silly members threw beer on our photographer, not cool dude!). Even when they experienced some technical difficulties they kept the crowd entertained by busting out a freestyle. And they were entertaining, I even spotted some parents grooving to their tunes.

Simultaneously We Are the Take had a work out on the stage next door. These boys played so hard they were quite literally dripping with sweat. The passion in playing engaged the crowd who seemed fully immersed (or should I say “taken in”) by the band. These guys always put on a good show and are clearly garnering a devout fan following.

Dragonette was nothing less than awesome. iheartthemusic had the pleasure of speaking to the husband and wife team before the show and learned that they were truly there to support the cause, which they spoke very well of [stay tuned for that interview, we talked music, fashion and spilling sauce on sneakers in Japan... apparently a no-no as it takes a while for the smell to go away]. Their performance was dynamic and a highlight for many of the festival goers. One word: awesome!

Closing out the night was USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker). Phew, if you weren’t tired already you would have been by just watching these two guys fly around stage, doing handstands and bouncing with the crowd. Lots of energy and a wonderful way to end a wonderful festival. With so many great performances I look forward to see how they top this next year.

Written by Emer Schlosser

Photography by Carl Heindl

If you’ve ever seen Syntonics do their thing, you know what they’re all about – grimy beats, mean vocals and an emphatic stage presence. Well, think of the 84.85 as their scuzzy little brother – the one that tagged along whenever you and your friends took to the streets and learned how to roll with the older crowd. That’s Cass and Jay – fresh rhymes, dirty beats and an uncanny ability to rock any party. While Toronto’s freshest newlyweds are off honeymooning, they’ve got an eager duo ready to hold down the Intellegenix fort.

84.85 didn’t hesitate in taking the stage after bass heavy sets from local DJs TTBombaman (you seriously need check these two out). Starting off with their “Billy Jean”-influenced “40 and a Fistfight,” they continued strong, demanding everyone’s hands to be shoved in the air. While Cass jumped in the crowd to give a more up-close-and-personal delivery of his fast-paced lyrics, Jay handled the decks, supplying a non-stop array of hard-hitting jams. Blazing through favorites like “100 Bad Habits,” “Don’t Worry” and “Breakin’ My Back” (a finishing track that would make any performer going on after re-think their setlist), they gave the crowd exactly what they wanted – a chance to lose their shit to the sounds of two guys who know exactly what they would want to hear if they were on the dance floor instead of on stage. That’s the kind of attitude that will propel 84.85 into the limelight.

Nothing should come in the way of these two becoming your new favorite act; they’ve studied the best and understand what it takes for them to man the stage and have a crowd eat out of their hands. If you haven’t experienced an 84.85 party, you should remedy that because you won’t fully understand until you’re face-to-face with Toronto’s best live duo and are reciting lyrics that you only wish you knew.

NOW Magazine has caught wind of these talented young cats and nabbed them to join their NXNE showcase on Friday, June 18th @ Reverb. Do yourselves a favor and go check them out… you’ll thank us later.

We have a bunch of new videos JUST in courtesy of MapleMusic. Check them out:

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