Go NORTH to Detroit, SOUTH to Windsor: phog phest

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It's Phate that it's eight

On Sat., Sep. 17 Phog Phest moves back indoors for round 8 at the Phog Lounge and owner Tom Lucier's newest venture and venue, The Rondo. We're excited to finally see it after an epic tunnel backup foiled our attempt to attend the opening.

Lucier's doing a slow reveal of bands. So far in addition to local talent, out-of-towners include The Pack A.D. We know of another but won't spoil the surprise. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.

(This year's Phog Phest poster is by Alain Rocha)

Phog Phest 7 re-embraces the great outdoors

After two years behind doors-- mostly the Capitol Theatre-- this Saturday, Sep. 19 Windsor's Phog Lounge tells the Phest to go outside and play. In the true spirit of N2DS2W, The Crofoot in Pontiac has stepped in as co-host of a bill with something for everyone: Windsor favourites, Detroit's Ponyshow and George Morris (formerly of The Satin Peaches) and the Gypsy Chorus, Grand Analog for the hip, The Sadies for the rock and country roots and indie veterans Wintersleep. See ya there.

Show Alert: PhogPhest 6

Show Alert: Modern Thunder Rolls Into the Phog

Grand Analog
Sat., Oct. 19 ~ Phog Lounge
$10

After closing out Phog Phest 3 in 2011, CBC Radio 3 guest host Odario Williams and Grand Analog finally return to Windsor with Modern Thunder and the vintage analog gear that gives the collective their name. According to grandanalog.com, their first full-length album since 2009's Metropolis is Burning, "The music of Modern Thunder dwells on everything classic. The album opener, 'Lion Head,' fuses early Afro-beat rhythms (with) hard-hitting hip-hop drums while the electro-hop sounds of 'Heart the Lonely Hunter' lends a Joni Mitchell type vocal to the chorus... 'Wild Animal Print' hints classic House... Musical guests on Modern Thunder include Saukrates, Shad, Andrina Turenne (Chic Gamine), Amanda Balsys (Wilderness Of Manitoba), Len Bowen, Maylee Todd, Saidah Baba Talibah, Dennis Passley (Bedouin Soundclash), Bahia Watson, Mike Olsen (Hidden Cameras), Peter Katz, TALWST and long time collaborators Damon Mitchell and Oliver Johnson."

Photos - Russ Gordon/N2D Images

Phog Phest 5 is Sat., Sep. 14

Real bathrooms. A real late end time. You can take your alcoholic beverage into the theatres for real. And a real great lineup in two great venues.

This year's Phog Phest 5 moves indoors to the Phog Lounge and three stages in the Capitol Theatre. The $15 advance ticket price ($16+$2 online, $20 at the door) is worth it just for the headliners, a trifecta of Polaris-nominated bands from Montreal : The Besnard Lakes, Suuns and Young Galaxy.

But for that same ticket, you also get more Windsor bands than you have ears for, including The Locusts Have No King, The Blue Stones, Learning, The Vaudevillianaires and many more. Here's the full schedule.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHOG LOUNGE!

Wow! Another year old? Windsor's own (and Canada's Best Live Venue) is NINE YEARS OLD!

Congrats to Tom and Frank! Thank you for everything that you do.

A Feast of Festivals

Time and money prevent us from attending as many music festivals as we'd like (we had the most ROMO for the Wolfe Island Music Festival-- what a lineup). Although our Big Three lacked the camping factor, we certainly experienced the range festivals have to offer: from NXNE in the Big Smoke, to folk at the Home County, to home in Windsor getting the boot at Phog Phest 4.

Home County brings in the bright lights of Canadian indie; this year it was Polaris short-lister Kathleen Edwards and Joel Plaskett Emergency. It also features workshops that result in wonderful and unexpected combinations-- The Kramdens and members of Cuff the Duke covering Neil Young, Plaskett and Bahamas, the lovely Olenka Krakus (of Olenka and the Autumn Lovers), Dave Gunning and the Kramdens.

Phog Phest has more of a family reunion/backyard party vibe: friends, dogs, beer, folding chairs, tents, kids, meatball sliders and wood-fired pizza and chocolate chip cookies from Mettawas Station of Kingsville, good conversation and great music.

They've got the recipe down. It's a given that Phog Phest will showcase Windsor talent we've heard and enjoyed, like The Unquiet Dead. Tom and Frank keep it interesting with a mix of tried-and-true ingredients-- this year Toronto's Rural Alberta Advantage and New Country Rehab-- and lesser known bands Phog is famous for getting on stage before they break, like Montreal's Cobra & Vulture.

Cobra & Vulture

The Unquiet Dead

New Country Rehab

The Rural Alberta Advantage

But the unexpected star of Phog Phest 4 turned out to be a Wellington boot. For a buck a chuck, attendees took turns trying to throw the boot the farthest for prizes in the Welly Boot Chuck. Although S2W made a valiant effort, the only prize we took home was a framed Phog Phest 4 poster signed by all the bands. It sure looks a lot better than that boot did by the end of the night.

Photos: Russ Gordon/N2D Images

PHOG PHEST 4

Tickets only $15 ~ http://phoglounge.com

Cellos (Windsor)
www.cellos.bandcamp.com

Club Thunderbolt (Windsor)
www.clubthunderbolt.com

Cobra & Vulture (Montreal)
http://music.cbc.ca/artists/Cobra-Vulture

Gypsy Chief Goliath (Windsor)
www.reverbnation.com/gypsychiefgoliath

James O-L and the Villains (Windsor)
http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/James-O-L-and-the-Villains

Learning (Windsor)
www.wearelearning.bandcamp.com

New Country Rehab (Toronto)
www.newcountryrehab.com

Rural Alberta Advantage (HEADLINER from Toronto)
http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/The-Rural-Alberta-Advantage

The Unquiet Dead (Windsor)
www.music.cbc.ca/artists/the-unquiet-dead

Vultures? (Windsor)
www.facebook.com/groups/vultures.canada/

With a special 90-minute opening set by Jam Space Academy bands:
9 Volt, 24 Sussex, Arcadia, Jinx, Lawless, Lost Weekend, Tremors
www.jamspacewindsor.com/JamSpaceAcademy.php

Show Review: 1, 2, 3, 4

One fair in Michigan, U.S.A. and one Phest in Windsor, O.N.T. equaled a satisfying serving of music in two countries for N2D back on Sat., Sept. 17-- even if our work schedule did cut the buffet short.

We're still not sure how Hey Rosetta! from St. John's, NL, ended up playing at the bustling DIY Street Fair in Ferndale, Mich. We were just happy to see one of our favourite bands twice in one year, meet fellow R3 blogger michelka (we are big fans of her artwork; check it out) and sip a little mead. With the sunset for a backdrop, Hey Rosetta! delivered a show every bit as good as the one in June and to a wider audience. Overheard: "Who are these guys? They're really good."

While Ferndale was showcasing more than 50 Detroit area bands and one band from NL, Phog Phest 3 was showcasing one Detroit band-- the High Strung-- one band from Winnipeg-- Grand Analog-- and some of the best of Windsor's indie music scene, including hometown hero headliners, Elliott BROOD.

We arrived in time for a chat with Grand Analog's personable and articulate Odario Williams before his set, who entertained us with a great story about sneaking into a Pink Floyd concert in Winnipeg when he was in his early teens. His skills as a raconteur carried over on the stage and established a solid rapport with the enthusiastic crowd, despite the fact Grand Analog hasn't had a new release since 2009's Metropolis is Burning. We'd love to hear more of the band's dub/R&B-inflected hip hop like "Electric City," which Williams turned into a group sing-along. Yes, music makes the world go 'round.

Phog Phest 3 marks the fourth time we've seen Elliott BROOD, and every time they've delivered 100 percent. You never get the feeling that they've written it all down for the audience one too many times, and the Phog Phest audience sure didn't appear to be tired of banging pots, pans and cookie sheets. The BROOD's newest album, Days Into Years, is folkier than their previous efforts but has resonated with listeners in a big way. The band is up for two CBC Radio 3 Bucky Awards-- Most Canadian Song for "Northern Air," and Best Vocals for "When I Get Old." Winners will be announced this Weds., Dec. 7 beginning at 2 p.m. EST.