Posts Tagged ‘sound academy’
GZA & Skratch Bastid @ Sound Academy – Jan. 25, 2010
January 29th, 2010 | By: Max Mertens
Photo Credit: Michael Joffe
Four white boys at a hip-hop show. It sounds like the plot of a really bad sitcom – or at the very least, a good episode of Two and a Half Men (if you watch that show, then shame on you) – but that was the case last Monday, when my three friends and I made the trek down to the Sound Academy. The occasion? None other than one of the Wu-Tang’s finest, Gary Grice, or GZA as he’s best known to most people. Throw in support from one of Canada’s finest DJs, Skratch Bastid, and you have a hell of a party in the making.
It was just too bad that the party took so long getting started.
I guess I shouldn’t have so surprised that there was a lot of waiting. It was a rap show afterall. What did surprise me however, was just how subpar the other opening acts were. The first group up were a bunch of scrawny white guys from Ottawa, playing instantly forgettable rap-rock with rhymes about government mind control and marijuana (of course). Note to up-and-coming bands: if you are lucky enough to get an opening gig like this, at least dress the part – backwards ball caps and oversized clothing straight out of the 90s don’t count.
Luckily the bad taste in the crowd’s mouthes disappeared, at least temporarily, when it came time for Skratch Bastid to take to the decks. The Halifax-born DJ, whose real name is Paul Murphy, first made a splash when he won the 2003 Scribble Jam and hasn’t looked back since. He’s won international DJ competitions (numerous times), was the first Canadian DJ to be nominated for a Juno award (for producing Buck 65′s Situation), and has shared the stage with the likes of Nas, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ludacris, Mix Master Mike, Ice-T, DJ Premier, Modeselektor, The Tragically Hip, Russell Peter, and more. Thanks to the Sound Academy’s video projectors, the audience could watch Bastid’s technical wizardry on the turntables, as he cut up, scratched, looped, seamlessly mixed and blended choice cuts from everyone from Beastie Boys to James Brown to Major Lazer (dropping Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” into the set was a nice touch as well). Perhaps more importantly, you could tell that the DJ was having fun, and his positive energy was reflected in the crowd.
With the crowd properly hyped up from Bastid’s set, everyone was expecting GZA to be onstage next. Instead the mood was killed by some Wu-Tang-affiliated posse that were all talk and little action. To say it was a bit of a buzz kill would be a gross understatement.
Finally at a quarter to midnight, GZA took to the stage, to frenzied chanting and a sea of hands raised in the infamous “W” sign. Even if you aren’t a hip-hop fan, you have to see GZA perform live once in your life. For starters, the man is a musical pioneer. Without GZA and rest of the Wu-Tang Clan, there’d be no Kanye or Just Blaze-produced songs with chopped up and/or sped or slowed down soul samples, no street narratives about growing up tough and slinging drugs from Jay-Z or Nas, not to mention all the street and kung-fu slang that the group has contributed to the hip-hop lexicon. For those that thought the seminal New York City hip-hop crew were running out of things to say, than last year proved that the Wu-Tang Clan still ain’t nuthing to fuck wit. The group’s core members were everywhere in 2009: Ghostface Killah lent vocals to MSTRKRFT’s “Word Up”, The Black Keys’ BlakRoc project featured contributions from RZA and a posthumous verse from Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and Raekwon put out one of the year’s best and most anticipated rap albums, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II. As for the most “senior” Clansman, he showed up in all manner of unexpected places, from appearing on my favourite song of the year, to playing one of the best shows (and free nonetheless!) of this year’s NXNE festival. The man is a convivial showman and knows how to give the his audience exactly what they want. The rapper wasted no time tearing through choice cuts from his second album, Liquid Swords, like “Duel Of The Iron Mic” and the title track (with its chilling “He cut off the heads off one hundred and thirty-one lords” sample from the samurai movie Shogun Assasin), before treating the crowd to Wu-Tang favourites, “Clan In Da Front” being among the standouts.
All in all, a solid show to a diverse crowd, that included skate punks, tokers, diehard Wu-Tang fans, and one unfortunate-looking hipster kid. Hopefully the next time GZA plays Toronto, it’s with less filler acts (Skratch Bastid not included), not on a Monday night (seriously Sound Academy booking agents, what the hell were you thinking?), and above all, with far, far less waiting around.
Music Venue Report Cards: The Sound Academy
February 21st, 2009 | By: Matthew Braga
The Sound Academy
So as you all may know, CBC Radio 3 is running a contest to see what the best venue in Canada is. And honestly, unless you’ve been all over the country, I don’t think anyone is qualified to pick a winner. So I guess that resorts to which venue has gained the most supporters; not a bad alternative. I have not been fortunate enough to travel across Canada (yet), but I have been to my fair share of venues in Toronto. So The Singing Lamb has decided to delve deep into Toronto and analyze some of the city’s best and worst venues. Hope these become helpful in your concert-going experience in the city!
Disclaimer: These features do not reflect the opinions of everyone here at the Singing Lamb. Each feature is uniquely the writer’s feelings as based on personal experiences they have encountered. There is a potential that you will see opposing reviews of venues as this series develops. Just keep that in mind – we value everyone’s freedom of speech!
- The Singing Lamb
Let me make one thing perfectly clear from the beginning: I hate the Sound Academy.
Formerly known as the Docks night club and entertainment complex, the Sound Academy is Toronto’s equivalent of the kid nobody quite liked in elementary school – distant, awkward, and downright weird. It’s a building that was clearly designed for the hot sweaty bodies of drug-riddled euro trash that flocked to the building on a weekly basis, until its ill-fated rebranding. And just like the dwindling attendance of the Docks before it, the current venue will meet its demise due to one simple reason – the Sound Academy is simply a nuisance to get to.
While they may claim the title of being one of Toronto’s few waterfront nightclubs concert halls, they’re mistaken if they think that proves to be a redeeming quality. In actuality, the Sound Academy is simply so far out of the way that, unless you’re driving, expect a long and frustrating commute. Throw out all hopes of arriving early, while you’re at it. As the saying goes, abandon all faith, ye who enter here.
If you’d really like to know, there is a TTC bus that can get you there. Of course, your definition of “there” would probably have to include a fairly irregular departure schedule, and an exit point that is actually a full block away from where you intend to go. That’s right, folks; the Sound Academy is so far out of the way, not even the TTC will go there. There is only one explanation here, and it is that the Sound Academy is in bat country.
Let’s assume for a moment that you actually arrive in one piece – I’ll allow you your moment of bliss and pride before I crush your spirits further. Despite your best attempts to arrive early, you’re going to run into a line. It’s fact. On top of that, you must also deal with a number of pretentious and clearly power-tripped security guards, who will almost assuredly manhandle your camera, take your battery, and throw any food you might have left to eat into a bin of despair and hunger. C’est la vie.
If nothing has deterred you thus far, faithful concert goer, the inside of the Sound Academy almost assuredly will. Most striking is the venue’s similarity with popular Toronto-area alleyways – sans the graffiti. In all seriousness, this is the narrowest venue that I have ever seen. While this may have proved beneficial for the sweaty, drunken twenty-somethings of yesteryear, the result is incredibly claustrophobic in a concert setting.
Of course, the most glaring issue of all is the one that matters most. Quite frankly, it seems like I’d get better sound quality out of a cave, because the Sound Academy’s acoustics are simply horrid. High, cavernous ceilings provide lots of places for bass to disappear, leaving behind a great deal of unwelcome treble. Attempts to compensate only serve to drown out the low end even further, with the voices of certain artists simply disappearing into the mix.
In my opinion, it’s a shame that artists feel the need to keep filling the Sound Academy week after week. While the establishment may be able to hook big name acts and draw crowds for now, its only a matter of time before fans and artists alike begin to realize the venue’s shortcomings and take their business elsewhere. It’s downright frustrating that the Sound Academy is located where it is, and operates as it does; more club than concert hall, and nearly inaccessible to those without a boat, it’s simply a matter of time before the Sound Academy slips into musical obscurity.
When the Sound Academy finally does die, rejoice; hitchhiking to the waterfront will be but a distant memory. If only the same would hold true for U2.