Recording: Lemon Bucket Orchestra

Artist: Lemon Bucket Orchestra

Songs: Lemon Bucket Orchestra - Nese Halya Vodu / Calusari

Recorded at Christie Pits ("Bloor Ossington Folk Festival"), September 22, 2013.

Lemon Bucket Orchestra - Nese Halya Vodu / Calusari

Full review to follow. Starting out in living rooms and basements in its first year and piggybacking on the local street festival in its second, The Bloor Ossington Folk Festival took a big step up in size and complexity this year, all while holding fast to its mantra of "free music in shared community space". Settling into the topography of Christie Pits, this year's festival included two stages, a beer garden, food vendors and more. Sunday was chilly but dry, and the stages were busy all day, squeezing in a couple extra acts that were bumped from the day before. There were more people around all day, whether up front with the bands, hanging in the beer tent, or just wandering through the park. Kudos to Saving Gigi and the other locals who pitched in to make this a reality. And remember: "folk music" isn't a genre tag, but a description of music that lives in a community, shared between performer and audience. [Also: you can check out a few more pictures from the day at the MFS facebook page.]

Still one of the hardest-working bands in the city, Lemon Bucket Orchestra are liable to pop up nearly anywhere and set off a party that anyone and their grandma can groove to. Their turbocharged Eastern European folk songs pack a powerful punch and it wasn't long after they started on this chilly evening that members of the crowd needed to start pulling off their jackets. Unsurprisingly, they ended their set in the middle of the crowd, on the hillside facing the stage, and then led the way to the nearby playground for a couple final singalongs, soliciting stories about what this spot — in their neighbourhood — meant to people.

^* Thanks to Rob for passing along the title to the second song here.