Recording: Un Blonde

Artist: Un Blonde

Song: unknown^*

Recorded at Sherbourne Common (Camp Wavelength – Day 1), August 19, 2017.

Un Blonde - unknown

Since 2009, the summer Wavelength festival has been a highlight of the season, slowing down the hectic "festival experience" to an Island pace and making the whole thing as much about the vibe and the location as the (always well-curated) music. When this spring's floods shut the Island down, there was a ripple of apprehension from many quarters at the loss of favourite summer hangs, culminating in the festival decamping to the mainland.

There's been a number of WL events that have taken place at spots that've been overtaken by the city's voracious development, so it was a pleasant change to be in a new space — one's that's still not fully integrated into the city and that is going to be around for a while. With a wall of almost-completed condos along the park's east side, Sherbourne Common isn't going to be hosting too many festivals in summers to come, so hopefully some of Camp Wavelength's energy will remain imprinted on the space. Meanwhile, with the water glistening in the background and a sense of isolation from the city proper, this did a really superb job of capturing the feel of a show on the Islands. (Plus there was the bonus of the awesome slapback echo bouncing back from the new buildings surrounding the park.)

Although his music is pure soul, Jean-Sebastien Audet's recordings work on the Guided By Voices principle: if an idea needs forty or ninety seconds to express, that's how much it'll get and no more, then onto the next one. Live, there's less of a cavalcade of fragments as each is turned into a vamp that begins and ends when the feeling is right, like a tap turning on and music flowing out. Good winds blow and good will comes as the audience pulls closer to catch each spark.

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!