Recording: Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys

Artist: Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys

Songs: You Wanted What I Wanted + Farther From You

Recorded at The Garrison (Wavelength SEVENTEEN – Night 2), February 18, 2017.

Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys - You Wanted What I Wanted

Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys - Farther From You

Without the inexpensive energy-drink RSVP crowd jamming the place early on (and the return of General Chaos' swirling lights) this felt like a proper Wavelength. Programming-wise, this was the "rock" night, giving things a proper Saturday night feel. This collaboration between Julie Doiron, the Cancer Bats' rhythm section and Eamon McGrath has been a part-time affair for five years now, so it's exciting to see it entering a new phase. Retreating to collaborate on some new songs, there's now an album in the can and the band was eager to showcase them in this set. That lead to some new elements — more than just Doiron's songs being covered with an extra dollop of heaviness, there were signs of a group dynamic emerging. Joking that she was jacked up on Altoids and lozenges, Doiron embraced the raw punk fury of these songs. With a fully-stocked merch table and everything, there's apparently more to look forward to, whenever this album makes its way out into the world.

Recording: Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys

Artist: Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys

Songs: Dark Horse + I Woke Myself Up

Recorded at Christie Pits Park ("Bloor Ossington Folk Festival"), September 21, 2014.

Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys - Dark Horse

Julie Doiron & The Wrong Guys - I Woke Myself Up

Once again, the Bloor Ossington Folk Festival stayed true to its roots as a low-key and local celebration. By enfolding itself into the contours of Christie Pits, BOFF still feels casual and approachable, even with some heavy hitters in its lineup. As so often happens at outdoor events, weather forced organizers to make some adjustments on the fly, but even having to move the headliners into the beer tent served to reinforce the intimate vibes. There's room to grow, but overall the organizers are getting things right.

The only thing that I don't like about Julie Doiron's "rock unit" (featuring Eamon McGrath on guitar plus the Cancer Bats rhythm section of Mike Peters and Jaye Schwarzer) is that, based in different cities and with other projects on the go, they reconvene so infrequently. If this were a full-time unit working on new material, it would send a giant beam of bouncy energy out to the sky as they played — as it is, it merely felt like their heaviness was going to melt a hole through the park's lawn and land on the subway tracks buried below. This was supposed to be on the main stage 'til the storm pushed it into the beer tent, so the sound's a little raw'n'ragged here — but that fits pretty well. (Kudos to Joel Dalton (of The Idaho Stop), who was running sound here, a task that included some on-the-fly electrical work as the band's gear strained the generator's limits.)

Recording: Julie Doiron

Artist: Julie Doiron

Song: Homeless

Recorded at The Shop under Parts + Labour ("Mattyfest 2012"), February 10, 2012.

Julie Doiron - Homeless

Full review to follow. Backed by the Cancer Bats' rhythm section and Eamon McGrath on guitar, Julie Doiron played a lean, heavy and loud set, complete with a setlist (!) and no stories between songs (!!).

Recording: Cancer Bats

Artist: Cancer Bats

Song: Hail Destroyer

Recorded at The Theatre of Human Health (Bloor Ossington Folk Festival), October 15, 2011.

Cancer Bats - Hail Destroyer

Full review to follow. I'd vaguely heard this band's name, but knew nothing about them when I decided to stick around after METZ played. They come from different musical terrain from where I'm normally situated, but they're pretty good at what they do. And they won my respect for the positive community values that they embraced in taking part in this kick-ass festival.