Right… this experience was a serious result of epic manifestation on my part. Ever since I’d seen that Riot Fest was hosting Billy Talent on their Toronto dates, I knew that I had, had, had to be there, somehow. I don’t know if many of you are aware, but this particular band has been an integral part of my ~*Journey To Canada*~. Seeing them IN Canada was going to be a major check off the List Of Things To Do while I was in the country.
In terms of important bands I listened to when I was in my teens, Billy Talent was pretty much near top of the list, along with other very important ones like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. I remember first coming across them randomly, listening to one song and absolutely HATING IT, which is, ahhh, how most love affairs start, yes? Perhaps it was several months or so later before I stumbled across the video for 'Try Honesty' and had an epiphany of sorts. The fact that they were Canadian, of course, totally helped my love grow.
As a teenager, I would be able to buy one album per month, and would listen to it religiously, as each song become my absolute favourite over time. This was the case with Billy Talent, their eponymous album, and Billy Talent II (their, uh, other eponymous album… of several). I developed a serious relationship with two songs from each: ‘Voices of Violence’ and ‘Surrender’.
As a gloomy teen, there were oft times when I would need a little encouragement. If I needed a swift energy-boost or pick-me up, I would put on ‘Voices of Violence’. I remember subjecting Dad and Harriet to it in car trips up and down from Edinburgh to see the grandparents, and Harriet even began playing it when I refused to get out of bed in the morning.
I remember when I went on Duke of Edinburgh, I had my fancy new iPod that played music videos and I had about three videos on it, including ‘Surrender’. At night in the Scottish highlands, lying in a tent as the rain poured down and the capercaillie called, I would hold this little screen to my face and share earbuds with a friend as we literally would squeal over the whole video. Especially Ben Kowalewicz in those Gatsby-worthy curtains. There was something about that song that calmed me, and it became a medicine of sorts, to the point where my Dad would play it in the car intuitively when he noticed I was feeling down.
I remember when I went to see Billy Talent in Glasgow about five years ago, and when the first song came on, the crowd pushed and shoved to the front. Everyone was going mad for the crunchy guitar licks and raw energy. 'Surrender' was by far their most subdued song, much further into the set, and yet when it came on, I turned into a raving monster that everyone else had been in the more boisterous songs. I was literally elbowing people to get as close as I could, just to feel the music a little more. Actually, another memorable moment of that gig was when the band first came on stage, to which everyone (the hall was mostly full of testosterone) was going “YEOOOOOOHHHH” in deep, gruff, rock-n-roll voices. And then when Ian D’sa came on stage I must’ve drowned everyone out with the one and only time I’ve ever done a real, honest Girl-At-A-Beatles-Concert scream.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
So, you see, to go to Canada and miss seeing Billy Talent play there was not an option. But… ticket prices. I wasn’t about to fork out 70 bucks for one hour of music. So I entered a bunch of online competitions. And then I forgot about it all.
I had finished work last week and was walking to the TTC when I checked my e-mail. “Congratulations Olivia!” I read, “You’ve won general access tickets to Riot Fest this weekend.” I never win anything. But THE UNIVERSE had clearly taken note of my plight, and everything had been lined up for me. I was going to Riot Fest. I was going to see Billy Talent.
That weekend, after work, I shrugged off my coffee-stained uniform and jumped into a pair of leggings and a sweater, heading off to the subway to spend about an hour travelling up north to Downsview Park. The great thing about the park is that it’s somewhere which is slightly more elevated than the heart of the city, so you can see over the hills down to the twinkling lights of downtown Toronto. As I sat with my tickets outside the main entrance, waiting for my flatmate Emma to join me, people milled around, and a golf cart rolled round the corner, cutting through the side-gate towards to main stages. I looked at the people sat in the cart which was passing by me, and my eyes locked on to a man who looked a lot like… no, it was… Ben Kowalewicz??? I’m pretty sure my jaw fell to the concrete and my eyes bugged out of my head and I just had an all-round major ungainly gawping moment as Billy Talent scooted past me on a golf cart on their way to their gig, no more than five metres away from where I was sat. This was the real deal. This was the REAL DEALLLL!!!!!!!!
I found Emma and we headed in, grabbed an overpriced beer and had our shoes completely caked in mud. This was my first actual festival in a field, so I wore my newest trainers, naturally. The Flaming Lips were just coming on, and we hung out by their stage as Emma met up with a couple of her friends. The Flaming Lips lit up the dusky park in a fantastically psychedelic manner, with people dressed as rainbows and toadstools on stage underneath hanging multicoloured lights. They played “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” and it made me feel old.
I was adamant that we catch Billy Talent, so after a few songs with the Lips we walked over half the park to the rock stage, where lights were blasting through the darkening sky.
I want to describe this in detail to you, so you can pretend you were there with me, because it was perfect (Also, because I am really sad but my phone ran out of battery so I didn't get any of my own pictures).
The evening sky was totally clear, and all along the horizon it was glowing with that orangey-red of dusk (and pollution, probably - but romanticpollution!). Right above your head, you could see stars speckling the sky with constellations, and all along the highest points of the horizon, moving stars — airplanes — were coming in to land, silently swooping over our heads, lowered and lights blinking. Towards their destination, the west, the moon was high and very, very nearly full, glowing in the night. I walked in darkness through the mud towards the blaring lights, and as I got closer to the stage, the sounds of The Flaming Lips began to fade slightly, as words and sounds floated their way over to me…
They were playing Surrender. Almost as if they knew that I was coming at that exact moment, the middle eight of the song with the slight break-down, the gentleness that builds up to the crescendo of the chorus’ return, was being doled out. As I arrived, the haunts of Surrender built to their climax, and I felt so, so happy. I thought of the girl that I was, several years ago, and wished that she was here to see this. Well, she was. But you know what I mean.
As the set continued, Emma was laughing because I was so clearly into it, singing along to all the songs, “woo”-ing at the end of each one, clapping along when I was supposed to. I was HYPED and HAPPY. Ian D’sa had his ridiculously large hair, Ben Kowalewicz was thrashing round the stage, and I could hear my inner 16-year-old squealing with glee… I even squealed a little bit, too.
I was still sort-of happy when I was waiting in the god-awful long line for the bus back downtown, spine aching, knees aching, feet aching and bladder aching (portaloos at festivals nothankyou). I was happy when my head gratefully hit the pillow at quarter to midnight and I drifted off to sleep…
That’s another thing crossed of the Canada Bucket List.
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