Edgefest.

Yesterday I attended Edgefest for the first time and had quite the experience. As I write this I am exhausted, smell like smoke (cigarette and otherwise), possibly suffering from heat stroke, and a couple hundred dollars poorer, but it was all worth it. Going to Edgefest this year shook me out of a lack-of-concerts funk that I've been in over the past year or so, and I am happy to be back. Edgefest is my second music festival experience (the other being 2008's Rogers Picnic) and attending the event reminded me of why I am attracted to these big events.

Toronto generally doesn't get too many big music festivals. I find this odd as other comparatively sized/culturally prominent North American cities do (Montreal's Osheaga, Chicago's Lollapalooza, and San Fransisco's Outside Lands to name a few). Toronto, with 2.5 million people in the city proper and 5.5 million if you include the GTA, should be home to a big music festival. The population is definitely there, and as the line goes, "if we build it, they will come". There must be some bureaucratic reason why Toronto cannot hold such events and it's a real shame as these events - which usually last for multiple days featuring some of the biggest/emerging names in rock and alternative music (and all their sub-genres) - seem like a good time and would provide for an amazing experience. 

But onto what we do get - Edgefest. 

The main stage.

It was amazing yesterday. Two stages, tons of people (I heard that they were expecting about 15 000, and it was definitely packed, the space allocated for the festival wasn't all that big. All the bands I wanted to see put on terrific shows - those being the Arkells, Tokyo Police Club, and Rise Against - and the rest of the acts I caught were great as well - The Weakerthans, A Perfect Circle, and Hollarado being the ones I distinctly remember. Tokyo Police Club really impressed me, probably the best set I've seen them play - this was my 4th time seeing them live - and Rise Against impressed as well, but that was expected (yesterday was my 2nd time seeing them). I had never even heard of the band Hollarado until their set on the XM Side Stage yesterday evening and they put on a terrific show and can consider me a new fan. 

Edgefest is an event made for bigger groups. While it was fun going with three people (myself, my girlfriend, and my cousin - it was his first concert and he was treated to quite the show. My first concert (with friends, i.e. away from mom and dad) was at The Phoenix many years ago (I think I was 15) where I saw A Static Lullaby and the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (plus others), a decent show in it's own right I suppose but nowhere near the epic scale as offered by Edgefest), it would be awesome to go with a big group next time. At least 5 people or so, that'd be ideal. Although granted throughout the day we met up with others so our little group grew and shrank as the day went on.

One thing that surprised me about the event were the number of people who smoked. I am not oblivious to the fact that - despite the repeated warnings and education about the potential hazards - people still smoke (many of my friends do, and I on occasion feel like I would like to) but I was surprised at the amount of young people that were smoking, especially the younger women. I know people attended Edgefest to have a good time, but I would've thought that - in today's age - the general attitudes towards smoking would have affected some change in people's habits. People were also smoking other (less legal) substances, and I'm generally fine with that. It was just the sheer amount of cigarettes in people's mouths is what surprised me. 

I also found the litter everywhere highly ironic. This year the law in Ontario changed, allowing people to take their alcoholic drinks with them wherever they go at concerts (as opposed to being restricted to beer "tents" or "gardens"). This led to the ground being littered with discarded plastic cups (among other things). The irony is that the headlining and most popular act - Rise Against - are steadfast environmentalists, and I couldn't help myself but wonder what'd they think about people's disregard to keeping the Earth clean. 

Rise Against.

Overall Edgefest was a great experience and despite being hesitant about attending initially, in the end I'm quite glad I did. It couldn't have been held on a more beautiful day, and it had all the fixtures of an epic rock concert (two stages, tons of people, crowd surfing, $8 beers, mosh pits, a few fights, etc.). One of the funnier/more annoying experiences I had was when a couple guys near me were trying to mosh to Tokyo Police Club's "Your English Is Good". It reminded me of people trying to mosh at an Angels & Airwaves concert I went to awhile back. Just not the type of music. There is a time and place for everything. I guess alcohol will do that to people. 

I didn't take many pictures or video of the concert, at least when compared to when I was younger. As I've grown older, and had gotten more and more concerts under my belt, I have simply grown tired of constantly having a camera in my hand, holding it up as the band I want to see plays. I want to see the band, not worry about getting a cool photo or full video (although when I do, it is pretty awesome). However if you'd like to see the pictures I did manage to take, you can see them here.

Edgefest 2011 was awesome. Definitely a highlight of my summer thus far.