Saturday, August 10, 2013

Toronto Photo Diary and THE GROVE MUSIC FESTIVAL

Last weekend, we went to Toronto and the Grove Music Festival.











Wavves




The Gaslight Anthem

GirlTalk



GirlTalk had a REALLY messy set.
Hot Chip
PH%CKING PHOENIX






A little bit about this festival:
• Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Icona Pop and a few others dipped out of the festival last minute for conflicts in engagements (read: Osheaga and Lollapalooza were more pressing to get to/perform at than a little one-day, first-time festival in Toronto - funny though, Phoenix managed to make it to all 3 festivals that weekend).
• The Festival was originally set to happen in Niagara Falls (I'm not mad about that changing).
• Adam bought us tickets to this festival for our anniversary

A little bit about this trip:
• It marked the one year anniversary of last year's Lollapalooza trip
We were supposed to spend four days in Toronto (we were there about 1.5)
• It was cold!

A little bit about WHY I STILL love Toronto (almost as much as I love Akron):
• Tegan and Sara on the radio (almost on repeat)
No Cell Phone Service (except for occasional wi-fi)
• Curry (EVERYWHERE)
• Mussel Fest at Epicure

For this festival, I played it casual in the outfit department.  I knew everyone would be going above and beyond the normal crazy, plus we were in Canada.  I decided to dress comfortably and practically:
  




Button-Down: Old Navy, Shorts: Vintage Calvin Klein, Converse Chucks: PacSun, Sunglasses: H&M, Jewelry: Assorted
This shirt is still one of my favorite button-downs.  I mean how hilarious is it to wear a button-down shirt with maps of Hawaii on it....to Canada?  And these shorts?  I bought them at the Shop Vintage Event at Noto in July.  At the time I wasn't sure spending $15 on them was wise, but considering I've worn them EVERY weekend since, I'd say it was a sound investment.  Speaking of Noto: if you've never been, GO!  It's located on Main Street in Downtown Akron (right next to the First Merit Building) in this crazy hidden mall that is downtown that I never knew existed until I forced Jesse to go with me for the Shop Vintage thing.  I also missed their fashion show this year (and last year and the year before) because of travel.

In lieu of a bit of a rant, I'm going to use this portion of my post for some constructive feedback:
Festivals need sponsors.  I get it.  A lot of time, money and energy goes into planning one of these things, more than we'll ever know, but when you start brainstorming your festival and what sponsors you think are going to be a good fit, next time, PLEASE don't put their tent in the middle of the field where the attendees to your festival are supposed to be viewing their beloved artists.  I'm talking about the Jager tent.  You probably noticed it hanging out prominently in a bunch of the photos above.  Don't get me wrong, they had a SWEET set up, but RIGHT in the middle of the festival field was NOT the place for it (maybe behind the handicap seating?).  They did have the best merch and some sweet games (all below), but it was annoying being divided by their set-up, when we all could have just gotten a tiny bit closer to PHOENIX.


Limbo Contest for a pair of Jager Fay-Bans


Human Wheelbarrow race for Jager Flat-Bills




And to close on a positive note, I'd like to throw a little shout-out to Adam: my love, my rock, my best friend.  We have travelled a LOT this year, and I wouldn't have been able to do any of it without him.  He is CONSTANTLY supportive: whether it's going to the Summit Back at It Fashion Show with me (today), or taking photos of me for this blog, or even taking the dogs out in the morning, even though he has to leave and be at work WAY before me, it all means the world to me, and I don't know what I'd do without him (or his ratty vacation bandana).


I could probably write for days about this thing

Summer's not over yet!  What else do all of you have planned for the remaining few weeks of summer?

Peace.

(Also, I CAN'T believe I NEVER posted about my inaugural trip to Toronto last Memorial Day weekend - last year was weird.)

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