The term “Save the best for last” may have been coined hundreds of years ago, but it’s never been applied more aptly than in describing the Sunday lineup of TURF. Headlined by the reunited Neutral Milk Hotel, the day featured sets by some of the best songwriters of the day and two of the most exciting acts I’ve seen in quite some time. We ended up arriving about an hour earlier than anticipated after a quick brunch at Thompson’s Diner. The West stage was our main attraction for the day, so we set up camp and checked out a set by a Tennessee-based group called Twin Forks. Sweet harmonies and a fun stage presence made them an unexpected surprise hit. They balanced out some of their originals with covers of Roy Orbison and Violent Femmes, to the delight of many fans from the previous day. We had been tipped by one of the local photographers to not miss the East stage performance by July Talk, and they certainly weren’t wrong about the bands combustible energy. From the second they took the stage their chosen mission was to wake up the sleepy Sunday crowd from their drunken stupor and they succeeded in spades. I’d heard of the band but didn’t know much about them. Apparently they have quite a following in their hometown of Toronto, and after just a few minutes it was obvious why. The main singer sounds a bit like George Thorgood with a modern rock band behind him. They also feature a female on vocals who got the crowd going by dancing and running all over the stage. It was certainly a lot more frenzied than Jenny Lewis on the West stage. Not that I minded at all. The last time we saw her live it was a huge disappointment, with Lewis barely able to get through her own songs without forgetting the words. This time she was spot on in all areas of performance. She opened with her latest single “Just One Of The Guys” and spent the rest of the set hopping back and forth through her catalogue from Rilo Kiley and her solo work. The new songs sounded good, but “Silver Lining” was probably my favorite of the set, followed by “A Man/Me/Then Jim.” Continue reading “Toronto Urban Roots Festival-Day 3”