TURF Festival and Toronto Visit

Nick and I flew up to Toronto for two days this past weekend for what would be our last trip home before Henry comes. Since it was such a short trip and we were actually going so that Nick could see some bands that he works with, we stayed downtown the whole time, which was a nice change.

Despite a delayed flight, a fight against traffic to get from the airport, and waiting for an hour to check into our hotel, we made it to Fort York’s Garrison Commons for the first ever Toronto Urban Roots Festival.

We saw one of Nick’s favourite clients, Frank Turner, play plus Matt Mays & El Torpedo, and a few others. The best part for me was seeing all the Canadian music industry friends I hadn’t seen in quite some time. It was overwhelming having my ex-coworkers and all the other great people there, each one a surprise to run into! One of the best moments: Nick telling me how much he loves to watch me interact with “my people”. Ha!

I also ran into some friends like Alex and her cute little family. Her daughter, Addie, is Frank Turner’s #1 fan.

On Sunday, we got lunch with Julia, Jay, and Karen at our favourite spot. Then I headed back to TURF without Nick to meet up with friends, even though the sky looked threatening…

I got there in time to see Yo La Tengo and meet up with Alex, Jana, Sarah, and more (thanks to Sarah for the photo!) We got in some hangs before the skies opened up.

That night, we headed to Lee’s Palace to see Frank Turner, Northcote, and Larry & His Flask. You may ask “Hey wait a minute, aren’t you nearly six months pregnant? Where did you find the energy to do all of this, plus attend a wedding on Friday night?” Well, I was just so excited to see as many people as possible that I pushed on through two days of festivals and two nights of club shows. By 9:30 on Sunday night though, my belly felt strained from yelling over loud music and I was getting a headache so I sent myself home.

Sadly, I didn’t get to see everyone I hoped to, but I didn’t want to hurt myself. I had such a great time there though, and I’m so glad we got back home to Brooklyn before the massive storm and flooding from Monday night!

I love you, Toronto! The Storches will be back when we can.