Day one of The Virgin Music Festival is coming to a close, with Dave Grohl (pictured right) and his band Foo Fighters tearing it up on stage.

Right now he's introducing his band, egging on the audience to push for his percussionist to do a triangle solo. Grohl's banter is getting increasingly vulgar as he readies the crowd for "his ass-shredding triangle solo."

He's taking swigs of a cold beer and belching into the microphone with full force. Charming. But the crowd doesn't seem to mind. It's all rock 'n' roll!

The crowd-surfing is being kept to a minimum and security's been pretty tight and incident-free.

The biggest cheers come during songs Times Like These and My Hero, the latter of which started slow and easy but finished with a screaming flourish, leaving the audience cheering for more, which is followed by Monkey Wrench.

Electric Touch lit up the Molson Acoustic Stage this afternoon after tourmates The Fratellis had to cut their set short earlier on as they were drowned out by the sheer volume of locals The Constantines, who were tearing it up on the Virgin Mobile Stage, an earshot away.

Electric Touch's set wasn't acoustic at all. What do you expect with a name like that?

"This is a rock 'n roll festival," said Shane Lawlor, singer/guitarist of Electric Touch before their set. "We came here to rock."

The energy of the room had a marked spike when Virgin Music founder Sir Richard Branson made a surprise appearance to help welcome the media prior to the Virgin Music Festival today.

"This is our third time holding a festival in Canada," said Branson. "The good thing about getting in for the third year is that we can now compete for some of the best bands in the world."

This weekend's lineup includes Foo Fighters, Bloc Party and MGMT, with Moby doing a DJ set and Oasis headlining tomorrow.

Branson admitted that some of his favourite bands were on the bill at this weekend's festival, including The Stereophonics and Paul Weller, both playing on tomorrow's stages.

After the brief media frenzy, he strolled out for a meet and greet with the festival fans awaiting to get on the ferry to the island. He appeared genuine and just oozed charisma. Good on him for mingling with the little guys.

After seeing Approximately Three Peters do their live improv "sketch comedy for nerds" last May, I was thrilled to hear that they're back with their third all-new sketch comedy review, PET3RS: The Complete 3rd Season, which they're bringing to Bad Dog Theatre for Saturdays in September.

This show, created by the Approximately 3 Peters and directed by Andrew Currie, is all about television: complex, convoluted, "I'm catching up on the box set before the new season" television!

Their show tonight starts at 10 p.m. at Bad Dog Theatre (138 Danforth Ave.). Tickets are $10 and available at the door. To reserve tickets, email tickets@3peters.com or call 416-491-3115.

Photo by Roger Cullman.

If you're not planning on going to Virgin Music Fest today, or if you are going and need to chill out afterwards, head over to The Boat, where you'll hear Jordan Kern play the smooth sounds of Yacht Rock.

I asked Kern about the phenomenon of this Yacht Rock (not to be confused with Kraut Rock) and this is what he had to say.

BlogTO: What is your definition of Yacht Rock?

Jordan Kern: Pop music between 1978 and 1983 that could be described as "smooth." From what I've heard, the term was coined by Jimmy Buffett as a way to describe his own music.

What's the appeal of this type of music today?

While not on the official schedule for the Toronto International Film Festival, there was an offbeat little worldwide premiere at The Drake Hotel Underground Friday night.

Kelly Doesn't Play Well was a frank and entertaining mini documentary which followed the enigmatic lead singer R. Kelly Clipperton and his exploits on tour with his latest bandmates in Kelly and the Kellygirls.

The film sparked sufficient interest and intrigue in the crowd, who were treated to a short but lively set following the screening.

Wearing more body glitter than My Little Pony, Clipperton strutted around the stage, often striking poses like Annie Lennox or David Bowie, trying not to ham it up too much, acknowledging that his mom was in the audience. Still, he sung his heart out, even with a little French and Italian thrown in for good measure.