Not as planned, but just as good

Every June, North by Northeast (NXNE) takes over downtown Toronto, filling its venues with live bands of all genres from around the globe. I spent a good three days going through the original line-up list, giving checkmarks and exmarks and asterisks to the bands I liked, didn't like, or loved. I was pumped when The Meligrove Band finally got slotted in for today (Wednesday) at the CN Tower. The Balconies were also on the bill, a group I'd heard good things about, and Hollerado, whom I love (and whom are playing Super-Spike this year with Social Code).

Sadly, after walking around the CN Tower looking for an outdoor stage of any kind, I found out that the concert was in the Tower's restaurant AND that I had to pre-register to attend it. Disappointed, I decided to return to the apartment I'm sharing with my friend for the week and figure out what to do instead.

Looking through the guide we were giving upon picking up our passes, I saw that Kathleen Edwards and Arkells were supposed to be playing at The Courthouse BUT when I looked online for confirmation, I couldn't find any.

Finally, I agreed to go to the Karen Elson concert at the El Mocambo. This was not a NXNE show at all, but it probably should have been. Afterall, the opening act was from Hamilton, and she's British. This is definitely in line with the festival. I was quite impressed with San Sebastian; they could easily tour with the likes of Social Code or Marianas Trench. I was most impressed with Karen's vocals. She's fantastic. I wasn't sure what to expect, seeing as how Jack White is her husband and she's a model, but she kept the crowd engaged and kept telling us we were "too sweet."

Tomorrow we're off to see Danny Michel, Hawksley Workman, Justin Rutledge, Amelia Curran, and many many more. Stay tuned!