First off, I can't believe this was over a week ago already!
Saturday dawned with impending thunderstorms to wash out Iggy & The Stooges from Yonge-Dundas Square. Naturally, this was a cause for concern, so on our way to a conference on how to get your band onto summer festival line-ups, C and I stopped at two Shoppers Drugmarts in search of rain ponchos. Weirdly, we found none.
After the conference, we went for lunch and then to Sunrise Records to catch Holly McNarland's set. We were early enough to see Colleen Brown and Rah Rah prior. It's funny to note that there were (apparently) 650 bands playing NXNE shows, and we saw hardly any, and I wanted to see so many, and we managed to see Colleen Brown THREE times! Anyhow, I was less than enthusiastic about Rah Rah's set; I enjoyed the tunes, but something just wasn't right (turns out it was just the venue. Rah Rah were great when we saw them on Sunday at the El Mocambo. I bought both of their CDs).
Holly's drummer didn't make it to the gig, so she played an acoustic set consisting of "Water" and "Beautiful Blue", and a bunch of new songs that I hadn't heard before. As usual, her voice and stage presence were mesmerizing.
Our next stop took us to Yonge-Dundas Square for The Raveonettes, who absolutely rocked! I only knew a couple of songs going into the show, and I came out wishing they had brought merch with them. Iggy & The Stooges were up next, and the crowd was insane. People were spilling out into the street (which thankfully was blocked off for two blocks or so in every direction). The crowdsurfing started two songs in. I stayed near the front for five songs and then I made my way out--not because of the crowd, but because C and I had to leave before the set was over to get to The Rivoli for Holly McNarland's set. We skipped Iggy's encore, which I'm sure consisted of "Lust for Life," and made our way to the next venue.
Colleen Brown Band hadn't yet started when we arrived, so we got to see her plugged in. I'm still torn as to how I prefer her music live. She has a very Sarah McLachlanesque voice, so she was drowned out by the drums and guitar, but the added instruments didn't hurt the songs' melodies at all, and I do tend toward the heavier side of things (how kickass is that new Against Me! single???).
Holly was awesome, but I was disappointed that she only got a 40-minute set, which left no room for old favourites from Stuff or Home is Where my Feet Are.
We saw two songs by Kulas, didn't like them, and left for Parks & Rec at the Painted Lady. Tiniest. Venue. Ever! It was packed with people--because the band is fantastic. Honestly, I only saw two bands that I didn't like during the whole festival, so forgive the broken record of "this band was awesome!" That's why you do research before you go, Kids.
Up next is a recap of NXNE Day the Last.
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