NXNE 2013 Day 2

Similarly to Thursday, Friday was spent mostly in one place.

I started at The Mod Club (lovely venue!) for Wildlife and then local (Winnipeg) favourites Imaginary Cities. I was very pleased to see people around me in the front singing along. I truly enjoy seeing how bands fare in other cities, and it's clear that Toronto loves Imaginary Cities.

Next stop was Cameron House for the Manitoba Music showcase. Sweet Alibi were already on stage when I arrived, but I did not miss my favourite song, "I'll Wait".

Next up was Federal Lights, who have been a favourite of mine since the first time I saw them live a couple of years ago at the Park Theatre. Their sound has grown since Carbon, and I can't wait to hear the new CD.

The Revival played next, and brought the same energy as the night before. Hopefully their new record will get them the attention they deserve with a wider audience.

Ingrid Gatin closed out the night. It was nice to end off with an acoustic set after all the bands.

NXNE 2013 Day #1

I arrived in Toronto on Thursday, June 13 to attend NXNE for the 3rd time--2nd time with MFM. My room at the Hyatt had a balcony (!). It's exciting because it was the first time I'd ever gotten a room with a balcony!

I spent the evening at the Rivoli to see Winnipeggers The Revival. I hadn't seen them play before, but had heard a couple of their songs online. The energy they have when they play live is contagious.

Next up was Cai.ro, a band I'd heard a lot about, but never listened to before. One of the great things about NXNE is that you get to see bands you'd been thinking about checking out and hadn't yet. These guys and girl were great! They were in a weird place, as far as the line-up, but they owned the stage for their 45 minute set. If you've been putting off listening to these guys, as I did, procrastinate no longer!

Miesha and the Spanks played next. I'd seen Miesha before in Winnipeg, and I was happy to have a chance to see her again. There was a guest drummer joining her on stage for this set, and even though there were times that seemed improvised, it never felt sloppy. More women in punk, please! (I'm on a serious quest to listen to more female-fronted/all-girl bands and solo artists, so please leave recommendations in the comments.)

The night ended (for me) with The Bokononists, a Winnipeg rock band that I'd seen a couple of times before. Their set was a high energy good time!

NXNE Day the Last

Since there weren't any conferences on Sunday, C and I went to see "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" to kill the afternoon. I liked it; I'm a huge fan of the games, so I was biased. C's words were, "It wasn't as bad as I expected," so that's saying something!

We went to Rancho Relaxo to catch The Withouts. They were alright; very Scratching Post-esque.



After The Withouts, we headed over to the El Mocambo for Rah Rah and England's Ten Bears. As I mentioned in the previous post, I thoroughly enjoyed Rah Rah the second time. They were full of energy and their songs felt fresher in the bigger venue. Plus, they all fit on stage, rather than spilling into the aisles of the record store.

Ten Bears were fantastic. I had them marked down as a "must-see" after listening to their MySpace page. I was disappointed that they weren't selling any merch; I would have bought their CD even before their set! iTunes only has one song available from them, so I guess they're still working on a full-length.

Thus concludes a crazy awesome NXNE experience! Would I go again? In a heartbeat. I wish I had been able to see more bands, but a) there were so many! and b) I hate leaving in the middle of a set! I also wish there had been a merch table set up in the Hiatt-Regency (where all the conferences were) for all the bands to sell their CDs. There were a lot of acts that I would have bought albums from, even though I didn't get to see them. Maybe someone will read this and agree that it's a good idea for next year.

All of my pictures can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lastsparkfades/

Watching legends OR NXNE Day #4

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.

Capturing a moment OR NXNE Day #3

Think back to the first time you saw your favourite band or were absolutely floored by a band you'd never heard of before live. Remember the tingling in your spine, the joy in your heart, that you'd really found something special. I had this experience on Friday, and I'll tell you about it a little later.

C and I's first engagement was a conference about touring in the U.S.. It was an interesting discussion on where and how to get gigs along the East Coast, and when Schubas was mentioned, I got to lean over and say "I've been there!"

Said the Whale were the first band at Yonge-Dundas Square. These guys are one of my favourite bands (yes I do say that a lot...I have about 100 Top 10 Favourite Bands), and I loved their set. I've said it before, and I'll say it again right now: "Camilo" has one of the cutest music videos EVER. Next up was K-OS; I'm not much of a fan, but his set was decent. Highlights for me were "Crabbuckit" and "I Wish I Knew Natalie Portman". We watched about half of Sloan's set before heading into the Hard Rock Cafe for --

MY NEW FAVOURITE BAND: Amos the Transparent! This band kicks ass. They have such intensity on stage, and they really connect with the audience (and I'm not just saying that because they hauled half the audience on stage for one song, either). I could tell they really love playing music. Even the bass player was singing along and trying to get the crowd into it.

After Amos, we saw a few of Hollerado's songs (thankfully including my fave, "Juliette." Super Spike is going to be so awesome!!!), before heading tot he Horseshoe Tavern for Mudhoney. Honestly, how could we not see Mudhoney, right? C went back to the apartment we rented instead of sticking around, but I had a blast. That band's still got it...whatever it is. I had hoped to catch Spirits afterwards, but due to a power outtage all along Queen Street, Mudhoney's set started at 2am instead of 1am and went til almost 3:30.

Needless to say, I was exhausted when I got home with my largest CD stash of the week.

Outlaws and Gunslingers OR NXNE Day #2

Thursday (June 17) began with an interesting panel about US radio formats. Those in attendance were given rate cards, and then a song was played. When it was done, everyone held up a number from one to ten, depending on how much you liked the song (I also played the Guess the Artist Game in my head lol. My apologies to The Arcade Fire for calling them just another band that sounds like The Arcade Fire!).

C and I spent the evening at Lee's Palace for the Outlaws and Gunslingers showcase, which featured artists from Six Shooter Records. Andy Kim started the night with a decent set, but while I think he's a great singer, I wasn't moved by his original songs; his cover of "Sugar, Sugar" was easily the best tune in his set.

The next three sets consisted of three artists playing three songs each (yeah, I know). First up was Danny Michel, Justin Rutledge, and Oh Susanna. I had never heard any of Oh Susanna's stuff, but Danny and Justin are favourites of mine, and it was cool to hear them play on each other's songs.

Royal Wood, Andy Maize of the Skydiggers, and Amelia Curran were next. My second favourite part of the night was Amelia dancing spastically like Andy. To an outsider, one might think she was mocking him, but she opened for the Skydiggers on their recent cross-Canada tour, so it was done out of fun.

My favourite set of the night came from Hawksley Workman, Jim Cuddy, and Colleen Brown, and here's why: Jim Cuddy sang along with "Warhol's Protrait of Gretzky", eff words and all and it was great. Now, I also get to brag that while I was in Ottawa, we went to the art gallery and purchased postcards of Warhol's Portrait of Gretzky, and after the show I met Sir Workman and he merrily autographed said postcard. Best piece of memorabilia ever. It's okay if you're jealous.

The Beauties were up next with their raucous rockabilly set. I had never heard of them before, and I actually liked them a lot. We left after their set for some zzzs.

Day #3 featuring Said the Whale, Sloan, and my new favourite band is on deck...

Sorry this isn't from the show, but dangit, it's awesome.

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!