NXNE: Day 3

Ok, so I don't have much time to write, but I thought I should at least mention that last night's showcase was possibly the best I'd seen so far. First was Vancouver's Said The Whale at Yonge & Dundas Square. They were pretty solid, and if you ever wondered what that song is in that Sun Rype commercial, it's "The Light Is You" by Said The Whale. Good to know!

I then moved on to Lee's Palace, which promised to be a packed night with Wavves and Japandroids performing back to back. First up, though, was a band from Brooklyn, NY, Grooms. They were a little loose, and I'm not a huge fan of bands sporting the whole off-key-is-cool sort of vocal style. If you can't sing then get someone who can to join the group. Other than that they were ok.

The Happy Hollows from Los Angeles, CA, were up next, and boy did they shred the stage. The lead singer had a great Alanis Morissette circa Jagged Little Pill thing going on, and she could really rock a guitar. These guys were great. The crowd (which was steadily growing as Wavves' set grew nearer) really warmed to them. Definitely worth a listen.

Lo-fi/punk/noise-rockers (thanks, Wikipedia) Wavves were next, and Lee's was packed. With this band there is always the possibility of implosion. They managed to keep it together and provide a pretty entertaining show whilst belting out some standard punk-rock. The crowd loved them (as evidenced by the ever-growing mosh pit), and they seemed to enjoy the show as much as the audience.

Vancouver, BC's Japandroids were noted by AUX TV as one of the best bets for Friday night. This was one of the last shows the garage rockers will be having in Toronto for a while, so it was one to see. The duo were solid. I especially loved the wall of amps behind guitarist Brian King, and drummer David Prowse pulled off some terrific beats. It was really a great show.

My apologies to PS I Love You for not sticking around for your set. A girl needs her beauty sleep (especially after soaking up so much sweat from the hot-head head bangers surrounding her). Say hi to Gerrard Butler for me.

NXNE: Day 2

Day 2 saw me at the Horseshoe Tavern for the KEXP showcase.

I came in about halfway through Dinosaur Bones' set, so unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to say about them except that they're another local band, and I wrote down that I liked them better than the bands I saw last night. They fall pretty neatly into the indie rock category.

Next up was Philadelphia, PA, natives Free Energy. As the name suggests, they're a little bit hippie, a little bit rock and roll. But mostly just the hippie party. Most of the songs feature a very bouncy beat, exclusively major key super-happy-fun-times. I have to admit I was a little sick of all the positivity. I'm always looking for something with a little more bite to it - and boy did I get what I asked for...
Los Angeles, CA, all-girl band Warpaint was exactly what I was craving after the affable good intentions of Free Energy. They were moody, experimental, and completely spot-on. I was impressed with the extended instrument breaks and the sorrowful harmonies. This is the sort of thing that people go to big-box festivals for - the little "aha" moments that assure you it was a good idea to leave the cat home alone for one night. I'll be keeping my eye on this band for the future.

Next up was Elliott Brood, a local band that has been all around the world, but still finds time to play in Toronto all the time. I swear that every time I look at upcoming concert listings I see this band is playing somewhere in Toronto. It's great because the practice really shows in how good their performances are. Indie-Folk is always a fun genre, and it's clear that these guys have earned a good reputation for a reason. They had a solid rapport, both with each other and with the audience. They blended an array of different instruments seamlessly in order to create a full sound, hiding the fact that there was only three of them on stage. They're a worthy band to check out if ever you have the chance.

The Ghost is Dancing is yet another local indie-pop band. Think Broken Social Scene if they mated with The Flaming Lips. The show was full of energy and partial nudity. Also there was crowd surfing. It was fun, if a little loose. Mostly I just wondered why they were so damn familiar. I'm sure I've seen them perform before, but damned if I know where/when. Oh well, in the end I got to (unintentionally) grope the uber-hippie keyboardist's ass while he was crowd surfing, and bob my head to some catchy beats. If anyone finds my (possibly non-existent) memory of seeing them play before, please let me know.

The Junction (from Brampton? That doesn't sound right) closed the night with some solid indie-rocking. Sorry, I only stayed long enough to gather that I liked the sound, but would prefer to sink into an album before committing much open display of love.

FYI: There may not be a NXNE Day 3 post tomorrow as I will be at the Olympic Island concert, hanging out with Broken Social Scene and Pavement. I hear the guys from Beach House will be serving paninis and Timber Timbre will be performing "knock, knock" jokes. Wish you were there.

PS: WTF is up with cute, preppy guys ruining their manliness with prep-school sweaters tied loosely around their shoulders? I must have missed that fashion memo because I'm still in the school that believes that look is (and never was) in style. I've seen this look around, and I don't mean to pick on this random guy (nice ass, btw), but I am perplexed!

NXNE: Day 1

NXNE Day 1

So it being a Wednesday, I decided to take it easy, store up some energy for the coming days (well, the NXNE schedule helped – there really wasn't much going on last night). After taking a while to figure out how the NXNE website schedule worked, I saw some promising acts playing at the CN Tower. Unfortunately, as I learned when I went to the Royal Hyatt to pick up my wristband, that was an invite-only show. I'm not sure why it was featured on the festival schedule with no explanation if it wasn't really open to the public. Strike one, NXNE.

Plan B was to stick close to home and hit up The Mod Club, which was featuring only three bands for 102.1 The Edge's opening showcase. For a weak lineup on a Wednesday night, the attendance was accordingly low. That's one of the sad things about big festivals like this one. Bands can come from halfway around the world to play to an almost empty house. On the off chance that they'll play before or after a more heavily anticipated act, chances are they'll probably be forgotten once the shuffle and bustle of the festival has beaten the sensibility out of every gung-ho concert goers brains. Out of this show, however, only one of the bands wasn't from Toronto, so the other two will have many more opportunities to pull some emotion out of a typically stoic Toronto crowd.

Opening act Ko was one of those lucky Torontonians, although, if you read his bio on the NXNE website, he's been all around the US and Canada, smoking pot and living alternately on the streets and in various rehab facilities. His story lends him some street cred, and he certainly had the largest group of fans last night. It may have been the glamorous 'life on the streets with drugs' biography, or the gruff natural charm he exuded as he strode across the stage, but those who were there to see him were very glad to do so. They jumped and screamed and many of them filmed the whole thing (for future YouTube posts, no doubt). The music was hip-hop, somewhat reminiscent of Matisyahu (although I guess not the reggae part?). The show was surprisingly rock-like, with a guitarist, bassist, and drummer all backing Ko's acoustic guitar and samples. The drummer would play over a sampled beat, which made the whole thing very beat heavy, but the focus was pretty clearly on Ko's lyrics. The last song of the night, “Capable,” had some line about everybody getting high (always a crowd pleaser, just ask Bob Dylan) and one brave soul actually did light up, only to be promptly chastened by a security guard (really, with a crowd of about 30 people, how did you not think you would be noticed?).

Band #2, The Blue Van, was from Copenhagen, Denmark. As the Edge MC noted, these guys know how to party. From the very first song it was clear that these four guys were going to “give it” the whole performance. The bassist in particular went to great lengths to get the skeptical Ko crowd into hand clap mode by grinding his bass, jumping onto unstable-looking amps, and routinely yelling “Woooo!” in a manner usually reserved for 2 a.m. drunk girls hanging out at the Entertainment District. It sort of worked (we are nothing if not polite to foreign visitors). I think the crowd was gradually won over by The Blue Van's relentless garage rock. I liked the extended instrumental solos in particular because they sort-of veered from formula. With a band like this (who cite The Raconteuers and JET as contemporaries) it's hard for them to set themselves apart from every other band out there that sounds exactly the same (of which there are many), so it's good to have something besides excellent rock chops to stand out. The use of an organ on some songs gave me a positive prog-rocky vibe that I enjoyed, but unfortunately there didn't seem to be a whole lot of innovation from The Blue Van. With so many groups experimenting with different instruments/sounds while still working within the garage rock milue, the ones that stick within formula seem quaintly outdated.

(As an aside, who the hell chooses the music for in-between sets at The Mod Club? I've never heard so much Shaggy in my life. And a hip-hop cover of “The First Cut is the Deepest” by Cat Stevens [this sounded like a cover of the Sheryl Crow version, which is what makes it bad]? Who the fuck heard that song and said, “Add a beat and some melodramatic, monotone vocals and that shit is golden!” I also heard “Red Red Wine” and “Baby I Love Your Way” play twice before being cut off another goddamned Shaggy tune. Honestly, it's no wonder why The Mod Club isn't a more popular concert venue.)

I'm going to preface my review of the last band of the night, Still Life Still, by admitting that I didn't stay for the whole set. It was late, I've been sick all week, and I'm pretty sure I got the gist of it during the first half hour. Still Life Still is a young Toronto band signed to indie label juggernauts (sounds like and oxymoron, but not these days!) Arts and Crafts. Is it just me, or does Arts and Crafts have a type? They're like the guys that will only date tall, blue-eyed blonds, only make that a medium-height, black-rimmed glasses wearing “amazing girl” with long, artfully wavy brown hair (incidentally, that's kinda what I look like, sans the “Amazing Girl” mystique). In any case, Arts and Crafts seem to only sign bands that sound a lot like the biggest band on their roster (both literally and figuratively), Broken Social Scene. Still Life Still isn't an exception to this rule, unfortunately. Like Young Galaxy before them, they have that muffled big-band sound complete with duelling guitars, synthesizers, and obscured lyrics. This was partly a technical problem, but I couldn't tell what the two lead singers were saying. The songs were pleasantly poppy, and their performance was full of energy (although not as much as The Blue Van on before them – hard to top, really). There was a song called “T-Shirt” that I really enjoyed, and a few others that had great melodic hooks. This seems like the type of band that may require more close (read: with the aid of headphones) listening to get into.

So, overall day 1 was pretty slow. We'll see how days 2 and 3 treat me. I haven't yet decided where I'm going tonight, but I'm sure it'll be full of hits and misses (like most NXNE showcases). Look for my review of tonight's shows tomorrow.

NXNE and other news

The North By Northeast Music Festival is upon us again, and for the first time in years I'm actually going to see some of the acts! The last time that I made it out to NXNE I was supplied with a press lanyard and the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a newbie journalist. Since then my cynicism has grown and my tolerance for late night rock-n-roll parties has sadly diminished. Despite my natural want for a decent night's sleep I've decided to gung-ho this year's festival and see as many performances as I can with a wristband. That's right, I'll have to wait in line with the rest of the plebs. I'll also be checking out this week's major event - the Olympic Island show taking place this Saturday with Broken Social Scene, Beach House, and headliners Pavement. While I never got into Pavement during my disaffected youth, I hear that this show will be one to remember so I'm looking forward to it. I hope to write daily reviews for My Pet Vulture on everything I see for the next five days, so look for something tomorrow on whatever I get up to tonight.

In other news, I've started a podcast with one of my best friends, Zalina Alvi. It's called Love This Movie, Hate This Film and it's hosted over on her site. Ever had a friend who just couldn't see sense when it came to movies? Like, they watch a lot, but they just don't seem to get how one film is good and another is most definitely not? Well, that's Zalina and because we're such good friends we can tear each other a new one without causing any permanent damage (a scrape here, a chunk of missing hair there, nothing a little concealer can't handle). There are two up so far so if you haven't already, you should really check them out.

This summer will be packed with concerts (I've already been to three I haven't had the chance to review here - The Weakerthans, My Brightest Diamond, and The National - but a piece on The National is forthcoming, so stay tuned!). I've got Blitzen Trapper, Arcade Fire, and Dirty Projectors all lined up for later this summer, so hopefully one or all of those will warrant a post. I've also got some non-music themed posts planned - another thing to stay on the edge of your seat for. It'll be a good summer, promise.