NXNE 2009 - Saturday Night

Oh Canada, what a country to have such talent in it. Gone to bed, happy and with new list of bands you should listen to more often. Like these fine folks who make such wonderful music, from the lush harmonies of Woodpigeon's to Novillero's infectious energy to the pop-bomb of awesome that is Said The Whale:


Woodpigeon (Calgary, AB)

Novillero (Winnipeg, MB)

Said The Whale (Vancouver, BC)

NXNE 2009 - Friday Night at The El Mocambo

Songs From A Room

Burning Brides

Melissa Auf Der Maur

The Sadies

NXNE - Outlaws & Gunslingers Showcase

Checking in from the NXNE festival - some shots on the go from the Outlaws & Gunslingers Showcase at Lee's Palace. Full write-up and pictures after the fest ends.

Royal Wood

Jim Cuddy & Oh Susanna

Jenn Grant sharing the love

Luke Doucet and Justin Rutledge

2009 NXNE Music Festival - Find the amazing

There's a moment where your standing in some dimly lit club with no air conditioning, packed in with a crowd, wondering what you're doing there. Then the band shambles onto the stage, hit those first notes, and you know you're going to want to hear this music for the rest of your life. That moment happens again and again at NXNE.

The Coast performing at The Horseshoe NXNE 2008

NXNE is a music festival designed to get bands exposure to audiences and media, with dozens of venues all over Toronto playing host to hundreds of bands. And all you need is one $50 wristband to grant you access to the whole festival, with most venues having event liquor licenses that will keep the drinks flowing until 4am.

Created with flickr slideshow.
My pictures from NXNE 2008 (link to Flickr)

Last year I took in the festival over 3 nights in Toronto. 3 hot, sticky, at times wet nights. And it was all fantastic. I managed to only see 8 bands (I was aiming for at least a dozen), but every band I saw gave a fantastic performances that won me over: The Coast, The Wet Secrets, The Great Lake Swimmers, Laura Barrett, Royal Wood, The Two Koreas, The High Dials, The D'Ubervilles. I've bought albums from every one of these bands after I got hooked at NXNE and I look forward to the next time I get to see them play.

You have a few ways to go with the festival:

• Pick out a number of bands spread across town, dashing from venue to venue and hope to avoid any line-ups. Make some back-up choices just in case the venue hits capacity.
  

• Show up at venues without checking out the line-up and get surprised by bands getting by on talent without any expectations.
  


• Pick one of the stellar showcases, go early and plant yourself there for the entire night.

This year I'm going with option 3. Asides from planning to see some great bands, my not-so-secret goal is to work on my concert photography hobby, get some exposure, and build a portfolio for when I start applying for media passes.

Here's what my schedule looks like:

Wednesday is the kick-off, and already I'm pulled in 2 directions.

The Arts & Crafts label is hosting a night one of two night celebration at The Courthouse. The Wednesday night line-up is a launch party for the new book This Book Is Broken: A Broken Social Scene Story. The bands are all some connection to Broken Social Scene:

Apostle of Hustle /Jason Collett /Years / Charles Spearin's Happiness Project

And special guest headliner, which judging from the line-up is most likely Broken Social Scene

Across town, City Sonic is hosting the official NXNE Gala after-party at The Drake. City Sonic is producing short films about musicians and their connections to the places where they first played. They'll be screening 5 of the short films at The Drake that night, with a hot dance music line-up:

WOODHANDS | LIONESS | THE D'URBERVILLES | J.J. IPSEN

The Thursday night Arts & Crafts party is non-Broken Social Scene bands

Most Serene Republic /Still Life Still / Timber Timbre / Zeus

With a surprise guest headliner, which could be anyone from Metric (in town for Edgefest?) to Modest Mouse really. Most likely it's a band on the Arts & Crafts roster.


I'm parking myself at the outstanding Six Shooter Records/Starfish Entertainment Starfish presentations OUTLAWS & GUNSLINGERS SHOWCASE at Lee's Palace on Thursday, June 19 @ 8pm. The line-up has all the makings of a helluva good time, with a roots-rock-country flavour. And beer. And a poster suitable for framing.

8:00 pm: The Swallows
9:00 pm: Jim Cuddy, Royal Wood, Oh Susanna
10:00 pm: Kevin Hearn, Jenn Grant, Jason Plumb
11:00 pm: Luke Doucet, Justin Rutledge, NQ Arbuckle
12:00 am: Skydiggers
1:00 am: Surprise Guests

My Friday plans are loose, but I'm thinking the Paquin Entertainment showcase at The Dakota Tavern has a great line-up that suits the venue.

Couer De Pirate / The Coast / Deep Dark Woods / $100 / Hooded Fang / Mark Berube / The Beauties

Finally, Saturday is a long haul. I'm planning to hit the Six Shooter Back Lot BBQ in the afternoon. It's 2pm - 6pm in the lot behind their store at 1118 Queen Street East. These folks put on a great party every year, this time in cahoots with Steamwhistle Brewing and Damzels in Distress. Music all afternoon with hosts NQ Arbuckle, other guest spots include performances by Rose Cousins, Royal Wood, Jenn Grant, Michael Rault, Jason Plumb, Victoria Hume, Martin Tielli, Luke Doucet, Justin Rutledge, and The Beauties, plus the grand opening of Beth Hamill's photography exhibit, Rock Paper Pixels. Beth's blog and pictures have been a favourite of mine for ages and I can only aspire to be that good one day. It's a good day to celebrate

As the sun goes down, I'll duck in to the ever-popular CBC Radio 3 Showcase at The Horseshoe Tavern will be a hot and sweaty affair with:
Woodpigeon / DD/MM/YYYY / Ruby Coast / Jason Collett /Hot Panda / Lovely Feathers

Let me know some of your picks for the festival or hit me on Twitter while you're out and you have a hot tip.

Joel Plaskett - Through & Through & Through

"You're a wrecking ball, in a summer dress"

Celebrate Joel Plaskett's inclusion on the Polaris Prize long-list with this new video for Through & Through & Through, off his triple-album "Three". Great summertime music and harmony, travelling through the Nova Scotian scenery with Rose Cousins and Ana Egge. Where do I sign up for that vacation package?

Spring Cleaning

I've put a new coat of paint on the2scoops and changed the blog layout a bit. Let me know what you think, and I'll keep tinkering when I can.

Still waiting for "Guitar Hero: The Monkees"

It's the time of year when all the newest games and technology is previewed as part of the E3 Consumer Electronics Expo. One of the biggest pieces announcements today was the presentation for the game "The Beatles: Rock Band. The game was announced with Paul and Ringo in attendance (shame they didn't play the instruments, or better yet swap instruments). The game looks like a lot of fun, and many is the music fan who gets to prove whether they can, in fact, out drum Ringo. On September 9th, they'll get their chance. Check out the trailer below.

The game promises "first-of-its-kind music-based video game offers a revolutionary tour of The Beatles' music, career, and legacy." The selection of venues span from their beginnings in the Cavern Club thru Shea Stadium up to the final rooftop concert. And the instruments replicating the actual instruments The Beatles played look gorgeous.




The first 10 of the 45 -song track listing have been released:

01 "I Saw Her Standing There"
02 "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
03 "I Feel Fine"
04 "Taxman"
05 "Day Tripper"
06 "Back In The USSR"
07 "I Am The Walrus"
08 "Octopus's Garden"
09 "Here Comes The Sun"
10 "Get Back"

Future song and whole album downloads from The Beatles catalogue are a sure bet.

So what song do you think would qualify as The Boss Level tune? "Day in the Life"? "Hard Day's Night"? "Across The Universe"?