NXNE in Toronto (June 19-20, 2010)

Ok, I'll admit I've been a little lazy recently although I've had other things to think about lately, not least of which was all the G20 events/protests dominating the news over that last week or so.. This'll be my last of my NXNE-related posts although it's more photo-oriented than commentary. Apologies to the artists - it's not that you don't deserve the commentary, but I'm just plained pooped. So let's just keep this short and sweet.


  Avi Buffalo: photo by Michael Ligon

As you already know, on Saturday June 19 rather than take in the multitude of NXNE events happening around the city, I was at the Toronto Island Concert at which I caught Beach House, Band of Horses, Broken Social Scene and of course Pavement. After a day in the sun and then ending the night with Pavement's set ending before 11 pm, I waited for the ferry and eventually made it back to the city before midnight and decided to head to Lee's Palace where I caught about half of Avi Buffalo's half-hour long set. The two-guy, two-girl band all the way from Long Beach, California, barely out of highschool, were surprisingly tight, with lead singer Avigdor Zahner-Isenberg sounding a little like Flaming Lips Wayne Coyne and the band merging askewed pop tendencies with a bit of a jam band sensibility. Ok, I'm not sure how attractive that sounds but take it from me, they were good. Or at least take Sub Pop's word - the label released the band's self-titled debut full-length this past April.

I'd have stuck around for synth post-punks Cold Cave but my hunger was peaking at that point and I had to bail next door to get a burrito, at which point I headed home for some well-deserved rest.


  Kid Sister: photo by Michael Ligon

Sunday June 20 was a bit of an afterthought but with the weather being so good that day and with De La Soul headlining a free show at Yonge Dundas Square, I thought I'd probably regret it if I didn't go. I headed down to the Square as Chicago's Kid Sister was rapping up a storm against the scintillating electro beats provided by her DJ. It was actually quite good, especially if you're in the mood for that sort of stuff. The crowd wasn't nearly as sizeable as it would be for De La Soul, but there were definitely some fans and or converts in the crowd. I can only imagine she worked up the crowd even stronger when she played Wrongbar in Parkdale later that night.


  De La Soul: photo by Michael Ligon

And finally, De La Soul! The crowd was definitely pumped. Although I've heard and bits and pieces of their catalogue, it's their debut full-length Three Feet High and Rising which I'm most fond of. So it was definitely a treat to hear classics like "Potholes In My Lawn" and "Me, Myself, and I" (with the rappers prompting the audience to sing a certain vocal part of the song). After all these years, it's impressive to see and hear how articulate and full of flow they're rapping is. But they do like to get the party started as well, and they prompted the audience to chant or shot at just the right moments to keep the audience into it. The group mentioned several times there love for Toronto fans, even giving a shout out to a few people including some local rappers like Kardinal Offishall who popped onto stage briefly, although unfortunately did not end up rapping with the group. Had the group not mentioned the Much Music Video Awards and thanking the crowd for coming down to see them instead, I'd totally forgot that the MMVA's were happening at the same time around the corner and down Queen St. Now let's see if those kids at the MMVA's are listening to Justin Bieber in 10 years.

Photos: NXNE in Toronto (June 19-20, 2010)

Cure The Post Holiday Blues

I'm back to work today with post-holiday depression almost setting in but I hope to stave off with some good musical things to look forward to(not that I'll be partaking in all of these, but hopefully at least a few of them):

Via Stillepost, Mongrels and The Brown Hornets will be at the Bovine to bring the rock this January 11. I can't speak for The Brown Hornets who I haven't heard yet, but I can vouch for Mongrels who I saw live last year in March opening for The Zoobombs at The Comfort Zone and to quote myself, they "...played a devasting set of rock riffage..." with Janis Joplin-esque vocals.

There's a few shows coming up this week that I'd only found out about - Aesop Rock will be at Sound Academy(formerly The Docks) on January 11 while De La Soul hit the same venue on January 18 - tickets for both shows $20.00.

Playing their first Toronto show in a long while(at least from what I recall), Magneta Lane will be at the Rivoli for an early show on January 16, playing new songs from their upcoming album "Gambling with God".

Republic of Safety are at Sneaky Dee's on January 26 for a "Border Closing Show" according to their MySpace - I'm assuming this is their hometown farewell show. It's a shame I only ever caught them once live(back in 2005 at the El Mo which I believe was one of their first live shows).

In addition to their already announced free show at Nathan Phillips Square on February 2(as part of WinterCity Festival), The Weakerthans will also be at Sonic Boom Records in Toronto the day prior on February 1(6:30 pm) for a free instore performance.[via It's Not The Band I Hate...]

North American tour dates are still forthcoming for February according to their MySpace, but newest Last Gang recording artists Crystal Castles, with Los Angeleans Health and Stab City are so far confirmed for a show in Hamilton, ON at The Casbah on February 22, tickets $10. [via Stille Post] I know I'm sort of a late-comer, but I'm addicted to their song "Crimewave".

Jose Gonzalez has introduced a whole bunch more of North American tour dates and will coming back to Toronto for a show at the Phoenix on March 15 - a portion of the tour(starting on Feb 29) will be in "eco-friendly" according to Pitchfork.

There's a few unconfirmed events that I came across: Dave Bookman's "3 n' Out" column in the Jan 3/08 column of Eye Weekly(the print version) mentions that the rumour is that The Constantines will celebrate their record release for their forthcoming still-to-be-titled new album with a shows on April 22 and 23. Also the Lee's Palace website indicates that Glasgow, Scotland's Sons and Daughters will be hitting the venue sometime in the near future[my guess would sometime after February but before they travel to Austin for SXSW in March]. The band's new album "This Gift" will released in North America on January 29 through Domino Records. Update: Thanks to Chromewaves for the S & D tour date info - they'll be at Lee's Palace on March 26 - info confirmed at their US booking company Ground Control Touring. Whoopee! (So, I was a little off with my estimate.)

In non-concert news, Billboard has details on the upcoming new Destroyer album "Trouble in Dreams" to be released March 19 through Merge and Torontoist has an interview with The Hidden Cameras' Mississauga-hatin' frontman Joel Gibb.

The Diableros have launched their new website and in the spirit of giving have graciously provided an mp3 of an acoustic version of their song "Broken Barns". Thanks guys! They'll be heading to SXSW in March but hopefully they'll squeeze in a hometown date or two. I finally got around to picking up their most recent album "Aren't Ready For The Country" but if you haven't yet, you can stream it here.