FOUR DAYS OF MUSIC, SO LITTLE TIME – PLAID REPORTS ON OUR NXNE HIGHLIGHTS
Story by Ally Hall, Kate Kilgour and Emily Whalen
Yukon Blonde // Kate Kilgour
A year in the making, I finally got to see my favorite band of last summer at this year’s NXNE. Playing a surprise set at The Rivoli on Wednesday, it was the perfect way to kick off the festival.
Layers of vocals and classic, resonating guitar had the entire room swaying and dancing to these Vancouver artists, as they apologized on stage for their city’s post-Stanley Cup defeat antics. Appropriately peaceful, they donned garlands as they serenaded us with classics off their debut EP and follow-up sophomore album, while teasing us with some unreleased material.
Refreshingly un-fuzzy, un-shoegazey, un-hypey, Yukon Blonde performed reliable indie-rock as its finest. Putting forth interesting licks while maintaining echoing, large vocals, front man Jeff Innes gleamed. The members mingled with fans and friends after their set, giving us even more reasons to succumb to their good-natured vibes. -K.K.
Seeing shows at Sneaky Dee’s is always a bit of a challenge. Due to the smell of nachos permeating the entire building, most people cave and scurry downstairs to rest their feet and indulge. Thankfully last night Airick Woodhead, or Doldrums, made me and probably every other person in the room forget about our grumbling stomachs.
You may recognize Doldrums from the band Spiral Beach, which featured Autra basset Dorian Wolfe. A bit of a groovy departure for the Toronto native who has been making music for years, Doldums has been causing a fair amount of buzz in Toronto over the past few months and is on the cusp of something that is sure to garner even more followers in the coming year. With an oversized traveling suitcase full of gear that I would probably not understand if someone explained it to me at length, Woodhead charmed the crowd with his adorable dance moves and heavily manipulated voice.
With an endless mixtape on his MySpace page, Woodhead strikes me as the type who might stay up all night jamming and mixing tracks from a variety of different sources and bugging the hell out of his neighbours all for the enjoyment of the electronically-starved Toronto show-goer, but this is purely speculation. Channeling the likes of fellow Canadian electronica outfits like Caribou and Miracle Fortress, the already prolific Doldrums has a bunch of tracks that are tight and complex while still being completely danceable—a perfect start to the night, whether you left to go dance around more or just eat some nachos. -E.W.
For a bevy of different reasons I think many people would’ve preferred to have experienced Dirty Beaches completely naked at the Silver Dollar Room. Entering the venue was similar to entering the sauna at a YMCA with a bunch of sweaty strangers, too artsy to be seen at a posh gym. When Dirty Beaches, also known as Alex Zhang Hungtai, took the stage in Elvis-inspired tight black jeans and a leather jacket the 1950’s parallels didn’t end there. Looping, mixing and shredding a variety of different rifts and beats that sounded like they were plucked straight from a Quentin Tarantino film, Dirty Beacheswas downright sexy. His hips swinging, fingers snapping and hair flicking made me feel like a young Priscilla—and I was happy for it. At many points throughout the set the audience hummed, sang back-up vocals and swayed along, like at a modern-day sock-hop.
A highlight of the set was Dirty Beaches interpretation of Mattress’ “Eldorado”, which was one hundred per cent haunting and a great reworking of the song. Hungtai’s voice is so soulful and raw you can tell he’s been inspired by the likes of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and other blues boys, too obscure for me to mention here. Within a beautiful contrast between sweet lyrics, love songs and then rough solos and screaming, Dirty Beaches is absolutely captivating to watch. At the end of his set, the audience wouldn’t let Hungtai off the stage and if we weren’t such polite kids we might have kept him going all night. -E.W.
As I stood on the outskirts of the Fucked Up crowd at Wrongbar on the Thursday of NXNE, I felt this convergence of my past and my present. There were boys getting jostled as they were hoisted over the up-close fans, losing their belongings one toss at a time. Hipsters lurked around their watering hole as they awaited the late-night party. A topless Damien dedicated ‘I Hate Summer’ to everyone out there who’s a little bit overweight, a real sentiment from a real front-man.
I commend Fucked Up for not only their incredible stage-presence, nor their remarkable ability to juxtapose delicate “oo la las” against a fuzzy larynx and shredding guitars, but the interesting cross-section of concert-attendees. Damian has brought the music of Fucked Up even more to the center of Toronto’s music scene, and their ambitious new album, David Comes To Life, is wooing every kind of fan out there, myself included.
“We’re winning!” he exclaimed towards the end of the set, upon helping a guy find his lost kicks. “We’re finding everyone’s shit!” And following with an anti-Charlie Sheen statement, Damian opens his arms, yet again, to followers, listeners and moshers. “The dude’s a piece of shit. As someone who suffers from bipolar, I can say that without being racist.” Reality. Check.
Fucked Up seemed to be at the epicenter of this year’s NXNE, a fitting place for a genre bending, cross-appealing group that reps Toronto and is, most likely, one of the friendliest bands out there. -K.K.
Following Fucked Up with a definite change of pace was the new project by Regina (Gentlemen Reg) and James Bunton (Ohbijou), Light Fires. As Regina strutted around on stage in tights, heels and a graphic blazer, Bunton held it down making the beats and keeping the energy just as high as his counterpart.
With Regina dressed fully in drag and Bunton mixing electronic music, Light Fires is an interesting departure from the duo’s previous projects and a welcome endeavor on the Toronto music scene. Regina is truly a performer, engaging verbally and physically with the adoring crowd, as she high-kicked her way across Wrongbar’s intimate stage. At the end of the set she purred, “I’m gonna have to wash my jacket now…it’s all sweaty!’
Making dance music with synth-based beats and sing-along vocals, Light Fires is part of a wave of upbeat, optimistic electronic music, devoid of heavy, pumping backgrounds. It’s, well, light. And the two artists put a smile on my face immediately. – K.K.
Seeing England’s Art Brut at Mod Club during NXNE was like living out some fantasy I had five years ago as a first year university student. I could smell my residence room and vividly hear my crush going on about the greatness of Art Brut. That sense of nostalgia for the year 2006 was felt throughout the band’s NXNE show.
Eddie Argos’s monologues were particularly self-deprecating and wry, with that English sense of humour that’s rife throughout their music. Several times throughout the set Argos’ commented on his status as an aging musician and how Art Brut isn’t quite the buzz band they used to be. But, this vulnerability only added to the show. We were all on Argos’s side, cheering for him and showing him our utmost attention and love. Best was when he convinced us all to take an elevator down to the depths of Amsterdam during their song Modern Art, where he had us crouching on the ground, listening intently to his story like a bunch of overgrown kindergarten students.
Art Brut can still rock out and presented one of the more energetic and polished bands I saw during the festival. It’s just too bad the music industry, even the “indie” industry, has become even more fickle and Art Brut couldn’t fill the Mod Club—like they would’ve been able to five years ago. -E.W.
They had a sitar, played by front man Rhishi Dhir. They responded to my Tweet requesting them to play an “LSD trip” with “we’re down with that”. One man in the audience danced, without breaks, as if her were on LSD. That’s just the sort of incredible vibe this Montreal group gives out. Their music is like The Beatles’ Revolver re-created with less boy-band innocence and an irresistible edge.
Even as one of my NXNE recommendations, I was still relatively unfamiliar with Elephant Stone. Despite the fact that they had been long-listed for a Polaris Prize (2009), played SXSW, CMJ and toured North America with Brian Jonestown Massacre, they remained under my radar. Playing before Braids at the Osheaga Showcase at The Garrison, atop rugs and pillows suitable for an exotic tent or lavish home, Elephant Stone was impressive and seductive. Get The Glass Box EP on repeat and go for a little trip. -K.K.
The sound technicians of Toronto’s participating NXNE venues certainly had their hands full last week. With short sets and next to no downtime between acts with little commonality in genre, surely even the most seasoned audio specialists broke a sweat. Shifting between feet at The Garrison on Friday, I speculated on how the intricately layered textural pop of Montreal’s Braids might fare. After a few minutes of tinkering, the rhythmic staccato of “Glass
Deers” washed over the crowd, audience members sharing knowing glances they made the right choice in coming.
If any band should have their own sound guy, it’s Braids.
It’s only a matter of time until the quartet has the means to provide for such an addition to their tour. For now, it doesn’t matter—the band understands what their set requires. They’ve mastered their performance, adapting easily to the space they occupy with solid familiarity of their vision. Since the January 18 release of their debut Native Speaker, their presence has been steadily growing, receiving a well-deserved slot on the Polaris long list. At a festival with a format like NXNE, bands are forced to distill their sound into a few tracks. Braids chose well. Playing familiars like “Lemonade” got the die-hards swaying, but the new tracks laced into the five-song set were the highlight.
The connectivity between the four members dripped from the stage. Austin Tufts’ tribal drums accented with Taylor Smith’s sky-high base harmonies weaved into lead vocalist Raphaelle Standell-Preston and vocalist and keyboard player Katie Lee’s melodies. The women, front and centre, fixed a stare on one another during their performance so intriguing, it was like an inside joke we could never grasp. Standell-Preston’s voice will break your heart. Trapping the crowd in the best way possible, the tender expanses of the patiently constructed tracks were accented with sudden but controlled bursts of emotion. Subtle coos, fractured whispers, growling throaty screams. It’s dark and twisted, atmospheric and pulsing. With utterly Valkyrie primal shrieks, the set reached its climax and came to a close. Wails turned to small smiling waves and the equipment was gathered. As quick as it began, the spell was broken, but the effects have lasted all week. -A.H.
Twin Shadow is a little bit in love with Toronto, or maybe that’s what they tell every city they pass through. Regardless, at Twin Shadow’s Saturday show, the band turned on the charm, flirting with the sweaty and sweet crowd at Lee’s Palace. Lead singer George Lewis Jr. made us all blush when he said Toronto looked better than a New York summer and for us self-conscious Torontonians, the comparison to the sexy city was welcome.
The band’s good energy swayed through the crowd with every strum and synth movement, making it hard for people to get mad when other concert goers spilled beer on their new suede shoes. Twin Shadow filled Lee’s Palace, because the band has been making waves since their debut album Forget, but this buzz band lives up to their hype. Drawing influences from 80’s new wave and dreamy pop melodies, Twin Shadow is a great live show. They also don’t give off the impression that they’re taking this all too seriously.
In comparison to so many other bands at NXNE who had sullen, straight faces, a little audience interaction and charm was a nice change of pace. It’s a shame Toronto doesn’t have more outdoor venues, because Twin Shadow would be the perfect band for such a setting. It’s always more romantic that way. -E.W.
