NXNE took place in Toronto between June 15th and 19th this year and showcased both Canadian talent, and music from abroad.
I tried to fit as much in as I could in the limited time between parking lot parties and overlapping showtimes at venues across the city.
The first night started off slowly, as it usually does but I managed to catch Vancouver's Louise Burns (with many familiar faces) at Lee's Palace, and Toronto's electronic-pop trio For Esmé at the Horseshoe Tavern.
Day two only had ONE plan in mind and that was "Paper 100", the Paper Bag Records 100 Releases show/party at Lee's Palace. It was a huge schmogasboard of bands, most of which were backed up by Cuff The Duke. I managed to photograph a LOT of them and they included (but were not limited to, nor were all the members necessarily there): DIANA, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Acorn, Mozart's Sister, Alana Yorke, Frog Eyes, PS I Love You, Laura Barrett, Matthew Barber, Cuff The Duke, Sam Roberts, Yamantaka//Sonic Titan, and Broken Social Scene!
Friday I caught two BC bands, Aidan Knight, who I haven't seen play in a very long time, at the Mod Club, and Willa at Sneaky Dees. Afterward I managed to haul it over to the CBC Music showcase for the raucous set that Catl put on.
Saturday was the unofficial Radio 3 Picnic where I heard acoustic sets by Murder Murder, Kathryn Calder, David Vertesi, and Rolf Klausener of The Acorn. (Photo highlights in the Facebook album). And then finally I hopped over to the Cameron House to see Vancouver's Ben Rogers perform in the back bar.
Another successful year, that somehow was less crazy than last year. I felt that there were more international acts and bigger names, that I didn't care to see, but there were many indie and Canadian acts that I either caught for the first time, or hadn't seen in forever.
Click the playlist below to hear some of the music by the artists mentioned above, and CLICK HERE for the full album of photos, including some highlights from the Great Heart Festival.
[all photos by Christine McAvoy]
