NXNE Hit list

This week the North By Northeast Music Festival rolls into town, with 450 bands taking the stage. Where to start?

The NXNE website has been revamped to include full streaming tracks from many of the artists peforming.  It’s a good starting point to help you get a taste of who you’ll be seeing, and you can actually select bands to create your own little calendar.  Neat.

Festivals like these are all about taking smart risks.  Sure, you can only check out and support your ‘tried and true’ local indie bands, but you’ll probably see them popping up in a few weeks at the Transac, Cameron House or The Boat anyway. Conversely, randomly going to a venue on a whim can be disasterous – or gruelling if you’re the only chap in the audience (besides NXNE volunteers) and don’t have it in your heart to bail. 

A good appoach is to balance it out – Find an artist or 2 you like each night and stay at that venue.  That way you can support local talent (and get a guaranteed hit) but also see some new faces.  It’s also a great idea to find international indie artists that you’ll probably never get to see live for a long time. 

Here are some artists perking our interest, big and small.   If you have others, please let us know!

• Kathleen Edwards – powerful singer/songwriter up there with Sarah Harmer
• Five Blank Pages – indie pop band that delivered a killer set at the recent over the top festival
• The Ghost is Dancing – mega-ensamble band ala Broken Social Scene, but with theme parties on stage
• A Northern Chrous – incredible ambient soundscapes equating to an out-of-body experience.  Their new album lands us closer to indie pop land
• Royal Wood – local folk singer/songwriter who plays weekly at Cameron House
• Justin Rutledge – roots/americana artist that’s on the playlist of any folk singer/songwriter lover!
• Hey Rosetta! – all the rage in the NFLD indie scene, recently profiled on CBCRadio – passionate lyrics and music that builds and evolves as the song progresses.
• Peter Elkas – Exlaim! cover boy and all the rage these days in the folk/pop scene.  Expect line ups for this guy.
• Rock Plaza Central – a long standing alt-country that’s finnally getting traction.  If you like Jon-Rae then you’ll like these guys
• Pat Robitaille – a young and rising pop singer/songwriter from Windsor, with definite mainstream likeability
• King Sunshine – 70s retro-funk/groove band guarantee to get you boogie dancing
• Ohbijou – soft and melodic indie band from Queen West (Trinity-bellwoods park); a network of 20-something friends with musical talent forming a band and creating something truely grassroots and infectious music
• Justin Nozuka – Acoustic soul artist from Bloor West village This kid is going places and is on his way to breaking through.
• Neverending White Lights – Who’ll show up for their next gig?  An alt-pop band comprised of guest singers for their music, it’s always a gamble on which surprise singers will show up!
• Entire Cities – drunken kegger alt-country band from downtown Toronto.   Grab a stubby and get stompin’

Add comment June 4th, 2007