NxNE: Thursday

NxNE — North by Northeast Festival, Toronto 2009.

Thursday, June 18, 2009. Featuring: Chang-A-Lang, Silverghost, Ume, Kittens Ablaze, Wildlife, Amy Campbell

8 P.M.: Chang-A-Lang @ The Silver Dollar Room

For Thursday, had very little of an agenda, and, to be honest, hadn't done much in the way of research, so I was free to sort of just go with guesswork — a sort of triangulation of venue, band name and well-written blurbs. Going with the first of those, it seemed safe to start at The Silver Dollar, where Dan Burke's hand-picked bands can usually be relied upon to bring the rock. So, first up: Toronto's Chang-A-Lang, a three-piece bringing offerings of rock'n'roll in exchange for sweat. The band had a nice stock of power pop-ish tunes, mostly sung by guitarist Brian Okamoto, though bassist Jeanette Dowling took the reins for a couple, and provided sterling backing vox throughout. The band would be right at home at a packed party and might've been a bit out of their element playing the early slot to a smaller, less jumpy crowd but still managed to entertain by giving the impression that they were entertaining themselves. Fun stuff.

Listen to a track from this set here.

9 P.M.: Silverghost @ Neutral Lounge

Walked over to the top of Augusta to head down to the mouldering depths of Neutral, a venue I'd not previously visited. Before it filled in with people, it had a sense of cool damp, and that musty smell of an unfinished basement in an old house. Not a superb layout for live music, with a small stage, raised one step up, tucked into a corner in the shorter half of the room, leaving the larger half of the room with lousy sightlines. It wasn't crowded at this hour, so I had no problem there, but I'm guessing this would be an awkward venue for latecomers if it were jammed. The blurb for Detroit duo Silverghost, featuring Marcie Bolen (ex-Von Bondies, guit/vox) and Deleano Acevedo¹ (vox/keybs/beats via laptop) had promised "male/female-fuzz-analog-pop" which sounded worthy of checking out, the pair largely cashed in on that promise. Bolen — in a styling pantsuit (very 1981) — was the more magnetic presence, but the tag-team vox were well-done. The first couple numbers featured a classic Detroit rock sound, with fuzzy organ and tambourine-laced drum track, and might have been the best overall. The songs following had a bit more of a new wave sound, and brought to mind fellow Detroit rockers The Slumber Party. Although the programmed beats mostly fit well into their aesthetic, there were some moments where the I felt the absence of a live drummer. But the band had good songs and executed well. Worth checking out if you are a fan of the "male/female-fuzz-analog-pop" genre.

Listen to a track from this set here.

10 P.M.: Ume @ Neutral Lounge

Instead of shuffling venues, stuck around for Austin's Ume, who had been hotly tipped by Frank Chromewaves. This trio brought a rock attack not unlike a single-guitar Sonic Youth, powered by the proficient Lauren Larson. Although I was expecting perhaps something "heavier", Larson's playing showed a crafty range that unleashed a variety of bracing sounds thrown into relief by her demure looks and small voice chirping "thank you" at the ends of songs — like, say, an anime heroine destroying marauding invaders with pulsating energy bolts only to transform back into an unassuming student. It was an enjoyable set that hinted at greater possibilities — I felt at times that the band was a little... contained and in such heightened control that the songs couldn't breathe as much as they might.² I'd also wager that the band would sound better on a more powerful sound system, so here's hoping they return to play a slightly bigger room.

Listen to a track from this set here.

11 P.M.: Kittens Ablaze @ Rivoli

Looking through the blurbs, my eye was caught by "Americana-indie rock band... orchestral... full of violin and cello riffs" and that seemed worth a go, so grabbed the Spadina streetcar down to Queen to head into Rivoli for Kittens Ablaze. With keyboards on the floor and on an ironing board, not to mention a cello with extra tall spike for stand-up action playing, the co-ed six-piece had a chaotic edge, bringing a ramshackle approach to what is normally a staid style of orchestrated pop. So, some credit for that, but there was also an air of diverse elements merely heaped on top of each other, and the songs too often felt under-arranged. There were a couple moments where everything came together, but overall, I didn't really connect with this.

 

12 A.M.: Wildlife @ Rancho Relaxo / Amy Campbell @ Free Times Café

In a world without lineups, I'd've probably slipped next door into the Horseshoe to see The King Khan & BBQ Show, but I didn't feel like waiting in any sort of queue. At Spadina, let chance carry me when I saw a streetcar coming and headed back up to College instead of heading further down Queen. I was feeling whimsically random and just followed my feet without checking the schedule and found myself going upstairs to Rancho, just a couple minutes before Wildlife started playing. A song-and-a-half's worth of slightly yelpy modern rock rubbed me the wrong way somehow and made me feel like this wasn't what I was in the mood for, so I headed back out.

Again, by random chance, instead of turning left to go to the Silver Dollar to check out the rock onslaught of Montréal's Red Mass, I turned right and started walking. When I passed by Free Times Café with it's NxNE sight outside, I thought, "what the hell," and ducked in. Settled in amongst a spare crowd in the back room where, except for the blueshirt working the door, I was the youngest person in sight. On stage turned out to be the folksy Amy Campbell, singing and playing an acoutic guit, accompanied by a stand-up bassist. At first I thought it was some sort of oddly arranged three-piece, as the song in progress as I entered also included table-top percussion by a guy sitting up front — but when I saw the people behind him shaking their heads and rolling their eyes, I realized that he was just a really obnoxious drunk who was pretty oblivious to what an ass he was being. So — two kinds of entertainment at once! Besides seeing how Campbell would deal with the drunk guy, my decision to stay put was sealed by the bass player's entirely sympathetic and effortlessly nimble lines. So I settled in and ended up enjoying it pretty well. Campbell's voice and songs reminded me of, say, Shawn Colvin, and made me think back to a time when I actually listened to a fair bit more music like this. "Oh Heart, Oh Highway" — the title track from her latest album — was given an especially fine reading. She was also a good storyteller between songs, and the drunk guy eventually mostly wore himself out. For something completely random to drop into, a nice surprise.

After that, I had some thoughts of hitting the Silver Dollar to see The Zoobombs, but the outside air hit my like a wall and I suddenly realized how tired I was on what had been a get-up-early workday. And once it occurred to me that seeing one more set would mean foregoing the subway home, that more-or-less clinched it. Caught the streetcar up to Spadina Station and headed home to bed.

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¹ Rock t-shirt: Rolling Stones, lips logo.

² Though this also gives the impression (that I have in no way tested, yet) that the band is capable of disciplined and focused studio efforts.