Having covered some of the individual spotlights that you should hit up yesterday, this time around we'll look at some of the places to go if you want to stay in one spot for the night. There might be a band or two that I can't vouch for, but on the whole, any of these should be a good night out.
Thursday
The Horseshoe Tavern The Luyas (9PM) / Royal Bangs (10PM) / PS I Love You (11PM) / Suuns (12AM) / No Joy (1AM) / Old World Vulture (2AM)
The 'Shoe will surely be packed by the time PS I Love You fills the room with Paul Saulnier's guitar heroics, so you might as well drop by early to catch The Luyas, who have made a big step forward with the textured sounds on their recent Too Beautiful to Work album. I haven't seen No Joy live yet — something that I'm sure will be rectified during this festival — but they put out a fabulous album last year. And then stick around for the ragged glory of Old World Vulture, whose instrumental anthems will fit right in to the late-night slightly burnt-out vibe.
Listen! PS I Love You - Breadends
Listen! Old World Vulture - Last Kicks of a Dying Horse
Music Gallery Snowblink (7PM) / Evening Hymns (8PM) / Forest City Lovers (9PM)
If you're looking for sanctuary and a little bit of uplift, then this could very well could be the night's show most conducive to warm and gentle harmonies. Snowblink's Daniela Gesundheit always brings chills with her beautiful voice and guitar work, while Evening Hymns will surely be sharing some songs from their forthcoming new album, matching Jonas Bonnetta's plaintive lyrics with Sylvie Smith's vocal support. Kat Burns' Forest City Lovers can rock it out a little more, but always with an implied warm hug at the end. All of which will be enhanced by the church-y sonic qualities of the Music Gallery.
Listen! Evening Hymns - Arrows
Listen! Forest City Lovers - Constellation
Wrongbar Jennifer Castle (9PM) / Tanika Charles & The Wonderfuls (10PM) / Allie Hughes (11PM) / Anagram (12AM) / Fucked Up (1AM) / Light Fires (2AM) / Lucie Tic (3AM)
Perhaps the most eclectically-programmed high-profile showcase in the whole festival, there's a bit of sonic oil-and-water here. With the big draws coming from the more aggressive end of the sonic spectrum, it'll be rather interesting to see how their fans will react to some of the other sounds on offer. We discussed Jennifer Castle yesterday, but I'll note that if you're going to try to get into this one, you'll have to get there early — and Castle's earthy folk is thoroughly worth getting down there for. Theatrically-inclined Allie Hughes will have her work cut out for her to cut through to the cadre waiting to see Anagram, whose intense thrum is more blood-on-the-floor than let's-throw-a-pageant. And it's more or less guaranteed that the place will be a seething sweatbox for Fucked Up, a somewhat unusual lead-in for Light Fires, Gentleman Reg's dragtastically entertaining electrodance side-project.
Listen! Allie Hughes - Elevator
Listen! Anagram - Fish
Listen! Fucked Up - Year of the Ox
Yonge Dundas Square METZ (6PM) / Rusty (7PM) / Fucked Up (8PM) / OFF! (9PM)
The night's free, outdoor programme at Yonge Dundas Square is pretty punktastically amazing. Not only is there the aforementioned Fucked Up, but also hardcore supergroup OFF!, anchored by Circle Jerks/Black Flag singer Keith Morris — word is they bring a ferocious intensity that puts groups half their age to shame. And the real clincher is a chance to see ascendant spazz-grungers METZ start things off. They also play Sneaky Dee's at midnight, but come on down to see how much volume they can bring to the square.
Listen! METZ - Dry Up
Friday
Silver Dollar Room Persian Rugs (8PM) / Julia Set Generator (9PM) / The BB Guns (10PM) / Action Makes (11PM) / Crocodiles (12AM) / Powers (1AM) / No Joy (2AM) / Give us the Daggers (3AM)
As the festival moves on, all that carefully-done prep gets tossed out the window, and I usually just end up in the dank clutches of the Silver Dollar, where Dan Burke's NeXT sidebar is pretty much always a guaranteed source of noisy goodness. The prizes here start early with the atmospheric pop of Persian Rugs, who sound like an entire Rough Trade discography packed into three-minute bursts. Later on comes Optical Sounds garage rockers Action Makes, who may be at their best on the Dollar's stage. San Diego's Crocodiles are the lynchpin of Burke's programming — with a headlining set three nights running, they're not-to-be-missed. And another chance to catch No Joy.
Listen! Persian Rugs - Phone Call From the Lake
Listen! Action Makes - Let Them Go
Yonge Dundas Square Diamond Rings (7:30PM) / Land Of Talk (8:30PM) / Stars (9:30PM)
It's delightful to consider that John O'Regan's Diamond Rings dance-pop project is now worthy of a stage this big. You can also catch him at Wrongbar, Saturday at midnight, but this evening show should be a festive occasion. Land Of Talk's expansive guitarscapes might actually fit better on a big stage than a club, and while Stars are coming off their weakest album, they've got enough hits to put together a crowd-pleasing set.
Listen! Diamond Rings - Wait & See
Listen! Land of Talk - Summer Special
Saturday
The Silver Dollar CATL (9PM) / The White Eyes (10PM) / Ell V Gore (11PM) / Teenanger (12AM) / Crocodiles (1AM) / Bad Cop (2AM) / B-17 (3AM)
This is the only place you really need to know about on Saturday. Bringing the blues so hard you'll be forced to dance out of self-defence, catl are always a treat to see. They'll also be playing the side stage at Comfort Zone between main sets later on in the night, in case you want to duck downstairs for more. Ell V Gore is Elliott Jones' (ex-Brides) new project, and I've heard good things, though I haven't checked 'em out yet. Teenanger always brings raw bursts of rock'n'roll glory. The real stealth prize on this night, though is B-17, a supergroup of players from various Optical Sounds bands making their debut.
Listen! catl - Hold My Body Down
Listen! Teenanger - Louisiana Lounger
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