NxNE — North by Northeast Festival, Toronto 2009.
Saturday, June 20, 2009. Featuring: Clydesdale, Woodpigeon, The Mark Inside, Olenka and the Autumn Lovers, catl, Nightwood, Hank & Lily, The Hoa Hoa's
8 P.M.: Clydesdale @ Silver Dollar
After the afternoon show, had some non-rock time to stretch my legs and grab a bite to eat, but it wasn't too long before I was back at it, starting off, again at the Silver Dollar. I'd never heard of Clydesdale, but the members' past credentials (Tangiers, Deadly Snakes, Grasshopper, The Killer Elite) were pretty impressive, so I figured I'd take a chance. It turned out to be a vital, exciting set. Classic rock in, say, the way The Only Ones or The Replacements were classic rock, and filled with the sort of energy you might've heard in a Tangiers or Deadly Snakes song. The four-piece were rigourously tight behind Shawn Leger's raspy vox. Even some technical problems with the drums couldn't slow the momentum. No weak songs, though one with Yuri Didrichsons on keyboards had an especially catchy edge to it. A band this good won't be playing the first slot of the evening for long.
Listen to a track from this set here.
9 P.M.: Woodpigeon @ The Horseshoe Tavern
Down to the 'Shoe (for my only appearance there during the festival) to check out Calgary's Woodpigeon for what turned out to be part of a live CBC3 showcase. I was a bit late getting on board with this group, now basking in Polaris-related buzz, but was curious to see what I'd heard praised as a solid live show. Based on the songs and voice of Mark Hamilton, the band takes simple songs and gently fabricates elaborate arrangements around them. This live set worked with a similar logic, starting quiet and small ("the slow jam portion of the evening") and gradually building up — in intensity as well as the number of players on stage. With strings, keys, and vibes (courtesy of local guest Paul Aucoin) there's an orchestral sweep to this music, intercut with a Tango In The Night pop sensibility (as Hamilton confessed in introducing "The Alison Yip School for Girls"). For my money, this worked out pretty well, and I was well impressed by Hamilton's superior form of soft rock. The band seems to still be gaining strength, as witnessed by a nice new cut "The Saddest Music in the World", complete with sampled looping whistle. The band played a longer-than-usual set, capped by the presentation of an award from Galaxie radio. Safe to say we'll be hearing more from 'em.
Listen to a track from this set here.
10 P.M.: The Mark Inside @ Velvet Underground
Tried my hardest to find one more band named after an animal to complete the trifecta, but no luck. Looking at the listings, the most promising thing close at hand seemed to be the unenticingly-named Dirtblonde from Liverpool, whose blurb promised "white noise racket" and namechecked Sonic Youth. So I ducked into the Hideout, a venue not normally on my radar, right on the hour to see a very non-British, non white-noise-racket bunch with Flying Vees, headbands and lather pants completing their setup.1 I was quite confused until the one with the headband announced, in a very un-Liverpool accent that "the band they hired didn't show up, so they got us instead — and we're a much better band". As they launched into a Sunset Strip-styled sleaze-rock riff, I was already fishing out my schedule. When the backup singers, wearing miniskirts and angel wings, came on stage I ducked out the door.
Cutting my losses, walked a few doors down to the Velvet and got in just as The Mark Inside were beginning their set with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" for vocalist Chris Levoir's father. This was a perfectly acceptable consolation prize, as the only reason they'd not been on my list of things to see is that I'd seen 'em a couple months ago at CMW. Looking back, my remarks at the time seem unduly negative now, as my memories of the set ended up being warmer than my contemporaneous notes. Or perhaps I was just more receptive on the second time around, but I enjoyed this set pretty well, especially in the first half when the tempos were at their fastest, and Gus Harris' rhythm guit had a pleasingly insistent edge to it. "There is Nothing to Admit" received an especially pleading reading. I'm still a bit less sold when they slow down and get more of a bluesy vibe, such as on "Shots". A brand new track "Everything is a Daydream" hit closer to the mark, with its slightly manic vibe and torrent of lyrics more suggestive of a nightmare. An enjoyable set, and I'm glad I had this second viewing.
Listen to a track from this set here.
11 P.M.: Olenka and the Autumn Lovers @ Bread and Circus
Coulda easily stuck around and taken in the Zoobombs, but once again was feeling the itch for something different, and soon I found myself walking the length of Augusta to get to Bread and Circus, a spot totally unfamiliar to me. Moving from drizzly outside to sauna-like inside, my glasses actually steamed over, forcing me to blindly grope my way towards the back room, a squarish space with tall ceiling and raised tiers of tables at the back. It had the look of a sit-down place where you'd more likely go to see a play than a gig, so perhaps appropriate for something I was expecting to have a sort of cabaret feel. The band was on stage when I entered, but still going through a fairly lengthy soundcheck process, so I had enough time to compose myself and find a spot. This would end up being the venue with the loudest talking crowd of anything I saw at NxNE2 which I think cut into my enjoyment some. As for the band, starting with the sprightly opener "Odessa", we got the promised folksy jaunt, with sweet harmonies, strings, stand-up bass, and occasional accordion decorating the songs. Having no other familiarity with the band, I don't know if it was by design or just a product of the venue's sound that Olenka's acoustic guit was very front-and-centre, overwhelming all the other elements to the detriment of the sound. There were a few places where I felt the swooning romantic roil the band seemed capable of, but overall I found it muddled and mildly underwhelming.
12 A.M.: catl @ The Silver Dollar
In theory catl are the sort of act that I should have taken pains to avoid at the festival — they're local and play a reasonable number of shows. But I'd never been able to put it together to go out and see them, so I wanted to seize this opportunity, even if it meant missing out on some out-of-towner who might not pass this way again. Turned out to be a grand time. Catl's elemental blues-rock might be superficially compared to the John Spencer Blues Explosion, but there's a slightly different dynamic at play here. Originally a drums/guitar duo of Johnny LaRue and eponymous singer-guitarist catl (ex-Pecola) — whose aggressively slurred vocals gave the songs a vibe like The Fall covering John Lee Hooker. Added to that is the organ/percussion/vox of Sarah Kirkpatrick (ex-Shitt Hottt), who fleshed the songs out even more. Although seated, catl put a sweaty workman's effort in.3 The intense forty minutes was about the right length to appreciate this — and the band are definitely on the list to be seeing again.
Listen to a track from this set here.
1 A.M.: Nightwood @ Rancho Relaxo
With no pick for this slot, went with a bit of a random choice, and I settled on this as much as anything because I wanted to be at the Rancho an hour down the line, but this Montréal trio turned out to be quite entertaining. Two women up front on guitars and vox plus a non-woman drummer behind. Both Erin Ross and Amber Goodwyn played more on the bottom strings, so the absence of a bass player wasn't really felt. There was a strong musical interplay between the two, both on guitar and in their tag-team vox. The band mostly dealt in slow-burning tunes — I don't know if any of their songs were actually about things you'd find in the woods at night, but they gave that kind of implicitly menacing vibe. Well, mostly, there were a few more upbeat numbers, including one with a chorus of "play the dishes, wash the guitar" which brought to mind the domestic adventures of Sleater-Kinney's "Little Babies". The band staked out a clear sonic space and did a good job of exploring that little patch of the woods.
Listen to a track from this set here.
2 A.M.: The Hank and Lily Show @ Rancho Relaxo
Watching the set-up during the soundcheck for The Hank and Lily Show, one could get the impression that a show was about to begin. But even then, there was still was a burst of anticipation when a voice started to sing with the stage empty, "Don't be afraid / don't be afraid / 'til I tell you why you ought to be afraid". Making their way through the crowd Hank (in a sort of steampunk gas mask) and Lily (wearing miniature deer antlers) led their followers (a bassist and a trio of backing singers) to the stage. And soon we were plunged into an old-fashioned medicine show, complete with testimonials for the snake oil and comic books available at the merch table. Although they were playing with this old-timey country imagery, the music was more blues-based. Not that any such book-learnin' distinctions meant much in the face of a sweaty good-time spectacle. Clearly a band that decided to stake itself on an ability to entertain, and in that department they delivered in spades. Hank (with a wireless mic concealed in his mask) delivered his vocals in a low-down hoodoo growl, contrasting with Lily's naif, chirpy sweetness. The songs about sin, prison and the apocalypse included lots of audience participation and generally led to a sweaty bit of fun craziness. Very much worth seeing live.
3 A.M.: The Hoa Hoa's @ Silver Dollar
Ended off the whole marathon of a day with The Hoa Hoa's, who I'd seen (and been pretty rocked out by) at the same venue during CMW. Commenting, "let's go on a trip together" the band launched into its thick and syrupy brand of psychedelic garage rock. An even better show than the first time I'd seen 'em, I was totally captivated, despite being a little bit exhausted. A fine way to end the festival and try to drag myself home before the sky started to get light.
Listen to a track from this set here.
1 I can't honestly say with one hundred per cent accuracy that anyone on the stage was wearing leather pants, but the band had the aura of leather pants.
2 I found it striking that a member of another band on the night's bill was standing at the opposite side of the room from me, holding an audible conversation during the set.
3 In fact, I can't recall the last time I saw so much sweat running down the body of a guitar from the player's arm.
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