I Fell In Love with NXNE 2016’s Port Lands

This year NXNE 2016 launched a brand new lakeside live music, festival venue on the east side of Toronto. Friday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18 presented a complete, immersive festival experience in this brand new concert site, across the street from the old Sound Academy, 51 Commissioners Street, at the corner of Cherry Street and Commissioners Street.
Getting there was easy, there are bike paths to the door and there was even a free bike valet parking. The TTC ran quickly and if you fancied boating it to NXNE Port Lands — you could for free.
Friday was co-presented by Manifesto and was heavy on the hip hop with international stars as well as the best of the best of the soul scene. Saturday went deep into Indie rock.
Toronto’s best food trucks showed up, there were art installations galore, cool activations and summer sun soothing beer gardens were all the rage.
The two stages offered a respite from the crowds. If you needed a break, you could hit the smaller stage with a drink in hand. If you were keen to be down deep with the kids – the grander Budweiser stage could satiate you.
The views of the city from the industrial side of the Port Lands was perfect for reflection time. With no grass underfoot, you could easily find a space to spread out with a meal and not be trampled on by fellow concert goers running between stages.
The neat tee pee balloon tents were an awesome shelter from the scorching sun and the bbq meat made for a transformative journey far away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Toronto.
With Club Land, Game Land and Future Land all the rage – it was no wonder that Port Lands was going to be a hit with the locals and visitors alike.
NXNE 2016 was beautifully curated with those special details that spoke to everyone depending on what you fancy. Till NXNE 2017!
http://nxne.com/

NXNE Daily Tip Sheet – Day 6

NXNE DAILY TIP SHEET
Saturday, June 18

 

 
WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE, HEAR & DO

GAME LAND

Live music and gaming at Yonge-Dundas Square
12pm – Play video game LOUD on Planet X
3 – 10pm – Live Music including No King for Countrymen, Taylor Knox, Le Groupe Swing, Sam Cash & the Romantic Dogs, and Zeus

PORT LANDS

Gates at 1pm, 51 Commissioners Street

Canal Stage	Commissioners Stage
1:20pm – Devin Cuddy Band	2:20pm – Land of Talk
3:30pm – The Highs	4:20pm – Dan Mangan
5:30pm – The Zolas	6:40pm – Mother Mother
8:10pm – Born Ruffians	9:30pm – Father John Misty

CLUB LAND

M for Montreal Showcase at the Horseshoe Tavern
9pm Doors – 370 Queen Street West
Homeshake, Alex Calder, Michael Rault, Kandle and the Krooks, and Cat and The Queen

Prozzak
8pm Doors – Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Avenue

UTA Showcase at Lee’s Palace
9pm Doors – 529 Bloor Street West
Laura Sauvage, Birds of Bellwoods, Jesse MacCormack, Adam Baldwin, Motorleague and The OBGMs

BEST PICKS

So So Glos
NXNE Club Land
9pm Doors – Smiling Buddha, 961 College Street
with Hobo Lord, Honduras, and Big Ups

Screaming Females
NXNE Club Land
9pm Doors – The Silver Dollar Room, 486 Spadina Avenue
with Mikey Erg, and The Worrier

http://www.nxne.com

NXNE Daily Tip Sheet – Day 5

NXNE DAILY TIP SHEET
Friday, June 17

 

 
WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE, HEAR & DO

GAME LAND

Live music, Sammy Watkins and gaming at Yonge-Dundas Square
12pm – Play video game LOUD on Planet X
3 – 10pm – Live Music including Hungry Lake, Long Range Hustle, Frisky Kids, Ferraro and Jane’s Party
Sports fans will also get the opportunity to “go long” with Buffalo Bills wide receiver, Sammy Watkins at the Courtyard @ Barcade.

PORT LANDS
Co-Presented by Manifesto

Gates at 1pm, 51 Commissioners Street

Canal Stage	Commissioners Stage
1:20pm Drew Howard	2:20pm -Tasha the Amazon
3:30pm Mick Jenkins	4:40pm – Shamir
5:50pm Tiken Jah Fakoly	7pm Ghostface Killah
8:20pm Daniel Ceasar	9:30pm Schoolboy Q

CLUB LAND

Billions Canada Showcase at Lee’s Palace
8pm Doors – 529 Bloor Street West
Escondido, DIANA, and Cold Specks

Just Shows Showcase at The Silver Dollar Room
9pm Doors – 486 Spadina Avenue
Lord Almightys, Big Eyes, Bad Sports, and Radioactivity

Paquin Agency Showcase at the Horseshoe Tavern
9:30pm Doors – 370 Queen Street West
NQ Arbuckle, Duotang, Shred Kelly, and Sun K

BEST PICKS 

Stomp Records Showcase at Hard Luck
NXNE Club Land
8pm Doors – 772A Dundas Street
The Brains, The Beatdown, K-Man & the 45s, Dig It Up!, and Danny Rebel & the KGB

http://www.nxne.com

NXNE Daily Tip Sheet – Day 4 – Featuring the stars of Pitch Perfect!

NXNE DAILY TIP SHEET
Thursday, June 16

 

 
WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE, HEAR & DO

GAME LAND

Anna Camp & Skylar Astin
7pm – Yonge-Dundas Square
Anna Camp and Skylar Astin, co-stars of the 2012 film Pitch Perfect, will judge a singing competition with local vocalists and A Cappella groups, prior to a free screening of Pitch Perfect at Yonge-Dundas Square.

CLUB LAND

Halifax Pop Explosion Showcase
8pm Doors – The Rivoli, 722 College Street
Midday Swim, First Ghost, The Hunna

iNativefest & Gunner Records Showcase
8pm Doors – The Great Hall, 1087 Queen Street West
DJ Shubb, Miriame, Shawnee and Digging Roots

BEST PICKS 

Fast Romantics
NXNE Game Land
6pm – Yonge-Dundas Square
Because Nick’s a great drummer

King Khan and The Shrines
NXNE Club Land
8:30pm Doors – The Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen Street West
Remember when he played bass for GZA at NXNE 2009? Maybe GZA will play bass for him.

http://nxne.com/

NXNE Daily Tip Sheet – Day 3 – Guest Appearance by Mayor John Tory

NXNE DAILY TIP SHEET
Wednesday, June 15

 

 
WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE, HEAR & DO

FUTURE LAND

Keynote address by Nolan Bushnell, Founder of Atari
10am – Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas Street West
Nolan Bushnell will share his insights about gaming, share behind the scene stories of his iconic career, and talk about what it takes to find and nurture creative people to drive gaming into the future.

Mayor John Tory introduces the Designing the Future session
4pm – Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas Street West
Designing the Future will feature the best in the Toronto video game industry discussing ways to encourage, support and challenge today’s game creators and entrepreneurs.

CLUB LAND

The Joy Formidable at The Mod Club
7:30pm Doors – 722 College Street

TUNS at The Garrison
8pm Doors – 1197 Dundas Street West
Kiwi Jr, Only Yours, and TUNS featuring members of Sloan, Super Friendz and Inbreds

BEST PICKS

Master Class in Storytelling and Game Development: Narrative open world from The Division
NXNE Future Land
3:10pm – Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas Street West

shy kids at The Silver Dollar Room
NXNE Club Land
10pm set time – 486 Spadina Avenue

http://nxne.com/

Warpaint at NXNE 2015

Watching a band like Warpaint live brings all of your solitary iPod and at home listening to their music together.  It’s overwhelming, stunning and transcendental.  Warpaint was (hands down) the highlight of NXNE 2015.

Adelaide Hall in Toronto was to capacity last night.  The audience was there to witness Warpaint in the best intimate space in the city of the moment.  As I looked around the space, people danced to tunes like ‘Love is to Die’, ‘Elephants’, ‘Composure’, ‘Disco//Very-Keep it Healthy’.  They were ‘feeling it’.  It was worth the wait.  Smiles, laughter, high fiving neighbours and all the while inhaling the effervescent groove being laid down by Emily, Jenny Lee, Stella and Theresa.

If you weren’t dancing during the girls set or at least swaying to (as their Facebook page describes) – ‘smooth and smoky’ grooves, you weren’t doing it right.  Why even bother taking up the space?  Adelaide Hall had to turn away folks who arrived last minute  – Warpaint is now a hot ticket.

Warpaint formed in Los Angeles on Valentine’s Day 2004. The original lineup consisted of childhood friends Theresa Wayman and Emily Kokal alongside sisters Shannyn Sossamon and Jenny Lee Lindberg. The band played in the Los Angeles area for three years, writing songs (“Stars”, “Beetles”, and “Elephants”) which would eventually comprise their debut EP.

Warpaint’s Rough Trade Sessions is a must have for any music fan.  It’s full of stripped down nuances you may miss during their live shows.  It goes by too quickly when you see them live as evidenced last night.  Sometimes you want the cake’s sweetness to last forever and it doesn’t.  You need a take home.

NME has described their style as “Intermittently emerging from plaintive moods into harder rocking, they play expansive, lushly-harmonic psych-rock songs with enough time-changes to satisfy even the most beardy prog-rock bong-tokers.”

Warpaint’s sounds familiar.  Is that why we like them?  Perhaps, but that said, their sound fits perfectly into the fabric of our daily listening.  It’s effortless, sombre interludes, ache filling, reggae tones, a deep rock underbelly and anthem swooning.  Their music taps into thoughts, feelings and physical tension that we may have buried or have a hard time communicating.

NXNE 2015 did right in presenting Warpaint last night.  They embody NXNE’s spirit.  As they continue to climb and provide eager audiences with music that is genuinely poetically transformative – take the time to see them when they come to your town and reflect on their musical message.  You will be changed.

Check out Thirty Four Flavour’s Facebook Page for Exclusive Video captured at their NXNE Adelaide Hall performance.  https://www.facebook.com/thirtyfourflavours?ref=bookmarks

http://www.nxne.com

San Fermin at NXNE 2015

Grandiose, surprising and positively ambitious eight piece ensemble.

http://www.nxne.com

Cathedrals at NXNE 2015

A kaleidoscope of dreamy electronics, colours and sounds.

http://www.nxne.com

A Place To Bury Strangers at NXNE 2015

Loud, uncompromising live show sand seemingly oxymoronic carefully composed post-punk.

http://www.nxne.com

Odonis Odonis at NXNE 2015

A Toronto trio switching their sounds between lo-fi, industrial and haze.

http://www.nxne.com