NXNE ’09: Picks and Best Bets

Well, this is what I came up with. Might edit this over the week though, stay tuned.

Click the artist links below to see what we’ve written about these bands.

Wednesday, June 17th:

Not the biggest night for music, but a couple things going on. NXNE holds its launch party at The Church at Berkeley. The Courthouse houses Arts & Crafts day one (featuring Stuart Berman’s This Book Is Broken book launch, Apostle Of Hustle, Charles Spearin‘s Happiness Project, Years, Jason Collett and very special guests). Actually, both Arts & Crafts nights (also one on Thursday night) have special guests headlining. My guess is Stills and Broken Social Scene. Just not sure which on which night. Would make sense for BSS to end up on the book launch night?

Finally, The Drake has the City Sonic launch. City Sonic is a series of stories about extraordinary artists shot in places where their musical lives were transformed. This series features artists such as Brian Borcherdt (talking about Sneaky Dee’s), Justin Rutledge (about The Cameron House), and the Cancer Bats (talking about the Adrift Clubhouse). Their launch party is tomorrow night at The Drake. Live screenings, bands performing (Woodhands, Lioness, D’Urbervilles), DJs and probably a pretty awesome night. More info here or here.

Thursday, June 18th:

Mardeen. Rivoli. 9PM.

The So So Glos. Sneaky Dees. 10PM.

Built By Snow. The Boat. 11pm. Have been looking forward to seeing this ’80s inspired band from Texas for a while now.

Amos The Transparent. The Drake Hotel (Underground). Midnight.

The Darcys. Clintons. Midnight.

Elephant Stone. Supermarket. Midnight.

Green Go. El Mocambo (Down). 1AM.

Venue Best Bets. The Courthouse (Timber Timbre, Zeus, Still Life Still, special guest headliner), Sunrise Records (during the afternoon, check out Dinosaur Bones, The Coast and Amos The Transparent at 5pm, 6pm and 7pm respectively) and Wrongbar (for the Fuzzy Logic Showcase featuring Dat Politics, Gravity Wave, Peter Project). Head here to download a Fuzzy Logic sampler of the artists playing.

Friday, June 19th:

Green Go. Mill St. Brewpub Daystage. 3:00 PM-3:40 PM.

In-Flight Safety. Yonge Dundas Square. 7:45 PM-8:25 PM. Check out the video for Actors.

Matt and Kim. Whippersnapper Gallery. 8PM. Will they be performing naked?

Wintersleep. Yonge Dundas Square. 9:45 PM-11:00 PM.

Band of Skulls. Mod Club Theatre. 9PM. Really looking forward to checking out this British band. They play twice during the festival, probably busier shows to go see. Get there early. Check out ‘I Know What I Am‘.

Brent Randall and his Pinecones. Cameron House. 9PM.

French Horn Rebellion. Whippersnapper Gallery. 9PM.

Dinosaur Bones. The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. 11PM

Change of Heart. The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. Midnight. Wow, this one should be interesting. Haven’t seen this band’s name in the listings for a really long time, hope the reunion goes well.

The Coast. Dakota Tavern. Midnight.

The Magic. Reverb. Midnight.

Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees. The Drake Hotel (Underground). Midnight.

Black Diamond Bay. The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. 1AM.

Burn Planetarium. Rancho Relaxo. 1AM. Perhaps on my third attempt to see this band I’ll make it there in time.

Matt and Kim. Wrongbar. 1AM.

Venue Best Bets: Try Supermarket for The Nevado Records showcase (featuring Bahamas, Bass Lions, The Paint Movement and Fox Jaws) or Preloved for the Paper Bag Records Party (with performances by Slim Twig and new signing Little Girls). see flyer.

Saturday, June 20th:

The British Columbians. El Mocambo (Down). 8PM.

Young Rival. El Mocambo (Down). 9PM.

Caledonia. Bread and Circus. 10PM.

DD/MM/YYYY. The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern. 10PM.

Julie Fader. Whippersnapper Gallery. 10PM.

Band of Skulls. El Mocambo (Down). 11PM.

By Divine Right. Whippersnapper Gallery. 11PM.

Hopeful Monster. NOW Lounge. 11PM.

Brian Borcherdt. Whippersnapper Gallery. 12AM.

Emma-Lee. Bread and Circus. 12AM.

In-Flight Safety. El Mocambo (Down). 12AM.

Venue Best Bet: During the day, head to the Six Shooter Records backlot bar-b-que. 1118 Queen St East, 2pm-6pm. On this night, its always either the Horseshoe, Lees Palace or The El Mocambo.

Sunday, June 21st:

NXNE Closing party at Rancho Relaxo. Looking forward to Mardeen at 9pm, Brent Randall at 10pm and Dan Griffin & The Regrets at 11pm.

Things to take note of:

–YDS. The lineups for the Yonge and Dundas square performances look pretty solid. Thursday will see The Black Lips headline with Burning Brides and Melissa Auf Der Maur, Friday has Wintersleep with In Flight Safety and The Cliks. Saturday has The Sonics play with Japanther and Crystal Antlers while Sunday is all about GZA and The Cool Kids.

–The Secret Sessions. Meant to mention this before, but it fits pretty well here in this NXNE post. The Secret Sessions are a series of live performances at The Audio Recording Academy (TARA) on saturdays, featuring a pretty great lineup of indie bands. The video and audio from these performances are free on their website, last week The Ghost Is Dancing dropped in for a session. This saturday has Holler, Wild Rose!, The Paint Movement and Josh Reichman all performing. Check it out if you can (rsvp required, info here).

-Can’t make it out to see some of these NXNE shows? With the help of SyncLive.com, NXNE is webcasting from a few select venues. I can’t vouch for the picture or sound, but it might just feel like being there. Check that out here.