During Canadian Music Week 2012 we asked our Senior Editor Steve Mallinson to give our readers some recommendations for the rock gigs most likely to entertain and thus “Steve’s Picks” was born. Steve returns once again with “Steve’s Picks for NXNE”. This is your definitive guide to rock music at NXNE 2012.
June 11 2012 – 780 bands at NXNE. Wow, how to decide who to see? Well, really there’s only one way. You have to go through them all, one at at time, research them, read about them, listen to them, watch them if possible. OK, this is a rock blog, so we can safely remove the Country or Folk categories, but that still leaves several hundred bands. The task is daunting and frankly we don’t expect many people will have the time or the inclination to do it, so we’ve done it for you. You’re welcome.
The accompanying schedule is the T-Mak World NXNE Recommendations. The first thing you’ll notice is there’s still far more bands listed than anyone can possibly see. In general, the first one in any time slot is our primary choice and the one we’ll attend first, but we recognize people may not want to jump around as much as we will. They’ll want to hit one or two places a night, maybe around their own neighbourhood. Hence we’ve provided some options.
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| Click here to Download our complete recommendation list |
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| Rise For Order play NXNE on Wednesday June 13 |
Wednesday June 13 2012
8 pm: Start with Avery Island playing at The Painted Lady.
9 pm: Steve Hill, a blues rocker from Montreal at the Horseshoe or The Aves from Australia at The Painted Lady.
10 pm: Animal Talk from Boston at The Painted Lady.
11 pm: There’s too much choice at 11 on Wednesday take your pick from The One-Look Donnybrook at The Hideout playing blues grunge rock. Also interesting is boogie-woogie, garage-blues band Hotel Royal from Whitby playing Rancho Relaxo. Pop-punks from Halifax, the Cold Warps and The Parkdale Hookers from Toronto make interesting options and Toronto metal band Rise For Order, a band profiled by T-Mak World, is definitely the choice for those looking for the heavy option.
12 am: Toronto’s The Histrionics. Other options are Hellbros, a “punk-metal” band from Ottawa, Bronx Cheerleeder sounds very interesting as does FIRExFIRE, upstairs at the El Mo.
1 am: Bella Clava, who we profiled at T-Mak World, is a “Must See” show at the Bovine. Fortunately, it’s a short walk to The Hideout where our friends from Ottawa, Wise Young & King (whom we also interviewed) are playing. Always a treat to catch these guys live. We can also recommend The Folk at The Piston.
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| Filligar play NXNE on Thursday June 14 2012 |
Thursday June 14 2012
8 pm: Boxer the House upstairs at the El Mo at 8pm and The Standstills at The Hideout
9 pm: One more “Must See” band profiled by T-Mak World, Filligar from Chicago is at the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom. Other interesting options at 9pm are Montreal metal band, Dance Laury Dance at Lee’s Palace and the Black Owls at The Hideout.
10 pm: Crooked Valentine is a great female fronted kick ass metal band that treated us to a free show at Cherry Cola’s last week. Other very worthy options are Ocasin, Jet Black, Soft Copy and The Lad Classic (check the schedule for those).
11 pm: We’ll be headed to Rancho Relaxo to see Papermaps and also upstairs at the El Mo will see The Ascot Royals.
12 am: The Hideout features 20 Amp Soundcloud and The Garrison has The Black Belles, a goth girl band from Nashville.
1am: Montreal’s Nash rocks the Dakota Tavern. If you missed it on Wednesday go to The Hideout to catch Steve Hill.
2am: Bright Light Social Hour from Austin, Texas at the Horseshoe or for those looking for metal can try Sneaky Dee’s to see Montreal’s Dance Laury Dance.
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| TimeGiant play NXNE on Friday June 15 2012 |
Friday June 15 2012
9 pm: The night starts out at Cadillac Lounge for The Unquiet Dead for some Band-esque folk/roots blues, then up to the Mod Club on College for Die Mannequin at 9pm. 9pm Friday is a very busy time slot. Secret Broadcast (profiled for NXNE here) is playing upstairs at the El Mo, Cousin is downstairs, DZ Deathrays is at Wrongbar and 2:54 is playing Lee’s Palace. Matthew Good goes on at Yonge Dundas Square at 9:30pm.
10 pm: “Must See” heavyweights and our pick for best gig of Canadian Music Week, TimeGiant is playing The Supermarket at 10pm. There are a few other decent options at 10pm, but frankly if you miss TimeGiant, you’re making a mistake as their entertaining brand of classic rock is guaranteed to entertain. Read our review of their last Toronto gig here
11 pm: Another “Must See” is The Blue Stones at The Sister at 11 pm.They aren’t the Black Keys but they are The Blue Stones and we profiled them here.
12 am: More great options at midnight, we’ll be splitting time between The Boxing Lesson (profiled here) at the Bovine and Darlings of Chelsea (profiled here) at the Hideout.
1 am: Another slot packed with options so take your pick. Bella Clava is playing the Hideout, Mary Rose Obsession is at the Rivoli, Stolenowners are at the Velvet Underground and SUMO CYCO are at the Bovine and finally Future History is at the Cameron House.
2 am: Sara Johnston at the Rochester and No Sinner at The Horseshoe
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| Conveyor play NXNE on Saturday June 16 2012 |
Saturday June 16th 2012
Yonge Dundas Square is an alternative to the clubs. At 5pm Hollerado is playing followed by Oberhofer from Brooklyn at 6pm. At 7pm it’s of Montreal from Athens, Georgia. Portugal. The Man is on at 8pm and the headliner of the whole NXNE the incredible Flaming Lips are on at 9pm.
8 pm: Dead Messenger is at Hideout and The Redmond Berry‘s are at the Silver Dollar, both from Montreal
9 pm: The choice is between Poor Young Things at the Horseshoe or Bzaryn at Sneaky Dee’s. Vancouver’s Mobina Galore at the Detour Bar or MPG (My Pet Genius) are also good options.
10 pm: The Honeyrunners are at The Supermarket and other good options are Conveyor (profiled here) from NYC at C’est What or The Dying Arts at Rancho Relaxo.
11 pm: Black Wing Halo from NYC at The Hideout or Sara Johnston at the Rivoli if you missed her on Friday night.
12 am: Little Foot Long Foot, one of our “Must See” rated shows. However, Limblifter is on the main floor at the El Mo.
1 am: WAZU is like a goth Depeche Mode at The Painted Lady. Peter Kernel from Switzerland is at the Rochester.
2 am: Elos Arma at Cameron House, Shawn Brady at The Sister or Fast Romantics at the Horseshoe are all great choices
3 am: Closing out Saturday night is The Mad Ones at the Horseshoe if you missed them on Friday night when you were at The Sister to see The Blue Stones.
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| The Blue Stones play NXNE |
Sunday June 17, 2012
ZZZZZ…..We’ll be sleeping on Sunday, so you’re on your own.
Download the full PDF of recommendations here.
Verdict: While T-Mak World endorses everyone in the Recommended List, there can only be a few “Must See” rated shows and here are our 5 choices:
Wednesday, 1am – Bella Clava at the Bovine Sex Club
Thursday, 9pm – Filligar at the Gladstone Hotel Ballroom
Friday, 10pm – TimeGiant at The Supermarket
Friday, 11pm – The Blue Stones at The Sister
Saturday, 12am – Little Foot Long Foot at the Bovine Sex Club
We’d love to hear from you. Did we miss any great bands? It’s likely. Some might have slipped through the cracks. Leave a comment below if you think there’s another band we shouldn’t miss.
Article by: Steve Mallinson
Edited by: Terry Makedon
Thanks so much for this article this is totally great!