Comedian Everardo Ramirez did us a solid and documented his North by Northeast experience. Dan Deacon, Toronto hospitality and amazing, life-giving water. What a killer combo.
NXNE
NXNE Day 3: METZ and The Men
I’ll try and keep this one short because I know you get bored easily and breakfast is calling my name. After biking nearly 15K on Thursday night we decided to stick at one venue the next night. First we met up with some familiar faces at the Exclaim!/Jagermeister BBQ, where free samples were indeed offered […]
NXNE Day 3: The Anti-NXNE Day
So yesterday kind of became the anti-NXNE day (sorry, festival organizers). First off, England was facing Sweden, so there was no way I was going to miss that. So after about four hours of watching the game at The Duke of York and eating a pretty hefty meal of bangers and mash (England!!!) I headed […]
NXNE Day 2: Puffy Shoes
Woke up on Thursday feeling a little fuzzy, but there was another Cold Warps show at 2pm so there was no time to dither around, moaning. We headed down to JangBang Bar and Grill, a tiny little spot that serves Korean tacos. There we sat in a fog of booze sweat and found a clutch […]
NXNE Day 1
Hey guys! I’m doing some NXNE stuff and blogging about it right here. This is my first NXNE EVER so I have no idea what I’m doing. I guess the purpose of the blog is for you to learn from my mistakes. A really good thing to do before you attend a big multi-day festival […]
NXNE day 1: Sweating to the oldies with Wilson, Hatfield, Dando
Proving that you can never fully leave The Coast or Halifax, I’m back blogging NXNE in Toronto. It’s kind of like when you watch the TV credits and there’s a “Special Guest Appearance by “insert D-lister name here.” The kid actor whose name you can’t remember, but the face looks a little familiar, only puffier. […]
The Coast does NXNE day three: Neutral Uke Hotel, Golden Dogs, By Divine Right, Rich Aucoin, White Cowbell Oklahoma
“I’m over music.” Those are the words of Renata Axler, a card-carrying member of Neon Windbreaker, who’s joined myself and Marianne Madeline Lau, our gutsy photographer, for most of our NXNE journey. Yes, we’re coming off a 12-hour, 12+ drink day, but with the aid of a few electrolyte beverages and espresso shots, we’re back […]
The Coast does NXNE day two: Elliott Brood, Besnard Lakes, Walter Schreifels, Neon Windbreaker
Marianne Madeline Lau Walter Schreifels @ The Bovine Sex Club I’ll admit it: I’m still a little shell-shocked after seeing Walter Schreifels perform last night. Whether via straight-edge pioneers Gorilla Biscuits, the metallic muscle of Quicksand, the grungy indie of Rival Schools or the 60s pop of Walking Concert, Schreifels has been informing my musical […]
The Coast does NXNE day one: The Grass, Wayfarer and Cavaliers
“Good things are coming our way,” sang Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Rival Schools) last night. He wasn’t lying, but more on him in a future post. I’m writing today from the patio of a Queen street coffee shop at the beginning of day three. My hair’s quietly forming into gross dread-y clumps, I’m covered in cat hair from couch surfing and my shirt still smells like stale booze. I’m not quite Alison Lang at Bonnaroo, but after two long, long nights, we’re getting there. So it begins. After picking up my press lanyard, I scoop up scrappy, talented local photographer
The Coast does NXNE: A preview
This ain’t Toronto, or at least not the Toronto I remember. There’s a chain link fence cordoning off a large swath of the downtown core. Kites and radio-controlled aircraft, I’m told, are strictly forbidden. Poorly-marked CCTV cameras track every movement south of bustling Queen Street. Two-week summer condo sublets cost roughly $8,400. And there are […]

