Although the final day of the fest was short on free pizza, NXNE ended on a high note:

Foxes In Fiction — Studio 407

CHARTattack, a group of friendly music bloggers based in Toronto, set up an unofficial NXNE showcase at Studio 407 for the final day of the fest. Free pizza and beer (surprise surprise, the pizza ran out before the first act!) helped the audience endure the oddly intense humidity that marked Sunday afternoon. Warren Hildebrand, the Foxes in Fiction frontman and Toronto native, opened the showcase with his soft and cavernous dream synths. Hildebrand himself admitted that studio shows are usually hit and miss, and was incredibly modest about his performance, which he handled beautifully in this unfamiliar environment. Hilderbrand played the ever-memorable “15 Ativan” and smoothly transitioned into other favourites, some of which were slightly reworked during the live performance in order to maximize listening pleasure. –DL

 

Action Bronson — Yonge-Dundas Square

Action Bronson’s set at the Drake on Saturday night was so packed that even the festival’s priority pass-holders and designated tweeters had difficulty getting in. Fans had a second chance to see the NY rapper (and chef) at Yonge and Dundas during the festival’s closing show on Sunday. Opening for Ghostface Killah and Raekwon was a fitting placement for Bronson, since his cadence bears a lot of similarity to that of the other two artists.

In contrast to the many rappers who try to beef up their songs with brand-name shout-outs, Bronson peppers his lyrics with references to food for a little flavour. During Sunday’s performance, Bronson gave the audience a taste of his gastronomically-inclined lyrics.  In “Shiraz,” for example, he raps: “Need [knead] the dough like I’m trying to get the bread thin/Tree to make the head spin/Every season play the corner like I’m Revis/Light Caesar, heavy bearded like I’m Jesus.” Though his set was about ten minutes short of its expected run-time, it was well received, and Bronson closed with an encore freestyle from behind the stage. —NW

 

Ghostface Killah and Raekwon — Yonge-Dundas Square

Between this showcase and the Much Music Video Awards, driving anywhere downtown must have been a complete nightmare. Early on in the set, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon announced that there were probably 8,000 people in the audience, but later reports indicated a number closer to 15,000. The Wu-Tang Clan duo treated the packed crowd to some of their new material, along with tracks from their classic album, Enter the Wu. For such prolific artists, the shared set list was pretty thorough, as far as their more current material goes; it included Ghostface’s “Verbal Intercourse”, “Be Easy” and “Ice Cream”, along with some of Raekwon’s Liquid Swords material, and the full-house track, “Triumph.” But the best-received songs were undoubtedly from timeless Wu-Tang records, as the crowd jumped and shouted every word of  “C.R.E.A.M.” and “The Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ to Fuck With.”

The night was particularly memorable for the two fans who were selected from the crowd to perform some verses from “Protect Ya Neck,” in place of absent Wu Tang members Method Man and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Method Man’s son was also in attendance, and performed a verse of his father’s “Shimmy Shimmy Ya.” All in all, the event hit all the major Wu-Tang Clan checklist items, and was an exciting show to bring an end to a great festival. —NW