Elizabeth Haq and Nick Gergesha kick off a week of showcases at two popular Queen West venues. Check back for daily coverage of the hippest bands and hottest shows at this year’s festival.
After the Smoke @ Wrongbar
After the Smoke took the Wrongbar stage at midnight on a Wednesday night; not exactly the ideal time for a rap-rager. I didn’t think it’d be a problem. I was looking forward to zoning out to the Tallahassee natives’ downtempo tracks like “One in a Million” and “$$$$,” music tailor-made for doja and summer nights. The pair of MCs yelled their way through a few songs, completely suffocating the atmospheric beats and effortless delivery dominant in their catalogue. They were obviously desperate to engage the meagre crowd, a formidable challenge given the underground hip hop paradox of boasting your superiority to a room full of people who barely know who you are. I totally sympathize with that, but I missed the clarity and precision of their SoundCloud page and feel like they didn’t do enough to transition their stellar material from recorded genius to compelling live show. —EH
Deniro Farrar @ Wrongbar
Deniro Farrar took the stage after the smoke cleared. You’ll be happy to hear that the North Carolina rapper is no J. Cole. He declined the DJ’s introduction, instead planting himself in the middle of the stage and pouring out a powerful, rhythmic tirade, denouncing all the “p*ssy ass n*ggas” in rap today. He ripped his shirt off, revealing a heavily tattooed upper body, and began riding a string of scuzzy, bass-heavy beats with the command and aggression of a much more experienced MC. Farrar blends flat-out Freddie Gibbs violence with a studied, UGK-y ostentation, and he managed to keep the crowd going the entire time. Look out for this one. —EH
Catch him again @ Wrongbar on Saturday, June 15 at 12 am and @ Yonge-Dundas Square on Sunday, June 16 at 4 pm.
Milk Music @ The Shop under Parts & Labour
Milk Music. CAROLYN LEVETT/THE VARSITY
Olympia, Washington’s Milk Music have cultivated a loyal following based on their riff heavy, classic rock indebted sound. They take the heaviest parts of Black Sabbath, the unearthly fuzz of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky,” and a heaping dose of their fellow statesmen Mudhoney, and distill it to its most potent form. What results is usually a groggy (yet remarkably consistent) ode to the best parts of both ’70s classic rock and ’90s grunge.
When MM toured Toronto at the end of 2012 with Iceage, they were fun and loose. Last night at Parts & Labour, it took them a little longer to hit their stride. The band started promisingly enough with the familiar introduction to the upbeat “Out Of My World,” but the song then spiraled into a near-endless jam of the same three-chord passage. However, things soon picked up and the crowd got moving, demonstrating a promising, if not remarkably executed, “jammier” live show for the band. —NG
Merchandise (secret guest) @ The Shop under Parts & Labour
“You can dance or you can stand still like a dork,” Merchandise vocalist Carson Cox told the audience in between sips of a stiff drink. “It’s still my birthday and we’re gonna have fun.” The Tampa Bay, Florida post-punk outfit was The Shop under Parts & Labour’s “Secret Guest” on NXNE’s first night, a secret not very well kept judging by the size of the crowd.
The increasingly (and deservedly) popular group nixed their usual drum machine in favour of a live banger. This, alongside guitarist David Vassalotti’s pulsing and creative leads, brought a noticeably different vibe and energy to their jagged (but never robotic) instrumental accompaniments. Standouts included “In Nightmare Room,” of which the drum tracking on the Children of Desire LP recalls the industrial rhythms of New Order, and the now-classic “I Locked The Door.” By the end of the night the room was a sweaty mess, a sea of bodies recovering from the push and shove of the crowd. —NG
