The Pizza Underground on the MiO Squirtcar

I arrived early at Dufferin and Queen where other wristband-clad folks were also wandering around trying to figure out how to get on the MiO Squirtcar. A redesigned Queen Street streetcar and official NXNE venue, the Squirtcar was set to host The Pizza Underground, among other bands. There was construction at the stop and no sign of NXNE. About 30 minutes before the show was supposed to start, an NXNE representative arrived and led us a block east to a stop at Queen and Gladstone because there was “more space.” The car arrived, filled up, and people had to climb onto seats. The majority of spectators couldn’t see more than the back of the person in front of them’s head.

The show started off with bad German accents and jokes, with band members dressed like the Velvet Underground and someone in the back as Andy Warhol. As advertised, their repertoire was poorly covered Velvet Underground songs rewritten to incorporate pizza themes into the lyrics. It was both really fun and extremely bizarre, especially to behold on a streetcar. About halfway through the ride, pizza arrived, making the streetcar feel even more like a profoundly weird party with not-so-great music, but a fun vibe and free food.

Sleigh Bells at Yonge-Dundas Square

One of the best things about the MiO Squirtcar is that it drops you off decently close to Yonge-Dundas Square (YDS), so I hustled to get there for the Sleigh Bells show. The square was strangely not crowded for a free headliner show. It was easy to get to the front of the stage and the energy in the crowd was low throughout the show. I ended up leaving early to run over to the Horseshoe Tavern.

Throwback Thursday night at the Horeshoe

The Budweiser Music House at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern was hosting a Throwback Thursday night, which included 1980s beer prices ($3.00 for a bottle of Budweiser), free t-shirt giveaways, and country/folk-based ensembles. I arrived halfway through the Lindi Ortega, Harlan Pepper, and Lee Harvey Osmond set. Osmond had his long hair and beard whipping back and forth as he tore up the stage like the veteran he is. Although the three acts seemed out of place with one another, it felt just right when they were harmonizing and supporting one another.

Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo fame played alongside Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland of husband and wife duo Whitehorse. As the band set up, I overheard a number of people saying, “This is why I came to NXNE.” Jim Cuddy entered with a smile on his face and the crowd got giddy. He has serious charisma and has aged very, very well. The set weaved from Blue Rodeo songs to Whitehorse hits seamlessly, and the audience ate it up. When Doucet introduced a song off of Whitehorse’s upcoming album, he referenced his pregnant wife and said, “It’s going to be a very sexy record as you can see.”

The set felt like watching a bunch of immensely talented friends jamming together. It was nearly seamless, but also heavily improvised. Cuddy finished off the set with “Till I am Myself Again,” and the audience could not get enough. When the group began to walk off stage, the audience begged for an encore, which was promptly provided. As Cuddy himself put it: “What a band, what a band.”

— India McAllister
 
 
Danny Brown at YDS

Arriving at YDS Thursday afternoon, I first saw Odonis Odonis, a band that really gets into their music. While they had great charisma and clearly enjoyed themselves, YDS is a hard venue to pull off and I think that the size of the venue diminished their performance. They aren’t a band that puts on a big show; they’re raw and let the music speak for itself, which isn’t tailored to the headliner stage at YDS.

#vscocam Odonis Odonis at #NXNE2014 #varsitynxne

Up next was Golden Teacher. Admittedly, I’ve never listened to Golden Teacher, but NXNE being a festival of discovery, and I was interested to see the kind of show they would put on. Their dancers were high energy and worked very well with the music. The drumming in particular was incredible. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by what they had to offer.

Danny Brown is, in my opinion, the ambassador of “keeping it real.” I love Danny Brown and, after seeing his set at YDS, I might love him more. He’s so high energy and he does what he wants — like holding his crotch nearly the entire set.
I was surprised at how tame the set was considering the occasionally weird stuff that happens at his shows. The crowd was also extremely tame considering the energy Danny was putting into the show. While I was still happy with his performance, I wished that I could have had the true Danny Brown experience.

tUnEyArDs at Massey Hall

Shortly after, I made my way over to Massey Hall to see tUnE-yArDs. Merrill Garbus, the mastermind behind tUnE-yArDs , is a mind-blowing musician. She mostly plays percussion during her sets, but she can play everything from the fiddle to the ukulele. Garbus is quirky, charming, and wonderful to watch. She manifests her comfortable, free-spirited nature to create music that at first glance sounds simplistic, but contains complex percussion arrangements that no one can pull off better.

Her last album, Nikki Nack, was the primary subject of her set, but she also performed favourites from w h o k i l l, like “Gangsta.” Everyone was up and dancing in their seats and in the aisles, transforming Massey Hall’s usually formal setting into a giant dance party.

—Ayla Shiblaq
 

NXNE in review: Wednesday, Friday