Austinist on the Road: NXNE Recap [Days Two & Three]

Our evening, which ended with us seeing one act each in five different clubs (very SXSW-esque!), started at the Panache showcase at Sneaky Dee's. Georgia's The Coathangers will be performing at The Mohawk in Austin in July and if spastic post-punk complete with screeching vocals is your cup of tea, you best not miss this show. The four members switched up instruments a number of times, shared vocal duties throughout, and howled and yowled through half hour of frenzied punk ditties. While The Coathangers induced the crowd to just plain rock out and even headbang, California's Mika Miko had the audience dancing and head bobbing side to side with an equally frenetic but at tad more cohesive set of punk rock at Lee's Palace. There was a hint of Beauty Bar at the next venue, Wrongbar, where we took in still more raucousness courtesy of New York's Japanther. We had enjoyed the duo's set at Mess With Texas at SXSW this year; the band did not disappoint this evening either, blending assorted samples into short dance-punk ditties and duly paving the way for some of the most enthusiastic crowd-surfing we had witnessed in quite sometime. Drummer Ian Vanek was a constant source of hilarious banter in between songs -- "I feel sorry for famous people, I love being underground" and "We'll go to outer space, maybe there's magic..do you believe in magic?" were just two of the random quotes we jotted down but the biggest response came from ramblings like "I'm married to rock 'n' roll and I'm never getting a divorce" and especially when bassist Matt Reilly had the crowd chanting "I believe in rock 'n' roll."

Still coming to terms with what had just hit us at Wrongbar, we moved on to the Cadillac Lounge for The Jimmy Bowskill Band. Based on Bowskill's six-string wizardry and the very astute blues-rock generated by the trio this evening, this act would feel right at home at Antone's. Although "The Caddy" was but a block away from Wrongbar, we couldn't help but wonder if we had been transported to a different part of town as the band tore through one sizzling blues jam after another with minimal banter between songs. And if the crowd at this club was worlds apart from the previous, our final destination of the night, underground at The Drake Hotel, took us somewhere in The Warehouse District in Austin, with the DJ crew of Rollin' and Scratchin' furnishing the dark and PDA friendly basement with perpetual dance fodder. By this point, the falafal joint nearby was calling our name.

Although the rain was back on day three of NXNE in Toronto, it didn’t dampen our spirits and we started our day at the Trade Show at the Hyatt Regency. Canadian act Fox Jaws furnished the soundtrack via the NXPO Day Stage as we chatted with the SXSW folks in town. Other entities with booths included Moog Audio, Yamaha Tenori-On, and AUX: Real Music Television. There was also a healthy poster display, not too dissimilar from our city’s Flatstock, but in comparison to South by, the number of booths was fairly modest. Legendary Tacoma band The Sonics was the highlight of our evening schedule. They took the stage around 9:30 p.m. at Yonge Dundas Square to a huge ovation and commended the crowd on staying through the drizzle to catch their set. “Thanks for hanging with us in the rain, we’re gonna play everything we’ve got,” assured singer & keyboardist Gerry Roslie before the band launched into over an hour of rock ‘n’ roll to satisfy their eager audience.

The Sonics put out a handful of inventive, influential records in the 60’s and could be considered a tad under-appreciated when you assess the history and influence of bands from that era. Although we had to wrestle through many an umbrella to get a good view, it was well worth it, allowing us to enjoy covers of “Money (That’s What I Want)” and “Have Love, Will Travel,” along with Sonic anthems like “You've Got Your Head On Backwards” and “The Hustler.” The evening’s performance brought to light Roslie’s amazing, powerful voice, saxophonist (and occasional harmonica-ist) Rob Lind’s evident skill, and the band’s penchant for catchy riffs. Both saxophonist Lind and bassist Andy Parypa expertly took on vocal duties for a few songs as well. After seeing this blistering set, we were definitely left wondering why The Sonics never attained the success that their talent merits.

Our last night in Toronto was abbreviated due to an early flight back to Austin on Sunday. Still, we managed to take in Band of Skulls’ riff-rock stylings downstairs at El Mocambo. There was quite a buzz about this London band all weekend and it was plain to see why. The band’s crunching sound falls somewhere between sludgy blues-metal and radio-ready rock and their slowed down jams especially were brilliantly executed. Our NXNE experience ended at Sneaky Dee’s with fuzzed out electro-pop from Cold Cave and streams of shimmering psychedelia from Crystal Antlers. Despite being a lot smaller in scope than SXSW, NXNE definitely held its own in terms of providing the residents of Toronto and visitors like us plenty of opportunities to indulge and immerse ourselves in all things music. Sure, there wasn’t the ridiculous amount of day shows, but a handful of late night parties and the fact that most clubs hosted after hours shows till 4 a.m. ensured a reasonably comparable hour by hour evening schedule at NXNE. The festival can hold its head high, as, in accordance with its mantra, music did take over, if only for a few days.