This week the North by Northeast Music Festival and Conference wallops the city of Toronto! From Thursday to Saturday venues all over the city will host mainly Indie groups trying to break it, but with some notable groups thrown in there as well. More than 40 venues across the city - bars, clubs, Dundas Square, Union Station, and yes even 2 of the Airport Terminals! - are ready to receive the musicians. The bigger names offsetting the enormous Indie influx this year are Sloan, Teenage Head, Ill Scarlett, Moneen, and New Odds for example! (think “The Odds” from back in the ‘90’s, then switch up I think 2 band members). Anyways if you’re around the city it will likely be hard to ignore what's going on, but if you’re interested never hurts supporting local talent. In my opinion definitely worth checking out!
But one event that caught my eye was the Second Annual NXNE Soccer Match, hosted at BMO Field. While far from top flight competition - it's actually musicians versus members of the media - it raises money for Right to Play, so it's there for a good cause. The game starts 2:00pm on Sunday, cost on entry is based on donation. If you're in the mood for catching another game at BMO Field this weekend, might be something worth checking out!
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Who has better match fitness, a musician or a journalist?
I'll put my money on the wing back from Chatelaine.
A sports writer??? Yeah, bet on the musician.
Anyway...
I once saw 3/4 of the band James play at NXNE in a vanity project - It was a kind of rave thing (it was the late 90s. You had to be there.). About halfway through they started to chastise the crowd because we weren't dancing. NXNE is funny.
The crowd wasn't dancing? Are you sure you were in Toronto, not Ottawa?
I've heard people testify that they've been at shows in Ottawa where people behind them yelled at them to sit down.
Of course Neate. Federal Public servants seldom get up out of their chairs. Ottawa sports crowds tend to be quiet also. You learn to keep a low profile when in the PS. It carries over to other facets of life too.
Although we are not all Public Servants , you should have been in Ottawa long enough to know that the PS culture still dominates. Makes Ottawa unlike the others, for better or worse.
There's more ... someone once told me that he was at one concert where the people behind him left and said, "Thanks for ruining it for us!" because they wouldn't sit down.
I thought that was extremely restrained even by Ottawa standards.
(At least they don't boo when the pitcher gives up a hit to the first batter of the game, like they do in Toronto.)
Ottawa sports crowds can be dire.
At Scotiabank, the rigid ushering policies ("Please don't lean forward!"), police clampdowns on tailgaiting, bland waiting room-style florescent lighting, and its long distance from the downtown core make regular season Sens games the pits. Everyone would rather sit on their hands after the intro music and mildly applaud a goal. Not that I've heard that a Leaf game is more exciting... Montreal is where it's at.
Ottawa gigs are pretty tame too unless you get a good act in a small venue. Bluesfest though is getting more and more wild by the year. Must the fold-up chair crowd getting pushed around.
*Must be. I really need to proof.
I'm interested of how the concerts at Terminals 1 and 3 at Pearson Airport go over - I mean how would you react if you got off the plan in Cancun and all of a sudden had to go thru a mosh pit to get your luggage? :)
Or, how would you react if you went to a concert and upon leaving you realize that you owe $2,763 for parking....
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