NXNE is Underway!!!
Well, I hope you folks didn't burn out after the first great evening of NXNE entertainment last night.
Although I generally seek out talent that I haven't seen before at NXNE, I opted for the alt-country/folk-rock themed evening at Lee's Palace. It featured Canada's best... Oh Susanna, Kathleen Edwards, Jim Bryson, Justin Rutledge, Ron Sexsmith, Luke Doucet & Melissa McLelland and Blue Rodeo.
I took just one break from acoustica at 11pm and when I wandered down to Sneaky Dee's for The Ghost is Dancing (photo below).
This 8 member group from here in TO bills themselves as "an indie pop conglomeration". That they are, but that doesn't say much about their music. I generally sensed an Arcade Fire vibe. When they weren't playing they were holding their arms straight up. I never did figure what that was all about.
After that set it was back to Lee's Palace and Justin Rutledge, followed by Toronto's infamous baby-faced old man of the folk-rock circuit... Ron Sexsmith (below).
What can I say? He's an awesome singer/songwriter, and so polished that he makes it look effortless.
Luke Doucet was up next with his stunningly beautiful wife, Melissa McLelland. Having seen them perform independently, I didn't see much overlap in styles, but they pulled it off nicely last night.. alternating the lead vocals.
I believe this couple spends most of their time in Nashville these days, which could explain Luke's hat.
And, who would have ever guessed that Blue Rodeo would grace a NXNE stage at this point in their careers? (Jim... tuck your shirt in!)
The "after-hours" gigs (rare in the past) are popping up at about 1/2 dozen clubs this year. Most are TBA, but this one wasn't. Blue Rodeo came on stage at about 3am and played until 4:30am. I didn't wait for an encore, since I could picture 500 people leaving all at once to fight over the 3 cabs that were still driving through that area at 5am.
The club was packed solid right up until the end. That's the way NXNE should be!
Although I generally seek out talent that I haven't seen before at NXNE, I opted for the alt-country/folk-rock themed evening at Lee's Palace. It featured Canada's best... Oh Susanna, Kathleen Edwards, Jim Bryson, Justin Rutledge, Ron Sexsmith, Luke Doucet & Melissa McLelland and Blue Rodeo.
I took just one break from acoustica at 11pm and when I wandered down to Sneaky Dee's for The Ghost is Dancing (photo below).
This 8 member group from here in TO bills themselves as "an indie pop conglomeration". That they are, but that doesn't say much about their music. I generally sensed an Arcade Fire vibe. When they weren't playing they were holding their arms straight up. I never did figure what that was all about.
After that set it was back to Lee's Palace and Justin Rutledge, followed by Toronto's infamous baby-faced old man of the folk-rock circuit... Ron Sexsmith (below).
What can I say? He's an awesome singer/songwriter, and so polished that he makes it look effortless.
Luke Doucet was up next with his stunningly beautiful wife, Melissa McLelland. Having seen them perform independently, I didn't see much overlap in styles, but they pulled it off nicely last night.. alternating the lead vocals.
I believe this couple spends most of their time in Nashville these days, which could explain Luke's hat.
And, who would have ever guessed that Blue Rodeo would grace a NXNE stage at this point in their careers? (Jim... tuck your shirt in!)
The "after-hours" gigs (rare in the past) are popping up at about 1/2 dozen clubs this year. Most are TBA, but this one wasn't. Blue Rodeo came on stage at about 3am and played until 4:30am. I didn't wait for an encore, since I could picture 500 people leaving all at once to fight over the 3 cabs that were still driving through that area at 5am.
The club was packed solid right up until the end. That's the way NXNE should be!
posted by Charles Whaley at Friday, June 08, 2007
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