Farewell NXNE 2008; Just 12 Months to NXNE 2009 !

I hope you all enjoyed NXNE 2008 as much as I did. Actually, now is a good time to take a few notes based on a "post mortem" analysis. Did it work out the way you planned? Did you see enough great acts to offset the lame ones? Was getting around a problem?

I think you get the idea. Tucking away a few notes now for next year's event will help you plan the next one better.

Here are some of my "after thoughts" to give you an idea of how I'll be adjusting my planning for 2009...

• Thursday - Spent the full evening at The Dakota. It had a great line-up, but it's not easy to have a Plan B when the club is fairly isolated from the rest. I got lucky this time, but I'm not sure I'd gamble on something like that again.
  
  The Swallows @ The Dakota
  
  
• Friday - Picked the Spadina/College cluster of venues. Started with Bird Week (Toronto) and OK City OK (Tokyo) at silver Dollar, then slid over to Rancho Relaxo for The Gin Riots (London, UK). Had planned to see Moneem at El Mo next, but it was pouring rain and there was a line-up. Decided to get even wetter by jogging to Bathurst for the next couple acts at Sneaky Dee's.... Young & Sexy (Vancouver), The Pack AD (Vancouver) and Hot Springs (Montreal). A great mix of talent, and the only downer was the downpour of rain.
  
  The Gin Riots @ Rancho Relaxo
  
  
  
  
  Hot Springs @ Sneaky Dee's
  
  
  
• Saturday afternoon - Six Shooter BBQ out on Queen East 2-6pm. Always a great time with free food, cheap beer and 8-10 acts on their backyard stage. Not officially a part of NXNE, but a not to be missed event. (Separate post coming on that on, since it's a festival within the festival.)
  
  Hawksley Workman @ Six Shooter BBQ
  
  
  
  
• Saturday night - Started at the same Spadina/College hub of clubs as Thursday night. Aussie band lineup at Rancho Relaxo, Montreal lineup at Silver Dollar and a side-trip to Neutral Lounge for Kim Bingham's Kamikaze Pilot... great show, but an empty club, since it's hard to find and the name seems to change yearly. Both the Aussie bands and the Montreal groups were disappointing.
  
  
  King Bingham & Kamikaza Pilot @ Neutral Lounge
  

Net out for the three days... great Thursday (although risky), great Friday (although wet!), awesome Saturday afternoon, and a mediocre Saturday night (except for Kamikaze Pilot).

Regrets... should have spent at least one night in the Spadina/Queen W cluster or the Bathurst/Queen W group of clubs, instead of two nights at Spadina/College. Not a big deal, but something for me to think about for next time.

If you want to share your experiences, feel free to comment here, send an email, or point us to your own online coverage.