Canadian Music Week And Fest: What To See
Posted March 11, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It’s really more like a long weekend.
A smattering of shows Wednesday and Sunday and three days in between crammed with a near absurd amount of music and music-related activities.
- Maybe that’s why the concert side of the beast known as CMW is riding under the moniker Canadian Music Fest this year. Or maybe not, but either way it’s probably worth making an appearance.
This year’s numbers (to say nothing of the awards, conference and film festival: A March 11-15 run that features around 500 artists at something like 50 venues across Toronto. Daunting figures to be sure.
So say you’re heading out. Here are a few of the directions you may want to go (in absolutely no order).
- $100
Thursday, 9:20pm – Horseshoe Tavern
Alt-country excellence with a local twist. Keep selling out shows for some reason.Malajube
Thursday, 12am – El Mocambo
It’s as pointless to try and sum up the Montreal outfit’s sound as it is trying to find someone who saw them put on a bad show.Arkells
Friday, 7pm – Mod Club & Saturday, Canadian Room @ The Royal York
If you haven’t already seen these guys, get’r done before it’ll cost $45 and a trip the Kool Haus. -
Arkells at The Phoenix in November.
- Young Rival
Saturday, 11pm – El Mocambo
Kinks-like licks and plenty of British Invasion-style swagger to swing your bangs to. Highly recommended. - Dinosaur Bones
Friday, 8:30 – Horseshoe Tavern
Way under the radar, this is exactly the kind of stylized introspective sound people love to say they loved first.Dutchess Says
Thursday, 9pm – El Mocambo
Plenty of hype around a no-wave dance freakout live show that (apparently) involves a unique taste for multi-media. - Hollerado
Friday, 11pm – Sneaky Dee’s
Fresh off one impressive tour, these guys are much too much fun not to see if you missed them the last four times they played Sneaky’s. -
Hollerado invites fans on stage at Sneaky Dee’s on Feb. 19.
- Priestess
Friday, 12am – Sneaky Dee’s
Lots of guitar played hard and fast. If you’re there for Hollerdo, stay. - A-Trak
Friday, Circa Main Room
No, Kanye won’t be there. But maybe you should be? - Ok City Ok
Friday, 10pm – Rok Boutique
Bit of a wild card. Japanese band with an American ex-pat up front. Strong, short songs and stretched guitar fuzz made them a quiet hit at last year’s fest. - The Hoa Hoa’s
Saturday 12am – Silver Dollar
Psych-shoe gazer locals known to wail out a legion. -
The Hoa Hoa’s at the Canadian Corps Legion Hall in February.
- We Are The Take
Thursday, 9pm – Lee’s Palace
Who knew guitars and piano worked so well together? Buzz abound. - Candy Coated Killahz
Friday, 12:45am – Wrongbar
Name aside, it’s an easy act to swallow if electro-rap “danthems” (dance anthems?) are your flavour. - Colin Munroe
Friday, 12am – El Mocambo
Super eclectic, self-proclaimed “Unsung Hero” working with producer Dallas Austin. -
Colin Munroe outside The Boat in Kensington Market, December.
- Down With Webster
Friday, 9:25pm – Sound Academy
Self-dubbed “a boy band that’s actually a band.” It works. Instrumentation and lyricism are genuine and well-put together and the guys are fun to watch. - The D’Urbervilles
Friday, 1am – Silver Dollar
Like an Interpol album produced by Springsteen. Well, maybe not just yet but still.Library Voices
Saturday, 10pm – El Mocambo
Regina 10-piece with all kinds of pop going pop. -
Members of Library Voices chow down at Shanghai Cowgirl before a November show.
- Inward Eye
Wednesday, 11pm – Tattoo Rock Parlour
Three brothers from Winnipeg who listened to a lot British music made in the late 1970s. And then some Green Day. - Naughty By Nature
Thursday, Main Room – Circa
Just in case you were between the ages 12 and 20 in 1992. - Everything All The Time
Wednesday, 10pm – Gladstone
Synth group with more plug-ins than any power source should be supporting at once. - Foxfire Forest
Wednesday, 11pm – Gladstone
Loads of good looking people and hipster hype. - Famous
Thursday, Circa
Most people will head down for Naughty By Nature, but The Kid is one of Toronto’s top emcees. Check the Juno nod and Ellen, call him back already. -
Famous in his Toronto apartment, November.
Sinkin’ Ships
Saturday, 10pm – Bovine Sex Club
Hardcore heroes proud to call themselves Toronto punk rock. - GrimSkunk
Friday, 12am – Bovine Sex Club
Montreal ska-punk legends still having a go.Red Bull Thre3 Style National Final
Friday, Main Room – Circa
The winner is crowned Canada’s most versatile party rocker.White Cowbell Oklahoma
Friday, 11pm – Lee’s Palace
Hilariously wretched live shows that people can’t seem to get enough of. - Gentleman Reg
Thursday, 11pm – Horseshoe Tavern
Arts & Crafts indie vet dripping with credibility and bodied by a brand new disc. -
Gentleman Reg browses the racks at Soundscapes before a February in-store.
- Songs From A Room
Wednesday, 10:30pm – Tattoo Rock Parlour & Saturday, 2am – Bovine Sex Club
New Dine Alone Digital act defines itself as, “bursts of energy from a screaming organ (breathing) a vintage tone to the mix while splashes of piano bring pop to grainy melodies.”The Golden Dogs
Saturday, 12:10pm – Horseshoe Tavern
Routinely credited with writing some of Canada’s sweetest pop songs. - The Ting Tings
Saturday, 8:30pm – Mod Club
It’ll be like a real, live iPod ad! - We Are Wolves
Thursday, 11:45pm – El Mocambo & Friday 10pm – Kool Haus (w/ Bloc Party)
“A post-punk landscape with analogue trees,” they say. Admirably keeping feet moving in both camps. - Machetes
Thursday, 2am – Bovine Sex Club
As though Siouxsie Sioux and Billy Idol had four daughters who love The Donnas and shredding instruments. -
Machetes guitarist Alana T. Devee during a February set at the Canadian Corps Legion Hall.
- More on artists, times, places and all other things CMW
All photos by Aaron Miller, CityNews.ca
