WEDNESDAY

Guerilla Toss at The Great Hall

Music started this day, so it was a slow first night. Luckily there were a few great artists to start NXNE with including Boston’s own Guerilla Toss. After three years of writing for AP, this was my first time seeing G Toss, which was weird given it was in Toronto. They represented our funky music scene here in Boston with a performance filled of audience participation. Audience members were called upon the stage to dance with the band. After two songs, usually-naked-but-not-this-time-around bassist Simon Hanes told the audience members on stage to get off the stage and form a circle around the crowd that chickened out on joining the stage party. They were then instructed to run in a circle counter-clockwise around them for one song. Guerilla Toss did what they do best: put on a very polarizing performance, having fun while making some people uncomfortable. It couldn’t have been more perfect.

Mexican Slang at Smiling Buddha

From there we scooted over to Smiling Buddha, a venue that felt familiar to Great Scott but reflected horizontally. It was hot as balls and filled to the brim with people ranging from media personnel, to other bands playing the festival to eager fans who wanted to soak up some of their favorite local bands. Mexican Slang punched out some fuzzy pop that made it hard to boil down all the pieces. The band was stoic and appeared unenthused, but the audience let it seep in regardless. Also spotted in the crowd during their set was a mysterious pair who looked like Mac DeMarco and Rob Ford. I can’t confirm nor deny Rob Ford, but the Mac DeMarco lookalike was missing that infamous gap-toothed smile.

Greys at Smiling Buddha

If you haven’t listened to Greys’ new LP If Anything, you ain’t anything. It came out the night before this show, so for all intents and purposes, this could have been their release show. Greys mix the grunginess of the past with a loud sound that is very now to put on one hell of a show. To know Greys is to see them live, and luckily this wouldn’t be the only time to catch them at NXNE (or ever, because they play O’Brien’s with Sneeze and The Dirty Nil in August). The biggest props go to Greys for their intro. After setting up all of their equipment, the band left the stage. Immediately, Toronto local band and friends of Greys, The Beverleys came up and popped out two songs. It was a moment not to be forgotten, an assumed response to NXNE’s “radius clause” that had enraged many local Toronto bands and prevented them from performing officially with NXNE. When Greys took back the stage, lead singer Shehzaad Jiwani said into the microphone, “Don’t forget: the music industry works for you. You do not work for the music industry.” It was a slight slap at the festival itself but a well-deserved one for the way it disposed of Toronto bands. Actions like this and a panel later on in the festival about the radius clause, lead the NXNE administration to lift it.