NXNE has been around for 20 years. It has been able to legally drink in its home city of Toronto for the past two, health capsule yet this was the first I found myself aware of its existence. With a stellar lineup of headliners including big names like Spoon, pill vcialis 40mg Swans, St. Vincent and Mac DeMarco filtered with smaller acts that filled the many venues scattered around the city of Toronto, this was NXNE’s biggest year yet. Read what ruled and what didn’t quite tickle the fancies, and here’s to 20 more years of the festival!

Flip through for a daily recap and photo galleries.

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.

THURSDAY

Every band that played at Virgin Mobile Mod Club

Every now and then a bill comes around that is so stacked you could pee yourself. Hold it in please, because Thursday night at the Virgin Mobile Mod Club was just that with Caddywhompus, Speedy Ortiz, PS I Love You, and Pissed Jeans. It felt weirdly corporate walking into the venue, but I had faith in the night with this lineup. It didn’t let down. New Orleans-based Caddywhompus is a diamond in the rough mixing some gnarly mathy guitars, intricate and non-traditional drumbeats, and beautiful poppy, melodic vocals. They don’t tour through the northeast too often, so don’t sit on it next time they’re in Boston. (The last time they came through was two years ago at the Butcher Shoppe RIP)

Next up was local favorites Speedy Ortiz. What more could I say about this band that I haven’t said already? For one thing, they’re not the types to sit on a record too long, so even though Real Hair EP came out only this past February, they are already performing new material. In fact, this new material might sound familiar to those of you who downloaded our Marathon Relief Mixtape from last year that featured the demo track “Bigger Party.” The band re-recorded it for their Adult Swim single series due out this summer. This was the first time I saw Speedy Ortiz perform with Grass is Green’s Devin McKnight on guitar. Could he live up to the crazy antics of Matt Robidoux? Yes, of course. His stoicism didn’t outweigh the power and noise blasting from his guitar and tracks like “Indoor Soccer” really showed how well he fit right into Speedy Ortiz.

PS I Love You was the most unfamiliar to me of the lineup for the night, but I was alone in this. The Toronto-based heavy, fuzzed-out pop band drew a large crowd to fill the Mod Club. It was so loud that even with earplugs, I had to take some steps back to get away from the PA system.

Nothing could have ended the bill better than Pissed Jeans. Known for their bizarre stage antics, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Lead singer Matt Korvette first informed the audience of a band name change. They were no longer to be referred to as Pissed Jeans. They are now Virgin Mobile Pissed Jeans. Korvette also used the setup of the stage to his advantage, frequently passing over to the curtain on stage right to wipe the sweat off his forehead. His clothes stayed on but barely as he spent a lot of the night tugging down his jeans. The band pulsed through their fast, noisy punk, the hardest sound of the evening, and the crowd reacted as they should by opening a pit and starting shit up. If there were NXNE awards, Virgin Mobile Pissed Jeans would certainly win the award for giving the least amount of fucks.

The Pizza Underground at Lee’s Palace

Do yourself a favor and don’t believe the hype. The Pizza Underground isn’t even worth seeing for the zero dollars spent to watch them pretend to play instruments on the Lee’s Palace stage. I came in mid-set and mid-Billy Joel-themed cat songs with a projector screen and #PUSSYJOEL on it. After a medley of this and a discussion of poop-themed Bob Dylan tunes, The Pizza Underground brought a Kurt Cobain impersonator named Kurt Cobained who sang a medley of Nirvana songs in the past tense. Sadly Kurt Cobained was the most talented of the bunch as he could actually sing and play guitar. The set ended with what I assumed the whole show would be: a pizza-themed medley of Velvet Underground songs. I guess I’m also angry, because I missed all the free pizza handed out at the show.

Shannon and the Clams at Lee’s Palace

After the blasphemy and horror that was The Pizza Underground, nothing could have redeemed it better than a perfect performance from Shannon and the Clams. The San Francisco dance-pop-surf-everything awesome band churned out all the bangerz to a very receptive crowd that erupted in a giant dance party.

FRIDAY

Greys, Benjamin Booker, Viet Cong, Speedy Ortiz, Swearin’, Perfect Pussy and secret guests: Spoon at The Horseshoe Tavern

This was the night that called out to me. This was the show that was most anticipated by everyone I met at the festival. With such a stacked bill and secret guests Spoon topping off the evening, what could possibly go wrong? Probably everything.

It became evident early on in the night that the ‘Shoe was having issues with their vocals. You couldn’t hear anything, especially as the night progressed. Given this, you would think the staff would swoop in and figure out the problem, but they didn’t. The Horseshoe staff themselves were all lovely people, but the NXNE staff they had on hand for the night running stage operations weren’t helpful.

This all culminated in the middle of Perfect Pussy’s set. The band was ripping through their new songs off 2014’s Say Yes to Love with the intensity and rawness of their first tape from 2013. In the middle of one of their last few songs, which in a Perfect Pussy set clocking in at 20 minutes is about half their set time, the bass rig provided by NXNE and used all night by the different bands caught on fire and stopped working. Bassist Greg Ambler tried to signal to the staff that the bass rig blew and nothing was coming out of his instrument yet no one came to the stage to lend a hand. In frustration, he smashed his bass on the stage upon leaving before the last song of the night “Advance Upon the Real,” which was to be performed by only Shaun Sutkus behind the noise spaceship and vocalist Meredith Graves. Sutkus and Graves made it through a good portion of the song before the crowd who arrived early for Spoon got out of hand. In the middle of the performance, screams from the crowd including “you fucking suck” and “get off the stage” erupted, only fueling Graves to continue to perform longer and harder than I’ve ever seen her do. She showed strength and fought against the assholes with her best weapon: her own voice. The NXNE staff asked Sutkus and Graves off the stage, so that they could start setting up for Spoon.

Needless to say, Spoon put on a great performance in a rare intimate setting, but after watching the frustration from some of my favorite up and coming bands all night with the terrible staff and sound quality, I clocked out and stopped paying attention to them a few songs in.

Regardless of sound issues and an unhelpful staff, each band of the night put on a stellar performance and worked with what they had. Benjamin Booker was a surprise to see on the bill, as his sound is quite different from the rest of the bands. It was a pleasant break from the loud rock bands, and his bluesy rock is the most genuine I have heard in a long time. (Take that Black Keys! Ha, get outta here who do you think you are) Viet Cong put out one of the best self-released tapes last year, and 2014 should be a huge year for the Calgary-based, ex-Women band. Their poppy melodies with crazy guitar work led to two broken guitar strings through their set. Both Greys and Speedy Ortiz played different set lists from previous nights’ performances, but they approached them with the same intensity, skill and downright perfection. Swearin’s vocals were particularly lost with the sound issues unfortunately, but the crowd there for Swearin’ couldn’t have cared less and danced their asses off.

SATURDAY

Perfect Pussy at The Great Hall

I returned to The Great Hall for a couple of sets. Perfect Pussy had detoxed from the frustration of the night before to come around and play their set as it should be: loud and relentless. The PA was booming with noise, guitar, a new bass, slamming drums and Graves’ powerful vocals. This venue was perfect for the band with all of the elements beautifully bouncing off the walls straight into the packed crowd at The Great Hall. Nothing caught on fire, and everything was right again.

Frankie Cosmos X2 at The Great Hall and Red Bull Tour Bus

My original plan was to only see Frankie Cosmos at The Great Hall and then head to Mac DeMarco at the main stage downtown, but after hearing about some offensive remarks that made me uncomfortable said by Mac DeMarco on stage the night before, I thought, "fuck Mac DeMarco – Frankie Cosmos forever". The first set was played in almost darkness, and although the vocals were a bit quiet, the crowd eagerly watched the gang of Frankie Cosmos, Ronnie Mystery, David Mystery and Gabby Teardrop play their poppy tunes that make even the most closed-off person feel all kinds of ~feelings~. I trekked downtown after the first set to Ryerson University’s quad, turning the corner to view a large converted tour bus stage setup sponsored by Red Bell. Greta Kline reminded everyone to make sure to drink a Red Bull periodically between songs. The crowd at this show was much more interesting, because the setup of the stage provided foot traffic and curious passersby to stop and look confused. The favorite of which was this one guy smoking a joint who stopped to listen in and decided he liked it enough to stay. The crowd around him enjoyed his inability to understand what was happening in front of him. The set ended with a touching slow dance-along to “Ronnie Ronaldo!” but how could it not with the infamous line “if my butt touched your butt would you be like so what?” I hope our lost and high friend found solitude in the lyrics, longing for the love we all hope to achieve while listening to Frankie Cosmos’ beautiful, sweet tunes.

Swearin’ at Smiling Buddha

Nothing could have capped off my time at NXNE better than a perfect, pop punk set from Swearin’. No one goes harder than this band, and they brought their all to the Smiling Buddha. They busted through songs from 2012’s S/T, 2013’s Surfing Strange and even a tid bit of their original What a Dump tape. Swearin’ is excellent at finding the line between pop, punk and noise and mixing all these elements into music that really could be for anyone. The punks love it. The crusties love it. The poptimists love it. What more could you ask for really?

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