In past years, I’ve been all over NXNE, meticulously seeking out the heavy rock bands on the lineup with a finely-tuned metal detector, then hopping from venue to venue in pursuit of the almighty riff. But this year, I just said “Fuck it.” When the only metal band on the marquee is Protest the Hero (ugh), I figured it wasn’t worth the effort to trawl through the muck to find something that doesn’t suck. Did I mention that this year’s edition is sponsored by The Edge?
That’s not to say I haven’t been out and about this week, though. I actually just got back from Seattle on Monday, where I caught the last date on the Church of Misery/Hail! Hornet/Gates of Slumber tour. Aside from the headliner being sold out of t-shirts and LPs, it was a great gig. I also saw Witch Mountain, Blood Ceremony and Castle on Wednesday, a bill that simply slaughtered all those indie rockers. And on Thursday, I had a drunk old time catching up with my longtime acquaintances in Sin Dealer (they were in-studio for the last-ever episode of Smokin’ Green) on the occasion of their latest CD release. Man, I gotta learn to start declining some of those free drink tickets…
In any case, I had enough of an eventful week that I was content to stay home last nite and watch Calgary beat Edmonton in preseason CFL action, a sign of things to come, I’m sure. Tonite, well, if I can’t come to the phone, it’s cuz I’m eating corn chips and masturbating (and maybe rewatching Hard Core Logo). But tomorrow, I’ll be taking my passless ass down to The Garrison, and you should too, if you’re too busy Keeping Up with the Kardashians...
Although not a member of the Kardashian klan, Nadja is rich in sound textures, creating a swirling, psychedelic, shoegazey take on drone doom. Though they once called Toronto home, they haven’t been here since they fucked off to Berlin a couple years back, where they’ve been touring across the old continent and cranking out albums at an alarming rate. Personally, I haven’t even seen ’em since ’08 when they headlined a Smokin’ Green fundraiser gig at the ElMo. Chances are I won’t even recognize anything in their repertoire tomorrow–and I could really care less. Bring earplugs and and an open mind, and you won’t be disappointed.
According to The Garrison’s website, Nadja goes on at 11, and there’s another band after them at midnite. Sucks to be that band.
NXNE & CROSSWIRES present Breezes, Nadja, Picastro and Black Paradise @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St W, Sunday, June 17th. Individual gig cover charge not listed–probably like 10 bucks?
