andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Last Thursday, on the official opening day of the 2006 North by Northeast festival in Toronto, dozens of members of the Canadian music industry gathered for the first NXNE Town Hall.

Panelists at the event included the likes of MuchMusic vice-president David Kines, Edge 102’s Alan Cross, Barenaked Ladies’ Steven Page, and Swollen Members’ Prevail, in addition to more than two dozen reps from labels, broadcasters and funding organizations.

But the upcoming three days of music, conferences and other events would merely be an afterthought in the discussion.

Instead, host Terry McBride (founder and CEO of Nettwerk Productions) had a different agenda for the industry meeting; he wanted to try and form an image of how the Canadian music industry might look four years down the road. There was just one catch: panelists and question-askers had to speak as though it was actually 2010.

“The Olympics are in Vancouver. American Idol is in its 8th season, and Clive Davis is still around,” joked McBride. “I’ll only interrupt to stop people from fighting or talking like it’s 2006.”

The foundation of the afternoon’s discussion was based on McBride’s prediction that, in four years, the music business will have grown to be a $34 billion per year industry ? with $8 billion of that comprised of revenues from mobile digital music.

According to both Kines and Cross, the digital revolution will mean that content on music television and radio will be programmed democratically by the fans.

“[Radio] will be much more responsive to our audiences,” said Cross. “And the Cancon debate has completely gone away because everything is driven by the consumer rather than any regulatory body.”

Kines agreed, suggesting that the future of MuchMusic will look something like a round-the-clock MuchOnDemand Vote-a-Matic.

“I just uploaded eight gigabytes of information to the MuchMusic web site,” he said, playing into McBride’s futuristic setup, “where viewers can go on and pick and choose exactly what they want to see.”

Of course, the music downloading debate was also brought up, but no panelist was too eager to address the controversial topic. McBride himself had to make an educated guess as to the future effect of downloading on the industry.

“Prime Minister Steven Page put a $5 toll on all mobile and cable bills,” he said, playing on an ongoing joke that Page would enter the world of politics with the NDP. “Because there’s been a lot of free content for a lot of time, but ‘free’ takes time and ‘free’ takes money. Our business should grow on all levels: major labels, indie labels, artists, songwriters. And every time we’ve blocked technology, when we finally relent, we grow.”

The talk of technological changes also extended to artists themselves. With the focus on audience control, many panelists predicted that the role of promotions ? traditionally taken on by outlets like radio and television ? would increasingly become the sole responsibility of the artist.

The prediction worried at least one musician in attendance. He asked the congregation of insiders how they think bands could survive if they don’t happen to have the financial flexibility or technological know-how needed to promote themselves in a solely web-based industry.

“Buy a van,” answered Page, likely the most experienced touring musician in the room. “As new and emerging artists get shuffled to the bottom of the deck, artists are still filling venues without the traditional channels of marketing. The best marketing is your band and your music.”

And if NXNE is still around come 2010, bands with a van will still have a worthwhile destination on their map.

North by Northeast is huge. I’m talking size-of-Canada big. But instead of endless kilometers of rocky wilderness and rolling prairies, it’s filled with scraggly musicians, overeager photographers and a few too many pompous industry reps.

The primary part of the Toronto festival took place over three days (June 8-10). More than 400 bands played in 33 different venues, in addition to conferences, celebrity interviews, workshops and film screenings. And here I am, one lowly andPOP writer, entrusted with documenting NXNE 2006.

Because I (sadly) have no superhuman powers, my day-by-day writings will only give you a teasing taste of what this massive event has to offer. Hopefully, for those of you in Toronto, you managed to check out some NXNE performances yourself. And for those of you in the rest of the country, great independent music is never too hard to find. Get out and support it.

Here’s how things went down in my North by Northeast 2006 experience:

Day One ? Thursday, June 8

I started off the festival with a visit to the first-ever NXNE Industry Town Hall. The event was held at a swanky club/lounge called the State Theatre, which is pretty much the classiest venue used by NXNE (a good thing, if you ask me). It brought together representatives from all facets of the music business with artists like Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies and Prevail of Swollen Members. The theme of the Town Hall was a discussion of how the Canadian music industry might look in 2010. Some pretty interesting topics came up, and some pretty funny jokes were made. Check out andPOP’s full coverage of the event.

After a few hours of down-time, I headed out to commence three days of club coverage. And what better place to start than at everyone’s favourite Portuguese-restaurant-turned-indie-hotspot, The Boat? This nautical-themed venue on the second floor of a Kensington Market building was made to look like a ship’s lower deck, complete with mirrored portholes and walls curved like a hull. Tonight it was hosting the MapleMusic showcase.

First on the bill was Born Ruffians of Midland, ON. Known for starting off their performances in a huddle, the young band delivered a rousing set of meandering foot-stompers that hit somewhere between Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and local rockers Tangiers. The Ruffians definitely have a solid sound, but need to develop a consistently energetic stage presence; a strong start and finish is all well and good, but audiences can get lost if you turn down the heat in the middle.

I quickly departed The Boat and bicycled through Chinatown towards Queen Street’s Horseshoe Tavern. Taking the stage as I arrived was Victoria, BC’s Jets Overhead. Their blend of dream-pop and classic rock was quite listenable, but the high amount of musically unsuitable rock posturing from the band’s front-man made them fairly unwatchable.

With the rest of the night’s lineup at the ‘Shoe looking less than stellar, I returned to The Boat and settled in for good. First up was killthelights, a five-piece group from Montreal and Toronto. Their distinctly ’80s-influenced sound has great urgency and depth, coming across like a less flamboyant Stellastarr*. The fact that they’d sold out of copies of their debut CD, “winter asthmatics,” suggests this band has a bright future (despite their name).

Next up was a set from The Adam Brown, one of the most hotly anticipated acts of the night at any venue. This Montreal band doesn’t just create soulful, country-inspired guitar rock ? they bring a party along with it. The drum riser was less than a foot off the ground, but their guitarist was launching himself off of it; their bassist was often either dancing with the crowd or playing on his knees; and front-man Adam Brown actually played a Flying V like a lap slide guitar. Definitely a strong performance from this band, who hopefully retain their live energy on disc.

Closing out the night was Guelph, ON-based insane-o outfit We’re Marching On. The last time I saw this band play, it was to a packed basement at a house show here in Toronto. In a proper venue, though, without kids pounding the ceiling in time to the music and singing at the tops of their lungs, something gets lost between band and audience. They still play wild, rambunctious, nonsensical indie songs, but without a fully co-operative audience, their energy seems somewhat isolated. Still, this is a band to be experienced, and hopefully new audiences will soon start joining in.

Day Two ? Friday, June 9

Not only does NXNE showcase up-and-coming performers, it also gives attendees the chance to check out more established acts on the same bills. Tonight, I set out to see Amy Millan (of the Broken Social Scene and Stars) headline at the Reverb. The next day, she’d be playing a sold out show at the much-larger Mod Club Theatre, so I wanted to catch her performance while I could. Needless to say, many other music lovers in the city had the same plan.

I got to the venue early and grabbed a decent spot, as the room was already filling quickly. I’d missed the first act of the evening, but arrived in time to catch Melissa McClelland’s performance. She sounds a bit like Patti Smith, but wielding an acoustic guitar in a dress and heels. Despite some decent songwriting, though, McClelland’s lounge-rock sound isn’t quite unique enough to be memorable.

The next timeslot was filled by singer-songwriter Jason Falkner, formerly of psychedelia-tinged indie groups Jellyfish and the Three O’Clock. He’s a captivating storyteller with a poppy yet mature, and sometimes bluesy, sound. His acoustic set was very well received, with a number of audience members cheering song intros and singing along. Falkner’s definitely broken away from his former bands, and has clearly forged a solid solo career for himself over the past 10 or so years.

However, the evening’s acoustic theme was soon put on hold by Toronto’s Femme Generation. With keyboards, cowbells and party favours, the band played an enjoyably loud collection of tracks with a distinct Talking Heads influence. By the end of their set, they were splayed out in a confetti-covered heap, keyboards overturned and guitars buzzing. It was a welcome jolt to a laidback evening from one of the city’s liveliest acts.

But I was also just fine with Amy Millan bringing things back down. With a new solo album, the Montreal-based singer is finally able to fully display her songwriting skills and strong voice. Millan’s acoustic performance revealed her new country-ish sound, which perfectly compliments the liquor-and-lovin’ subject matter she seems to favour. A highlight of the evening came when she was joined onstage by fellow Social Scene member Kevin Drew for a sing-a-long. If you enjoy Millan’s work with BSS or Stars, her new album (”Honey from the Tombs”) is definitely a disc to check out.

Though I was already content with seeing a couple great bands tonight, I trekked north to the Comfort Zone to check out one of the most talked about performers of the festival: King Khan & His Shrines. As an indication of their draw, the band had performances booked on all three nights of the festival. I soon found out why. Led by Khan, an Indian soul machine originally from Montreal, the Berlin, Germany-based group blasted through an hour and fifteen minutes (including an encore) of crazed, funky R&B delight. With a horn section and a go-go dancer/cheerleader, King Khan put on the best show of the festival hands-down. I just hope the man starts to spend some more time in Canada so I can experience this insanity again!

Day Three ? Saturday, June 10

One of the great things about this festival is that much of the action takes place in a fairly central core area. Tonight, the last night of NXNE, I took advantage of that situation by splitting my time between three different venues, all within a 30-second walk of one another.

I began my evening at the El Mocambo, which was hosting the showcase by Rogers, NXNE’s primary corporate sponsor. What a depressing schmoozefest. It seemed as though much of the audience was more interested in booze and prominently displaying their delegate passes than actually watching any bands.

Because of a late arrival, I only caught the last couple songs from the night’s first act, Clothes Make the Man. The Toronto-based group played some fairly straightforward guitar-driven rock, with rough vocals and good energy. From what I saw, they’re a tight band, but the sound is absolutely nothing new.

In search of something a little bit different, I headed over to the Comfort Zone hoping to stumble across a surprise as pleasant as last night’s King Khan performance. I was quickly disappointed once Pride Tiger took the stage. Hailing from Vancouver, this incredibly derivative heavy rock band played Sabbath and Zeppelin-inspired tunes with shoddy, tired guitar solos and grating volume. It was the only time throughout the three days that I left in the middle of a performance.

When I took a quick jaunt around the corner to The Bagel, I found that “something different” I was looking for earlier ? though that didn’t mean it was actually good. The band playing was Dayton, OH’s My Latex Brain. Two-thirds of the middle-aged trio looked like they’d just come out of their basement after a long D&D session, while the other member (and front-man) looked like The Used’s Bert McCracken plus twenty years or so. Their blend of prog-speed-metal ? with annoying, indiscernible vocals ? was atrocious. And, unfortunately, they lacked any hint of the irony needed to even make this performance amusing.

Next up was fellow Ohioans, Mr. Gnome. The two piece act from Cleveland features a drummer and a tiny, fragile-looking girl on guitars and vocals who sounds nothing like she appears. They come across like a lo-fi Tool, with long, trippy epics and low, dark vocals. Having listened to a couple of their album tracks before the show, it’s clear that the band greatly benefits from the inherently forgiving nature of studio recording; their performance was quite raw (a bad sound mix didn’t help either), but with more work, Mr. Gnome will hopefully begin to convey their talent in a live setting.

I headed back to the El Mocambo in time for a performance by the elusive Noah’s Arkweld. Fronted by mastering engineer extraordinaire and former hHead member Noah Mintz, the band plays sporadically and with a constantly rotating lineup. Tonight, guests in Mintz’s band included ex-hHead partner and current Broken Social Scene member Brendan Canning, singer-songwriter Howie Beck, and Can-folk hero Hayden. Despite the logistical mess of changing musicians between songs like the cast of a play, Mintz pulled off some captivating performances of his largely acoustic-based indie rock. Also notable was a lyrically-minimal, electro-heavy track featuring Mintz and local band The Exchanges. There are few things funnier than a set of unkempt rockers randomly plunking away at synthesizers and drum machines.

The last performance of the evening (and, for me, the festival) went to the Burning Brides from Philadelphia, PA. Their intense, riff-laden stoner rock puts them in the company of groups like Queens of the Stone Age or Screaming Trees. With an imposing presence, guitarist/vocalist Dimitri Coats and bassist Melanie Campbell aggressively take up any empty room on the stage. Add in the band’s crushing volume and you’ve got an engaging yet commanding hard rock performance. It was a great end to three days of venue-hopping and nearly non-stop music (some good, some not). And not even the stubborn ringing in my ears can keep me from getting some sorely needed sleep tonight.