Familiarize Yourself

Day 2 of our NXNE adventure comes on the back of a night with no sleep. How we managed to watch live music until 3am I still am not sure – maybe it was the coffee? Maybe it was the pure enjoyment of just being out in a foreign city enjoying fresh, new artists I have never seen before.

Downtown Toronto reminds me a of a mini-NYC with the jumbotrons and all the advertisements covering every inch of exposed building space. Right in the center at Younge & Dondas Square is the Myspace.com stage. This stage is free and open to the public, so it always seems to have the largest crowds stopping by to watch the live music. The Black Lips graced the stage at an early 9pm and instantly began rockin’ the show. I was not familiar with the band beforehand, so I was surprised when their live show channeled classic rock and punk-rock bands of the 1970s. The crowd was into their whole performance, and at one point a group of girls jumped onto the stage and were allowed to stay. The band then invited more people up on the stage – to securities dismay -and continued playing with the back-up dancers from the crowd.

Our next adventure was over to the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern to catch King Kahn and the BBQ Show’s set. My friend and fellow traveler Ayisha mentioned in the car this was an act we had to see live. When we arrived the venue had a capacity of about 300 people, and it was already well packed in with people. The act before King Khan – The United Steel Workers of Montreal - had the crowd singing and drinking when we entered the venue. The standup bass, pompadours, and button-up shirts with overalls gave the band a 50′s country-rock feel that adding to the experience of their live show. The United Steel Workers of Montreal is a live show I recommend, even though we only caught half the set – I am ready to go out and purchase their music. Check them out if you are looking for a different genre outside of your comfort zone.

The United Steel Workers of Montreal

Back to King Khan & the BBQ Show. The crowd was intense as the fans switched out from The United Steel Workers of Montreal. If you are not familiar with King Khan, which I was not, it is  an experience worth checking out if he is in your area. King Khan dresses up in full Indian garb and rocks out with his electric guitar sending the crowd into a punk-rock frenzy. The show had an intense amount of energy, and left everyone a sweaty mess once the last power-chord was played and the show ended.