Familiarize Yourself

Our final day in Toronto was rainy, cold, and gray. The weather made it the perfect day to swing by the NXNE film festival and catch some artistic, independent music films. Located just around the corner from the home base of North By Northeast, the NFB (National Film Board) of Toronto was one of the theaters hosting the screenings throughout the week.

The first film of the day was called – “The Briefs – The Greatest Story Ever Told.” The film walked us through the formation, career, and current placement of the Briefs and included personal interviews and live footage provided by the band. This film is great for people who are not familiar with the Briefs.

Catch the trailer here:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQxGYLdsILI&hl=en&fs=1&]

Read more about Day 4 under the cut

Once the rain cleared up, we spent part of the day exploring the city and then headed back over to the NFB for the film “I Need That Record! The Death (or possible survival) of the Independent Record Store” As a former independent record store employee, I was intrigued by the title, and was very excited for this premiere screening in Toronto. The turnout was huge and the NFB ended up using two separate theaters for the film to cater to the large audience that showed up. Chicago locals working for Bloodshot Records and Reckless Records made appearances in the film as they added interesting viewpoints and quotes about the current state of the recording industry. The film was filled with facts about record sales and store closings, interviews with record store owners across the United States, and great footage that covered everything from interviews about the digital revolution, to the day a popular local record store was shutting its doors. “I Need That Record!” ended on a positive note as it explored the continuously growing market of vinyl records, leaving the viewers with some hope about a future for the independent record store.

The whole North By Northeast experience came to a close at one of my favorite venues in Toronto, Lee’s Palace. My favorite part of this conference was seeing all of the different clubs, bars, and galleries that were holding the music showcases. I first heard of the Burning Brides from Los Angeles, CA on a mix CD I was given my freshman year of college. The song was extremely catchy and still remains one of the top songs on my ipod three years later. When I saw the Burning Brides were playing a showcase at NXNE(1 of 4 shows they played in three days), I knew we had to check them out. The band is made up of three members, the husband and wife duo who play guitar and bass, and a drummer that has rotated out over the past 10 years they have been a band. The only female in the group, the bass player, rocked harder than any of the boys on stage – and that was very difficult because the band puts on a killer live show.

The Burning Brides live show was a great way to end my North By Northeast experience, and the conference as a whole was a blast. I would recommend it to anyone open and looking to discover new music they may not be familiar with, I have a list of artists we just did not have time to see to check out for future shows, so stay tuned for future FYW posts with NXNE artists.