{"id":9148,"date":"2014-06-24T21:19:46","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T21:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=9148"},"modified":"2014-06-24T21:19:46","modified_gmt":"2014-06-24T21:19:46","slug":"nxne-week-of-music-wraps-up-exhaustion-ensues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2014\/06\/24\/nxne-week-of-music-wraps-up-exhaustion-ensues\/","title":{"rendered":"NXNE :: Week of music wraps up, exhaustion ensues"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ALVVAYS<\/a>
ALVVAYS @ NXNE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

words & pics by Matt Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n

The buzz. Oh god, the buzz. It might never go away. The idea of seeing more than seven shows a night sounds amazing until you realize, \u201cWait. I didn\u2019t bring ear plugs. How could I not bring ear plugs?\u201d I\u2019ve never really worn ear plugs, being a stubborn idiot and all. So, no matter where I ended up, I was caught with the buzz. The same buzz that has followed me since I was a youngster in a loud band. The familiar buzz that comes along with, you know \u2013 seeing great live music. Like when you walk out of a venue wonky with sea legs it was so good. And you just had<\/em> to stand right beside the speakers.<\/p>\n

So, Wednesday. Amos The Transparent blew the roof off the Rivoli. I remember being confused that this band has been around so long and isn\u2019t gigantic. They are real blue collar badass foot-stomping music. You should listen to them, but even more so, you should see them live. If you like live music and you never see this band, you might\u2019ve made a mistake somewhere along the way. I also saw Low, but they are slow and I was impatient about wanting to sleep. So, Low sounds great, but maybe not when you\u2019re pretty far from home and it\u2019s already very late.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Wet Secrets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I feel it\u2019s appropriate to say Jim Cuddy is the George Clooney of Canadian music. I caught him with Whitehorse on Thursday and he is one of those performers who just never gets old. The whole band railed through a version of \u201c5 Days In May\u201d that will forever be the best version of that song I\u2019ve ever heard. Luke Doucet is a monster of a guitar player. He is really so good that it\u2019s unfair for other guitar players. I skipped out of that halfway through, though, to catch the Wet Secrets from Edmonton <\/a>at the Rivoli. This band \u2013 and I don\u2019t say this lightly \u2013 should be the next big Canadian band. If Arcade Fire is our generation\u2019s Wayne Gretzky, the Wet Secrets is Sidney Crosby. And they have the greatest band name ever. This band should be talked about. Loud. They were easily a highlight of this festival. It\u2019s a shame they only had one show.<\/p>\n

On Friday I made a couple mistakes and a few big wins. I visited the incomparable Manitoba Music BBQ \u2013 seriously, no other province does something this great at NXNE every year \u2013 and drank moderately. Then I went home. And I made it to my photo pit\u00a0 stuff at Yonge-Dundas and saw Swans and St. Vincent from a vantage where I could pretty much high-five them. But, you know what? YDS is a bust. There\u2019s really nothing that compares to the little bar shows. Of course, you can\u2019t see an artist \u2013 artist in the truest sense of the word \u2013 like St. Vincent in a tiny bar. For a second, you might think that would be cool, but it wouldn\u2019t be. She should exist among the biggest lights and weirdest props imaginable.<\/p>\n

\"St<\/a>
St Vincent<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, back to the Horseshoe. Speedy Ortiz and Swearin\u2019 were fantastic, the welcome pop brutality that I had been waiting for all weekend. The mistake after this, though, was that my friend Alex invited me to his hotel room for a drink. Those drinks became, well, many drinks. He\u2019s a hard person to say no to, and I didn\u2019t fight that hard. Of course, that made it tough to really appreciate Spoon at the Horseshoe later, but they sounded good.<\/p>\n

\"bidini\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday was special. Instead of wandering around with a beer, I camped out at the front of the stage for Bidiniband and Joel Plaskett. It was probably one of the best decisions I ever made, as both bands threw out sets that every other Canadian musician would be jealous of. Bidini is already a great writer and speaker. Pushed through the vessel of the Bidiniband it becomes that much more powerful. It doesn\u2019t hurt that he was flanked by some of Canada\u2019s best musicians. Also, they played \u201cHorses.\u201d Holy Mackinaw Joe.<\/p>\n

\"Joel<\/a>
Joel Plaskett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And then Joel Plaskett. Plaskett is a special type of musician. He has the ability to make all your worries fade away. I\u2019ve seen him probably five times or more (if you count Thrush Hermit), and every show I come away excited that music is capable of creating this feeling \u2013 a feeling so good that you\u2019re not sure how a guitar player and singer could make it happen to you. There are few groups that can do this, but Winnipeg has at least one \u2013 The Lytics.<\/p>\n