Kurt Cobain – About a Son (2007)

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■ NXNE
North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual music and arts festival held each June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival’s main focus is live music, particularly emerging talent. Acts that have had break out appearances at NXNE at small venues early in their careers include Lizzo, Daniel Caesar, Run the Jewels, The Lumineers, Grimes, Gary Clark Jr., The Arkells, Feist, and Billy Talent.

Here is a Flashback article for NXNE 2011.

Just a brief explanation, but I found lost photos from 2011, via a 2015 backup of Vox (the website before TypePad). The current photos on WordPress are low resolution or thumbnails of NXNE. So, for the first time in over a decade, I am making available high-resolution photos. As I restore and update the old photos, I will also update or replace the photos in the original NXNE postings from 2011.

Going back to 2011, NXNE’s official dates were Wednesday, June 15 and ended on Sunday, June 18th, 2011. We were flying in (very late) Sunday, June 12th, with the hopes of doing touristy stuff on Monday and Tuesday. Flying to Toronto was pretty easy, going through immigration they asked why we were visiting, we said for the NXNE music festival. The young man didn’t know or hadn’t heard of such an event.

So below are first impression and pre-NXNE entry:

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NXNE: Sunday (June 12, 2011)

Monday, 13 June 2011 at 02:25 AM

I’m in Toronto, Canada. I guess this is pre-NXNE, which basically mean I’m going to put up some previews for Monday. NXNE day one starts on Wednesday when registration happens and there are shows/parties.

For Monday, the plan is to get a week Metro pass and hopefully catch the Kurt Cobain documentary About a Son, which is actually playing at 9pm at Toronto Underground Cinema (186 Spadina Ave, M5T 3B2).

Not much else is happening regarding NXNE, oh, there is the NXNE Airport Series, which I missed/did not see Shawn Clarke when I deplaned on Sunday. For Monday, Linda will be performing at 3pm and 5pm at the International Arrivals Hall of Pearson’s Terminal 3. If you’re flying in, you’re in for a treat.

Some NXNE upcoming shows:

Musebox (June 16, 2026)

MUSEBOX

In the meantime, here are some more NXNE spotlight, the first are three Musebox shows.

Wed. June 15: The Painted Lady (218 Ossington Ave.) will play host to the disparate sounds of We’re Not Popstars (1am), King Raam (midnight), Catlow (11pm), Jess Hill (10pm), Mise En Scene (9pm), and Ingrid Gatin (8pm).

Thur. June 16: Loki (577 King St. W.) will see the electronic DJ danceathon courtesy of Prince Club, Poupon, Kill Them With Colour and Wenzell starting at 10pm.

Fri. June 17: The Comfort Zone (486 Spadina Ave.) will rock out with the likes of Heavy Cream (1am), The Hoa Hoas (midnight), My Skin Against Your Skin (11pm), The Vandelles (10pm), The Young Things (9pm), and Little Foot Long Foot (8pm).

You can download a mix tape of all the bands on the bill at soundcloud.com.

Cover lover spotlight:

SHEEZER

It’s about time for an all-girls Weezer band, and it’s pretty awesome that they’re into Pinkerton-era, not post-Green album. They are doing a special Blue album/Pinkerton set at Sneaky Dee’s at 2am on a Friday, June 17th.

I’m so excited, you know as a cover lover and huge early Weezer fan (met Rivers, saw them open up for Lush a long time ago, been a fan since).

Cannot wait to hear a girls version of “Pink Triangle”.

NXNE: Monday (June 13, 2011)

Tuesday, 14 June 2011 at 12:52 AM

I walked all over Toronto today, just to get a good understanding of the layout of the land.

Came into the HMV store on Yonge Street, not really expecting to get anything, but I found these albums, God Help the Girl for a mere $1.99! Could not resist, ended up buying all their stock.

There was a whole stand with section of NXNE artists as soon as you enter HMV, which was nice to see. They’re promoting about a dozen bands, including Stars, and the unfriendly named F*** Up.

Anyway, from there, we headed through Trinity Square Park to discover that NXNE’s banner and information desk were there. I picked up a scheduling booklet; the concert listing looks incredibly daunting.

Vas Vega, minus the drummer, were performing a set for us. What a treat, except, it seems the passersby just thought it was odd.

Highlight from their set were two covers: A medley of Zager & Evans’ “In the Year 2525” and David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and Radiohead’s “Karma Police” (which had a guest singer, Jay Edwards).

They ended their set with “Ordinary Boy”.

Vas Vega will be performing at an official NXNE show at the Velvet Underground (510 Queen W) on Wednesday, along with Rehab For Quitters, Lava & Ash, mip, and We Were Heads. More information about Vas Vega at vasvega.com.

Bonus: If you’re in the Toronto area and want something to do in the daytime, here are some free shows, courtesy of NXNE. See you there!

We ended the evening with Luminato Festival’s “Broadway’s Night Out”, a kind of Broadway in the Park production – free to the public. We discovered the event by accident.

Luminato Festival 2011

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■ Meow Meow
Meow Meow is an Australian-born actress, dancer and cabaret performer who tours internationally. Gray has been particularly active in the UK where she appeared in La Clique at the Roundhouse and created the role of the Maîtresse in the West End musical adaptation of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Gielgud Theatre.

Luminato presents Broadway’s Night Out

Wednesday, 15 June 2011 at 12:01 AM

What a nice surprise, but I ended up seeing some of Canada’s finest stage performers at the Luminato presents “Broadway’s Night Out” on June 13, 2011, at David Pecaut Square, in Toronto, Canada. It was a free show, all shows at the Square are free (until June 19th). It’s really too bad that I just missed They Might Be Giants, who appeared on Saturday, June 11. If I had known, I would’ve flown in a day earlier to catch them for free.

Anyway, the cast from Jesus Christ Superstar started off the night with a great set of songs from the musical. Vocals are wonderful, very loud and commanding. Sometime even a little gospel. They ended their set with the title song, “Jesus Christ Superstar”.

Shawn Hitchins and Sharron Matthews were the co-hosts for the event, and they kept us entertained as stagehands were busy setting up set for the next performer.

Hitchins and Matthews performed a medley of famous Broadway hits, including “I Feel Pretty” from West Side Story. I get the impression that they’ve been doing comedy improv or standup for a while.

Hitchins would later on give out prizes to the best singers, as we all sing along to Gene Kelly’s “Singin’ in the Rain”, The Sound of Music’s “Do Re Mi”, The Rocky Horror Picture Show’s “Let’’ Do the Time Warp Again”, and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”.

There were also three main cast members from My Fair Lady doing some selected songs from their musical, starting with the very British-y song, “Why Can’t the English”.

My favorite of the night was clearly Meow Meow and her crazy comedy cabaret. I think she’s quite famous in Australia, and I can see why, she’s absolutely mesmerizing to watch. The highlight of her show was when she asked for three volunteers to help her do “the greatest love song”.

The Luminato series of free movies and outdoor concert event is happening all this week. See more details at luminato.com.