I have to admit, last night was a bit of a bust. There are lessons that I keep having to learn over and over again, such as:
- The main NXNE venues are usually no fun later in the evening because they are incredibly packed.
- There are always a few douchebags who wait until the band is about to start, push and elbow their way to the front and then spend the band’s set shouting loudly into each others’ ears.
Why yes, I was at the Man or Astroman show last night.
I think the big thing that literally took the energy out of the night was that the power went out in downtown Toronto just after 10 p.m. and as the Poison Arrows were only a song or two into their set. By the time the electricity came back set times were out of whack, which made it difficult to count on the schedule for the other venues, so I decided to spend the rest of the night at the Horseshoe.
Templo Diez
9 p.m. at Bread and Circus
But before that I started the night out at Bread and Circus, where Templo Diez, a moody, slow-moving post-rock band from The Netherlands, were playing. I felt bad for them when they started because there were only four people in the room. But people slowly trickled in and ended up having a decent crowd to watch their intense 40-minute set. At times, I thought they reminded me of the Arcade Fire if they drained the Springsteen out of them.
Poison Arrows, Wussy, Man or Astroman
10 p.m., 11 p.m. midnight at the Horseshoe
This may have been one of the most memorable gigs of Chicago’s Poison Arrow’s career. It was during their performance that the power went out in downtown Toronto. They were able to play an abbreviated set when things got rolling again. They were a little NoMeansNo-ish, very technical.
Wussy from Cincinnati are your basic fuzzy indie-pop band. Their vocalist kinda reminded me of Erika Wennerstrom from the Heartless Bastards at times.
Man or Astroman sure took their sweet time getting ready. And when they started, their stuff kept falling apart. Maybe it was a night that just wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t stay for Mudhoney.