The collective mood of music lovers in Toronto was tempered yesterday with the tragic news of the stage collapsing and killing one man at Downsview Park where Radiohead had been scheduled to play the last show of their North American tour. Though the show was not part of the 2012 North By Northeast Conference it would be false to say that those unfortunate events did not have an effect on the rest of the festival. Mainly that those who traveled from far and wide across Canada and from the United States were left in Toronto saddened and soured by the fact that they could not see their favorite band last night. Good for NXNE, right? Well, sort of.
When we arrived at Younge and Dundas square last night to see the live acts, it quickly became apparent that much of the audience had been displaced from the canceled Radiohead concert. Most of the people I talked to were upset but rational, and others where inappropriately angered by the situation. Brooklyn indie rock band Oberhofer was finishing up their set, and I felt very fortunate to arrive at this moment because I was happily surprised by their performance. Brad Oberhofer the frontman of this outfit is an prolific performer and their sound is really fresh. More to come on him later.
I was there to see Of Montreal. Though I've seen them and their stage performance before, they always seem to exceed expectations. Kevin Barnes took the stage and took two songs to really find his pace. Lately he's going with an even more ambiguous look, with a Skrillex like haircut, blurring the line between his masculinity and femininity. Nothing crazy. Their performance was solid, and they kind of played a quick hit list for the diehard fans, who were there, in hiding.
Next up was Alaskan transplants and talk of the music world Portugal. The Man. They took the stage with great energy, but unfortunately the sound mix was a little off. Now I'm sure that space has many strange sounding anomalies depending on where you're standing, so I made sure to move around a bit, and it was clear that the levels were not correct. But they played with great energy and a genuine respect to be playing at NXNE. The highlight of the set was their cover of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter," and teasing "Hey Jude" epically at the end of their set.
Then it was time for the Flaming Lips, who I intended to give every opportunity to woo me and win me over, and once again Wayne Coyne managed to piss me off. First they took forever to start playing (after they came out on stage) which was fine, I had hoped they were fixing the sound, but after saying they were ready several times, and were not, it became agitating. Finally they got underway. Confetti guns exploding, balloons bouncing, and the smile was plastered back on my face. The show was theatrically going swimmingly. Then after the first 3 or so songs, Mr. Coyne took to the mic to express his condolences to their friends and inspirations Radiohead in reference to the incident. They then played the Radiohead song "Knives Out" which is not a happy-go-lucky song and followed it with a piano ballad of their own that seemed to last forever, completely halting the performance and dampening the mood. And in typical fashion he began placating to the crowd and begging them for their affections in this a difficult time. It totally turned me off. And although it was of no fault to them, I have never seen that many kids pass out of "heat-exhaustion," not even at a Disco Biscuits show.
Needless to say we all needed a change of scenery. At that point I was ready to punch the next person that mentioned a "secret Radiohead show" or "Thom Yorke DJ set." We got the fuck out of there. Horseshoe Tavern was the next spot on our chain of events and it was absolutely overrun with people dying to see the Lumineers. We got the hint that every NXNE venue was going to be this packed for the rest of the night. Remaining there for only a portion of Young Empires set, it was either leave, or pass out in the bar.
Smartly we headed away from downtown to the Drake Underground. I needed to see some DJs spin. I was getting "banded-out." Luckily we skipped the block-long line and kind of persuaded ourselves in coyly. Treasure Fingers put on his headphones and began spinning the moment we walked in. Blissfully, we danced around to his blending of Hard French Nu-Disco music until we began to tucker out around 3:45AM. As we were leaving some of the members from Portugal. The Man were entering the premises, and there at the door getting denied entry was poor Brad Oberhofer, who later told me on the street how he hates nightclubs. I consoled him, and disagreed, but shared a token moment with him in commiseration of how the vibe of the city unfortunately changed over last night.
