allosaurus,
audio blood,
beer,
hue,
i blame yoko,
james,
nxne,
the tins,
Toronto
—
Yesterday, I arrived in Toronto with great relief from the anxiety that comes with leaving home for several days. My explorations of the North by Northeast conference would begin that day. After checking into the hotel, my first priority was to go check-in at the NXNE headquarters at the Hyatt Regency. The NXNE conference is very organized at this, it's heart. Checked in with no issue, received my badge, and was instantly deluged by flyers and people telling me what cool things I needed to go check out. In the Hyatt's many conference rooms is where all of the Interactive happenings of NXNE take place. I lingered here for a few minutes which meant I was missing the first portion of the I Blame Yoko NXNE showcase at the legendary Horseshoe Tavern that buffaBLOG was a part of as well.
Quickly I headed up the street to see what was going on there. I was immediately greeted by some familiar faces, fellow buffaBLOGers Mac and Tom and the guys from Buffalo band the Tins Mike, Adam, and Dave. When I arrived they were all enjoying the sounds of Hamilton, ON synth-pop duo Allosaurus, who were donned in matching blue suit jackets. They played some up-tempo dreamy stuff and impressed the sparse crowd. Despite their awesome performance, it was at the suggestion of Mike from the Tins, that we decided to seek out a secret NXNE rooftop party in the University district, where there were rumblings of free beer! I had also gotten this invite, and with my rudimentary knowledge of Toronto's geography we decided it wasn't all to far and something worth checking out. So here we were, a crew of the Tins and buffaBLOGers, bumbling through Chinatown in search of free beer. When we arrived at the address it didn't look like much was going on at all; however, three flights upstairs there was a rocking hip party hosted by Toronto artist and brand development company Audio Blood and record label Bonsound. The sun was jarring when we crossed the threshold onto the roof and immediately we were handed ice-cold Steamwhistle pilsners.
The band Hue was about to start. Hue is a 5-piece pop rock band from Toronto, and their sound was absolutely befitting of a sun drenched rooftop party. The soundtrack was great. The female vocals added a harmony that was as beautiful and intense as the sun itself.
And after 5 or six free beers we were all feeling pretty good! Not good enough however, to get a $3 haircut, which they were also doling out to anyone feeling so inclined.
With no shade in site, and Mac and Tom having to catch a ride back to Buffalo, we headed back to the Horseshoe Tavern and were just in time to catch the last few songs of Serena Pryne & The Mandevilles. After a couple shots, they took off and I was left to vices the rest of the evening, Got to see a few more bands, but the beer in the sun had done me in, and I was spent. Besides, I had to rest up for today and the next several days of my NXNE explorations.
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