NXNE strives to stay relevant in Toronto’s evolving music festival scene

Who went to NXNE this year? I did!

NXNE has been around since 1995 putting on a festival that highlights over 300+ emerging artists throughout 20+ of Toronto’s favourite venues in the city generating a pub crawl concert experience. 

In all honesty, as a relative newcomer to Toronto, I had never heard of NXNE before. Maybe that has something to do with only moving to Toronto four years ago, or just not yet being that connected to the city’s music and festival scene.

When it came to my attention, I thought “why not go?” 

I love live music and discovering new artists. I like the venues chosen for the shows, and it’s an excuse to drag a few of my friends out of the house on a Wednesday night.

As an avid music lover and concert attendee I found it kind of strange that me nor any of my friends had ever been to NXNE before. This had me wondering, “Who are the people going to NXNE?”

I decided to start my NXNE journey Wednesday night, the first night of their five days of festival fun.

I made my way to Parkdale which is home to Ground Control, a bar and venue with David Bowie inspired theme.

As I walked up to the door a voice stopped me, “Are you here for the Darkwave, Synth pop and rock night?”

I turned around to find a man carrying a bunch of music gear waiting for me to answer the question. 

Jonathan MacDonald, gifted the nickname “Biggy” by his coworkers, works as a security guard for the bar.

He explained that on an average night they hit over max capacity of 350, but that they had never done an event like NXNE before and were excited to see what kind of crowd they’d bring in. 

“We have themed nights, so when goth night is happening we have kids with spiky hair and black eyeliner galore, or on our disco night people come covered in sparkles. I really think it’s the type of event that brings out the people rather than the venue,” says Biggy.

As I entered the venue the staff greeted me kindly and the first band of the night, Waxlimbs, an art-rock project based in Toronto, was gearing up to start their performance. 

At 7:59 p.m. I looked around the room, there was only six people total. 

Despite the lack of audience, Waxlimbs started their performance strong and by the second song the room had gone from six people to 80+. 

I took note of a few people around the room who had caught my attention throughout Waxlimbs’ set. At the back of the venue were two girls, one of whom had her phone out recording with her mouth agape the whole performance. 

“My friend knows the drummer in the last band, I just followed her here to keep her company,” says 22 year old Samantha Slayter.

“I love live music. I’m really excited to see new local bands and support the ones I already know,” says 21 year old Isabella Schofield when I asked the duo why they were in attendance that night. 

“I just picked up the bass and Bella plays guitar. After watching the first act we looked at each ther and both said that this is something we want to do one day, perform at NXNE,” admits Slayter with excitement.

“An event like this allows people to see bands that would have potentially never even crossed their radar before and invites them into a whole new world of music.”

Discovering that there were people in the audience who weren’t only admirers of music but had a dream of one day performing on the stage as well, opened my eyes to a whole new group of people who could be attending the festival – artists looking for inspiration. 

Across the room three friends sat around a table having a conversation over a beer, Jason Brum, Kyle Gottschalk, and Clayton Mcmillan are three of the four members of Mount Mural, a band that would be playing later that night. 

We talked about the kind of people they normally see at their shows.

“It’s interesting, there are a lot of people here I would not have expected to be interested in the kind of music we make,” says Gottschalk. 

“Normally the people who come to our shows are our friends, shoegazers, sad dudes, people with bangs, stick and pokes, coloured hair.”

They all looked at me after he had described my appearance and we shared a laugh, ” I guess that’s why you’re here,” he added.

“Any gig you play you are gonna get a new audience and your goal as the artists is to prove to them that they made the right choice taking a chance on your show,” adds Brum. 

Aspiring artists and bands with something to prove? My list of what kind of audience NXNE attracts was growing.

As Waxlimbs finished their set I made my way closer to the stage to ask them a few questions when I bumped into two girls who were out of breath after having been dancing for the entire 40 minute set. 

“My dad used to live in Toronto. We are both big alternative fans and love to go to concerts together. He sent me the link to NXNE and mentioned he used to go with his friends years ago, so I sent it to Kaylie and asked if she would want to come with me,” says Madeline Ramsden as she sports red streaks in her hair and a red top to match. 

“It’s our first time participating in NXNE and we figured we’d go big and purchase the full festival pass. $30 dollars for five days it’s a steal!” boasts Ramsden.

“I’m really excited to participate in the bar hopping aspect of it, it sounds like so much fun to jump from bar to bar experiencing all different kinds of music in one night,” says Kaylie Borntraeger.

“I like that everyone is an emerging artist, it makes me feel like I could be a part of history in the making.” 

My list keeps getting bigger – bands, aspiring artists, music lovers, and shared experiences through father daughter relationships.  I was finally understanding who it was that was going to NXNE… everyone! 

“It’s a beautiful event for emerging artists,” says Olivia Cox, singer and keys for Waxlimbs after having just finished their opening set.

“We only got added to the bill two days ago and there are people in the audience here to see us which is crazy.” 

I mentioned to the band that this was my first time hearing of them. Darkwave isn’t usually the first genre I search for on Spotify, but seeing it live added a new element and after their set I had downloaded a few of their songs.

“That’s what it’s all about, getting to know one another and bringing people who might not of ever been in the same room together,” added guitarist Will Jarvis. 

Jarvis summed it up perfectly, the people going to NXNE came from all over town, from all different backgrounds, and communities, but they were all brought together because of one shared experience; their love for music. 

My first night at NXNE was awesome. I met so many new people and got to hear great music. I had so much fun that I ended up going back the next night to catch a later show after work.