Pros and Cons of a Free Show at NXNE
As part of NXNE, Yonge and Dundas Square in the middle of Toronto’s downtown is being used for free shows the entire week. It’s where I was last night to catch a lineup that included Fucked Up, OFF! and the Descendants.
The free shows are a great addition to the festival, bringing the music to a large audience, but in such an open space, some bands fall flat.
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- Damian Abraham of Fucked Up makes the crowd sing
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- Damian Abraham of Fucked Up
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- Descendants @ NXNE 2011
Fucked Up:
Fucked Up definitely did well with the entire crowd, and in true fashion, Damian Abraham waded way into the crowd, giving up the mic to anyone who wanted it and even threw around a crowd surfer for a while. It’s probably a good thing that Fucked Up can still give the crazy live shows that they’re known for in a large venue seeing as they’re opening up for the Foo Fighters in the Air Canada Centre in August. I love Fucked Up’s sound, it’s hardcore but with still some complexity that I look for in most music I listen to. Overall the Toronto natives played a great live show that was still everything that anyone would expect from Fucked Up.
OFF!
A positive about the outdoor venue and its location, many patios to choose from and still hear the show, which is what I did for OFF!’s set last night. It’s great to be able to do this because the festival really takes over the downtown centre and can be heard and watched from everywhere. That being said, I’m not a huge fan of the percussive punk that OFF! plays. A chunk of the crowd seemed to filter out after Fucked Up finished but former Black Flag and Circle Jerks vocalist Keith Morris and co., managed to finish up their first ever show in the city with a pretty enthusiastic crowd towards the end. OFF! was still able to play a straight forward show for the die-hard fans that showed up to see the punk supergroup play.
The Descendants
The Descendants seemed to be a little lackluster at last nights show. The huge crowd that gathered just didn’t seem engaged in what was going on, maybe because the band blew through their set without hardly pausing, or maybe it was just a weird venue for the pop punk band. Playing a set just over an hour long, the band played songs like “Suburban Home” and “I Like Food”. Towards the end of the set the crowd slowly started getting into it, as the casual on lookers left the square. Probably the best moment of their set was during “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” when way far back of the stage a circle pit of balding men broke out – it seemed to fit.
The open space for the free shows at NXNE are a great addition to the festival, but you just can’t compete with the small clubs that are full of the same bands! Also, the homeless man that decided to pee into the crowd beside me last night, probably wouldn’t have been an issue in any other venue – I guess you get what you pay for.
KrazyKarl
06/19/2011
I'll disagree with you on the crowd part for the decendents, but only because I was right up front for all 3 sets mentioned and there was a definite difference in crowd reaction for them compared to OFF and Fucked UP, though between the two latter, as much as I like Keith Morris and really don't dig Fucked up's sound as much, Fucked up put on a better live show. That being said, once the descendents struck that first chord, I was thrown forward by a suddenly pulsing mob of people and by the second song an errant foot to the head had knocked my ear plugs out-which erased any doubt in my mind that it was going to be a bad show. Defintely agree though about the lack of a break in set-almost seemed too quick-really didn't have the time to take it all in-it probably didnt help though when milo took that bottle to the face.
KrazyKarl
06/19/2011
That being said, it was a cool place to see a show-but reminded me a bit of warped tour in alot of respects-still fun, and better then nothing to see a band like the descendents, but still falling short of great club/smaller venue punk rock gigs that bands like the decendents really come into thier own in. I still left dripping in sweat and a bit sore/bruised, with my ears tingling just a bit, and a dopey feeling of euphoria over me, so it passes my test for a good punk rock show! Also, seeing milo bring his kids out so the faithful could "worship" ALL was a pretty cool experience!
chipcopeland
06/20/2011
Thanks KrazyKarl for presenting a different view of the show for those of us who couldn't be there.