plus, a quick peek at The Dance Cave

FEATURED PHOTO: BETABOYS lead singer Brett Sandford performs at Sneaky Dees as part of Second Summer Festival 2026. Photo by Lawrence Belanger.

Sept. 25—Toronto’s West End. While Jojo camped out at Lee’s Palace, I made my first trip to Sneaky Dee’s for the middle night of Second Summer Festival. Having almost missed my chance to go since moving to Toronto three years ago when it was feared to be closing, I knew I had to get out to this famous Toronto landmark. The graffiti, stickers, and DIY-atmosphere are right up my alley.

Unfortunately, there were some delays getting setup. I didn’t realise how the venue was set up, and I had to get across town via streetcars. By the time I’d ordered food, I’d already missed Shiv and the Carvers, and only caught a few fragments of Dealbreaker’s hard punk-metal set.

Second Summer at Sneaky Dee’s

The first band I caught from the start were great, however. Calgary, Alberta’s Betaboys brought a nostalgic new-wave 80s-adjacent energy that felt upbeat and loose. The band’s sound landed somewhere between The Police, Tears for Fears, and The Cure. They even covered “Boys Don’t Cry.” Thomas Englund and Scotty Perrin played their guitar and bass parts well, and drummer Sean Hamilton kept the groove going.

Meanwhile, their performance had the kind of buoyant momentum that makes a festival crowd get excited.

With wireless mics, its not unusual for singers to walk all over the stage and into the house. Yet vocalist Brett Sandford wasn’t held back by such limitations. He went right into the densely packed Sneaky Dee’s floor with his microphone’s XLR cable trailing right behind him, deftly managing the cord with his feet. I said to Dana at one point that Superman in James Gunn’s movie last year would like this band – one track in particular reminding me of Teddybears’ “Punkrocker”.

(Check out their setlist here.)

Dune Rats, by contrast, turned Sneaky Dee’s into a chaotic sea. The Australians made the crowd bounce hard enough to make the floor bend. Before long, a mosh pit opened up, and a beach ball and inflatable (seemingly brought by the band) raft kept floating through the room. The band leaned into the chaos with call-and-response chants and big crowd energy. The whole set felt built for maximum participation.

Swinging by Lee’s Palace and the Dance Cave

We left during their cover of “Blister in the Sun,” but not before the room had already been pushed to its limit. The scene matched the rowdy reputation the band brought to their Second Summer appearance. Its always sad to have to pull yourself away from a set, but such is the nature of these multi-venue festivals.

After Dune Rats, Dana and I split up, and I headed to Dance Cave to catch Pearly Drops. I also dropped by Lee’s Palace, which shares restrooms with the venue above. This was just in time to have caught part of Dead Tooth’s set, where the guitar work had a harsh, gnarly post-punk-metal edge. Their sound pulled me in for a moment, but by around 9:50 p.m. I was back upstairs for the synth-pop duo from Finland.

Pearly Drops were harder to pin down. At first, I liked the production and their workstation setup, but I wasn’t sure what to make of the pitched vocal style, which sat somewhere between cute and unnerving. Kind of like Purity Ring, but more trite. The aesthetic reminded me of a black-clad, baggier Billie Eilish vibe, while the music itself leaned into witch-house textures, glitchy details, and a cold, atmospheric retro mood. Throughout, I caught flashes of something I wanted to like, especially in the production and live electronics, but the performance felt subdued and a little awkward overall.

“No professional photos”

Part of that reaction may have been shaped by a frustrating interaction with their manager that left me feeling like the band was embarrassed to be there. Shortly after I started shooting, she stopped me from taking photos despite my media pass. She was polite and apologetic, and clearly doing her job, but the explanations she provided from the band felt both insulting and weak. First she said that they “weren’t happy with the stage,” when pressed, I was given a completely different explanation about being tired from touring. Sorry. I just don’t buy it.

That one sour moment filtered the rest of the set for me more than it should have.

Even apart from that, I still had questions about the performance itself. One member was difficult to read from the stage. Partly because I couldn’t hear much of what he said into the mic, but also because he was idly standing there most of the time. The other barely addressed the crowd except for brief moments between songs via the vocal FX—although that improved towards the end. The production was live, and the music itself had the kind of atmospheric, slightly edgy blend of ’80s and ’90s synth-pop and house that should have been right up my alley.

I just think I’ll need to hear them on streaming to get a clearer sense of what they’re aiming for. Needless to say though, I was not left with a positive impression despite their seeming popularity.

(Just saying. If I was a festival organiser and I found out one of my performers didn’t allow any media because they ‘didn’t like the stage’ I put them on, I’d be ticked off.)

Wrapping Up

All in all, this is was a great night to hop from venue to venue, bar to bar. Second Summer’s first year has made an impressive showing by packing a wide range of international and local acts into Toronto’s west-end venues. I look forward to next year—and covering even more.

And yes, the nachos at Sneaky Dee’s were excellent. If anything, finishing the chips before the toppings is usually a sign that the kitchen is doing something right. That kind of detail may sound small, but it fits the same sweaty, no-frills atmosphere that made the night work.

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