NXNE
For fans of Indie bands and other up and coming acts that are from the GTA, this is the festival we wait for every year. It is on its 30th anniversary and has seen some acts that now are part of our musical heritage.
Bands like, The Sam Roberts Bands, Badbadnotgood, The Beaches and Feist are just a few names that have played this festival and have moved on to bigger things.
This year’s festival will feature about 200 bands playing at 20 different venues in the span of 5 days. Now that is a lot of music. This is like planning the ultimate bar hopping week of your life. This is the time to find your favourite bands or explore new music. Either way, you win as an audience.
This is just day one, of Blast Toronto going out to cover some of the best bands playing today. I give you three bands that are worth going out to see. If you like what I describe here on this page should serve you to go out and try some new music to explore. Well, isn’t that what Blast Toronto is all about, “Discover your Music”!
Feral Minks
The first thing, I would like to say about the Feral Minks, is that they have very dedicated fans. One woman exclaimed that she has seen this band about 50 times. Another fan decided it would be fun to prank the band and hide the set list. It was pretty funny to watch the band get on stage, look down and have that moment of, what happened to the set list.
As soon as the band started playing, the half filled room at the Garrison soon became a lot more packed. Old and new fans were her for an experience and Feral Minks knows how to deliver the goods.
They are a solid medium paced Rock show. They don’t play at breakneck speeds and they didn’t play any ballads. This was a Rock Train rolling down the tracks at a solid pace.
What caught my ear as a new listeners was, this band knows how to throw in those rugged musical hooks without it being to gimmicky. You could simply get into their groove and soak yourself into their energy.
They even had a song called “Saving Dead Flowers”, which even had a rock disco beat that got you moving. It was like the moment where the audience was sliding into their groove. It was the next song called, “Dopamine”, that really woke up the crowd.
They didn’t stop there. They eventually moved onto a song called, “Matador” that was the moment of surrender where the band just slayed the audience. The band all got down and dirty playing this as the crowd were all clapping like the Wolfman, keeping this song strong and potent.
They finished with a super fun song called, “Good time ball and chain”. With that moment the first band of the evening at NXNE2025 got the ball rolling for the next four days. Now onto to my next venue…
Feral minks and Fans:
Harmony on Mars
When I arrived at the Horseshoe Tavern, Harmony on Mars just hit the stage. I walked in to another room full of dedicated fans. This is how Toronto should look on a Wednesday night.
I could hear moments of psychedelic sounds mixed with a post punk vibe. I knew I was in for a treat, because these are two tough genres to mix and Harmony on Mars is making it look easy. In fact when this band was playing, they seem to add in different musical tastes but always had that far our flavour like these sounds were transmissions from outer space.
They even created a dancing frenzy on the dance floor as space cadets took turns going into freaky freestyle ways of showing their appreciation. Why such a frenzy? Well, as the band got deeper into their set, they were extending their space jams and that flighty vibration seemed to seep into your pores and induce a new level of consciousness.
These sounds became very prevalent as another space jam was rocking your world. This one felt like it was colouring shades of Deep Purple into your psyche. As the band was coming close to the end of their set, we were pounded by a killer drum solo that would level a small planet.
My recommendation for this band would be to get your gummies running and head out to see Harmony on Mars! You are born to be wild!
Harmony on Mars with fans:
Wayward Saints
The real reason I went to see Wayward Saints is because I know the guitar player, Darren Flowers. I had been promising that I would see his band live for a long time. Well NXNE gave me that opportunity and I can officially say: I am so happy, that I made this choice.
How do you describe Wayward Saints? My first thought was if Lynyrd Skynrd stuck their tongue on a frozen pole they would transform into Wayward Saints. This is Southern Rock with a sharper and colder sound that can only come from Canada.
The lead singer, Lindsay Coleman got on stage and proclaimed, tonight it’s going to get loud. From the opening song, this band was here to kick your ass!
Lindsay is the Chief in Command when she is on that stage. She is the kind of singer that gets in your face and would even crawl down your throat to get a reaction from you. She struts around her terrace like a wild cat ready to pounce at anytime. Lindsay is a tour de force to watch. But don’t let her steal the entire spotlight. The other members of this band are true veterans on this stage and know how to keep this energy high.
In fact this high octane Rock and Roll is out to channel raw passion that gets thrown off the stage like throwing coins into the wild. What makes this show so good? The band simply looks like they are having the time of their life in front of you. You want to send that kind of energy back.
If this was your first time seeing this band live, you could not prepare yourself for the last song. Lindsay really wanted the audience to fully connect with the next song. We had a little sing a long and then the band went into overdrive with a long wild pass called, “Hail Mary”. If Janis Joplin fronted Judas Priest, this is the song they would sing. It was absolutely raw as Lindsay ripped he vocals apart and left all her guts spilled out onto the stage. That is how you want to leave your audience, blown away like a hurricane.
I can officially say, I regret taking this long to see this band, but they will find me in their audience in the future.
Wayward Saints and Fans:
If you would like to learn more about these bands you can visit their Instagram page.
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