Featured Picture: (left to right) Phil Baljeu, Kaila Moon, Patrick Sherrard (obscured), and Danny Alexander of Secret Sign perform at The Baby G’s as part of ProjectNowhere 2026. Photo by Lawrence Belanger.
Oct. 3—Brockton, Little Portugal. For its fourth year, Project Nowhere turned Toronto’s west end into a network of underground music across the psych, post-punk, hardcore, avant garde/experimental, synth pop and other electronic/alternative genres. Blast Toronto was able to cover just a small part of the festival’s lineup – hopping between and St. Anne’s Parish Hall and the Baby G on Saturday night, the final evening of performances.
I missed Shallow Waves because of transit problems. With the 506 tracks being renovated, getting past Yonge has been difficult these last couple weeks. On the trip over, I watched as I went from missing a bit of the show, to half of the show, to all of it as my ETA ticked ever later. An annoying reminder of how my interests in music and performing arts intersect with trains and urbanism. First, the bus diverted the wrong way up to College. Then, I had to make a long walk along Dundas when the streetcar didn’t show. Add in picking up my passes at the Garrison, and I simply couldn’t make it in time.
This is a shame, because it was their Instagram account that keyed me into the festival in the first place. (I had even worn the T-shirt the band’s frontman, Zaid gave me last time I saw them.)
It makes me wonder: how many people miss out on local music for exactly that reason?
St. Anne’s Parish Hall
Still, I was glad I made it at all. I got there in time to see Hot Garbage deliver a set of dark, droning, melodic gothic rock and post-punk. They had an energy right out of the best gothic rock and dark wave bands. I liked their arrangement of synths, guitars, bass, drums, and the pairing of male and female vocals. Alessandro and Juliana Carlevaris each have a voice perfectly suited to the genre. One unreleased—or at least unidentified—song especially stuck with me, though its title remains unclear. From what I can gather looking at their past setlists, I would bet its either “AIAIAI” or “Told to Wait.”
The Baby G
Afterwards, I headed to The Baby G for another Project Nowhere bill featuring Secret Sign, Bibi Club, and Mother Tongues. I had missed that Secret Sign were part of the festival until I checked the lineup. Their set included my fav song of theirs, also played at vivid.to but unreleased. I thought it was called “The World Asleep” as I could’ve sworn I heard lead signer Kaila Moon singing those words to the melody, but their setlist this time around was different – listing that as their opening track and it was not the same as what I heard at vivid. I now think its Turn to You – based on trying to fit song titles to the melody I heard. Regardless, it is becoming a recurring pleasure—and frustration—to encounter excellent local songs that, for now, exist only live.
These folks are one of my favourite local goth bands. They balance gothic rock’s atmosphere and melodrama with dark waves club energy. Moon’s ethereal, haunting voice floated above the arrangements without being swallowed by them. Synths, drum machines, bass, guitar, and layered vocals formed something like Depeche Mode’s moody and fraught blueprint filtered through the vocal style of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Lastly, they sounded clearer than the last time I saw them. Whether it was The Baby G’s sound system, the acoustics, or a band hitting its stride, more lyrics came through, while the synth pads, bass, and drum programming had room to breathe.
Bibi Club followed with a bilingual set that paired naturally with Secret Sign, though theirs leaned further into electro and club music. I remember asking about the next band after Secret Sign finished, and the woman’s answer just kept getting better: a goth electro band that sings in french. At one point, the singer-keyboardist stepped into the audience. Sharp riffs and satisfying beat drops carried the set until a saxophone appeared near the end. I might just have to make a trip to Montréal to see them again.
How have I missed this before?
The biggest critique? I hadn’t heard of this festival! It looks like it started less than a year after I moved to Toronto, so it would have been an amazing introduction to the music scene of the city had I found it sooner. Looking forward to this next year, where I hope we can provide more comprehensive coverage. This is right up my alley, and I’m sure Jojo would like some of the bands too.
Some photos from the night:
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