Angry Robot

NXNE 2003 Roundup

Ah yes, the North By Northeast, the rockin’ and the poppin’ and the just not-stoppin’, all last weekend long.

Thursday was unimpressive because Now’s critics are easily impressed. We followed some critic’s picks to the Velvet Underground for a) The Candidates, who were dull, then b) The Illuminati, who made prog-metal seem boring, and then c) Moneen, and if they’re The Next Big Thing I’m a soiled chesterfield. Contrast with critic Tim Perlich’s opinions: a) “very impressive,” b) “even the emo types who could be seen mock headbanging at the beginning of the Illuminati’s set were soon doing it in earnest right alongside their hairier counterparts from the burbs,” c) “All the excitement had people whispering, ‘Next Sum41.’” Were we even at the same show? We bailed after two Moneen songs, bore witness to absurd lines at the outside of the club, and even worse lines at the Horseshoe. Music, meet lineups. Lineups will squeeze the joy out of you, music, look out! Even a last ditch attempt at music listening in the belly of the Cameron was thwarted by the lineup monster.

Friday started at the El Mocambo with Wabi‘s electronic music showcase. I think we caught the tail end of Dick Richards. It was clanging minimalist house, which I quite liked, and then polmo polpo brought it on with some mournful disco, and my like-on grew. We fled almost unwillingly at this point, target: Rivoli by 11 so as to get in for Tangiers‘ 12am set – but we were eaten by a lineup! One hour early is no longer good enough for NXNE, apparently. Fleeing near-defeat, we sought solace in the Reverb. We were repulsed by Rubberman, then engaged by [a band whose name escapes me, help me out here y] in Holy Joe’s. Then back to the main stage for Alexis on Fire, a hardcore band with a boatload of stage presence, but not as much talent as the Much crew seemed to think. Yes, you’re right, hardcore’s not really my thing.

Saturday. Let’s start it easy with top-class fiddlin’. Let’s take a chance on some unknown Aussies. Let’s chug n’ run. Let’s not fuck around with the lineup monster, so we head to the Elmo. Not busy yet, go upstairs for sweet breaks from phat conductor, D-Monic and Robb G. Love to stay but we need to be downstairs for the big show. Finally, a tactical defeat of the lineup beast! The Salteens go on first and are a welcome powerpop surprise, then genero-punk disappointments Maximum Rn’R bring shit down a notch. But fear not, closing band is the best band yet: yes, White motherfucking Cowbell Oklahoma. We could call it Allman Bros. on crack, if that weren’t shatteringly unoriginal; let’s settle on mock-southern rock-carnies on fire, as it better reflects my dash-based adjective-accumulative style (ah the secret art of the one-line summary). I had caught only the tail end last year, so this year was well-deserved payback for my rock receptors. If you thought any band had rocked before, well you think again: witness the crowd give itself over; witness the coaxing, the charm, then the music, which is better than it needed to be – these dudes can write a lick; check out the lungs on Miss Bunny Blagina; note to self: how do they pull off cowboy outfits without seeming gay?; thrill to the live on-stage shaving of “the motherfucking hippie”; fear and respect the chainsaw. Here’s an inside scoop: the cowbells wanted to destroy the Elmo. They had coleslaw distribution and meat bombs in mind. However, they made the mistake of a mass emailing and the club got wind, informed NXNE officials, and the Cowbell were banned. Only after promises of a tame show were they cleared to play. (Last year they were banging gongs with flaming guitars, for example.) Also, heads up as they have a gig at the end of the month – 27th at the Horseshoe. Git ready with a few tracks.

In summary: lines suck, get some bigger venues next year, NXNE! There are some great and underappreciated electronic acts in the T-dot. All hail our new Cowbell overlords.

7 comments on "NXNE 2003 Roundup"

  1. ÿ says:

    Excellent write-up D!

    Holy Joe’s act with sadly ungoogleable-moniker: ‘The Coastguards’. They had my vote for finest band of NXNE, as I’m a sucker for all that melody-writin’-stuff.

    All hail cowbell overlords! That ‘motherfuckin’ hippie’ song hasn’t left my head since Saturday night. I was sorry to cut out on their set but after three nights of non-stop music I felt ready for some non-stop sleep-action, yo.

  2. D says:

    Yeah, they were great, and turns out that must have been an unscheduled appearance – they’re not on the listing for that night – but wait, could they be the Co-Stars? Description doesn’t seem to match, does it? Did you pick up an album?

  3. ÿ says:

    No, I never did, sorta wish I had now.

    I wasn’t aware of the band we saw “rotating vocalists”, but then we only saw three or four songs. I do recall the front-woman saying she was happy to see so many groupies in the house, which would lead me to believe the show was scheduled.

    Hmmmmmmmm…

  4. D says:

    Sounds kinda similar, don’t it?

    Unfortunately Co-Stars is completely ungooglable.

  5. Jerms says:

    Oh, if only all those damn hippies would shave their mother fuckin’ heads on stage in concerts throughout the world, egged on by seven geezers in cowboy hats. That would be pure magic. That band was like countrified KISS, which I realize doesn’t have any dashes in it for which I apologize. Like y, i too ditched after four songs. What happened after the ACE lookalike whipped out his todger? I MUST know!

  6. Neil says:

    to clear up the confusion, the Coast-Guard is the band formally known as the Co-Stars. As for rotating vocalists, there was a male singer in the Co-Stars as well, but he left the band not long before this show, hence the name change and only one lead singer. as for a website, The Co-Stars can be found on http://www.newmusiccanada.com

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