I managed to see a bunch of great bands during Canadian Music Week 2008, which wrapped up on Sunday. Here's a review in pictures of my experiences at this year's festival.

March 05, 2008

This was probably the highlight event of the festival for me. All the bands were great! I was really impressed by Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains. I previously thought it was only hype carrying them, but they played a solid set. Then, being a big Deerhoof fan, it was very rewarding seeing them perform live.They sounded better live than they do in their recordings. Check out Gary's review.

Bands in order of appearance

Ten Kens
Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains
No Age
Deerhoof

March 06,2008

I spent most of Thursday night running around venue hopping, trying to document the most bands possible with my camera. I couldn't stay for full sets in most cases, so I made a kind of CMW Mixtape in my head.

I started the night at The Gladstone Ballroom where the humble and sweet voice of Krista L. L. Muir, and her newly acquainted mandolin, welcomed me.

Then I ran to the Drake Underground to see one of my hot picks of the festival:Young Flux. They performed an awesome set for a not so large crowd. Too bad for that, it would have gotten sweaty if there would have been more people. But not to worry, you'll be hearing from these guys again.

I went back to The Gladstone, where I met up with Gary, so maybe he can tell you more about what we saw there.

Back at the Drake Underground, Hexes & OHS were doing their great electro-pop indie thing. I've seen them a few times already and it's always fun to see them live. This time though, they seemed to be rotating more in different instruments, and relying less on the use of a laptop.

Then at the end of the night, after a quick stop at the Cameron's House for Low Level Flight and at the Horse Shoe for Acorn (more on Gary's review), I ended up at The Rivoli for Young Revival. I had never heard of them before, but I was captivated by their energy and their sound, and it was a perfect way to end the night.

Bands in order of appearance

Krista L. L. Muir
Young Flux
Sunriser
Final Flash
The Junction
Hexes & OHS
Low Level Flight
Acorn
Young Revival

March 08,2008

On Saturday, it had been snowing like crazy all day and I was already tired friom a busy week, but I felt that I just couldn't miss POP Montreal's showcase at the Drake Underground, and I'm glad I didn't. It seemed like the whole night was themed by good humour and high energy.

Joe Cobden hosted the show by introducing each band with a little performance piece which I found very funny and different for a change. Doing silly kids magic tricks and juggling cubes in a woman's night gown, kept the crowd entertained and smiling.

Rawalpindi opened up with a great set, that should have been played at 2am when everyone was dancing, but it was a great discovery for me, and I'm sure I'll catch them again when they become the next big thing in the "party scene".

Giselle Numba One, was another great discovery. Her beautiful voice and great beats reminded me of a fresher and cuter Peaches.

As soon as Bocce started playing, the whole crowd gathered closer. Their high energy performance lasted from start to finish. It involved some kart wheeling, break dancing, face-offs with hockey sticks and a lot of running around . At the end of the beat parade, people seemed to want more, but the band just couldn't go back. I'll make sure to catch them again March 28th at Ternaga (159 Augusta at Dundas) to get my full dose of Bocce.

Yiddish Hip Hop superstar SOCALLED closed the live band portion of the night with a fun set full of accordion, synth, and nice hip hop beats and samples. It looked like he was just having a good time not taking his performance too seriously and people enjoyed that. He even referred to his performance as "the weirdest Bar-Mitzvah you've ever been to".

At the end of the night Dj Khiasma was playing awesome Brazilian/Tropical tracks, but I was too tired to keep the party rolling, and called it a night.

Bands in order of appearance

Rawalpindi
Giselle Numba One
Bocce
SOCALLED
Khiasma

Photography by me Carlos Weisz / KineticForm