Finding your footing at Toronto’s inaugural North By Northeast festival is never easy in the beginning. With more than 20 venues across the city each serving their unique brew of talent, deciding on where to go can be a daunting task. I chose The Danforth Music Hall for my first NXNE encounter.
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Just like that, Bestival is over. The island will go back to its original state, liberated of costumed free birds strutting their stuff to electronic bangers. I talked with a few of the festival goers about the overall appeal of Bestival. They indicated that the fest is very much like an amusement park ride, “You wait in a line for the ferry, the food, the events, and more.
Bestival was originally a music festival put on in the UK. As with any stereotype given to a certain location, rain is a common element associated with the Brits. As Bestival arrived on Toronto Island, the weather wasn’t unlike a typical day in London. Huge grey clouds overtook the sky and haunted the first day of the fest.
[heading size=”30″ align=”left”]Banks (Saturday)[/heading]
Keeping it fairly under the radar, pop superstar Banks shows off her talent through her voice. The blazing set of pipes are her crowning glory. Banks’ style is often described as underground R&B with her voice being compared to Aaliyah. By being covered by high profile media outlets like MTV and BBC Radio 1, Banks has slowly been climbing the social ladder to stardom.
At 19-years-old, Sydney Delong is like many people her age. She’s tired of school after her freshman year studying psychology at Ryerson University, she works part time at The Body Shop, and she is trying to find individuality on her own path. What sets her apart is her voice, which allowed her to preform in internationally recognized music festivals Canadian Music Week and NXNE.
CMW has brought some amazing international talent to Toronto, but I still feel the festival’s main strength is its support of local, unsigned, and underground talent. Day three for Antidote Magazine was all about exploration. I went to every show knowing nothing about the artists playing and I’m happy to say I was blown away by all the talent.
