Willow Smith’s replenishing water bottle
As one would expect from an artist who has aged from nine to 14 years since most people were last paying attention, Willow Smith has undergone a significant creative evolution. The daughter of Will and Jada has ditched manufactured pop for jazzy R&B with a cosmic consciousness. Although her lyrics are more fixated on Merkaba, hexagons and drinking chlorophyll than hair whipping, she belted them out like a Soulquarian Alanis Morrissette during a short but energetic NXNE set. Smith’s child star charms did not quite make up for the shapelessness of the material, but the best part was when she paused to drink from a half-full, four-litre bottle of water, which she dramatically hoisted above her head with both hands for maximum soul-replenishing effect.
KEVIN RITCHIE | @KevinRitchie
Tink was there for the ladies
Chicago rapper Tink made it clear where her allegiances lay at her second NXNE appearance. “Where my ladies? I go by Tink and I’m here for y’all,” she declared midway through a set of rapid-fire rapping, impassioned singing and bouncing all over the stage. She got the crowd bouncing, too, so hard that Berkeley Church’s wooden floorboards flexed beneath our feet. Headliner Vince Staples, meanwhile, had a solid throng of guys upfront for a set that was simultaneously tense and playful, his fever-pitch voice and gritty run-on rhymes set against ominously deep beats.
CARLA GILLIS | @carlagillis
Joshua Kloke
Lee’s Palace dressed up for a party
Lee’s Palace is decorated with an over-the-top mural outside, but its bland interior matched the exterior last night, decorated in vibrant dinosaur-like figures on the wall that changed colour, and a string of Christmas-lights adorning the stage.
It was all for Paper Bag 100, a celebration of the iconic local label’s 100th release: a live recording of 16 different performances throughout the evening. The animated décor might not have blended well with a slow acoustic solo performance from Nils Edenloff, but it amplified chaotically beautiful sets from Yamantaka//Sonic Titan and Frog Eyes.
JOSHUA KLOKE | @joshuakloke
Benjamin Boles
A Place To Bury Strangers’ flying guitars
It was barely even half way through A Place To Bury Strangers’ set at the Opera House when Dion Lunadon first threw his bass across the stage during one of the noisier interludes. Not long after that, Oliver Ackermann was also spotted through the haze of fog and strobes tossing his guitar high in the air and letting it crash to the ground as well. The exaggerated theatrics helped keep the energy level high for their wall-of-guitars space rock set, although that intensity was greatly diminished when the band relocated to the mixing board in the middle of the club for a distorted electronic freakout finale.
BENJAMIN BOLES | @benjaminboles
Getting stoked about guitars all over again at The Garrison
You were just thinking this to yourself the other day while you were out buying your dad the Kim Gordon memoir for Father’s Day: do people still make exciting music with guitars? A quick survey of recent high-profile rock albums (or lack thereof) would indicate a resounding “no,” but last night’s show at the Garrison indicates otherwise.
It was not so noteworthy that US Girls (whose set lifted the room to peak energy) were the only non-guitar band on the bill as it was remarkable that so many of the other guitar-toting bands were able to match them in terms of producing near-future freshness and left-of-the-leftfield hooks. From the wobbly-and-melodic Moss Lime, the nervy and palpitating Mick Futures, the crushing syncopated abstract shape-riffing of Naomi Punk and Crosss to the everything-in-a-blender furiosity of Soupcans and Wrong Hole, it was a night full of heavily textured music that felt fresh, thrilling and dangerous, made mostly with a ton of guitars. And it felt rare.
MARK STREETER | @streetsbag
Still tons more performances to see. Go to nxne.com for the full schedule.
