Technically, North By Northeast kicks off today, but the festivities started a little early this year with two great sunny afternoons of beats and grooves for the first annual Kops Records NXNE Park Jam at Bellevue Square Park in the heart of Kensington Market this past weekend.
Toronto’s common green spaces are increasingly looking like impromptu parties every sunny weekend as it is, but even more so when you throw in a sound system, some DJs, MCs and bands.
This two day free event was framed around hip-hop, but also featured live funk band the Soul Motivators, and an eclectic roster of DJs spinning laid back tunes. Both days wrapped up with the Master Plan Showcase, which saw a wide array of Toronto MCs taking short turns on the mic. Special mention goes to Blake Carrington for taking full advantage of the cordless mic to go wandering through the crowd and serenading babies.
These pre-festival bashes were specifically warm-ups to the NXNE Record Show, which is a one-day vinyl show at the Hyatt Regency, featuring record dealers, labels and DJs.
There’s not actually a lot of live music happening today for the first official day of the festival, but if you hurry to Trinity Square for 1 pm you can catch a free show by Gabby Charron-Merritt of Montreal experimental folk band Ah! La Lettre!.
The NXNE Film Festival gets going tonight at the National Film Board with a triple bill, and over at the Great Hall is a photography show called The Exhibition About You: The Audience, which as you might have guessed from the name, features shots of the audience from various concerts since 2000, by David Waldman (aka Kid With Camera).
