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Music

NXNE names new festival director

Toronto’s most anticipated summer music event has a new director. North By Northeast (NXNE) announced Monday, April 15, that Ottawa native Christopher Roberts will helm the seven-day festival, which also includes art installations, film and comedy.

Roberts returns to Canada from New York City, where he has been head of artist relations at Vice Records and managing director of the experiential department. Roberts brings a wealth of relevant experience, having brought major musical acts together for a variety of showcases including The Creators Project at Coachella, the Scion Garage Rock Festival and South By Southwest’s Viceland.

The Weeknd makes it up to the fans

When Toronto R&B sensation the Weeknd announced in March that he’d be releasing 500 limited-edition, signed box sets of Trilogy on vinyl, fans were salivating at the thought of hearing that princely falsetto on record. Imagine the disappointment when said box sets – priced at $200 each – arrived with a pre-printed autograph.

On April 5, the Weeknd responded to the outrage by emailing all who’d shelled out for the souvenir – acknowledging the gaffe and announcing that everyone would receive a hand-signed lithograph insert in addition to a mystery item from his upcoming project (we’re assuming he’s referring to long-awaited sophomore album Kiss Land). In the wake of so many celebrity non-apology apologies (Rick Ross, Brad Paisley), we like this.

Boston mourning

In the wake of the devastating bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, fans of Whitehorse sent panicked messages across the Twitterverse inquiring about the safety of the Hamilton folk rock band’s Luke Doucet, who was running in the event, and Melissa McClelland, who was cheering him on. According to their label, Six Shooter Records, “They are both okay and had long left the site when the explosion happened.” Toronto noise-punks METZ, meanwhile, cancelled their Monday-night show at Boston’s Brighton Music Hall in light of the tragic events. “Our thoughts and best wishes go out to the people of Boston,” they wrote on Twitter.

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