so, while day four wasn’t the last day of the NXNE festival, it was for me. day four would not prove to be as jam-packed full of bands as the previous two days, mostly because i was tired, and because while a few of the events piqued my interest, nothing really stood out (although i would’ve liked to have gone to the silver dollar room that night, as i heard from various sources that it would be nuts).
yessir, saturday was solely about the sonics. these legendary proto-punk/garage rockers were in town, and played the young and dundas square stage. while their stage banter was just about as embarrassing as watching your father trying to make jokes for a similarly large group of people, their music was nothing but on-point, brimming with the same level of testosterone-fuelled intensity that has been distilled in their infamous catalogue. they got off to a rough start, as the bad jokes and the “you’re our favourite audience, ever!” comments wore a bit thin, but they were easily forgiven and only slight blemishes on an otherwise pristine set. screaming through everything from “strychnine” to “psycho” and even “louie, louie,” the sonics easily hit all the right notes (pianist/vocalist gerry roslie and guitarist larry parypa were both particularly good), and it was an awesome way to end my first NXNE experience.
according to saxophonist rob lind, the sonics will be heading into the studio this year to record a new album! it’d be really cool if they took that opportunity to maybe work with some of the people they’ve influenced over the years, mark arm and iggy pop come to mind as obvious choices, but i bet someone like jack white would jump at the chance.
Filed under: Concert Review , 2009, gerry roslie, larry parypa, new album, north by north east, NXNE, rob lind, the sonics, toronto, young and dundas square
