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Godspeed, Canadian Music Week

By Alex Nino Gheciu

Jolly well done, intrepid showgoer. You’ve managed to survive Canadian Music Week in spite of: 1. Its perplexingly inconsistent moniker (how many of us actually refer to the festival as CMF?); 2. Its affinity for middle-of-the-road Cancon crap-rock; 3. Its tendency to overcrowd to Solyent Green-esque excesses; and 4. Its terrible rapport with the Rain Gods.
And for your troubles, you were rewarded with: 1. An amusing and offensive keynote speaker; 2. Indie Awards that actually recognized legit talent; 3. A tear-jerking Platinum Blonde reunion (hey, don’t hate!); and 4. CMW’s most expansive, heavy-as-fuck offering of hardcore/metal acts ever.
So, overall, we’d say you’re up. Now, as you sit there nursing your sore back and post-CMW hangover, we invite you to reminisce about last week’s crazy exploits while skimming through these photos of the Indies, the Canadian Music and Business Industry Awards, and various rock n’ roll gallivantings. Oh, and knowing what you know now, remind yourself next year not to venture into CMW without: 1. A poncho; and 2. Dr. Scholl’s cushioned insoles.

Comments

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    I’d be so much more interested in CMW coverage on Torontoist if you actually focused on a variety of local bands and not just pretentious art student drop-out bands or bands not needing coverage (hello, Dillinger Escape Plan – who are American, thank you very much).
    #4 why not cover it, instead of merely providing links to myspace pages, especially if it’s a “most expansive” category?
    We have amazing artists in this city and you covered about 1% of them, while focusing your attention on bands a) not needing coverage b) bands from outside of Toronto.
    People love to bitch and moan about not having a variety of discernible music scene(s) in Toronto. It’s purely perception carried solely on the backs of local media.

  • http://www.juiceboxdotcom.com Ashley Carter

    Nobody who actually goes to shows in this city is bitching or moaning about not having a variety of discernible music scenes here. Or taking CMW seriously. You can see amazing bands in Toronto any day of the week for far less money in way less crowded venues. CMW a) sucks and b) is kind of a scam for most of the bands paying out of pocket to be involved. The only interesting thing about it—and the only reason to line up for these overpriced shows—is the out of town bands. Toronto’s music scene(s) is alive and well and CMW does nothing for it. This thing is all about the Canadian pseudo glitz and bands like Dillinger Escape Plan coming to town.

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    “Toronto’s music scene(s) is alive and well and CMW does nothing for it”
    And neither does Torontoist. Thanks for underscoring my point :)
    People who go to shows in Toronto are great! Myself and yourself probably included. But The Canadian Music Scene needs critical mass, BADLY. In order to achieve that we need better coverage OVERALL. I expect local media to cover local music. They refuse to do it during the year and then almost completely ignore it during CMW when you’d actually THINK they would cover these bands.
    How well did The Mahones kill it? How was the Diemonds show? etc, etc.
    Spread The Word!

  • Nicole Villeneuve

    I’d like to add that there were three writers covering this offendingly large festival, that none of us work for Torontoist full-time (nor is it the only part-time work we do outside of our daily grinds), and that, actually, a big festival like this coming to town—for better or worse—is an excuse for us to cover artists that are not Toronto-based (even though we did that, too, during the festival) becuase otherwise, our coverage is focused on only Toronto-based music.
    If we didn’t cover bands you like, sorry. But expecting any outlet (even one that is strictly a music publication, which Torontoist isn’t) to cover every single shitty band that a city produces is ludicrous.

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    “If we didn’t cover bands you like, sorry. But expecting any outlet (even one that is strictly a music publication, which Torontoist isn’t) to cover every single shitty band that a city produces is ludicrous.”
    And that pretty much sums up the attitude I’m talking about here.
    “becuase otherwise, our coverage is focused on only Toronto-based music.”
    Which is why is said:
    “Actually focused on a variety of local bands and not just pretentious art student drop-out bands”
    “I’d like to add that there were three writers covering this offendingly large festival, that none of us work for Torontoist full-time (nor is it the only part-time work we do outside of our daily grinds)”
    Very irrelevant to my point.
    Anyways, it’s just a suggestion. No need to get all defensive and put down local bands that you don’t like or the local music scene in general. That’s a really shitty attitude to have.

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    p.s. Torontoist has done a great job covering Woodhands. Maybe it’s time to move on? Just a thought.

  • http://undefined Nicole Villeneuve

    I didn’t put down any band. But you chose to call the bands we did cover “pretentious art student drop-out bands,” which to some (me!) isn’t actually an indication of a bad-sounding band, but I get the feeling you feel otherwise.
    And I pointed out the possible constraints of our coverage to help you understand why it is that our music coverage is limited.
    If contentcontentcontent is what you want, and not necessarily selective coverage based on local influence, quality, or reader/music community interest, there are definitely outlets for it. Thanks for the support!

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    I mentioned 2 VERY well known local bands. You replied with “to cover every single shitty band that a city produces is ludicrous.”
    That sounds like a put down to me. The attitude towards my critique doesn’t help either.
    “pretentious art student drop-out bands, which to some (me!) isn’t actually an indication of a bad-sounding band”
    Which is exactly why it’s not a put down. I would fully expect Final Fantasy to relate as well. It’s almost a genre already.
    If the focus was to only cover bands you like, then you did your job, hope the autograph stays in your scrapbook for years to come.

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    p.s. “If contentcontentcontent is what you want, and not necessarily selective coverage based on local influence, quality, or reader/music community interest, there are definitely outlets for it.”
    No, there isn’t. That’s precisely THE problem. I take HUGE issue with this paragraph. I can’t even begin to explain how this comes across. The word contempt comes to mind.

  • http://undefined valerieintoronto

    In other news, Marilyn Denis looks pretty great in that photo with Roger Ashby there. :-)
    CMW is an industry thing. CMF is an off-shoot of the industry thing. Everybody takes what they can from it; nobody’s entitled to anything (the industry itself is having a hard time learning that).

  • http://undefined historyjen

    No hating! There are many many music blogs and websites based in this city who cover different bands because we all have different tastes. (I have a decent blogroll of them, I think, on my site [

  • http://undefined Alex Nino Gheciu

    Yeah, c’mon now. Everyone in Toronto and their grandma blogs about local bands. And by the way, by the way we actually have done the whole hear-every-band-humanly-possible-and-write-a-kajillion-mini-reviews thing for coverage of past festivals, and we haven’t ruled out doing that again in the future. We just thought we’d try a more boots-on-the-ground Tweet-centric approach this time around. S’all it is, mate. Just a bit of experimentation. Not the death knell of Torontonian music. Chin up, old sport! No need for animosity. In the sacred words of Madonna, “music makes the people come together.”

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    It’s just a critique. I wasn’t the one getting defensive, c’mon now.
    THIS: http://torontoist.com/2009/06/nxne_how-to_guide_naptime.php
    Is awesome and FULL of variety! If all this year was, was an experiment as you claim, IMHO it failed me as a reader and failed our music scene as reporting.

  • http://undefined torontothegreat

    would love to check it out! What’s your URL?

  • http://undefined historyjen
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