If you're in Toronto for the North by Northeast music festival, there is certainly no shortage of options for a night of music. But there's one option you might not know about.
A bar called 3030 Dundas West wasn't able to become an official venue in the festival because they weren't finished building the place when the folks at NXNE were picking spots. Undeterred, 3030 Dundas West decided to take part, anyway. They invited bands taking part in the festival to swing by for an extra show at their place, and called it NotNXNE.
Their lineup features bands from around Canada and around the world. You can check out the Tragically Hip's guitarist Paul Langlois playing with Greg Ball, a singer-songwriter out of Kingston who is on Langlois's independent label, Ching Music. There are also acts like folk poppers Inlet Sound, alt-country band Young Running, heartland-soul group Silver Creek, and rockers the City Streets.
If you're in Toronto's Junction neighbourhood and looking for some music, they're offering shows every night, with the last show on Saturday. If you love the bands of NXNE but don't want to brave the crowds, this may be the answer. Last night was their first show of the non-festival, and they say they only had 13 people out.
Related:
North by Northeast survival guide
Tracks on Tracks winning artists profiles with Shred Kelly, Sidney York and Chris Ho - Podcast #323