Wednesday was off to an upbeat start with Red Bull Sound Select at the Adelaide Hall. DillanPonders was first on the bill going through his set one by one he was defiantly playing to an established fan base. Allie stepped on almost immediately after with a much different, more relaxed jazzy set. Allie has definitely grown even more so into herself as a performer since last year, her presence, while very soft, is very demanding which seemed to captivate a lot of people in the audience.

The venue was feeling up quickly in anticipation of Kate Tempest. Those who knew who she was were getting everything they were looking for more. Those whose ears were new to Tempest were surprised. Scratch that – their minds were blown. Tempest unparticular appearance is something that catches people off guard because when she opens her mouth and story rhymes begin to pour out of her like rain on a dry day people’s jaws drop. Tempest and the band went through pretty much the entire Everybody Down album with some naked spoken word mixed into the set.

Wrapping up the set Tempest said “The most thing of all I want to do is rap my heart out” sharing her logic with the crowd and encouraging them to “hold their own” because  “your demons will be the dogs that bring your sleepers.” In many way this was a show that pushed people to re-asses their lives which isn’t a typical way to conclude a hip hop show but definitely one many will not forget.

On the further corner of the West Side, DIANA was gearing up for her set at The Drake Underground. Mixing a bit of old with the new, Toronto’s DIANA was back at it again, playing the NXNE circuit on a Wednesday night. Taking on The Drake Underground, laid-back frontwoman Carmen Elle led the synth-pop band through a selection of tracks from their 2013 Polaris-nominated Perpetual Surrender before launching into a few new tunes. Hitting the right chords, Elle’s sultry vocals were engaging, especially when paired with DIANA’s moody, synthesized instrumentals, and worked well to connect with The Underground crowd. Looking forward to hearing some more new music from these NXNE vets.

More photos can be found here. 

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This year, the festival runs 4 days, February 13 through 16th so last night we hit up the Adelaide Hall for the second day of the music festivities. Framed by a balcony and lit up by constantly moving abstract projections, the stage was actively occupied by Most People as we walked in. As it was still before 10 PM, most people in the audience were still trying to make their way to the venue. Somewhere halfway through the Weaves’ set, the room filled up with chattery fans and anxious photographers, and so the party began.

Chart Attack once called Weaves “Toronto’s weird pop future” and they are, admittedly, on a mission to make interesting music. Now, ‘interesting’ means different things to different people, from genuinely interesting to “well, that was out there”, and Weaves are somewhere in between the two. Jasmyn Burke’s vocals are at first unpredictable. She goes from soft surf-rock into (at times off-tune) fusion of sounds and letters flying off her tongue like confetti while pacing around the stage like a toddler high on hard candy. They were definitely out there (“I’ll have what they’re on,” I overheard in the audience), but the crowd seemed to be into it. The evolving mood of the Weaves’ tracks, coupled with the band’s artificial excitement, made the set, without a doubt, a memorable one.

Odonis Odonis followed with a hard-hitting electro-shoegaze punk performance, but the real highlight of the night was DIANA. Set in smoke and green and blue highlights following the overarching Thank-Yous, the band went straight into the set. Elle immediately took the crowd by storm, projecting her high energy onto the dance floor, and the mood began to change as the people morphed into a more happy mass. It is Valentine’s day after all, romantic ’80s-inspired synths with a jazzy saxophone is exactly what we needed on this chilly Friday night.

As Indie88 pointed out during the introduction, DIANA holds “a special place” in their hearts. I think it’s safe to say that goes for most of the people who attended the show, if not before last night, then definitely now.

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DIANA, Toronto, Canada, facebook.com/DianaSound

DIANA are Toronto natives Carmen, Joseph, Paul, and Kieran. Having spent some time touring around Canada and performing at SXSW they returned home to open for no one other than Chvrches. Quite honestly, we could not think of a better band to kick start this act and perhaps even the entire Canadian Music Fest. DIANA’s music is reminiscent of early Madonna, soft in a way of luminous sounds that take you back in the sunlit early morning dreamland where everyone is in love.

Chvrches, Glasgow, Scotland, chvrches.tumblr.com

Chvrches (pronounced as Churches) have been around since 2011 and quite promptly were noted to be a very promising new music talent. Needless to say, the world caught up. CBC recently referred to them as “the most praised band at SXSW 2013” after winning the inaugural Grulke Prize at SXSW for best non-U.S. band. For a band who did not put “all of their eggs in the music basket” they sure are doing well which has a lot to do with their live performances – the band’s collective energy is contagious.

The Zolas, Vancouver, BC, thezolasmusic.com

The Zolas have always held a soft spot in our digital magazine heart. Since we got our hands on Ancient Mars last year it became clear that these guys are doing something interesting. Having seen them live we’ll rephrase that into they are doing something precious. During their interview with Quip last year Zachary Gray said it was never their intention to become a band but having found a fun way to being a band turned out to be the trick for The Zolas success.

Wildlife, Toronto, Canada, wildlifemusic.ca

A few days ago we shared …On the Heart  album review so seeing them live now was pretty much a must-do. Having entered the Great Hall at 11:30pm we sat around gazing down from the balcony wondering if the room would fill up and so it did – an hour later the entire jam-packed hall was voluntarily singing along, and I don’t mean a miscellaneous hum here and there, it was a collective musical chore with an occasional off-key wasted yell which somehow still made sense. All things considered, this would also be the first CMF performance we’ve seen where the crowd demanded an encore.

The Darcys, Toronto, Canada, thedarcys.ca

Last night’s 1am secret guest performance. If you stuck around on a school night to see this show you know it was worth it. Those who know The Darcys know the band had their share of misfortunes but they pulled through taller and stronger under the wings of Canada’s biggest music label Arts & Crafts. The Darcys live performance, much like their music, is dramatic and dark, the sound time-travels with each guitar stroke with unbreakable concentration, all of it is ghostly beautiful.

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