Canadian Music Week 2010

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Canadian Music Week: Talent to Discover!

Mariana's Trench

When I first decided to embark on a small road trip to Toronto with my friend Jessica on the second week of March; we thought we were only going to see Canadian band Marianas Trench at Massey Hall and going to hang out with some friends.  Little did we know we were getting involved into what promised to be one of the busiest and successful weekends of the year in Toronto:  Canadian Music Week (CMW).

More than just a bunch of shows in different venues of the Grand Toronto Area; this festival that spreads over five days is also comprised of various music conferences with well known names of the Canadian industry, a multitude of award shows and a music film festival.  There are so many activities and shows to attend that there is even a downloadable iPhone application to be able to see all the schedules, times and locations of each event!  (visit http://www.cmw.net for more information).  The 2010 music festival itself included seven hundred artists in over forty-five different venues that could all be accessed with one single wristband bought for the whole week for only $60.00.  This year, CMW was proud to announce that all the wristbands, the daily and weekly, as well as all tickets to all the shows and events had been sold out!  A true accomplishment!

The big names performing this year included Our Lady Peace, The Trews, Arkells, Cage The Elephant, Default, Jeff Martin, Constantine, Moneen, K-OS, Bedouin Soundclash and so many more!  (more at http://www.canadianmusicfest.com/artists/)  It is truly an incredible opportunity for all music fans to see their favorite Canadian artists at a very low price and have a guaranteed good time!

My Darkest Days

The opportunities are also very present for all the smaller unsigned or Indie bands performing during CMW.  It is a unique chance to be viewed and heard by all the important people in the music business and possibly book new gigs, festivals or even getting a shot at a record deal!  Another important factor is gathering more fans at the shows.  I did myself discover many great talents as I attended different events.  Among those is a great classic rock band called My Darkest Days, growing bigger by the hour,  I got to see perform at famous rock bar, Tattoo Rock Parlor on my first evening there.  A real and raw rock performance that is rare to find these days with the many emerging music genres and fusions.  A good rock band in its true essence is always welcome in my world and My Darkest Days sure proves that!

As I bar hopped in the rain from venue to venue, following my extremely gifted photographer friend Sandra Elford (who kindly shared some of her great shots with CONFRONT for the purpose of this article), I realized I was in for a treat but also an unexpected adventure!  Canadian Music Week can definitely be molded to what you want your experience to be like, but one thing is for sure: get ready to walk a lot and put a lot of cab money aside for the many rides ahead!  As soon as we were done with a show at the Underground, I barely had time to squeeze in a few pictures with my friends and finish my beer that we were on our way back to The Hideout, located right across Tattoo Rock Parlor.  Toronto even bended their laws for that week letting bars close at 4am to let everyone play and party longer.  Otherwise I really don’t see how so many bands would’ve gotten a chance to play if they closed at 2am as usual.

The Balconies are another awesome bunch of musicians I got to listen to and discover at The Horseshoe Tavern.  The Ontarian trio hooked me with lead singer Jacquie’s incredible vocals and their seriously gripping guitar riffs.  I also laughed and danced as I watched the crazy, bizarre but very original Montreal performers Artist Of The Year at Sneaky Dee’s, where I undeniably ate some of their famous nachos!

As mentioned earlier, I went to Massey Hall to enjoy the fun, lively and extremely talented Marianas Trench.  The place was packed beyond my highest expectations and I hadn’t heard such loud singing in a while!  The four band members from British-Columbia were very touched by the warm welcome they received that night.

The partying after each night always ended extremely late or very early in the morning if you prefer; but the memories, the good times and epic anecdotes that I keep from those evenings will certainly stay engraved in my mind forever.  The many gifted and awesome people I met throughout the week are also another perfect reason to attend CMW.  Social medias, photographers, writers, producers, musicians, artists and friends all together participated in making those five days an incredible experience!  Some were there to meet industry workers and make themselves known to eventually land a job in the Canadian music network, make contacts, others were in for the parties, but we were definitely all united by our undying passion for music and also to support our country’s undeniable talent.

Josh Ramsay - Mariana's Trench

It is impossible to attend and view everything that CMW has to offer during those five hectic days, which is why I shall return next year and I urge you to do the same!  You won’t regret it and I can assure you that you will return with tons of stories to tell and albums to buy!  For many of you, Canadian Music Week could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet the right people who will help you become who you have always wanted to be, whether it’s a famous musician, producer, promoter, etc.  So don’t miss out on CMW next year when it returns and in the meantime visit their website to learn more and also check out all the great artists that came to play this year.  Here are a few named or pictured in this article:

http://www.myspace.com/thebalconies

http://www.myspace.com/mydarkestdays

http://www.myspace.com/frankiewhyteandthedeadidols

http://www.myspace.com/marianastrench

http://www.myspace.com/artistoftheyear

http://www.myspace.com/hedley

For more information on Canadian Music Week visit:

http://www.cmw.net/cmw2010/index.asp

And for the shows/bands:

http://www.canadianmusicfest.com/

And once again thank you to our photographer Sandra Elford, visit her at:

http://www.sandraleephotography.net

Here are a few more pictures that Sandra Elford was kind enough to share with us!

Daughtry

Frankie Whyte and the Dead Idols

Hedley

Jacob Hoggard- Hedley

Joey McIntyre

Stereos

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