The 2016 Polaris Music Prize Gala – S12E01

It’s become a tradition to start the new season in Toronto for the Polaris Music Prize Gala at The Carlu. Congratulations goes out to Kaytranada for winning the 2016 edition of the music prize for the album, 99.9%. It beat out the likes of 9 artists and bands from Black Mountain, Basia Bulat, Grimes, Carly Rae Jepsen, Jessy Lanza, Pup, Andy Shauf, U.S. Girls and White Lung.

At the gala, there were live performances from Black Mountain, Jessy Lanza, Basia Bulat, Andy Shauf, White Lung, Carly Rae Jepsen and U.S. Girls. All of the performances were. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra assisted in Bulat’s and Jepsen’s performances. The gala were hosted by Amanda Parris of The Exhibitionist on CBC and Tom Power, new host of CBC Radio q.

To my own delight, there were food served at the Gala. There were perogies, sliders and five spices pork.

Got to hand to Steve Jordan and the Polaris Music Prize staff for the great work as usual.

Don’t forget to check out the photos here.
Enjoy!

Some Expired Impossible Photos While in Toronto – S11E25

Returned from Toronto after a four day excursion. I had the chance to check out live music on Saturday and the Field Trip Music and Arts Festival on Sunday. The festival was held at Fort York and Garrison Common.

I didn’t take much photos as I didn’t bring the Sony a7 camera. I only used the iPhone and the Polaroid SX-70 camera. I’m currently using expired instant film from The Impossible Project. My initial worry from the expired film would be the image looking very washed out. It’s been good so far with the outcome. It was great to see a friend and former co-host, Lauren in Toronto as she’s doing her Masters at Ryerson.

In one of the photos, I was able to get one with Lennon and Maisy, the sisters who were on recently cancelled TV show, Nashville. They were suppose to perform at Field Trip but there was a severe storm which impacted the festival and had music fans evacuate the area. Fortunately, they didn’t disappoint fans with the meet and greet.

From Sunday’s Field Trip, I also got to see Basia Bulat perform and she did not disappoint. Hope she will be back in Ottawa for a concert.

I was staying in the Lakeshore area of Toronto and surprised how revitalized it has been with all the condos and lofts being situated.

You can check out the Impossible photos from below. There’s photos from Wes of Darcys to The Kents playing at The Horseshoe Tavern.

The 2015 Polaris Music Prize Gala – S11E01 (Season Premiere)

The 2015 edition of the Polaris Music Prize unveiled their winner for best album of the year and it went to Buffy Sainte-Marie for her album, Power In The Blood. Quite fitting that it’s back to back years for an Aboriginal artist to winning the prize.

To start season 11 of the blog, it was fitting to attend the Polaris Music Prize Gala for the second. This year is no exception for the prize as it’s now ten years old. The Polaris Music Prize has garnered a lot of attention in the Canadian media due in part of the 200 writers, journalist, DJs and personalities from across Canada to show the passion of Canadian music.
This year’s prize got upped to $50,000 with the sponsors and supporters of Canadian music.

Out of the ten shortlisted nominees, the ones performed were Buffy Sainte-Marie, Alvvays, Braids, Jennifer Castle, Viet Cong (who will be changing their band name). As well as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra accompanying on some of the performers and bands.
There’s other points that I left out due to the time of writing this entry.

This year’s host was Fred Penner and he sure entertained the crowd and show his love of Canadian music.
Overall, it was a great time attending the Polaris Music Prize Gala and always a thrill to see people I know. Kudos to Steve Jordan and the staff at Polaris for keeping the job done. It’s a blast to be in Toronto.

You can check the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.

Impossible Photos in Toronto (2015 Edition) – S10E31

For the third or technically second year, I have been bringing the Polaroid SX-70 camera to shoot some fun instant photos in Toronto. The first year was using a Fujifilm Instax.
Don’t worry, I was still shooting digital with the Sony a7 and the iPhone 6, there was a lot of juggling to do.

I know people will still call it Polaroids as I’ve been using The Impossible Project films to use it. It’s just fun to shoot analog photos and bringing a sense of originality. It’s more like a dying art but younger generations are using the Fujifilm Instax Mini. It’s the competitor to Impossible and is more stable with their instant photos.
I didn’t shoot Polaroids during live shows as I was not sure about using flash and possibly getting told by the security or the NXNE volunteers. It was better to use it to shoot with people outside of the shows.

During the CBC Radio 3 Unofficial Fan Picnic, I took a bunch or Polaroids and gave them away to people. There was no chance in scanning them to the Impossible iOS app. I was able to keep some that I took. On the first day, I gave away two round frames to friends and was able to scan it from the app.

Lastly, You can the photos from below. I’m making sure these are posted first to the blog and then onto various social media sites.
As the saying goes, film is not dead.

What I Checked Out on Saturday During NXNE – S10E30

As I’m taking the train back to Ottawa on Sunday morning, let’s recap what acts I check out on Saturday throughout NXNE. To start things off, the first event wasn’t NXNE related but had artists playing at NXNE. It was the 5th annual CBC Radio 3 Unofficial Fan Picnic and it was held at Trinity-Bellwoods Park. The lineup for the picnic were Murder Murder, Kathryn Calder, David Vertesi and The Acorn.

It was a fun event as it was a thrill to see other CBC Radio 3 fans from all walks of the corner and enjoy live acoustic music at a park.

Louise Burns at Handlebar
Throughout my time, I have enjoyed listening to Louise Burns but I had never taken photos during her performance (last time was at NAC as she opened for Hannah Georgas. I always enjoy her sultry dreamy sounds from her music. It was Burns’ second performance at NXNE as I missed her at Lee’s Palace from Wednesday night. The one at Handlebar made it up as I didn’t have plans on who to check out.
Burns played her usual songs from the album, The Midnight Mass and she played two tracks from her upcoming third album. It’s exciting to hear her coming out.
It was a surprise to see N2DS2W as they’re supporters and fans of Louise Burns and she also hosted on CBC Radio 3. It sure lifted my spirits up.

Friday at NXNE – S10E29

Friday was the start of the weekend and there were a lot of events happening during NXNE. The first event I went wasn’t part of NXNE but it was an important for myself because it was the Polaris Music Prize Long List panel at ACTRA RACS. Steve Jordan, the founder of Polaris was moderating and the panelists were Slava Pastuk (Noisey Canada), Nicole Villeneuve (AUX), Tabassum Siddiqui (Freelance) and Lana Gay (CBC Music).

The panel talked about the criteria of the music prize and who they voted for in the current list as well as mentioning past lists. Jordan brought up about having the longest list since there’s always debate and discussion on which albums got snubbed or left off from the ballot. It was a great event and always a treat to see the people behind Polaris.

CBCMusic.ca Showcase at NXNE Hub
As Friday was a jam packed event at NXNE in Toronto, the first event was the CBCMusic.ca presents: Music at the NXNE Hub. It was a free show at NXNE Hub. The hosts for the event were Grant Lawrence, Tom Power (of CBC Radio 2 Morning) and Jonny Harris (Murdoch Mysteries).
The performers consisted of the 2015 Searchlight winner, Orange O’Clock. Other performers on the list were Jane’s Party, Ben Caplan, Iceage (from Copenhagen, Denmark) and Toronto’s catl.
I was able to check out Orange O’Clock and Jane’s Party as I decided to head off to other venues. I did return for catl, which they played an awesome set.

Second Day at NXNE, 2015 Edition – S10E28

On Thursday night, Paper Bag Records host an event at Lee’s Palace to celebrate their 100th release and as part of NXNE. It was an evening of music from performers of the past, present and future who helped Paper Bag Records. The event was hosted by CBC Radio 3/CBC Music‘s Lana Gay.

Unfortunately, I didn’t stay for the whole night of fantastic music. I was able to check out DIANA (again), the 2015 Polaris Music Prize Long List nominee and Ottawa’s The Acorn, Nils of The Rural Alberta Advantage, the return of Rock Plaza Central and Alana Yorke. The best part was getting the #Paper100 bag with goodies.

U.S. Girls at The Garrison
The reason for leaving #Paper100 was to get to The Garrison to check out U.S. Girls. I have heard some good thing about this musician. Meg Remy, originally from America and based in Toronto, has been making music since 2007. Her music brings a style of Pop with some electro beats and funky sounds. Remy uses a reel-to-reel player for the unique mixing. A lot of dancing and energetic beats from her music.

Another reason to check U.S. Girls was Basia Bulat. She was there on the supporting vocals. It’s very different from her own music because I would say she’s having fun. There was a good turnout to those who checked out U.S. Girls.

Overall, it was another fun night to be at the venues and meeting the people I know.
Lastly, you check out the photos at Flickr by clicking HERE (for #Paper100) and HERE (U.S. Girls).

First Day at NXNE, 2015 Edition – S10E27

Arrived in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon and it’s the first time to attend NXNE during the midweek instead of the weekend. The funniest thing was bumping into people I know in Toronto and it’s not the weekend yet.

Even though, I didn’t have much priorities on who to check out this year, it’s going to be pretty random and spontaneous. On Wednesday night, I had the opportunity and a long walk to The Drake Hotel Underground to check out DIANA. It’s one of the bands I haven’t got to see live for awhile. Opening up for DIANA at the Drake Underground were ginla, Bernice, and Prince Innocence. All of the bands were amazing and ranged from soft to the loud.

You can check out the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.
There were a few photos at NXNE Hub and a photo of Cadence Weapon as he was DJing.

Keep up to date on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as I post some fun photos.

The 2014 Polaris Music Prize Gala – S10E04

It was an awesome night to be at The Carlu as I experienced my first Polaris Music Prize Gala. The Polaris Grand Jury awarded Tanya Tagaq for her album, Animism on September 22nd. She gets to take home the $30,000 for best album of 2014 and based on artistic merit.

Quite fitting for Tagaq to winning the Prize as she was last to perform and delivered a bone-chilling but terrific performance. She was joined by the Element Choir and throughout the performance, the names of the murdered Aboriginal women were display as her way of dedicating them. Tagaq earned a standing ovation from her strong performance.

Other short list nominated artists performed at the Gala were Owen Pallett, Mac Demarco, Basia Bulat, Jessy Lanza and Shad (with Lights as a surprise guest for the song, Remember to Remember). Out of the favourites from the performance were Bulat, Lanza and Shad.
The gala was hosted by actor, Jay Baruchel who kept the show going with his witty jokes.
Congratulations goes out to Tanya Tagaq for winning and the nine short list nominees for the excellent albums.
Lastly, kudos goes out to Steve Jordan, Executive Director of Polaris Music Prize and to the hard working staff for bringing an awesome Canadian music event.

Being the first time to attend, it was great to meet some of the usual people and meeting new people. It was a fun and sweaty time at the event. I didn’t mind sitting up on the balcony of the Carlu and on the floor level taking photos.
You can check out some of the photos from the Polaris Music Prize Gala over on Flickr. Click HERE.

For the next entry, I will be post the Impossible photos which were taken at the gala.
Time to leave Toronto and return back to Ottawa.

Shooting With Impossible Photos at NXNE – S09E41

It started last year when I brought along the Fujifilm Instax and shot some instant photos. It became more a fun thing to do and to bring some nostalgia. Since digital photography is more prevalent, I decided to shoot with analog photographs to make things interesting. The response has been brought with surprise.

For the 2014 edition of NXNE, I decided to bring along the Polaroid camera and stacks of The Impossible Project films in various coloured frames. It was to provide shots to the artists, bands and friends as a way to cherish memories. I finally tried out the Black & White film for the SX-70 camera and it looked vibrant. I had been weary of using black & white because it didn’t interest but I found out that it develops faster than color. It has this artistic feel to it.
it was great to bring stacks as a few of the packs were made in late 2013 and best to use them as soon as possible.
Overall, it’s nice to bring some old-school flavour into photography.

I took photos at a couple of shows, at the CBC Radio 3 Fan Picnic and from Saturday’s MiO Squirtcar. Also in one of the photos, I got to meet one of The Strombo Show team during NXNE.
You can view the photos from below. There’s one photo that didn’t turn out too good due to the bright sunlight.