North by Northeast
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North by Northeast (or NXNE) is an annual four-day live music and film festival and music conference in Toronto, Ontario held the second weekend each June.
NXNE 2008 runs June 12 to 15. Band and film submissions are now closed.
It began in 1996 and was patterned on the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas. Each year, three-dozen music venues host hundreds of bands from Canada, the United States and all over the world. Each music venue hosts five bands a night (9 p.m. onward), and the majority of the venues are grouped along downtown Toronto's Queen St. West, College St. West, and the Bloor St. Annex.
The music conference at NXNE runs for three days at the Holiday Inn on King Hotel which serves as Festival HQ. NXNE delegates, panelists and bands playing the festival are able to participate in discussions, songwriter round tables, keynotes, demo listening and peer critiquing, legal clinics and the very helpful peer mentor sessions. The NXNE conference panels are held Friday and Saturday, and aim to foster a professional environment where musicians, artists and music industry reps can network and share ideas within their field.
A film festival was added in 2001 to run concurrently with the weekend music festival and industry conference, in conjunction with the National Film Board of Canada. Films are primarily music related documentaries and videos. NXNE also has a film showcase at the popular Hot Docs Film Festival.
North by Northeast is a volunteer driven music festival. The dedication and enthusiasm of NXNE volunteers caught the eye of Andrew Loog Oldham (the 2002 keynote speaker), who remarked that NXNE volunteers reminded him of why he originally entered into the music business.
NOW Magazine is a major sponsor, and its owners hold an ownership interest in the festival.
NXNE celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2004.
Sketchy is the unofficial mascott of NXNE (since 2006). A few extremely rare stuffed Sketchy rabbits have since appeared on stage at gigs in the UK and North America. Bands have been encouraged to submit photos to Flickr and tag them 'nxnerabbit'.
[edit] North by Northeast 2007
NXNE 2007 took place from June 7-10. The Music Festival spanned four days and nights of activities and took place at more than 40 live music venues in Toronto. Performers included Dinosaur Jr, Buffalo Tom, Urge Overkill, Soundtrack of our Lives, Kathleen Edwards, You Say Party! We Say Die!, The United Steel Workers of Montreal, the Elizabeth Shepherd Trio, Sea Wolf, Charlemagne, Justin Rutledge, Linda McLean,Die Mannequin, The Manvils, Dr. Draw, Birds of Wales, Armies of You, God Made Me Funky, and Royal Wood.
The NXNE 2007 Film Festival featured the premiere screening of Glastonbury, a film by acclaimed British director Julian Temple that takes a behind the scenes of the famous outdoor musical extravaganza. BBC Radio 1 DJ Don Letts also premiered three films: Rock it to Rio (following Franz Ferdinand on their South American tour), George Clinton: Tales of Dr. Funkenstein and The Good, The Bad and The Queen.
Honourable mentions: Mr. Quibble movie by Dexter Benson Barnett, Shuffle Demons
