NxNE 2008: Day Three report (Saturday, June 14, 2008)

Due to work commitments and nightmarish traffic, I couldn’t get to any venue before the 11pm slot.

The Guest Bedroom @ Sneaky Dee’s: Wanting to secure a half-decent spot for Monotonix, I decided to check out the band scheduled before them. The Guest Bedroom are one of those bands where you either love them or hate them. I can’t say their nervous, spastic freak-out jams were terrible, and in fact, a couple were actually quite good. However, they’re just too polarizing a band to truly enjoy if you’re leaning on the “dislike” side.



Monotonix @ Sneaky Dee’s: In all the times that I’ve been to Sneaky’s, I’ve never seen the place fill up to the breaking-fire-code capacity as I did for Monotonix. Throughout the weekend, they were being hailed as the must-sees of the festival after outstanding sets at the Bovine Sex Club, the Reverb and an in-store at Sonic Boom that reportedly ended in the middle of Bloor Street.
I knew we were in for something special as the band dismissed the stage and set up in the middle of the floor. I didn’t know it was even possible for a band to perform in-the-round at Dee’s, but Monotonix weren’t to be denied. The hard-rockers from Israel instantly launched into a pummeling soundtrack as singer Ami Shalev literally climbed the walls, hung from the ceiling and generally threw himself around the venue with abandon.
The crowd worked itself into a frenzy that didn’t let up for the entire 20-minute set. At one point, everyone started pogoing in unison to the point where the floor was literally bouncing and I thought it was going to give way and everyone would fall to their deaths into the Tex-Mex restaurant below in a cornucopia of beer and nachos.

Thankfully that didn’t happen and the set was a rousing success (as evidenced by the line of people waiting outside who groaned in disappointment when informed the set was over). Unfortunately, during the insanity of Monotonix, I lost my NxNE bracelet and was mercifully forced to end my weekend and go home to get a decent night’s sleep.