STORY BY MOLLY MUSSELWHITE
What do Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene and Tokyo Police Club have in common? They have all played at Toronto’s Wavelength Music Festival.
From Feb. 13 to 15, there will be 21 independent bands and artists taking the stage at various venues downtown Toronto.
Wavelength is a Toronto-based arts organization run by artists for artists. According to its mission statements Wavelength is dedicated to helping underground musicians and artists be seen, heard and ultimately widen the platform for independent artists.
Bands and artists are chosen at the discretion of the Wavelength group. It is generally a mix of past performers and new talents that have a lot of promise.
“We try to bring back bands that have played Wavelength shows during the previous year or two. We want to celebrate and give additional attention to them. We also try for newer or higher-profile acts that we haven’t had the chance to book yet,” said Wavelength’s artistic director Jonny Bunce.
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“Since our festival happens at the start of the year, we use it as an opportunity to showcase acts that we want people to discover, or that we predict big things for in the year ahead.”
Popular bands that have come out of Wavelength include Caribou, Crystal Castles and The Constantines, along with artists Grimes and Owen Pallett.
This year Wavelength was lucky enough to secure indie folk band The Acorn, electro pop artist Lowell and Canadian rock artist Art Bergmann, among many others.
Kelly Thomas, a Port Credit native, attended the festival for the first time last year.
“I just stumbled across the festival. I was looking for Ark Analog’s upcoming shows and Wavelength popped up. I jumped on it because tickets were only $25 and there were so many bands to discover. You can’t really go wrong with Wavelength.”
The winter festival is also unique because it is a travelling event. Each night makes for a different location in downtown Toronto.
“We migrate from night to night, which means the festival experience is always evolving and never stagnant. It also helps that there aren’t a lot of other festivals during the winter, and people are looking for something new and different to get them out of the house, said Bunce.
“It also doesn’t hurt that it falls over the Family Day long weekend, which makes the festival a great excuse for a party.’’
Sneaky Dee’s will host the first night with Art Bergmann, Controller Controller and Brides. The second night will be at Polish Combatants with Lowell, The Acorn, Del Bel, Last Ex, and Ginla. The last night will take place at The Garrison, with Mozart’s Sister, Fresh Snow, New Fries, Tenderness, Bart, Cellphone and Look Vibrant. You can purchase your ticket for the festival here.