After a twenty hour flight and a 7 hour stop over of frantic drinking in San Fran airport we all arrived safe and sound but a little hung over in Toronto, Canada. We considered ourselves lucky to even get there at all considering we nearly missed our flight in Sydney due to an overlook of the importance of having a US visa and us not having one, thank god for Flight Centre that’s all I can say. What a highly stressful start. I finally understand why they say to get to the airport 3 hours before your flight. But with that avoided we arrived in one piece with all our instruments in tact so things were looking good.
We made our way into the city without too much dramas, although it wasn’t the most convenient and comfortable way to travel. We were all piled up with instruments and luggage and decided to brave a bus and street car which definitely took its toll with effort.
We finally made it to our hostel after walking up and down the street a few times. All was looking good until they told us that we were staying in their sister hostel across town. Luckily they took pity on us and decided that they would drive us there which was a huge relief.
Well I don’t think I’ve ever properly felt jet lag until the moment we settled into our tiny two bunk bed dorm. We all slept for about 20 hours straight I think which was quite incredible but I think it was well needed for what was to come.
DAY ONE OF CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK
The first day was spent innocently enough. We took to exploring the city before venturing into the Marriott to collect our arm bands for the festival.
After enjoying some of Toronto’s best hotdogs we all decided the next best thing to do was obviously beers. We found quite a suitable place for that called The Village Idiot, which had one of the widest selections of all sorts of beers from around the world.
So after travelling the world of beers we then made our way to a little place called The Central for a jazz band called ELS Organ Trio who were quite amazing. Definitely check them out if you’re into your jazz.
After that we dashed down to a place called Czehoski which was a bit of a trek but definitely worth it to see a band called Lost In Film. What a venue too, reminded me of something you’d find in Melbourne, very cool indeed. After that we dashed down to Rivoli to catch a band called Current Swell but couldn’t even get in cause it was too packed so after that we decided to call it a night and head back to our hostel after a day well spent.
DAY TWO OF CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK
After waking up reasonably early the next day we decided to go for a bit of a coffee crawl along all the cool cafés that were sprinkled around Kensington Market which was just a hop skip and a jump from our hostel. Such a cool area, very Newtown Sydney I think.
Next we nestled ourselves into a practice room at the rehearsal space just around the corner from where we were staying called The Rehearsal Factory. Every room in this place was decked out with a full backline with everything you needed, just plug and play. Definitely a big difference to what we were used to in Australia.
We started the night of gigs with a band from Austin, Texas called Megafauna who were quite impressive live. The chick lead singer was such an amazing guitarist with a pretty powerful voice too. I found myself drawn to bands in the timetable with interesting names which seemed to be working quite well so far. The next band we saw were great also, definitely check out Papermaps if you get a chance. After that we decided to call it a night.
DAY THREE OF CANADIAN MUSIC WEEK
The day was once again filled with a bit of sight seeing. Jake and I ventured up to the top of CN Tower to spot the view over the city which was quite spectacular. Then spent the arvo chilling before saddling up with all our gear and headed out to the Meet The Australians do at the Marriott Hotel before heading over to our showcase at C’est What! We decided to walk there which was a bit of a mission but we eventually got there without much fuss. The venue was pretty damn cool and also had a selection of beer that was quite impressive indeed.
We were second on for the night so got to relax a bit and listen to the first band who were a Canadian band called Finding Chuck who were quite good at what they did, very tight band, think indie power pop.
Our set went by in a flash. We got a pretty sweet crowd response which was cool and seemed to be quite a few people there for the size of the room which was awesome. It’s crazy the amount of pressure that can amount on one show you’ve been preparing for for ages and in an instant it’s all done. But was a fun show none the less.
The next band on for the night was a band called The Feather from Belgium. They were great! I ended up buying their album which was equally impressive, definitely a stand out for the evening. They were followed by Kieffer & the Curiousity Club who was also great. The night was wrapped up with another Canadian band called Ivy Coast who were a similar vibe to the first band but quite good indeed with some catchy tunes.
So a pretty decent night all round and after a few more drinks and chats with new friends we hailed a taxi and headed on home.
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Want to see more of what Twin Lakes got up to in Toronto? Check out their video tour diary here, exclusively on the AU review! And you can view part two of the tour diary here.
