June 18 - One of the great things about the NXNE experience is the parties and events that are going on outside of the regular sphere of club shows at night; without too much digging, there are quite a few events for which one can RSVP and attend during the day, waiting for the live music to resume in dirty clubs later in the day.

On Saturday, one such event was the SOCAN/BMI NXNE Day Party at Tattoo Rock Parlour in West Queen West. A guestlist-only party, the event offered the audience assembled the opportunity to see a few hot acts while giving other industry personalities in the room a chance to network and share their music.



Freedom Or Death, a Toronto outfit centered around two key members Sway and Fernandez, take their name from an old Greek war cry. The inspiration for such is their rich sound - the band writes and produces music with its roots in rock but with flavours of folk, funk, electronica and more. Either they have the freedom to make the kind of music that they want to make, or they'll opt for the death of their art.

However with the sort of impact the band made on the room, it's unlikely that they'll have to opt for the latter anytime soon. Sway demonstrated an ease of nature on stage at the microphone, and the duo - rounded out by a complete rock formation - performed songs from their debut EP Ego, making a strong impression before their performance at the AUX Afterparty later that day.



Whale Tooth took the stage afterward, a high-paced Toronto group fronted by singer Elise LeGrow. The band performed a few gigs during the festival in addition to their featured gigs at Sneaky Dee's and The Rivoli, a most welcome recurrence.



The band compliment their tight arrangements with flavours of surf and pop music and LeGrow's smoky voice, achieving a sound characteristic of veteran rock acts the likes of which we haven't seen much since before the pop wave of the late 1990s. However if more bands sounded like Whale Tooth, female fronted rock outfits wouldn't have fallen so far from prominence in the meantime.



On the topic of early Saturday gigs, Data Romance performed a short set at Wrongbar in Parkdale to kick off the club's night of live music. A duo from BC, the band is comprised of Ajay Bhattacharyya and Amy Kirkpatrick, both of which whom took very different paths into the music industry yet struck a chord with one another.

Supporting the recent release of their self-titled teaser EP, the two are generating a buzz for the full-length release they have slated for late this year. Their music recaptures the energy and tone of the alternative trance music that burst out of the west coast some fifteen years ago, at once compelling and nostalgic.

This is music for any fan of the 1990s, expertly crafted and performed by Bhattacharyya and Kirkpatrick, who each have their own stations while they perform. Notably missing from the set was the song "Bullets", among the more pop-flavoured of the selections on their EP, though they closed the set with their current single selection "The Deep".