Really Live Five at Toronto's NXNE Music Fest

Some acts evolve a live zeitgeist so formidable it’s extremely difficult to replicate offstage. Here are 5 playing NXNE 2009 whose live lightning is yet to be bottled on an album.

Blood Runs Cold is a quartet of young headbangers on the edge of breaking out with a groove informed approach to nu metal. As heavy as they wanna be, Blood Runs Cold may not yet have their grip around the throat of the studio thing but they throw it down live with a whole lotta performance savvy and badass swagger that lets you know they don’t go home alone much. This is one of a handful of fresh metal bands that appear to be working towards something a little different. It’s in their favour that they’re currently outside of any of the T.dot metal scenes; if left alone, BRC could evolve their own thang. Currently at work on their second album, expect a slew of new tunes when Blood Runs Cold all over the Kathedral Friday (Jun.18) at 9 sharp. Way fast, way furious is the way of C’Mon With an average song length of 2.20 this trio don’t piss around putting the POW into power rock. Late night cobwebs and inner ear wax will all be well blown out by the massive rock sound of C’Mon. Axe icon Ian Blurton, lady love and bassist Marie Lynn Campbell and drummer man Dean throw up a wall of sound that’d shake Phil Spector down to his Beatle boots Again, much as the albums are grabbers, The C’Mon experience in all its ear-bleeding, ribcage rattling glory is a thing best experienced live and in the company of many like-minded hounds of the heavy. Watch as they tear up Lee’s Palace midnight Saturday (Jun.20). Zoobombs is pushy quartet with live mayhem on their minds. Bringing a Japanese twist on glam punk, their shows rarely fail to go all explosive and Saturday at the Velvet Undergrounf should be no exception. Gravel voiced lead singer Don Matsuo's not shy about his Iggy Pop fixation and a person could do a whole, lot worse for s live performance role model than the Maniac from Motor City. The rest of Da Zoo is Matta( keyboards),Moostop(bass) and Pocky(drums).This Tokyo-based crew remains passionately in love with rock’n’roll and have been known to fall offstage rocking with the groove. Every show is balls-out, walking the line between the shambolic and the sublime. Zoobombs kick it at 11 pm Saturday (Jun.20) at the Velvet Underground. With the ghost of a dead lead guitarist hovering in the wings and a show so OTT they were barred from a string of venues throughout their native Georgia, Black Lips could get by on racket alone. Not enough for this Atlanta crew, who deal in their own brand of garage-flavoured Southern-fried punk with a bluesy undercurrent and a storming rhythm section. Some folks, including lead singer Cole Alexander, claim the band's sound is an aphrodisiac and folks have been known to take off clothes at Black Lips shows. So check for clothing optional when Black Lips storm the stage 9 pm Thursday (Jun.17) at Dundas Square.

.

Japanther is two guys, Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, armed with bass, drums, samples and assorted sonic shit spread all over an artrock background. Known for their prop srudded shows which partake of performance art as much as dance music, Japanther showed well at the Drake a while back and their positive dance band stance allow them access to all manner of experimentation hung on a framework of soulful hip hop hardcore beats. This can can make for surf punk tunes written by Sonic Youth. It’ll make a lot more sense at 6.30 Saturday (Jun.20) at Dundas Square.