You’ve come a long way since I last went through the doors of a Toronto music festival like NXNE.

In 1999, I did CMW (Canadian Music Week). I recall drinking, not sleeping, checking out the Lo-Fidelity Allstars, putting a “♥” next to The Sadies in my diary entry and eating nachos at midnight at Sneaky Dee’s. But I also remember only going to about 10 different venues. About the same amount for NXNE around that time. Now there’s, what? 650+ bands playing at 40 or so venues? Makes me almost wanna return back to the T.dot, stop in at Poutini’s, have a burger at Oddfellows, check out some music and yeah, okay, mum, come visit you, too.

Some of the bands playing at Toronto’s big music/film/interactive hipster fest have graced the digital pages of BSR in the past five months since our launch. Have a look:

Eagles of Death Metal – Three-chord rock wonders. “Boots Electric” Jesse Hughes once gave me the nickname of “Sexy Red Genius”. Watch the video.

Japandroids – Punk’s not dead. It’s just made out of two nice boys from Vancouver.

The Pack a.d – Punk’s not dead. It’s just made out of two nice girls from Vancouver.

Sex With Strangers – Robot Rock. Armadillos. AND A GUY WHO EVERYONE THINKS LOOKS LIKE JACK BLACK. (Plus, I’m in their video for “New City Anthem”, which makes them even more awesomer.)

The Manvils – They rock. And they’re bonkers. How do I know? Read the interview with Mikey Manville.

Smile Smile – It’s not all about rock, here. It’s also about alt-folk. And what’s better? A TEXAN ALT-FOLK BAND DOING ROCK HANDS!

Check your local listings, you lucky TO-based (or bound) people, for who’s playing, when, where and how often. And be sure to buy them a drink and say hello from the Backstage Rider!

Photos: Sex With Strangers by Lindsay Elliott, Jay Koenderman of the Manvils by The Manvils