Monday, June 28, 2010

NXNE vs. G20

For those of you who have asked about Toronto and our experience at NXNE, here is a brief retelling.

First off, many friends of ours had expressed an urgent concern for border crossing - being musicians, you are NOT allowed to "work" in Canada without proper licenses and paperwork. NXNE had provided us with a stack of documentation from festival organizers and immigration offices, all of which remained in my glove box. Aside from awkward questions as to our business in Canada and to the length of time spent in the country, there had been no issues worth the amount of worry our friends had bothered themselves with. Raianne had put it best while using her womanly charms on the first customs officer, "if we were in it for the money, we would have quit long ago."

We had been told by the soundman at our performance arrangement that Toronto, including surrounding boroughs, has a total population of roughly 6 million people. I have had a theory regarding the "degradation of systems" which attempts to explain how large populations are not adequately maintained concerning basic human needs. This trip provided me with some interesting fodder for thought.
Music festivals in Toronto are a historical matter, having dated back to the 1800's, organized by some of the cities MVP's. I was a bit surprised then to understand what sort of impact this G20 summit thing would have on June's cultural gatherings. The business owners all complained of detours established and fences erected to ward off protesters during the summit. One Canadian business owner even mentioned the trees being removed from the cities sidewalks due to some speculations that such could be torn out and used as battering rams. As one could predict, all this rigmarole served to depreciate foot traffic from central festival areas; the result was that our performance fell on few ears and I now can blame the world's leaders for poor attendance - another hash mark on a long long list.
Dear Mr. President, please consider holding the next G20 in central Montana for this will prove far safer and cost effective. You will see a hippie coming from miles away. PS. Pack your lunches.

m.m.

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