Wavelength closes out its epic 10-year run of 500 Sundays with “Wavelength 500,” a five-night blowout at five different venues, alongside a special 10th anniversary edition of the ‘zine. The series continues monthly at the Garrison and other spaces around Toronto — and continues to book new acts before they blow up, such as Grimes, who plays anniversary #11. Wavelength embraces its love of the outdoors by presenting more summer events including the ALL CAPS! Island Festival at Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island — which ramps up with the addition of overnight camping. Wavelength launches an Artist Incubator Program and takes a trio of Toronto bands on tour. And as it reaches the middle of its second decade, the growing organization benefits from professional leadership for the first time.
The Monthly Era (2010-2014)
The Monthly Era (2010-2014)
Wavelength closes out its epic 10-year run of 500 Sundays with “Wavelength 500,” a five-night blowout at five different venues, alongside a special 10th anniversary edition of the ‘zine. The series continues monthly at the Garrison and other spaces around Toronto — and continues to book new acts before they blow up, such as Grimes, who plays anniversary #11. Wavelength embraces its love of the outdoors by presenting more summer events including the ALL CAPS! Island Festival at Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island — which ramps up with the addition of overnight camping. Wavelength launches an Artist Incubator Program and takes a trio of Toronto bands on tour. And as it reaches the middle of its second decade, the growing organization benefits from professional leadership for the first time.
With ALL CAPS! retired, Wavelength hosts two mini outdoor summer festivals: the day-long Endless Summer at a vintage thrift market on Dundas, and the Wavelength Island Show, a one-off return to Artscape Gibraltar Point. Behind the scenes, growth in funding support allows Wavelength to benefit from professional leadership for the first time ever, and an invigorated Board and staff create the org’s first Strategic Plan. Memorable sets include grunge rockers Dilly Dally playing “A Madcap Night of Royal Debauchery” at Handlebar, and hip-hop emcee Jazz Cartier’s live debut.
For our 13th birthday, a.k.a. #WL13, Wavelength enters its teen years by moving away from its anniversary roots and rebranding as the Wavelength Music Festival, four nights of shows plus three free all-ages afternoon in-stores. Ryan McLaren decides to retire the ALL CAPS! name, but not after the Final ALL CAPS! Island Festival, a perfect weekend of incredible weather and (for the first time) a fully outdoor stage setup. Wavelength also pilots an Artist Incubator program with an inaugural class of Toronto/Guelph bands Del Bel, Fresh Snow, and Most People. Memorable sets include a night of electro-pop in a notorious swingers’ club, and the first-ever Wavelength Roadshow, taking the Incubator artists across Ontario and Quebec.
#WL12 is the handle for Wavelength’s 12th-anniversary festival, which goes ahead in spite of 2012 doomsday predictions with sets by METZ, Odonis Odonis, Fucked Up, Bonjay, No Joy, Sandro Perri, the Weather Station, and PS I Love You. The ALL CAPS! Island Festival returns to the Island for its third year, with Artscape Gibraltar Point’s Fireplace Room hosting a dizzingly diverse lineup including A Place to Bury Strangers, Choir! Choir! Choir!, and Yamantaka // Sonic Titan. Other memorable sets include psych drone instrumentalists Fresh Snow playing inside a “projection cube” at the Images Festival, and Montreal turntablist and comic artist Kid Koala’s multimedia Space Cadet Headphone Experience.
Wavelength continues to embrace its love of being outside in the Toronto summer with Band on the Run, a “musical treasure hunt” consisting of guerilla-style outdoor gigs, while the second ALL CAPS! Island Festival adds a visual arts partnership with Whippersnapper Gallery and a night of camping. Behind the scenes, Wavelength establishes a Board of Directors separate from the programming team. Memorable sets include Grimes opening for Hooded Fang and Maylee Todd at the Great Hall at ELEVEN (WL’s rebranded anniversary festival) months before blowing up, and Fucked Up premiering an original live score to the 1928 silent film West of Zanzibar.
Wavelength 500, our 10th-anniversary fest, is the epic five-night conclusion to the weekly Sunday night series. We publish a special one-off edition of the ‘zine with stories, reflections, and a list of every artist that played the first 10 years, Holy Fuck headlines at Steam Whistle Brewing, past WL regulars reunite, Owen Pallett plays a secret set, and the 2003 lineup of the Hidden Cameras spontaneously close out the fest. From there, the monthly era begins, and Wavelength tests out having a second annual fest in ALL CAPS! Island Festival, a two-day event at Artscape Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island.