Wavelength Music Festival Fourteen (WL 586-591, Feb. 13-16) is another wild four nights in February, starting off at the Silver Dollar Room before bouncing around town to Adelaide Hall and the Polish Combatants Hall, and wrapping up on Sunday at the Garrison. Lineup highlights include saxophone colossus Colin Stetson, Millennial yacht-popsters DIANA and TOPS, an early psych-heavy lineup of U.S. Girls, and Edmonton indie-pop marching-band the Wet Secrets. And in the wake of the City of Toronto declaring itself a Music City and announcing its alliance with Austin, Wavelength hosts a panel discussion at record store Sonic Boom called “The Toronto Music Moment.”
With ALL CAPS! retired, in the summer of 2014, Wavelength hosts two outdoor mini-festivals: Wavelength’s Endless Summer (WL 611, Aug. 16) takes over a vintage thrift market on Dundas for an all-day show including Blue Hawaii, Comet Control, and Mexican Slang; while the Wavelength Island Show (WL 614, Sept. 7) is a one-off return to Artscape Gibraltar Point, where performances are filmed for an online video series.
Throughout the summer and fall, Wavelength goes on the road again, presenting showcases at festivals across the country, including Sled Island (Calgary), Pop Montreal, Halifax Pop Explosion, Arboretum (Ottawa) and Electric Eclectics (Meaford, ON).
Behind the scenes, 2014 is a momentous year for Wavelength, as growth in funding support allows the organization to benefit from professional leadership for the first time ever. An invigorated Board and staff also create Wavelength’s first Strategic Plan to guide them through these important years.
Memorable shows:
- Wavelength joins NEXT.O Shows’ “Class Of” winter concert series with Incubator bands Fresh Snow and Del Bel (WL 584, Jan. 11 @ The Silver Dollar Room)
- Toronto slowcore pioneers Picastro’s album release (WL 593, April 9 @ CineCycle)
- Grunge rockers Dilly Dally play “A Madcap Night of Royal Debauchery” (WL 599, May 17 @ Handlebar)
- All Toronto’s Parties 2 consists of pop-up shows in parks, cafes, stores, a barbershop and a boxing gym in Kensington Market before winding down at the Comfort Zone (WL 600, May 24)
- Wavelength joins Red Bull Sound Select as a curator, bringing in New Jersey indie-rockers Titus Andronicus alongside Toronto’s Ice Cream and Programm (WL 621, Oct. 9 @ the Garrison)
- Toronto hip-hop emcee Jazz Cartier makes his live debut as part of the NICE (Nifty Interventions for Cultural Enhancement) series co-curated with author/promoter Dalton Higgins (WL 628, Nov. 28 @ the Garrison)