Wavelength’s Sweet 16 starts off with a bang — or, more accurately, a balloon drop. 2016 gets ushered in with a New Year’s Eve party featuring Maylee Todd and more at Markham House City Building Lab, a pop-up space in Mirvish Village (WL 686). The historic house hosts a remount of the previous winter’s Pop-Up Gallery exhibition, along with some installation art pieces reclaimed from Camp Wavelength on the Island. Markham House also hosts a handful of talk events, including an “Inside the Musician’s Studio” workshop with Josh Korody of Beliefs, Nailbiter, and Candle Recording, hosted by Wavelength’s Dean Williams.
For Wavelength Music Festival 16 (WL 692-695, Feb. 12-14), the format gets tightened up further, with the three-day fest’s evening shows all held at one home base, the Garrison. Highlights include a strong Montreal showing from confrontational dance-punks Duchess Says, jazzy post-rockers Thus Owls, and electro-pop acts Foxtrott and She-Devils; Filipinx “gong punk” crew Pantayo; and sardonic 2SLGBTQ+ grunge-rockers Partner. Markham House also hosts a day-time all-ages matinee with Steven Lambke (of Constantines and You’ve Changed Records), Foxes in Fiction and more. In the spring, the Wavelength website relaunches at a new domain reflecting the org’s more expansive mandate: wavelengthmusic[dot]ca.
Come August, it’s back to the Island for the second edition of Camp Wavelength (WL 709, Aug. 19-21). Incredibly, it’s even more magical than the year before. Another slate of fantastically curated art installations, pop-up performances, and poetry readings turn Artscape Gibraltar Point into a parallel world of creativity and community spirit. The Monarch Tavern crew sustains us with delicious Asian BBQ. The musical lineup is more diverse, from local hip-hop/soul artists LAL, Spek Won and Brendan Philip to visiting US post-punk rockers Cloud Nothings and Guerilla Toss; from local Zimbabwean ensemble Nhapitapi Mbira to Canadian indie icons Operators, Bruce Peninsula, and Michelle McAdorey. And the stories become the stuff of legend: the volunteer ice run on the ferry, the well-timed power outage during Young Galaxy’s set, the double rainbow during Open Fortress’ dance performance on the beach, and someone rolling out a TV so that folks could watch the Tragically Hip’s final concert.
Memorable shows:
- “Don’t Speak,” a conceptual concert of ambient music, where talking is forbidden and guests must communicate through handwritten notes (WL 696, March 25 @ Array Space)
- A team-up with Manifesto to bring together hip-hop, indie, R&B and electronica with pHoenix Pagliacci, Language Arts, Obuxum and more (WL 700, May 20 @ the Garrison)
- US avant-rock icons Xiu Xiu return to Wavelength after many years’ absence for a Pride x Red Bull Sound Select show (WL 705, June 30 @ the Garrison)
- Wavelength takes over DIY bike repair shop Bike Pirates in Parkdale for a night of all-women artists including Filipinx rapper Han Han and post-punk electro duo Ice Cream (WL 714, Nov. 26)