Project Nowhere – the Little Portugal-based festival with a focus on underground music in its many forms – is now in its third year. And just like in previous years, the festival offered up a very well-curated lineup, with such notable names as No Joy, Water From Your Eyes, Johnny Jewel, and Warmduscher performing at venues along the Dundas West strip. For the festival’s first night, I started off at Nineteen Seventy Eight (aka Expo Vintage Clothing during daylight hours) for a pair of memorable sets from Gus Englehorn and Ribbon Skirt
Starting things off with a song that opens with the line “I awoke in a pit with a man staring down at me,” Gus Englehorn had my attention from the get go. From that moment on, the audience was treated to a truly unique performance. It quickly became clear that the Alaska-born, Montreal-based singer is a quirky performer – quirky, but charming. With a sound reminiscent of Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston, Englehorn and drummer Estée Preda delivered a fun, engaging set that kicked off Project Nowhere on a high note for me.
And while he may have initially grabbed my attention with his opening number (“The Gate”), Englehorn kept my attention with the songs that followed as well as his entertaining and amusing stage banter. At one point, he referred to a stream of spilled water threatening his pedalboard as being “like a St. Lawrence,” and when introducing “Metal Detector”—a song inspired by his brother, a detectorist who was apparently featured in The New York Times—he quite plainly stated, “I don’t know if I remember how to play it though.” But the real gem came when he reflected on the fact that was his first-ever Toronto show, following a sparsely attended gig in Hamilton the night before.
“I’ve never been to Toronto in the summer. And it’s pretty nice.” When Preda correctly pointed out that it was, in fact, Fall, Englehorn quickly came back with, “I’ve still never been to Toronto in the summer.” Touché.
Following Englehorn, Montreal’s Ribbon Skirt took to the stage to play a bracing set in support of their debut album, the Polaris-shortlisted Bite Down. Singer/guitarist Tashiina Buswa made the most of the space, even with part of the venue fenced off, moving amongst her bandmates and really belting it out as they tore through a set of tunes off the album as well as one newer track off their PENSACOLA EP, set to be released the following day.
With tunes like “Earth Eater” and “Off Rez” standing out as highlights, Ribbon Skirt put on an impressive performance, thus helping to start Project Nowhere off on a strong note.
