As I walked in to Houndstooth just after 7:00pm on Thursday to start off the first night of Project Nowhere, Austin’s Haha Laughing had just started their set and were already going pretty hard. Full disclosure; I really had to pee, but decided to hold it – this band definitely had my attention and I didn’t want to miss anything.
The noise rap duo, made up of Jay Dilick and Aby Oviedo, put on a fun, lively, and in-your-face performance. They would occasionally pick up a guitar or saxophone for a bit of soloing, or add in a few real-time samples from a nearby keyboard, but mostly, the pair stuck to vocals, moving frantically about the space at the front of the room (I wouldn’t quite call it a stage – they were on equal footing with the audience and did, in fact, move through the crowd periodically) as they ran through tunes like “PETER PARKER ASS” and “NO SUDDEN DEATHS.”
One big highlight of this show was watching all of the outside passersby stop in front of the window at Houndstooth to try and figure out exactly what was going on in there – I didn’t clock this moment specifically, but Dilick did point out that one woman actually walked into a pole while sussing them out. Collateral damage, I suppose. Another highlight came when Dilick took to the drum kit as he and Oviedo went on a brief noise-jazz freakout detour that showed off their chops a bit.
As their set came to a close, Oviedo addressed the crowd, showing her appreciation for being given such a warm welcome on their first trip to Toronto. I’d say it was well earned – the band put on a solid set that definitely made a fan out of me.
Up next was Toronto five-piece OOZ, who kept things on the noisy end of the musical spectrum with their bracing performance. While Haha Laughing brought a dose of that patented Austin weirdness to our fair city, locals OOZ represented the Toronto scene quite capably themselves, following the Austinites’ set with a show that was just as intense and equally compelling.
All in all, a pretty strong start to Project Nowhere 2026. Definitely worth the mild bladder discomfort at the outset.
