While once-ubiquitous festivals like NXNE and CMW (now rebranded as Departure Festival) have sort of faded in prominence over the past few years, it’s nice to see the recent emergence of Project Nowhere onto the Toronto music landscape. The festival, having started back in 2023 with a focus on more underground and experimental forms of music, has really impressed, not just with their choice to stage all of the shows within an easily traversable handful of West End venues, but also in their well-curated selection of acts, which feels more like a labour of love than the random hodge podge that other festival lineups often seem to be.
In terms of the music lineup, it’s nicely diverse, running the gamut from experimental electronica to noise rock and hardcore punk to mellower fare. That diversity was on display on the second night of the festival as I made my way from the noisy punk of Piper Maru to the sophisticated, folk-based sounds of Shirley Hurt.
I started off my night at The Baby G with a bracing dose of hardcore courtesy of Toronto’s own Piper Maru, who were joined on the bill by Head Crack, Mulch, and Dream. Named for an X-Files episode, the Toronto quartet proved that the truth is indeed out there, if by “the truth,” we mean high-energy punk rock. Shortly before the start of their set, the band’s vocalist could be seen laying on her back. I’m not sure if this is a normal pre-show ritual or just something she chose to do on this occasion, but once the show started, she was far more mobile, moving around the stage and even jumping into the crowd at one point – a crowd that featured at least one guy trying to start a pit. Said pit never grew beyond two people, but you’ve got to respect the dedication regardless.
Moving on to my next stop, I made my way to The Garrison for Shirley Hurt. With a warm and inviting sound and a top-notch backing band, Hurt (real name: Sophia Ruby Katz) that served as a nice contrast to all the distorted, heavy sounds that made up the bulk of my Proiect Nowhere experience. And, on a personal note, I felt seen (sort of) when Hurt introduced one song (which I believe she said was called “Wanna Be Paul”) by saying, “If there are any Pauls in the audience, I won’t ask you to raise your hands because Pauls hate that. But know that this song is about you.”
I must admit, I didn’t know that Pauls were so easy to profile, but I definitely would not have raised my hand, so I guess maybe she’s onto something.
