While there’s no doubt that a packed concert hall can make a show seem monumental, sometimes there’s nothing better than an intimate set to make a night feel like a success.

To kick off NXNE, OTMzine organized an acoustic showcase at Camp 4 of five OTMzine-alumni bands at Camp 4: Martha Meredith, Trudeau//Mookie, Petty Victories, Craig Stickland, and Tim Moxam. The sets each ran just over 20 minutes, giving those in attendance close exposure to a variety of Toronto talent.

Martha Meredith kicked off the night with a both poignant and sweet solo keys and vocals set. Martha’s songs have a very personal story-telling quality to them, and her piano arrangements are reminiscent of Regina Spektor’s – distilled, purposeful and sometimes haunting.

Trudeau and Mookie took the stage (or rather… stage-like area) next with an acoustic guitar and a song-list that brought out the gruff rock and roll Americana of their song writing.

Petty Victories played as a trio with keys, guitar and a percussion box. As the gentleman across the table so eloquently put it, they played a fantastic example of folk for the 21^st century.

Craig Stickland slowed things down with a piano and vocals set marked by a number of romantic themes and ballads. Craig’s Stickland – he’s got a great voice and fantastic hair.

Tim Moxam finished off the celebration with an acoustic guitar set. The lights were dim, drinks were flowing and the ambiance felt like it was a great way to start off NXNE: talented happy musicians playing music to a small group of lucky people.

Thank you again to all of the musicians who participated, Camp 4, and everyone who came out to support. It was a truly wonderful night.

Photography by Andrew Weir