In a couple of weeks North by Northeast aka NXNE will take over Toronto and bands like Purity Ring, Of Montreal, Flaming Lips, Matthew Good and plenty of other established and up and coming bands will be performing around the city. You can check out the musical acts, but NXNE also delivers a venue for dozens of films.

Showing at the festival this year is Ages & Stages: The Story of The Meligrove Band, a documentary about the persistent hurdles the Toronto based group seems to have gone through in an attempt to make a living playing music.  All I’ve been able to see is the trailer, and it’s a bit depressing. I have no doubt that the “band trying to get its big break” story is common in the music industry, but The Meligrove Band clearly has more credible cheerleaders on their team — for starters they have this movie made about them– but the Brendan McCarney directed film also features other noticeable (and Music Between Friends regulars) acts like Born Ruffians, Cuff the Duke, Joel Plaskett etc. showing their love and appreciation.

Hopefully watching the movie/trailer will get people interested enough to check out the band that NXNE calls “one of the best but most overlooked bands in Canada” —because that’s what I did…and it was worth it.  At first I thought, “maybe these guys are really nice and people like them but their music sucks?”.  False, after listening to their most recent album, I had Bones Attack stuck in my head for days.

The Meligrove Band doesn’t appear to be touring, and haven’t released anything since 2010, so here’s hoping that this film will garner enough buzz to keep the band going, and that their fans, not only their peers can continue to appreciate the music.  See the film Wednesday, June 13 @ 4:30 PM and click below for some more information on the band and to hear their music.

The Meligrove Band’s Bandcamp/Website/Twitter/Facebook

The Meligrove Band – Bones Attack