The last day of NXNE always feels a bit like the circus has left town. Big-ticket performers are gone, fewer venues are hosting NXNE gigs and festivalgoers are showing major symptoms of battle fatigue. But over at Yonge and Dundas Square on Sunday night, the announcers assured throngs of eager fans: "Sunday -- and the party's still going!"

Miraculously, they were right. There were still a few gems left to hear in Toronto, starting with aforementioned New Jersey hip-hoppers De La Soul, who put on a vibrant show that felt more like an improvised blend of samples, music education and out-and-out block party than the rote rundown of hits I'd arrived expecting. The set involved a lot of audience participation, as Posdnuos, Trugoy and Maseo split the adoring masses into two halves, staging a mock rivalry in which fans had step up their singing and hand-waving abilities to prove their side of the crowd was the most hip hop.

Throughout this generous performance, De La Soul heaped praise on their Toronto supporters, giving shout-outs to Choclair and Kardinal Official, and noting, "You know why we're here? Because we love y'all." They also paused between all of the call-and-response to explain the importance of soul (and James Brown in particular) and emotion in hip hop - telling us to feel the music inside us, "like hip-hop sex." After reminding us that they were from an older generation of rappers, ones who got sued a lot for sampling honest-to-God records, the East Coast legends proved their considerable street cred by closing out their set with some old-school hits - including Me, Myself and I and the terrific Saturdays and Ring, Ring, Ring -  that whipped the audience into a full-on frenzy.

NXNE could easily have ended on that high note, but as the festival demonstrates year after year, there is always considerable homegrown talent to discover, and the final band I saw, Rah Rah, felt like a real discovery. Based out of Regina, this six-person collective  (three guys, three girls) put on a set that was a slow burn. Some of Rah Rah's earlier songs - centred around guitars, keys and drums, but with some accordion and violin thrown in for good measure - felt very western Canadian, with hints of alt-country in both Marshall Burns' guitar and Neil Young-y vocals.

But as the set continued, the Rah Rahs morphed into something far more impressive. All six bandmates displayed considerable musical chops, and there was something awe-inspiring about watching all of them swap positions and instruments throughout in some inspired onstage version of musical chairs. Regardless of who was playing, all six clearly have a knack for well-crafted indie pop, pairing clever lyrics and truly pretty harmonies with enough shimmering guitars to earn them comparisons to Broken Social Scene.

I'm curious to see if Rah Rah's discs capture the same passion and energy they exuded onstage, where at different moments, the band members playfully mimed out key lyrics, sprayed listeners with confetti and smashed a pinata to bits, all while creating an addictive wall of sound with their various instruments. The crowd ate this up, and by gig's end, it felt a little like attending a raucous high school house party hosted by a band of misfits. They provided the perfect, upbeat closer for this year's NXNE, and I expect to be hearing a lot more from them.