Full Impulse

I attended Impulse 2010, the School Of Toronto Dance Theatre Fall repertoire, which highlighted the students in all 3 years. The need to include so many students in the various pieces detracts from the dances for me. The busy-ness doesn't give the viewer time to reflect on the choreography and sometimes the dancers are just running around. But I don't want to dwell on this minor point. So here is what I found interesting in each piece.

Oracle Parade had the dancers imitating each other but with subtle variations. They seem to pass around objects/tokens/hand patterns that fascinate them. Often, as the "object" move from person to person, each assume a related posture until a tableau is formed. I thought this was the most striking idea of this piece. It was like looking at a multiply exposed photo of a person in motion or a slow-motion sequence from the Matrix.

In What is what isn't, dancers assume poses which slowly metamorphized: a shoulder sagged, a back stooped. Other times, they call out a dance step before doing it. Interactions never involve personal contact such as hand-to-hand: one dancer's head push another's shoulder, an inner elbow contact a leg. I thought this was the weakest of all the pieces and had the audience scratching their head.

In contrast, they were laughing good-naturedly at Undone Tragedies. It might have been a 50s Hollywood comedy as dancers act out a manic scene from some army base gone wacky. Soldiers run off with flapper girls over their shoulders, generals bellow out nonsense commands. Hidden within the slapstick was  some accomplished techniques from the senior dancers.

Caving back towards the light remind me of other pieces where the bright illumination define a non-physical, but still real, structure that the dancers interact with. In this case, the light carved out paths on stage for dancers to move across. They appear on stage left, move through a sequence singly or in groups along the white paths, disappear on stage right, only to reappear again on stage left and repeat their journey. The sequences are repeated by various dancers. A commentary on the human condition? That in the end, our actions and lives travel down well-trodden paths. This is the piece that could benefit from less dancers so that we can concentrate on the choreography.

The last piece, Endangered Species (excerpt here though I think the dancers from The School of Toronto did a much better job), was almost a parody of what a detractor of modern dance imagines it to be. Namely, nothing that resembles dancing; just people moving like weirdos. I sympathize with that viewpoint as I usually demand technical skills foremost in any dance recital. Yet this was my favourite piece of the night because the choreography, though not dance, was so strong and vivid. Also, the smaller ensemble of 9 dancers made it feel more professional. An anti-war piece from 1981, it starts with people running continuously across the stage with ghastly faces while a siren blares. A funny beginning, even if it wasn't meant that way. But the humour dies away. What are they running from? An air bombing? Soldiers with machine guns? It doesn't matter because it's all grim. They fight, they die, they fight some more. Victims to aggressors back to victims. The violence loops round and round. And all the while, the fire that consumes the whole world is kept well-stoked by a grinning, goose-stepping, flag-waving war-monger who is more than happy to get people to join him under his red banner. They then die, but there are always more recruits. Not a particularly pleasant piece, intellectually speaking, to end the evening but a powerful one.

Going Mad?

Einstein once quipped "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results". Now I wouldn't quite go that far in characterizing my return to Enoteca Sociale given my relatively disappointing first visit. I wanted to see if their regular offerings was worth the money as compared to their prix fixe meals. For the appetizer I tried Ontario buffalo mozzarella, anchovies, eggplant, caper and black olive. It was tasty especially the salty anchovies. I honestly don't recall any olives in that dish. Perhaps the kitchen forgot. For the main, I had spaghetti and sausage. The spaghetti was perfectly al dente and creamy while the thin bits of sausage were rich and meaty. The ingredients are home-made and good quality but when you spend $25 (pre-tax and tip) and are still hungry afterwards, Enoteca might push that nonna-approved homey feel but it's not a restaurant the average person can frequent regularly. I'm still holding out for an Italian girl who comes with her own Nonna.

Afterward, I wandered over to Lula Lounge to catch some 80s a cappella goodness from retrocity. I debated whether or not to go, as I think they put on their best shows in smaller venues such as the Clinton. The space was mostly empty with the actual tables only 3/4 filled. Contrast this with the last time I caught them here where it was standing room up to the door. It's a little too much like dinner theatre for me.

The set opened promisingly with a cheesy rendition of the Live Aid "classic" Do They Know It's Christmas. It had a cheeky energy, even if they are dressed in Christmas party outfit instead of their typical 80s fashion disaster. However, outside of 1-2 other 80s songs, they primarily showcased songs from their Michael Jackson set (Man in the Mirror, Michael medley) and their recent Queen/Police work (I'm Going Slightly Mad, Show Must Go On, Message In a Bottle, Don't Stand So Close To Me). They are technically great as always, but without the enthusiastic crowd response to feed off, there's no oomph to the evening.

Into The Light

I went to a Sunday matinee at the Four Seasons Centre for Chroma put on by the National Ballet. I usually pick an evening performance but I noticed that I often end up seeing the same roster such as Bridget Zehr and Zdenek Kovalina. I wanted to see Heather Ogden and Jiri Jelinek and other dancers in the principal roles.

Chroma is a contemporary ballet created by Wayne McGregor for the London Royal Ballet in 2006. This is the first time another company has commissioned it. Chroma combines 3 songs (Aluminum, The Hardest Button to Button, and Blue Orchid) by the White Stripes, orchestrated as instrumental pieces, with 3 additional songs from Joby Talbot. The stage looks like a white box where dancers come and go. It's a very pristine, sterile environment except when the light darkens to a deep blue. The movement is very spastic, quite different from the typical classical ballet. The dancers combined in groups of 2 or 3, with lots of grabs and lifts. There are some extraordinary poses such as a female who is in a vertical split (e.g., legs at 6 o'clock) who somehow manages to go beyond that into a pose that is closer to 10 past 6. An exciting piece driven by the percussiveness of the rock songs.

The next piece doesn't fit into the program. Serenade is a plot-less ballet by George Balachine set to Tchaikovsky's Op. 48 (Serenade in C Major for String Orchestra). In 1935 it might have seemed avant-garde and modern, and it might still fill that role on a different bill. But given the 2 modern pieces on display, it was rather bloodless and antiseptic. The most striking image was the opening, as the curtain lifted to reveal 17 women standing in diagonal lines, their right arm raised toward the light. The women, and occasionally a few men, danced in some set pieces, almost like a lesson or etude. The other interesting image was near the end, when the principal dancers untied their hair. What a change a little thing can do. I was astonished to realize that I never noticed female ballet dancers tie up their hair in tight buns. With their hair down, all their usual movements, spins, lifts, jumps somehow became different and strange.

The last piece, Emergence, is a recent offering by Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite. The stage looks like a beehive or a termite mound with the entire corps de ballet and the principal dancers coming on stage through a round opening. To electronic music and bleeps, with a droning undertone present at times, they twitch and move like giant insects. All are in black, with the men bare-chested and adorned with markings on their shoulders like tribal tattoos. Though there was some solos and smaller ensembles, it was mostly a mass of men or women dancers. They move in unison, degenerate into individual tics, and then back in sync again. The stage was miked so that you can hear them counting off their steps. It was a hivemind, humanity as an undifferentiated collective. And yet despite the mental disquiet with dancers as worker-drones, there is also something thrilling about a large group of people chanting and moving in utter precision and unison (see also: marching bands, cheerleaders, goose-stepping soldiers.) The dark homogeneous underbelly of Emergence complemented the bright airy virtuosity of Chroma.

Sticks To You

I came to see Loan Sharking, a dance recital at the Enwave Theatre on Saturday, in a roundabout way. During a recent chat about dancing, I highlighted the fun that is the Dusk Dances program. I mentioned that one of the more innovative pieces I saw a few years back was a hip-hop inspired ensemble dancing to classical music. People were unable to wrap their head around that juxtaposition or how the dancing would look. So I downloaded an example of a hip-hop pas de deux as seen in the video Man I Used To Be by k-os. It turns out that the group featured in that video, RUBBERBANDance, was visiting Toronto for a 2-show stint. So I simply had to check them out in person.

Loan Sharking is a repertory program highlighting choreography of Victor Quijada, who is also one of the dancers. He has choreographed for RUBBERBANDance and other companies. The first half are 3 pieces entitled Dr Ib Erif (Stravinsky's Firebird), Soft Watching the First Implosion (Vivaldi's Cello in A minor), and Attempt #2 at Reinventing the Hip Hop Routine (Brubeck's Take Five). The second half is a 30-minute condensed version of the full length piece Punto Ciego.

The group is a very dynamic, athletic group who is always in motion. Although some moves are easily recognized from hip-hop (the various hand-stands from break-dancing), it's not always obvious to a casual viewer the interesting mix of contemporary and hip-hop styles. During a portion of Punto Ciego, a female dancer moved through a series of postures, only to do them in the reverse order; she continues this forward and rewind, adding more and more movement. This is a re-working of the locking and popping style of choreography.

The pieces have a distinctive dance vocabulary. In addition to the mix of street dance and contemporary moves, there is a lot of interactions between dancers (Victor Quijada, Karen Castleman, Emmanuelle Le Phan, Marc Macaranas, Daniel Mayo, and Lila-Mae G. Talbot). Hands grabbing wrists and feet, elbows joining, lifts and rolls, the dancers are usually always in contact with each other - pushing and pulling. This may be common in contemporary dance but not in the usual hip-hop routines which usually emphasize either coordinated precise movements (e.g., the typical music video) or individualized acrobatics (the b-boy battle). On the other hand, the poses and movements often come from athletic and aggressive street dancing.

It was an evening of enjoyable dancing with Punto Ciego being the highlight. This piece also came with the tensest audience reaction I've witnessed. During a dancer's solo, a phone went off. Not only did someone answered it, but his disruption became louder and louder as it sounded like he was arguing vehemently with the usher who was escorting him out. When he finally jumped up on stage and his actions "became" part of the piece, the amused relief from the audience was palpable. The only downside to the recital is that Victor and Michelle were much stronger technically and more expressive than the other dancers. But since these were ensemble pieces and not 2 principal dancers with a corps, there was some balance issues with the choreography in the sense that some sections seemed weaker without their presence.

November Rain

On a cold, drizzly Thursday evening, I went down to the Horseshoe Tavern to listen to a couple of indie folk bands, mostly because I wanted to pick up Olenka's first CD as I am quite enjoying her sophomore disc. First up was Olenka but no Autumn Lovers. She did a good job holding down the fort as a solo but it wasn't quite as good without the full band. It's hard to get some crowd excitement given the melancholic nature of her music but sometimes she turns her performance too inward and low-key. On a couple of songs, a few members of the head-lining Wilderness of Manitoba came on-stage to add some backing vocals, a cello, a banjo, or some electric guitar. Her eponymous CD is yielding some nice tunes.

Next up is a plaid-shirted, bearded troubadour name Leif Vollebekk. With his slight frame, he is more of a grunge 90s throwback than a tough lumberjack. Following the tradition of Neil Young and Bob Dylan, whom he both re-interprets in 2 cover songs, he sings confessional songs such as Don't Go To Klaksvik and Quebec. His debut EP 'Inland' has generated some buzz. His sensitive style seems to resonate with the pre-dominantly female audience that showed up for his set.

I was going to stay for Wilderness of Manitoba, a countrified Mamas and Papas group that I saw opened for Basia Bulat. But the chilly evening and soporific mood put me in a drowsy state. I decided to grab the streetcar home before I fell asleep at the bar.

Cleopâtre, Je Vous Idolâtre

I went down to the TIFF Lightbox on a chilly Sunday night to see Cléo de 5 à 7, one of my favourite French New Wave movie by director Agnes Varda. Modern audiences would probably find it a little slow and boring (as attested by a gentleman who was deeply asleep in the front row as we filed out at the end). The film chronicles in "real time" Florence "Cléo" Victoire (Corinne Marchand), a young and vain singer, wandering through Parisian neighbourhoods from 5 pm to 7 pm, meeting up with strangers and friends. The only plot device is that she is waiting on a medical test, with the possibility of bad outcome, and her growing realization that her care-free lifestyle may be too shallow and unexamined. Cinephiles may also get a tickle out of the uncredited cameo appearances of various famous French personalitites from that era. As for myself, I particularly enjoy the melodramatic song Sans Toi sung by Cléo about half-way through, which gives a nice jolt if the viewer is become a bit despairing about the meandering and fluffy plot.

The other enjoyment is to simply immerse yourself in the beautiful city of Paris: the buildings, the bistros, the view. Every location is organically what every nouveau urban planner tries to accomplish nowadays: lively street life, walkable, and human-scaled. Inspired by the film, I looked up a few spot on Google. Alas, even in Paris, some areas have not escaped ugly suburban modernity. The area around Parc Montsouris looks like it may come straight out of Mimico. This may be an upgrade for Mimico but given that in the 60s, this quarter was lined with tree-filled streets and wonderful architecture. Luckily, other areas such as Rue Huygens around the café Le Dome still retain their old-world charm.

I've always wanted map out the neighbourhood and routes travelled by Cléo in this film. It would make a fun day tour to visit modern Paris and retrace her steps, chronicling what has changed. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a Corinne Marchand song in a jukebox in some old café along the way.

Ella, ella, ay, ay

I attended the National Ballet's recital of Kudelka's Cinderella. As usual, waiting until a few hours before the show nets some discounted tickets. I got a seat in Ring 2 with a great view of Bridgett Zehr as Cinderella and Zdenek Konvalina as Prince Charming. Just before the show, I was musing on the fact I haven't seen a major screw up at a dance recital.

Well my wish was answered! This was the most gaffe-prone performance I have ever been to. Granted it's not much over the course of 1.5 hours but given the high level of talent of professional dancers, it was noticeable. There were 3 props malfunctions. Early on, as the faeries disappear into the chimney, their trailing silk carpet got caught on one side of the chimney. Cinderella had to discretely release the prop. Later, during their world tour to find the slipper's owners, the prince's companions threw some roses off-stage. A few minutes later, during an entrance, a dancer kicked one of the rose back on stage. It was up to the prince to boot the rose off-stage again during one of his kicks (a nice bit of quick thinking). Finally at the wedding scene, Cinderella's bridal veil fell off during one of her bow. Once again, the prince had to casually pick it up and returned it to her.

On top of that, there were also 3 major physical gaffes. At the end of a series of leaps, one of the prince's companions fell. He didn't land on his butt, of course, but he came down on one knee and both hands slapped down on the floor. Later, I'm not sure if it was the same dancer, but during some spins and leaps, a prince's companion knocked over a chair. Given that it was the only prop on stage, and positioned at the front, you bet people noticed. Finally at the beginning of the second pas de deux between Cinderella and Prince Charming, there was 2 set of slow leg lifts while they were clasping hands. Well, Zdenek was slightly wobbly on the 1st set, but he definitely bailed out on the 2nd set without achieving full leg extension.

Minor errors aside, how did I find the show? I'm a bit ambivalent about it. There were some wonderful set pieces. The second pas de deux was wonderful. Kudelka's decision to keep Cinderella bare-footed for some scenes, being a poor girl and all, gave rise to some great choreography. When Cinderella got her ballet slippers and was able to go up en pointe was a beautiful moment. I particularly enjoyed her solo when she was back in her kitchen with only one slipper. Her en pointe turns and pirouettes on the slippered foot provided a great contrast to her dance movements when she switched over to the bare foot. Finally, the dancing provided by the Stepsister and especially the Other Stepsister was hilariously. Being gauche, unsophisticated social climbers, their dancing was sometimes comic, sometimes over the top, always "amateurish". Rebekah Rimsay as the Other Stepsister got a bigger cheer than Cinderella and the Prince. Though some of it was probably for the 20th anniversary of her National Ballet career, her comedic timing did upstage the main couple.

On the negative side, I didn't think there was enough time devoted to the pairing of Cinderella and the Prince. I suppose some of it is the material; they only know each other over the course of 1 ball. Nevertheless, I didn't have much emotional involvement in their relationship. The choreography, especially for the corps, was a bit odd too. Given that the setting is in the 20s-30s, it doesn't have the classic style with tutus and tights. Yet it lacks the modern athleticism of contemporary dance. It would probably take a few more performances for this to grow on me. Given that this is the 4th mounting in 6 years, the National Ballet will probably put it on again in 2-3 years. I'll probably appreciate it more the 2nd time around. Ultimately, I think it's mostly the music. Prokofiev's score simply did not work for me. And unfortunately, I don't think I will ever grow to like this piece.

Sheezer 2: Return of the Furious Five

Sheezer in Ottawa (c) photogmusic.com

It's Friday before Halloween and the all-girl Weezer cover band Sheezer is putting on another show at the Garrison. In fact, it is the 2nd show of a mini-tour that they will doing in Southern Ontario with a stop in Montreal. I guess the sold-out success of their last show here inspired them to do a road trip.

It was immediately obvious that it was a different crowd than before - and that has nothing to do with the various costumes including 80s Material Girls, Fairies, and some sort of Moth King. At the previous show, a lot of people in the audience had some connection to the band members. They knew the girls in some capacity or were familiar with their main musical acts. But at this show, these people were here to enjoy a Halloween show, listen to Weezer music, or both. One of the Sheezer girls was worried that the crowd seemed a little sparse even by 10 pm, but no worries - the place was packed by the time they went on at 11:45 pm.

The opening act was a band called Sister! They played mostly slow, moody pop. With only 1 opening act, they were given a generous 45 min set. Given that most people were there to indulge in some 90s nostalgia, they were having some trouble engaging the crowd. However, as the set closed, with some more emphatic and catchy drums and bass, they were able to get a bigger reaction.

When Sheezer came up, they had something special in store. With Halloween around the corner, the 5 ladies came out dressed as the Sailor Scouts. Given Rivers Cuomo's penchant for Asian girls, the meta-narrative of an all-girl Weezer band clad in Japanese schoolgirl uniform is too delicious. I think his head would asplode.

And how furious were the five? (I know I'm mixing my Asian cultures.) Very furious. Dana pounded the drums without let-up. Meghan, Alysha, and Robin played rocking guitars, especially on Only In Dreams. I think some Weezer fans might have orgasmed from that cover. And Laura channeled her inner rock star and let out some sustained wails on a couple of songs. The sound mix was better this time around especially on vocals, and even with the substantial sing-alongs from the crowd. It was a great show. After all, any live act that has Sailor Scouts and cameo appearances by Hurley from Lost (in a Dharma Initiative radiation suit) and Tuxedo Mask on Undone (The Sweater Song) can only be described as great.

Folk Hero

This past Tuesday, I headed down on a rainy night to see Basia Bulat at the Phoenix. Unfortunately, she wasn't the head-liner so it was a shortened set. I was hoping to see her with the full band so I was slightly disappointed when she came on-stage alone. But she was her usual vibrant self and won over a number of people in the crowd. In addition to her hits such as "In the Night" and "The Shore", she tried out 2 new songs, one on a new musical instrument the ukelin (a cross between a mandolin and a ukulele). She also sang a Polish song popular in the 1960s Communist Poland called In The Green Zoo - about 2 lovers who visit a zoo and at the end don't know if it's them watching the animals or have the animals come to see them (nice political subtext). Listen for "Hippopotame" and other animal names, if you know them in Polish :)

At the end of the show, I chatted with Basia for a bit. She will do a full band show in the New Year as well as release 2 CDs - her 3rd album and an all Polish CD. I didn't ask her if it will be only Polish cover songs or will include original composition. I suggested that she should do a Polish song with Olenka. As it turns out, they know each other quite well. I gave her a Polish fudge candy called krówka, given to me by a Polish co-worker. She seemed to like it ok, except that when I got home I realized that this candy has been sitting on my desk for more than a month. I gave Basia stale candy!

The head-liner was Josh Ritter. In older photos, with his scruffy beard, he looks like a young Bob Dylan. Now clean-shaven, he resembles John Mellencamp/Opie. Like these two singers, he writes long, lyrical songs that can be best described as Americana although he does delve into Egyptian mummies and Arthurian knights. He is also a tireless and enthusiastic performer, putting in two solid hours with nary a pause between songs.

I was struck by the audience who cheered as loudly and sing along as lustily for such songs as Kathleen, Harrisburg, The Temptation of Adam as if they were the most anthemic of rock songs by U2 or Bon Jovi. I'd be tempted to say they are older small-town folks like the woman next to me who drove down from Thunderbay. But in fact it was mostly young 20-something in the crowd. They all seemed very earnest and non-ironical - the only hipsters (or at least hipster-esque people) around were to be found on stage: the drummer in a tight-fitting suit, the pianist with his scruffy Ross Geller look, and the bassist with curly Salvador Dali mustache.

I enjoyed the performance although personally most of these long ballad with "AABB" rhyming didn't resonate emotionally with me. However, I did connect with Change Of Time, Lantern, In The Dark (which was sung with all the house lights turned off and un-miked), and Southern Pacifica. Hmm, 3 of those songs are on the new album So Runs The World Away. Maybe I should have bought it. Off to the record store!

Classical Gas

After dinner at Enoteca Sociale, I wandered over to the Garrison for some music. In keeping with a quiet Sunday evening, NoShame Productions put on a show with 3 bands with a folk or classical sound - at least as classical as you'll get with pop music.

First was The Weather Station with some minimalist soft music. The duo had some interesting songs, but definitely more suited for a night at home chilling on the couch. Next came Kite Hill, a 6 member band that is a side project. Upright bass, cello, violin, recorder, flute and drums backed up a pianist singing some plaintive tunes. They remind me of Bell Orchestre, but not so self-indulgent. The only negative note is that I really couldn't hear the recorder or the flute. Also, orchestration for "non-pop" instruments tend to be simplistic. I'd like to hear something that approaches a classical piece or even the complexity of a decent pop guitar part.

The head-liner was Olenka and the Autumn Lovers from London, Ontario. The lead singer, Olenka, is a Polish-Canadian who also plays the guitar. Hmm, the last female Polish-Canadian singer/guitarist I've seen is Basia Bulat. And I became an instant fan. Will lightning strike twice?

I heard the same Polish influence in Olenka's music as Basia's. There's a quality to certain songs such as Odessa and Go that evokes a tradition of old folk songs. The instrumentation was also similar: with 2 female harmonies, cello, violin. The Autumn Lovers also throw in drums, tenor sax, trumpet, xylophone, and even some sleigh bells. The major difference is that Olenka's songs are more pop: both in her voice and in the guitar of the male lead guitarist. He added some awesome licks that gave the live performances a driving rock feel - though he didn't indulge in any guitar face.

So I ended up liking Olenka a lot and have been listening to her new CD "and now we sing". However, she doesn't quite thrill me like Basia because of the same pop sensibility. There's a timelessness to Basia's unique voice and songs that suggest somehow that these songs weren't written a few years ago but have passed down for several generations.

Social Network

The area on Ossington between Dundas and Queen is completely gentrified. As a result, more and more trendy businesses are colonizing Dundas between Ossington and Dufferin. One such venture by the owners of Pizzeria Libretto is Enoteca Sociale, an Italian restaurant specializing in home-made food as prepared by nonna, a typical Italian grandmother. In addition to fresh food, it boasts a large selection of Italian wines and also a big collection of cheeses, all maturing in its own cheese cave.

Arriving at about 7:30, it is a busy place: long and narrow with a bar. Most of the tables are communal style. As such, my dinner companion and I shared a table with 4 other people. This was off-putting for me simply because the seating spaces were so narrow. It would be reasonable for 4 but not 6. Even with a group of friends it would have been an uncomfortably tight squeeze. I guess they're not going for the large table in the garden of a Tuscany house ambience. If it was meant to put more butts into seats and thus more profit, I don't appreciate that as a customer.

We ordered the $35 3-course Nonna special as the $45 5-course was not available on Sunday. First came a wooden platter with olives, bufala di mozzarella, bomba calabrese, and duck pâté with caramelized onions on crostini. The olives were good quality and so was the cheese. However, my dinner companion pointed out that really high quality bufala would have a fresher dairy flavour. I enjoyed my first taste of the spicy bomba since I like all things hot. The duck and onions were excellent though the crostini was a little too crunchy for my taste. The second course was braised lamb with smashed potatoes with a side of rapini drizzled with oil and garlic. The lamb was soft and delicious though my friend wanted pasta instead of potatoes. We both agreed that the rapini was water-logged and needed salt. It looked like it was simply boiled and drained. Finally, the dessert arrived in the form of semolina cake topped with syrup and poached plums. I liked the plums but thought the dessert was too sweet. My buddy thought the cake was a little dry, possibly stale.

Overall, the dishes came in at about 70% success. This is not a winning percentage for $35 but we were reasonably satisfied. However, thinking back, I realized that the dishes came out communally. In other words, the portions were doubled up. The portions would be perfect for 1 person and are on the small side for 2. So in fact it was a $70 3-course dinner. In that light, this was not good food for the money. Maybe that's why the other diners at our table ordered only pasta dishes a la carte, a steal at $13-15.

I would try the pasta dishes next time to see if Enoteca is worth repeat visits. If not, it would be better for me to find an Italian girl. They come with real nonnas who'll feed you until your belt burst.

Last Chance To See

This past Friday, I went to a local bar called The Piston to check out some music. The Piston took over the spot of the old Concord Cafe. It's supposed to be the harbinger of the gentrification of the area of Bloor and Ossington. Something that was previously attributed to Disgraceland, Comedy Bar, et al. A long and narrow bar with a separate room in the back for live music. The music area is certainly the smallest I've been in, probably no bigger than my apartment if you discount the stage and the sound mix area. The clientele is a mix of casually upscale and ironic hipster.

The first act at around 10:15 pm is a local band called Mantler. They play an updated 70s style of music, heavy on the funky bass. Having read that description, I decided to skip out on the band. I arrived in time to hear their last two songs. They are certainly capable musicians but not my cup of tea.

The second act is Otouto, which is Japanese for younger brother. However, this Australian trio took the name for its sound, as one of the singer (Martha Brown) told me after the set. The singing duties fall to lead singer and guitarist, the Lisa-Loeb-ish Hazel Brown and her sister Martha Brown, A Natalie Portman look-a-like, who also man the synthesizers. Kishore Ryan is the drummer who sometimes like to play his rhythm on a cooking pan. They remind me of Bjork on her third album Homogenic. Kishore lays down complex, syncopated and skittering beats while the Browns play fragments of melody and bass. I enjoyed it but the small crowd was restrained at Otouto's low-key stage presence and odd music. The two songs that got the biggest cheers were more mainstream: one employed a drum machine to give it a thumping beat, and one used their voices in a rapid back-and-forth that was like a live version of stereo panning.

I bought their CD "pip" and chatted with them a bit after the set. Unfortunately as is the case, some of the songs aren't on there including my favourite which was the aforementionned human stereo. Not surprisingly, their "international" 35 city tour is being done on the cheap. The main act, Owen Ashworth, has been touring a lot and has contacts in numerous North American cities. Of course, this still meant that often times they slept on the floor at somebody's place. Given the cheap door cover of $10 and the small crowd, I doubt that the bar revenue covers much more than their travels.

At this show, there weren't too many takers for their CDs or t-shirts either. It seems odd to me as the CD was only $12, not much more than the price of a beer or two. For supposed indie music lovers, people seemed to be a stingy bunch. Afterward, I was thinking that if they could pull in $100-200 in "merchandise" a show, the tour wouldn't be a total wash. As a small indie Australian band, they're unlikely to ever come back to North America so forget about building a fan base. But how to get someone to reach for their wallet after a 30-40 minute set? Here's my "talking out of my ass" take on things, having observed Allie Hughes and other indie acts.

• Otouto need a "swagger coach" like Justin Bieber, That is, they need a stronger stage presence. As two young attractive women in a musical genre (i.e., indie) mostly attended by High Fidelity male musical nerds, their sex appeal could go a long way to quickly win over the crowd.
• They need more mainstream hook-friendly tunes to grab the rest (i.e., the more conventional friends or girlfriends of those lo-fi nerds). Given that most listeners would not have heard their material before, the music can't be too out there. Luckily, they don't need to "pander" with fluff pieces; just create "live remix" versions of some of their songs where the drum machine plays a more prominent role and maybe add musical layers via loop pedals or sequencers. I can imagine the reaction if they use their harmonies to do an original (perhaps ironic) cover of a popular tune, such as Tegan and Sara singing Rihanna's Umbrella.

The main act is Owen Ashworth, otherwise known as Casiotone For the Painfully Alone. Apparently, he started out with a 4-track mixer and some cheap synthesizers. Well he's now a well-oiled one man band with a pile of keyboards, drum machines, and effects plugged in every which way. This is his last tour under this moniker. He cranks out melancholic song after melancholic song, driven by sad, confessional lyrics. Despite all the live effects, the slow strings and synth beats of those 80s Casio underlie most of the songs. So it was like listening to a whole set of Bob Dylan doing Make You Feel My Love and Sinead O'Connor singing Nothing Compares 2 U. But I don't mean this in a pejorative sense. According to Owen, he's moving on to other kinds of music and will never do these songs again after this tour. I've never listened to him before and I'm glad I got to hear these songs before they are, in his words, "locked in a vault and dropped into the ocean".

We Built This City on Doo-Dat-Doo

For the Global Cabaret Festival down in the Distillery District, I went to see Retrocity's tribute to Queen and The Police. Retrocity is an 8-member a cappella band who specializes in vocal arrangements of 80s tunes. It is a side project for the professional singers in the group (such as Suba Sankaran of Autorickshaw) so it is always a pleasure to attend one of their rare concerts. I had a great time with the music although some of the songs were unfamiliar to me (e.g., I'm Going Slightly Mad by Queen). However, it didn't rank up there as one of my favourite Retrocity shows; some of which included my very first show with them in a fund-raiser at the Arts and Letters Club on Elm, and a few of their shows at Clinton's.

First, I didn't think the material was a-one stuff. The Queen songs were excellent, especially The Show Must Go On and Bohemian Rhapsody but most of The Police songs were dull. The excitement of a 3-member reggae-influenced band became muzak-like. Their last tribute show covered songs by Michael Jackson. This was an excellent choice as his music is very layered pop. But generally speaking, they do better when they can pick from the cream of the 80s crop. Their cover of Toto's Africa, Jackson's Human Nature, and an 80s rap medley expertly performed by Suba and her husband Dylan Bell are legendary.

Second, the atmosphere was a bit staid. They wore nice clothes and performed about 10 songs without much banter. The audience was mostly grey-haired. It  felt a bit like those Casino Rama nostalgia shows for aging baby boomers. In contrast, at other shows, the audience was young and enthusiastic. The band wore 80s gear and made all sorts of silly talk. Past highlights for me included one grand entrance sung to the intro to the A-Team, introduction of each band member with modified lyrics from 80s TV theme songs, and a "romantic medley" where they brought back all those cringe-worthy memories of a grade 8 high school dance.

Finally, the sound mix felt incorrectly balanced compared to other shows. For the whole night, I thought that the "bass" and "drum" mikes should have been louder. These were rock and pop songs and needed that driving beat. Without it, the songs had that "London Philharmonic Plays The Beatles" feel. This was obvious when they did Bohemian Rhapsody. In that song, there is a transition from the faux opera to the head-banging section, made famous by the car scene in Wayne's World. That rock and roll excitement simply wasn't there at this show.

In any case, they will be doing another show in December. Of course I'll be there. But I hope they'll be playing at a venue where everyone understands the mystical power that is 80s head-band and leg-warmers.

Still Bill Vol. 2

The night of Nuit Blanche, I decided to check out a dance recital down at Harbourfront first. Dancemakers had on a show titled Double Bill #2. Presumably there was Double Bill #1 and the series will continue. I had no trouble securing a ticket at the last minute as there was only about 30 people in the 300+ Enwave Theatre. I was able to get a seat right at the front. Although I don't begrudge the $38 seat, if I was on a budget I think I would not be happy with the agent for not offering me the cheaper $28 seat up on the second level. After all, the theatre was more than half empty and the 2-3 people up there were invited to come down and sit with us on the main level.

The theme of the 2 pieces "Show" and "So You Think The Spectacle Does Not Love You" was art versus show. What does it mean to be a contemporary dancer in an atmosphere of shows such as "So You Think You Can Dance", "Dancing With the Stars", "America's Best Dance Crew" and so on?  Does it mean you add a little more razzle-dazzle? Use pop songs in your pieces? Dismiss them as superficial?

The first piece had the dancers in small groups, dancing with each other, supporting and sometimes mirroring each other's moves. But subtly a bit of competition would creep in. Who can dance the fastest? Who has the highest kick? The dancers put on incomplete costumes made out of paper: a pair of pants, a vest, a shirt. The piece ended with them all rushing to the front of the stage multiple times, increasingly frenetic, feeding on the (imaginary) applause.

The second piece is a stage somewhere, as dancers move through: chatting, sitting, changing clothes. They do moves that suggests dance exercises. Over and over, sequences of movements are repeated, trying to achieve perfection. The music of the pieces have been electronic sounds, beeps, and chirps. It's interesting to see a dance sequence, "practiced" 4-5 times by a dancer, suddenly becomes something different when the spotlight shines on her and a ballad-y pop song starts to play. Is it still art or a 60-second piece by Mia Michaels to choose America's favourite dancer?

I liked this recital much more the last dance recital. But overall I was a bit underwhelmed. When there are several dancers, I typically like to see more interactions in the choreography. Technique-wise, this shows a mastery of their craft. Artistically, there is more opportunity for innovation. When each dancer does their own thing, I tend to cynically wonder if there are varying levels of skill which prevent them from collaboration.

Waiting To Exhale

To celebrate the grand opening of Octopus Garden Yoga, which has relocated to College and Dovercourt from the Annex, 4 free classes were offered this week-end. I decided to attend the 2 hour 9 a.m. class in lieu of my regular practice at St. Clair and Oakwood. The first thing I noticed was the tiny space. I suppose it was typical for a yoga studio. But I'm used to the unusually large space at the Y. The next thing I noticed was the 40 or more people who came. Well, we ended up laying our mats so close together that there was about a finger's width between them.

The owner, Pat Linfoot, decided that for the very first class in this new space, we will do 108 sun salutations (with variations). Yikes! And that's what we did. Over 8 different yoga instructors took turns doing about 10 each. We didn't actually get to it all, ending up somewhere around 80-90, as some instructors took their time and only did a few. It was interesting to observe how different each instructor was. It was also interesting to watch how the participants handle the class.

Even with the variations, it was a lot of sun salutations. This series of postures is the foundation of all yoga practices. It is also very "basic" and not flashy like a handstand or putting your leg behind your head. Yet I believe it is quite difficult to get right and most repetitive injuries or wear-and-tear in Yoga are from these postures. My own observation is that a lot of practitioners don't do them correctly. And that's under normal circumstances.

With 108 in mind, you've got to modified your practice: replacing some the postures with easier variations to conserve energy and be kind to your body. After a few full salutations, I made my own adjustments. Unsurprisingly, the gung-ho ones didn't last too long and took more and more child's pose to rest. I also don't think their wrists, shoulders, or back will feel that good later in the day when the endorphins wear off. The most important part of Yoga is learning to breathe, everything else is meant to teach you that lesson.

After lunch, I went down to the Bell Lightbox, the permanent home of TIFF. With 5 theatres, they will be showing movies year round. With great anticipation, I sat down to watch Breathless (A bout de souffle). Am I a cinephile who wants to see one of the classic movie from the French New Wave movement of the 60s? Not really, although I do like these older films. No, I just wanted to sit in the dark and stare at the gamine, short-haired Jean Seberg for 2 hours. Give me a pixie cut over long tresses any day.

The movie itself was excellent. The impetus and tragedy of the movie is the criminality of Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo). But at its core, Breathless is a romantic movie. Two beautiful people living in Paris, flirting, fighting (playfully), and loving. A distillation of what it means to be young and believing that you are the first in the world to have loved so deeply, to discover "profound" insights (and talk about them), and a rumpled bed in a tiny apartment is all the possession you need.

And did I enjoy looking at Jean Seberg? Yes, she is utterly breath-taking. And the fashionably gamine, yet simple, 60s look she sported was fresh and stylish. I don't know if it was meant as an running joke but her character Patricia asked Michel at various times if she's attractive. He's evasive and does praise her smile, her shoulders, and so on. The take-away is a gallic shrug: "She's ok-looking." Frankly, a real-life Patricia would have most men grinning like a love-sick schoolboy and acting just as foolish.

And would I like a real-life Patricia of my own? Why yes I would ... assuming I survive the heart attack.

The More You Know

It's interesting to see things you are familiar with in a slightly new light. I've been practicing yoga at the West End YMCA for years now. Most other participants have come and on, even the instructors. On a bright sunny afternoon, one of the instructors organized a vegetarian pot-luck on the rooftop garden at the Y so we can get to know some of our fellow yogis. The 18 or so people who showed up made for a fun encounter. Though upon further thought it's probably only about 10% of all people who practice there which is disappointing.

Everyone brought a dish, though I pleaded cooking ignorance and brought 2 types of vegetarian fresh rolls from White Lotus, a Vietnamese vegan restaurant just up the street at College and Lansdowne. Although I already knew some by name, it was nice to put a name to other recognizable faces and learn a bit of their personal history. So things I learnt at the pot-luck:

• No one is a native Torontonian, let alone grew up in the local neighbourhood. The closest is from Brampton. Everyone came from other parts of Canada and all over the world (Brazil, Japan, Ukraine, etc.)
• Though some live in the neighbourhood, others live farther away in High Park, The Junction, and even across town in Leslieville.
• No one is the stereotypical New-Age yoga hippie, though the Y isn't a hard-core yoga studio like Downward Dog. We have PhD students, social workers, theatre folks, and business people. Some are lucky enough to work in a downtown location.
• The best vegetarian dishes are the substantial ones like Indian tofu curry and Mexican chilli. Freshly baked pretzels with a spicy honey mustard dip are also delicious.
• Fruit salads are tasty but easy to make. I should try my hands at an Asian fruit salad some time. Although depending on the tropical fruit, that might make for an expensive dish.
• Vegan coconut mango ice cream is yummy but it's not ice cream. The coconut milk does give it that rich mouth-feel but without emulsifiers it's just a runny yogurt.
• Fresh Ontario peaches baked with cream and sugar, and dusted with icing sugar is heavenly. Nothing like caramelized sugar and fruit to give you that great smoky sweetness.

Every year, a pow-wow is held at Dufferin Park in late September, drawing Native folks from all over the area but also from the States and other Provinces as well. I always enjoy watching the dances and eating the barbecued food, though I'm usually slightly disappointed that there are no truly Aboriginal dishes to try. But this is the first year that I recall that the emcee explained what each of the dances were.

• The cooks are getting much better at barbecue. The hamburgers were delicious unlike the dried buffalo burger I had a few years back.
• I didn't know scones were fried. In any case, they went well with the chilli.
• Grass dance is the dance from which all other pow-wow dances originate. The dancers wear grass costumes, porcupine quills, and other animal parts to inherit their protective properties. They usually open a pow-wow by blessing the ground, spinning and stomping the grass.
• The other sacred dance is the Women's Traditional. The elder women move stately around the dance circle, sometimes raising up a feather or fan. Everyone stands to pay respect, since in some tribes it is the female elders who choose the clan chief.
• In contrast, the Men's Traditional is more frenetic. Costumed warriors wearing outfits stuffed with feathers, carrying wooden rifles or other weapons scuttle low through the grass to avoid gun-fight and then leaping up, trying to outdo each other in energetic movements.
• Only Fancy Dancers wear even more outrageous costumes and have more energetic moves. This dance came from the Buffalo Bill traveling show era, when Native performers were encouraged to add a little more razzle-dazzle to their act.
• The Shawl Dancers spin around, spreading their colourful shawls for all to see. In the old days, it was the matronly women who wore them to gather berries, and spread them out so the children can sit on them. Now, it is young attractive women who do the dance.
• Women also do the Jingle dance, wearing dresses sewn with hundreds of horn-shaped bells. This dance came from the Lake of the Woods area in North-East Ontario. Maggie White was a sick young girl when her father made for her the first jingle dress. Her illness was cured after the dance. Now, it is requested for any healing needs.
• Chicken Dancers are fun to watch with their feather costumes and head-dresses. They try to resemble the cocky roosters in their head and body movements.
• There are of course inter-tribal dances when everyone is invited to dance. These often turn into a Spot dance where a judge will give a dancer at the end of the dance some money, either because they landed on some physical spot in the circle, or perhaps for the quality of their dance or their smile. Of course, you don't need to wait for a Spot dance to add some money to the pot. During an individual dance, if you get a Fancy from their performance, you can always put some money on the ground in front of them as they move around the dance circle.

Red Rover, When Is it Over?

Saturday evening I headed down to the Fleck Theatre down at Harbourfront to see a contemporary dance recital called Red Brick. It's a program of dance pieces interspersed with musical performances created by Marie-Josée Chartier. The night is a tribute to the 10th year anniversity of the death of her composer husband, Michael J. Baker. All musical selections was composed by Baker and played by Array Ensemble.

I found this music very alienating. It's what people think of when they disparagingly talk about "modern music". It's fragmentary, with numerous repetitive passages, and no clear chord progressions. In many cases, for example in the piece "The Place of the Twins" for clarinet and violin, it has the drone-like quality of a gamelan ensemble: a continuous repetition of sound with a very minor progression of changes. However, it is nowhere near as hypnotic. The only interesting piece was "Train" which contained strong percussive rhythm. Unsurprisingly this got the loudest applause from the audience, who seemed glad to hear something recognizably musical.

The dance pieces were also "modern". This is the first time I've seen contemporary dance where I feel more like Homer than Frasier. The strongest piece was the first piece called "C.V." by Kudelka. Dancers in trios, duos, and single execute a series of friezes; that is, a 2-5 second burst of dance and lifts followed by a brief pause where they hold a tableau of gestures. And repeat for the entire piece. As the gestures included contorted faces and limbs, it prompted 3 young boys in the 3rd row just in front of me to bury their head in their hands, trying to stifle their laughter. The other pieces: Encoded Revision, Red Brick, and One Day were less strong. You had to look carefully to see the underlying discipline and skill; otherwise you'd simply conclude that these are people who just flail around and call it dance.

I think the evening was a disappointment for most people, including me. The music was just too strange for most people, and there's too much of it. I'm sure the dance students filling the side rows would have preferred more dancing and less "weird" music, as well as more accessible dance movements. When dance students waggle their hips in imitation of the pieces and then burst out laughing, your choreography might be a little bit too avant-garde.

For a different take on the show, see this Globe and Mail review.

Cobra Kai

No Shame was sponsoring an evening of indie acts at the Garrison on Friday. I seem to be going there a fair amount given that I'm not thrilled about their sound system. But one of my favourite local band, Hooded Fang, was making an appearance.

This was one of those late shows where the first act doesn't come on until 10 pm and the last act takes to the stage at 1 am. I gave Slowhand Motem a listen online. Their sampled techno style didn't really appeal to me so I stayed home until about 10:20 pm. Upon arriving around just before Hooded Fang played the set, I noticed that it was a sparser crowd than other shows: maybe about 50-60 people. With a cover of $3, I thought there would be more people.

Hooded Fang gave a typical fun set although some of them missed some cues here and there. Overall, it was a relaxed performance from the 7 members. I'm happy to learn that they have finished recording their debut LP and will be having a CD release in a few weeks.

Steve McKay was the main act at 12 am. He is the drummer for Bruce Peninsula and has put out a solo effort. His back-up band is also composed of 7 members including the drummer from Hooded Fang. They are friends from other musical acts including Allie Hughes and members of Bruce Peninsula. Interestingly, though the crowd still numbered the same, I'd say about half are different people from the previous set. His light indie pop didn't really stick with me. The lyrics sounded interesting but I couldn't really decipher most of it. I gave a pass on his debut CD, though the various arts and crafts items, as well as some baked goods at the merchandise table did tempt me. I headed home at 12:30 because I had an early day tomorrow.

Saturday morning at 8:15 am I headed down to the Varsity to see a TIFF movie. I wanted to see some more cerebral fares including Nostalgia For the Light and Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives but they were sold out. I decided to try and get rush tickets for Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen starring Donnie Yen. I guess martial arts film don't appeal to the typical TIFF crowd because I was able to get a ticket right away and the theatre was only 60% full - although Varsity 8 is a rather large theatre.

But instead of some bone-crunching action, it turned out to be a melodrama. A period set in Shanghai in the 1920s, it had beautiful sets, costumes, and classic cars. The sky-line of old-time Shanghai was a shoddy piece of CGI though. Although the actors were competent, it's nothing more than a glorified soap opera. Chen Zhen (Donnie Yen), a role made famous by Bruce Lee in Fist of Fury and reprised by Yen in the 1995 TV series Fist of Fury, returns to Shanghai after working at the front-lines in WWI France with other Chinese labourers. He befriends a mobster and joins in with the Chinese resistance against both the increasingly powerless British and the evil Japanese. The nationalistic rhetoric (e.g., "Jap dogs", "Chinese is not the sick man of Asia", "We Chinese must unite", and so on) got tiresome fast.

Sadly, the fighting was few and far between and suffered from the recent Hollywood style of erratic, close-up action shots usually meant to disguise the poor martial prowess of the actors. I can't believe Donnie Yen and producer Gordon Chan would resort to it in a Hong Kong action film. I can only think of 3 reasons. One, it was stunt heavy and Donnie Yen is not Jackie Chan. Two, his main opponents were not trained in stunt fighting. Third, he had a hard time emulating Bruce Lee's fighting style. Though Yen did throw in a couple of Lee-inspired "Hee-ya" in the final Dojo scene, I thought the jumpy camera shots during his awkward nun-chuk scene illustrated rather clearly why this sleight-of-hand was needed. He needs to stick to his usual brutal, MMA-style technique.

Apparently, this film has been optioned for a North American release in 2011; it will open in Asia in September of this year. I'd be surprised if it doesn't go straight to DVD here.

Play - Do

The Bell House, Brooklyn (c) TheMst.com

I sometimes complain about the lateness of some music acts. Some of us have to get up early the next day. So a pair of acts at Wrongbar scheduled for Saturday from 6-10pm sounded just up my alley. Having bought my ticket at Soundscapes (original concert location: The Mod Club), I spent a lazy afternoon doing acro yoga at the park. A leisurely dinner until 8 or so was the plan until I found out from a Facebook post that the opening act was at 7 pm. They're serious about that early start!

I saw Allie Hughes back in March. Back then, I thought she had a powerful voice but not much else going on. I wanted to see if things have changed. A sparse crowd of about 20 was scattered around the room when I arrived at 7:20 pm. I caught the last 3 songs in her set. Her band was much more polished and greatly benefited from the good sound system and smaller venue. She still likes to harness that big voice to some quirky tunes but she's growing into her style. But her last number, a more mainstream duet called "Not The Stars" (1st track here), was an excellent crowd-pleaser. I wonder if she should grow her concert fan-base with these conventional songs and let them discover her more avant-garde stuff when they buy the CD.

The ♩ø (as in do-re-mi) is a Finnish-French duo who had success with their debut album, A Mouthful, when it was released in France in 2008. Not sure how they were received in Toronto last year but only about 50 or so people came to see them tonight. Well, they missed a fun show and gave me a chance to stand right up at the stage and discover this great act.

The Bell House, Brooklyn (c) TheMst.com

Dan Levy is a multi-instrumentalist who stayed mainly with his electric bass though he will occasionally play the electric organ or reach into his grab-bag of instruments (flute, percussion, chimes). A twin to Johnny Depp, he spent the night either strutting or hopping around on stage, laying down some groovy bass. Early on though, he did give an appreciate Gallic stare at some girls next to me. And well he should. One cute girl, in a chin-length bowl cut, was bobbing along in a 60s-style dress - snug to the body with a loose knee-length skirt. The other girl was Robyn sexy with a blond bob and a red top.

The Bell House, Brooklyn (c) TheMst.com

Olivia Merilahti out-shoned them though in her white suede boots and a red-yellow designer dress. A tiny tricorne perched fetchingly on one side of her red-maned head for half the night. They say Finland has some of the most beautiful women in the world; she is rather spectacular but in an otherworldly super-model way (all high cheek-bones and strong jawline) instead of your everyday attractive woman (round faces and soft cheeks). Her breathy alto voice is more full-bodied live than on the album and she also played guitar on some songs. An interesting guitarist and able drummer rounded out the band.

Their dance pop style sounds even better live. With the studio instrumentation stripped away, they acquire a rawer, more rock sound while still retaining those catchy beats and rhythms. Their cover of Janelle Monae's Tightrope is a blues-rock number with a massive crescendo. Their newer tracks are also fun to listen to. In fact, their last number - and one of their best - is a new song called "Dust It Off". A folk-like ballad that became a sonic explosion as Olivia layered on looping samples of her singing and the two guitar players abandoned their instrument to simply play with their effects pedals.

It was on the strength of that number, and the rest of the set, that got them an encore. Though most of the audience was packed right up against the small stage, it wasn't a big crowd. So they and the management thought the show was over when they stepped off. The house music had already come on. But the persistent clapping of the audience convinced the technicians to run backstage to grab them for another song. They seemed genuinely surprised and pleased, and ended the night with "Travel Light" - a song whose announcement elicited a delightful shriek from one of their fans.

The Do is the first act since Basia Bulat where I became a fan right after the concert. Having bought their debut CD afterward, I hope they release their second album soon and come back to Toronto again.

EDIT: Photos of the Wrongbar concert can be found at Chromewaves.

MORE EDIT: 2 acoustic songs (The Bridge is Broken, and new song Dust It Off) filmed in Toronto by Mitch Fillion.

Rap Vs Indie

Yonge-Dundas Square hosts a number of free music concerts profiling Canadian artists. I went down to one of their Urban Groove concert to check out Masia One, a Singaporean-Canadian female rapper. It was a gusty evening that promised rain. Opening for Masia was a Jamaican MC, spinning some Caribbean tracks. His efforts to get the Toronto crowd to get up and dance was a failure. Then Masia One came on with an MC, 2 back-up singers and 4 dancers.

For her first set, she decided to do some of her older tracks such as Return of the B-girl, New Love, and Halfway Through The City. I really like the smooth, jazzy beats of these songs. But she kept stopping the songs halfway through ostensibly because these are old songs and the audience didn't seem to recognize them. Not to disrespect Masia but I think most of the people have never heard of her and were just hanging around the square. When one of her backup singer got profiled in a solo song, the rain came pouring down and that was that.

I enjoy her even flow but I prefer a little more punch, syncopation, and internal rhyme to my rap. So as far as female Canadian rappers go, I will have to give a slight edge to the hard stylings of Eternia.

I didn't think Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was my kind of movie because of, um, Michael Cera but I gave it a shot because of all positive reviews. I like the comic-book and video game aesthetic of the movie, there were also some funny retorts and exchanges. Overall though, I thought it was a dud. First reason, well, Michael Cera ... who plays Scott Pilgrim Michael Cera the same mumbling introvert in every movie. Second reason is Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is an enigma. There might be more to her in the graphic novels but here she's just a cute girl with funky hair. In real life, this is more than enough for a guy to find her interesting enough to pursue. But for a movie, it's hard to the rest of us to care. Third, Scott is (metaphorically) fighting her past by (literally) fighting her exes in combat. Sounds like a fun conceit. After all, we all carry baggage from our past.But 4 of her exes are just short term middle-school dates, the 5th is a bi-curious make-out, the 6th are generic twins (titillating!), leaving only the last ex, a record executive named Gideon Graves, to have been in a serious relationship with her. As far as relationship scars go, that's not much to get anxious about, let alone 2 hours of it. Finally, there's a weird prudishness to the movie, culminating in Scott accusing her: "Isn't there anybody at this party you haven't slept with?" A nasty barb that's probably a deal breaker in the real world. But it's particularly odd with regards to Ramona. After they met, she changed her mind about sleeping with him on the first date. In fact, he doesn't have sex with her at all during their courtship for the entire movie. And as far as her exes go, the only ones she might have slept with are the Japanese twins and her current ex. By the sexual mores of the last 50 years, she's practically a virgin. Maybe he'd be happier with one of those Christian girls who wear purity rings.

GAME OVER. Continue? you have selected no.

There Are No Third Tries For Second Chances

Back when Queen St. West between University and Spadina was a food wasteland, Trimurti was one of the first to bring tasty and inexpensive dining to the area. It was the restaurant where I introduced some of my friends to wonders of Indian cuisine - something they had always associated with "stinky" food. But I haven't been back in a while since there are now great Indian restaurants closer to my neck of the woods.

Since I was in the area for a production of South Pacific, I decided to revisit this restaurant. The atmosphere is still quiet and relaxed, with attentive service from the waitstaff. I hope it was an off-day though, because the food was sub-par. I was a bit worried when the complimentary papadam came out soft instead of crispy, and the accompanying chutney was weak in flavour. Maybe it was the humidity. Then the vegetable samosas came out. Two overly large pieces, quite greasy with a tough shell. The potatoes inside were bland and a bit coarse. Oh, dear. The entrees didn't fare any better: a Gosht Saag (lamb in spinach with spices) and a Murgh Sonfi Simla (Tandoori chicken sauteed in onions, tomatoes, and aniseeds). Two of the blandest Indian dishes I've ever tasted. We ate barely a third of the dishes and only 1 of the 2 naans (they were good though).

I'm at a loss for my poor dining experience since it seems Trimurti is still quite popular. The restaurant was two-thirds full on a Sunday afternoon with some tables seated with obvious regulars. There were some South Asian diners in the crowd, who presumably have eaten enough South Asian cooking to know the good stuff. But I know what I ate - and it wasn't great. As an aside, one of the South Asian couple I saw was one of the most attractive couple I've ever seen: the man was handsome with strong features, and the woman was absolutely stunning.

Disappointed, and a bit bloated from the grease, I headed over to Second City for a night of stand-up comedy. This is a recent experiment as this venue is typically known more for sketch shows. For $15, there was a line-up of 7-8 comedians including two "walk-ons". It was a mixed night with more comedians bombing than not. One totally flamed out - it's hard to do angry comedy. Two got a few chuckles, but the short time allotted to each comic wasn't a good fit for their brand of long, drawn-out stories. A couple of them got people laughing at about half their jokes. The two funniest comics were the walk-ons - people who signed up just before the show. One was a wild-haired "ginger" who did non sequiturs and one liners ("They say you are what you eat - that's why I eat human"). The other was a blonde who told crazy, wildly exaggerated, stories. By the end of one tale she was going clubbing with her change in a mason jar, her accessories in a bucket, and all of them stuffed inside a condom. And naturally, without that condom, she needed to resort to dick-punching as a form of birth control. She's got some good material and I believe she'll be appearing in an HSSE (Heterosexual for Same-Sex Equality) benefit in September.

A Semi-pleasant Afternoon

The musical revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific by Bartlett Sher got rave reviews on Broadway. The touring version also got positive reviews when it arrived in Toronto. Having been on a bit of a musical kick lately (Haunted Hillbilly, Ride the Cyclone, Fairy Tale Ending), I decided to check out this classic on Sunday afternoon.

Let me say that although I did enjoy the 3 hours or so, I didn't feel much more than a pleasant engagement with the musical. It was like going to a matinee of a movie you'll forget in a couple of hours. So I'm mostly going to focus on what were the negative points for me. It wasn't just me though as this performance got only a single curtain call from the audience.

South Pacific has 3 main strands: the budding relationship between Emile de Becque (Jason Howard) and Ensign Nellie Forbush (Carmen Cusack), the affair between Lt. Joseph Cable (Anderson Davis) and a native girl named Liat (Sumie Maeda) engineered by her mother Bloody Mary (Jodi Kimura), and the hurry-up-and-wait lives of Luther Billis (Matthew Saldivar) and the other sailors.

Nellie, a simple girl from Little Rock, Arkansas finds herself charmed by the Gallic sophistication of Emile. Though they had just met, there's a strong attraction between them except for some obstacles. First, their age, though this is essentially glossed over in the play. He is 44 (as Cable would put it, "He can't be in love, he's 44!") and she is in her early 20s. Second, her racial prejudice makes it difficult for her to accept Emile's half-Polynesian children. I find this a bit unfair to Nellie. Yes, she does have trouble with his, in her words, "coloured" kids (or more specifically their deceased mother) but for all of his supposed more liberal stance, let's not forget that he's a French plantation owner during a time (1940s) when France is still laying claim to its colonial territories. Conveniently, no one asked what his workers thought of him. Finally, he has a dark secret. He fled France because he "killed a man". Unfortunately, this twist is so risible that I heard some titters when Howard made his confession: "Nellie ... I keeled a man". Yet there is still a sense of passionate predestination in their romance, though a marriage proposal after 4 weeks may boggle modern minds.

But I could not get down with Cable and Liat. For one thing, they're obviously pushed together by Bloody Mary. Even if she's is Liat's mother, there's too much of a mama-san vibe there. Cable doesn't seem to fight too hard about it though, his supposedly straight-and-narrow upbringing in Philadelphia notwithstanding. Unlike Nellie, a white Southern belle, there's no genteel courtship, fancy dinner parties, or marriage proposal for Liat. It's straight to the sack, or rather grass hut, for her. And if most cultures use the metaphor of the Spring Season for an innocent girl just discovering love (For example, Kudelki's Four Seasons), then what to make of Cable singing "Younger Than Springtime" to Liat? Add the fact that he's probably at least a foot taller and 100 lbs heavier; she barely came up to his ribs and looked to be only as big as one of his leg. All I can say is ... weird psychoses alert!

Jason Howard makes a serviceable Emile, though his sonorous voice with its French accent sounded distractingly like Victor Laszlo from Casablanca. I actually do not like his operatic voice, with its rounded enunciation, applied to these modern songs. Carmen Cusack is a plucky Nellie, a bit self-conscious of her narrow experience but ready to embrace this new wide world. I did not like Jody Kimura's Bloody Mary with her pidgin English and strong asian accent ("You like? You like!"). I don't much find the old "Me love you long time" schtick that amusing. If Emile can speak perfect English but with an accent, so can Mary. Anyway, Bloody Mary can be played Asian, but also Black or Pacific Islander. In the latter cases, if their English aren't perfect, it still wouldn't be in the "Me chinee, Me no dumb" category. So it's a mystery why they went with this caricature. Anderson Davies played Lt. Cable oddly, all wide-legged hero stances and mannerisms.

Ultimately though, a musical has to stand on the strengths of its songs. For an acknowledged classic, I found only 4 songs to be worth listening to: "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught", "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair", "This Nearly Was Mine", and last but best, "Some Enchanted Evening".

Johnny Stromboli

Closest match to Johnny's

Ever since I read about stromboli in a food article I've been on the look-out for this tasty-looking snack as I am more of  a fan of savoury treat than sweet pastry. Yet despite the presence of numerous Italian restaurants (as well as pizza joints) in Toronto, there doesn't seem to be any offerings in town. A few months ago, a Taste T.O. article lead me to Slice of New York, which has a location on Edward St.

But the fare was disappointing. First, being a primarily take-out place, the stromboli is already pre-cooked and is only re-heated in the pizza oven. This only makes the dough slightly warm and toasted, leaving the inside blandly cool. There is a decidedly lack of stuffing, probably to keep costs down. Finally, for some reason, it has a shiny sheen that you usually see on store-bought dessert pastry. It's definitely better to stick to the pizza at this place.

But last Friday before going to see Sheezer, I accidentally discovered that John's Classic Pizza at College and Clinton, a place that I have passed by hundreds of time, also offer stromboli. So exciting! The meat option came out piping hot, with that great cooked dough smell. Each piece that I sliced was filled with gooey cheese goodness, with pepperoni and italian sausage. There's also tomato-based dipping sauce on the side. It was tasty for the first half, then it palled. The problem is that unlike a similarly sized pizza slice, there's a lot more dough. And the cheese and meat didn't quite have enough flavour to balance it out. It would have been better if there was the addition of some fresh herb, or a spicy and herb-infused sausage. Alternatively, images of stromboli on the internet show it over-stuffed with ingredients, and so not so much dough - which I suppose wouldn't make business-sense.

But now I know where to go for better-quality stromboli (I'll try the veg option next time) as well as fresh calzones. The pizza made there also look good enough for a try-out on my continuing quest for the best pizza in Toronto.

Weezer, Geezer! Where'd You Get Those Sheezer?

I was browsing through the local free weeklies last week, and there was a number of positive profiles of an all-female Weezer cover band called Sheezer. Apparently, there's quite a buzz about them in the Toronto indie scene since last winter given that they've only played 2 shows (and as more of a lark than anything else), and the name even came before the band (2 of them had to learn new instruments.) The (mini)-hype is because they are all members of other local bands. Their hotly anticipated 3rd show was to be at the Garrison on Friday. I had never listened to Weezer in the mid-90s, and the Garrison's sound system is underwhelming. So I would have passed on Sheezer except that the group photo had a shot of Laura Barrett. As I like her brand of weird, quirky songs I decided to check out the group. First, of course, I had to familiarize myself with Weezer's first two albums (The Blue Album and Pinkerton) with a couple of listen thanks to youtube playlists.

Laura Barrett, who was actually shorter than I am up close, had chopped off her long hair into a fetching jaw-length short cut. Yay! Then I learned that she was moving to Vancouver. Boo! No more songs about crystalline banyan trees that tinkle like wind chimes!

I made my way up to the front row by the time Sheezer came on at a very late 11:40 pm as they were the only band on the bill. But the wait was worth for me and sold-crowd of 300 or so. Sheezer put on an energetic show that was tight, skillful, and exuberant. Most of the women took turns doing lead vocals except for lead guitarist Alysha Haugen. Magali Meagher (The Phonemes) was the elder stateswoman, keeping things cool on rhythm guitar. Robin Hatch (Sports: The Band) was sweaty on guitar, synthesizer, xylophone, and harmonica. Dana Snell (The Bicycles, Gentleman Reg) contributed a fine voice and a fierce muscularity to the drums. Boy, she smashed those skins but good. The surprise was bassist Laura Barrett (Hidden Cameras, herself) and lead guitarist Alysha Haugen. I couldn't believe Laura only learned to play bass a few months ago for Sheezer; her usual instruments are the piano and kalimba. But there she was, in full nerd rocker with her short hair and glasses, hopping around covered in sweat, laying down some catchy bass lines. I remarked afterward that this was quite a difference from her usual gig and she enthusiastically agreed.

As for Alysha, before tonight she was known as a local music promoter; no one had any idea she could rip out those jangly solos and screeching chords with such ease. With her short curly hair, glasses that kept slipping down her nose, and not a drop of sweat to stain her dress ... well, she did have that sexy librarian/teacher vibe going (if librarians rock out between the book-shelves.)

The night was a smashing success. It'll be interesting to see where Sheezer go from here as each member has her own musical pursuit. Why not open for Weezer? Heck, they might out-draw those old fogeys.

As for the geezer bit, I guess this song from Weezer sums up my attitude at this time. I hope they're not being ironic.

…And I don't wanna be an old man anymore
It's been a year or two since I was out on the floor
Shakin' booty, makin' sweet love all the night
It's time I got back to the Good Life
It's time I got back, it's time I got back
And I don't even know how I got off the track
I wanna go back…Yeah!