Garrison Creaky

An avid NXNE festival-goer would size up the different acts for each hourly slot and rush from show to show to get the best experience. I was happy to see a few bands in one location. Friday night, I settled on The Garrison (named after the street, and the street itself is located near long buried Garrison Creek) for two reasons. First, it was in my neighbourhood. Second, 2 of the 5 acts were mentioned in various articles. In between sets, I wandered a few blocks to the corner of Dundas and Ossington to watch people heading for other NXNE acts at the Dakota Tavern or the Painted Lady or just out for the evening in the trendy Ossington area. I watched the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes ... and I liked it (the ones pulling off 60s Mad Men combined with hippie bohemian.)

First act was a 3-man, Green Day-ish, punk group called Soft Copy who performed to a mostly empty room. Apparently, they've been around since the 90s. I don't know if I like punk, but I know I didn't really like them. Loud, repetitive songs that sounded the same after the 3rd song. Next set belonged to Zola Jesus, who had once trained for the opera. Now, she vocalizes over atmospheric synthesized beats and chords. She had an impressive range, but like all operatic singers doing pop, what comes out of her mouth sounds like "Aaaaa-oooo-eeeee-uuuuu" - just a continuous undulation of vowels. But I'm probably not her target audience, which seems to be mainly goth-y couples in the full get-up: black wardrobe, heavy make-up, huge boots, and spikes and chains everywhere. The 3rd set had the most audience, packing the room tight. Best Coast is a 3-member outfit from L.A. Fronted by a female guitarist, they did mostly love songs in that retro, surfer rock style - where the drums usually play out a "Oom-pa-pa--oom-pa" rhythm. I like love songs, but I wanted a little more than "I love you, but you want to be friends" lyricism. Nevertheless, most people seemed to be into the band. After Best Coast, and given the unimpressiveness of what I've heard so far, I decided to head on home instead of hanging around for Soft Pack and Cold Cave.

As an aside, I think part of the problem is the sound system at the Garrison is underpowered. To get the volume for a live show, they have to crank it up: resulting in a distorted and muddied sound.

One bright spot was the new short hair-style I spotted on some of the young ladies. As I adore gamine looks be they boyish, bobbed, or cropped, I appreciate any variations on this theme. It was a deep platinum-ash blonde, swept up and centered. Kind of a cross between Kim Novak (but short and not pinned) and Bridget Neilsen. On a hot summer evening, that cool, aloof, Scandinavian look was quite soothing.