Ham It Up

For the official CD release of their 2nd CD, Tosta Mista, Hooded Fang had their concert not in a bar but outside in the courtyard of Academy of Lions, a kettle bells, rings, truck tires, back-to-basics gym on Dundas St. near Dovercourt. Two port-a-potties were set-up, Mill St. beer was available, funky arts dotted the space, and Luce Libre movies were projected onto the wall of the adjacent building.

First up was Wio-K, a 3-member rap group. They had a old school style going, though it was hard for them to engage the young hipster crowd. Odonis Odonis, a fuzzy surf punk group, had more success. The odd thing was that their drummer was using synth drum pads (for reasons of cost?) So the backing to their ragged garage-band playing was a thumpety-thump sound straight from the 80s.

The crowd had filled up by the time Hooded Fang took to the stage. The under-powered speakers were actually a benefit, allowing the multi-part harmonies and quieter instruments like the glockenspiel to shine through. Two go-go dancers wearing Luce Libre masks joined them for a couple of songs, appropriate for their 60s-inspired CD. The drummer broke his snare drum twice and the whole thing ended at 10:45 pm because of the local noise by-law. Photos here.

This meant that I was able to go home at a reasonable hour. But not before I ducked into the gym area and got me a tosta mista (Portuguese ham-and-cheese sandwich) from caterer Sky Blue Sky, a sandwich shop above Joons in Koreatown, for the walk home.