In With The New

In previous years I stayed in for New Year's in quiet Ottawa. But having returned early to Toronto, I decided to go out this year. Outside of the dressy galas, the buzz seems to be at Palais Royale for Dwayne Gretzky. But with a sold-out venue, one of the 700 tickets would be hard to come by. So I headed to the Tranzac for a smaller affair. Numerous acts played in both the larger main venue and the smaller lounge.

All-girl Weezer cover band Sheezer went on at 8:45. It might seem odd that such a "party" band would open but Robin Hatch (also with Dwayne Gretzky) had to skedaddle for her other gig. It was an abbreviated set that saw the girls playing in sparkly evening wear. There was a respectable crowd for such an early slot but without true Weezer fanatics, sing-alongs didn't happen.

Language-Arts (Kristen Cudmore) was the love-child of Grimes and Lisa Loeb. Having just arrived from the airport, with her dog stashed away, she played confessional tunes with passages that saw her layer her vocals and guitar riffs in harmonizing loops. She loved to contrast slow refrains with rapid, densely worded verses. Her voice was sweet but there were pitch problems in the upper register.

Sunparlour Players was a two man band that between them, played every instrument, sometimes literally. In one song, the singer was playing guitar while keeping a beat on the bass drum while his bandmate tapped a bass guitar with one hand and played a xylophone with the other. They were best when they pared down to either folky guitar or bluesy beats.

With Emma Tollefsen behind the skins and Kelly McMichael on vocals and keyboards, Gentleman Reg should just rename his band Gentleman Rouge. Their dancey live performance, even on slower numbers, finally got the crowd grooving. Well, mostly the young women. The men still restricted themselves to head nods. Reg's winking promise to be an even "bigger slut" for 2013 was reflected in his lyrics, which were often about relationships that didn't end well.

I wanted to stay for The Bicycles, a defunct pop band from 2007, and Rouge. But it was already past midnight and I had to get to a house party thrown by a neighbour.