Eastern Promises

Most live venues are in the West end of Toronto. So the initiative Feast In The East is a monthly attempt to organize more musical events on the East side of town. Although there is some debate whether East end means east of the Don Valley or east of Yonge St. Thursday night, I went to the 40th shindig.

Tonight, it took place upstairs at the Cafe and Jam Factory, above the Merchants of Green Coffee. This building was located at the end of Davies St. (otherwise known as the entrance onto the north DVP off Queen St. E). It was a large high-ceiling space, with digital art, eclectic furniture, all very boho. But the evening was better in concept than execution. Starting with the taco dinner that came with the ticket. I don't think I've ever had vegetarian tacos. The ingredients sounded good: guacamole, salsa, and numerous other toppings. But it was all bland with minimal profile. It tasted freshly made but not much else.

The bands were defeated by the acoustics: echoing and muddied. They should have set up studio style (per my Cold Speck set) instead of the standard stage set-up. The large speakers did not help. It didn't particularly hurt one-man guitarist Black Walls. But his loops of slow, undulating guitar and voice samples could be experienced as an instrumental sound scape. Tasseomancy didn't fare as well. Their lyrics were muffled and lost though some of their folkoric refrain ("Come my darling, it's getting late and I'm cold") did come through. Even their drummer's usually exciting and complex drumming was subdued. I didn't think things would improve for Wyrd Vision and Fiver and made my exit around 11:30.