Something Borrowed

On Friday, with the snow on the ground from the storm that lasted all day Thursday, I thought it was appropriate to go to another installment of the multi-disciplinary Long Winter. Now in its 3rd year, this all-ages show presents multimedia, art, food, and music. Though most people are probably there for the music and socializing.

Whether the thrill is gone (most of the "big" local bands don't play anymore) or the newer restrictions on capacity at The Great Hall, the venue isn't packed as in previous years. I decided not to wander around the other locations such as the Conversation room (muddy acoustics) or the Basement Theatre because over-zealous security could stop you from re-entering the main hall because of "capacity".

But there was plenty to do here. There were Australian meat pies from Kanga (not recommended) and Hong Kong "Bubble Cake". I tried my hands at Alpha releases of local video games: vs game Super Rookery (Joust did it better), music-based shoot-em-up Beat Warrior, and SimEarth meets puzzle game in Fate Tectonics.

Music-wise, there was a non-Toronto vibe with the first 3 bands all coming from outside the GTA. First up was Animalia (though now based in Toronto, Jill Krasnicki hailed from Australia). This singer combined industrial pop with emotional almost stream-of-consciousness lyrics. She swayed and cavorted both onstage and down on the floor. She would probably have benefited from a later time slot. Animalia was reminiscent of Nyssa, another local singer exploring dark synth-pop. The next two acts were from Peterborough. Sam Conway took the night in another, much twangier, direction. His light country had the requisite long sad titles but his lyrics weren't as clever. However, the interaction between his guitar-picking and chords and his trumpetist's melodies was beautiful. Finally, The Lonely Parade rounded out the "out-of-town" contingent. This teenage punk trio loves to alternate between fast chunky chords and groovy prog-rockesque interludes. The staid Toronto crowd wasn't a good fit at their Sheezer show but they had the perfect audience tonight. It was unlikely the teenagers moshing on the floor had heard of them, but this was music to dance to.

Army Girls had the crowd finally pushed right up to the stage. The drum-and-guitar duo also had the crowd going early with Carmen Elle's furious guitar and tight sync to the percussion. She wryly noted that it was obvious the crowd was into up-tempo music, unfortunately "those were all we had". True enough, the rest of the songs were quieter. But numbers like Give It Up still thrilled thanks to her wistful and sweet voice.

This showcase is still fun but the curators need to do a better job of integrating in other artists. Too often, they are relegated to corners where most people only give them a passing glance. Perhaps something closer to Jason Collett's Basement Revue where non-musicians also get stage time.