CanCon

Friday night, I was at the last show of the Dwayne Gretzky residency at the Horseshoe. Even though it was only 9:30, there was already a line-up outside. This prompted some complaints including a few about "suburbanites". True, inside the packed venue, there was a range of grooming and dress styles. It was subtly different than the crowd for their shows at The Dakota. But you only start to sell out venues like The Horseshoe or Danforth Music Hall once you have a bigger "average Joe" fanbase.

Appropriately, Harlan Pepper opened tonight. I first saw them as the unofficial house band backing Toronto musicians doing covers of "Winnipeg songwriters". On their own songs, they cycled between twangy country numbers such as Chug Along and rock with a bit of soul like Bang Bang Boom. They had some good tunes so their set felt surprisingly short. People definitely wanted to hear more.

For their final themed set, Gretzky was doing Canadiana. With these sets, it could feel a bit cliche. So there was a bit of the Classic Rock radio vibe because although there were some new numbers including a New Pornographers song, it was mostly familiar songs including Courage (Tragically Hip), Help Me (Joni Mitchell), and One Week (Bare-naked Ladies). But with oddball Bud The Spud (Stompin Tom), an intense Danko Jones covering Doesn't Really Matter (Platinum Blonde), and a note-perfect Tom Sawyer (Rush) after Nick Rose quipped: "Are you ready for this?", you just have to surrender to the moment.

For the second set, they continued to sneak in more Canadian content including You Oughta Know (Alanis Morissette) and Lost Together (Blue Rodeo). But there were plenty of other popular tunes. At 1:45 am, the crowd was still up for an encore. With 15 minutes to closing time, Dwayne Gretzky finished off with I Want You Back, Under Pressure, and Blinded By The Light. After that, it was time to make my way past the bleary drunks and head on home.

Puff Puff Pass

I was in the East End for some yoga on Thursday. The class was challenging but nothing outstanding, though I did appreciate the instructor adding some philosophical component to the evening. Afterwards, I decided to try 420 Smokehouse. There were only 2 occupied tables, but Parliament seemed similar to the Junction and most people clear out after 9.

I ordered a smoked meat sandwich ($12) and a side-order of kale ($5). The kale was good compared to the other spots: soft, good flavour, a nice sweetness from the cranberries. The portion was on the small side. The main was decidedly average. The slaw was thickly chopped cabbage: hard, crunchy roughage. When other venues are doing interesting things like rutabaga and apple slaw, this was underwhelming. The smoked meat was the nadir though: there was a hint of good smokiness, but the overall impression was dry and tough. The mustard could also use some personality. It certainly doesn't beat Caplansky's. In fact, I've had better sandwiches at Druxy's.

Freezer

It wasn't quite as cold on Saturday, but only because the previous week was biting. So I made my way to The Garrison for a fund-raiser. A local gent was raising money for experimental cancer therapy for his dad. Because of prior commitments, I arrived later and missed some openers.

I came in near the end of a set by The Two Koreas. I saw this older punk band in the bright sunshine at the Junction Music Festival. Late in the evening and at a grimy venue seemed more fitting. But you also need a willing audience. And the hipster-esque crowd really wasn't in the mood to mosh around to the band's punchy music. There were a few dancers near the front, but it was mostly a couple of head-nodders, with the bulk chatting or looking at their phones.

The headliner tonight was Sheezer, an all-female Weezer cover band. They really haven't played since their annual Halloween show last year. So there were a couple of flubbed parts here and there. But it was for a good cause, and everyone was in a forgiving mood. And those harmonies were still thrilling. Bassist Laura Barrett tried to transport people away from the "February cold" with thoughts of spring and warm weather. Certainly songs like Holiday, Surf Wax America, and even Buddy Holly did carry a bit of that jaunty, summer vibe. But white beaches and tanned bodies were only in dreams.

Happy Few Years

I came to Ottawa for the Lunar New Year. Tuesday night, I had a family dinner consisting of mostly various kinds of rolls. For Wednesday, I went with some friends to celebrate New Year's Eve at Sea King. This Chinese restaurant on Merivale Road was a throwback to the no-frills Asian spots of olde. Since most places, especially in Toronto, have upgraded to "minimalist Zen" thanks to cheap material, there was some bemusement at the decor. The main area, packed with families, was more welcoming that the "private rooms". These windowless chambers felt more like police interrogation rooms.

The dishes were also old-school, with an emphasis on seafood. They were all edible but I found them mostly lacking in taste and presentation. Both the congee and the stir-fry had that oily slickness. One small stand-out was the "fried noodle basket"; it tasted fresh and didn't have the stale oil flavour. The whole chicken looked great, head and all. But it was simply cold meat and did not benefit much from the green-onion dipping sauce. The final dish was pork and jelly-fish which at least had interesting texture. You don't have to go trendy hipster, but the "traditional" Chinese restaurants in north Toronto, especially Markham, would take this spot to (old) school.

Gin It Up

The ramen noodle craze has spread from Toronto to Ottawa. So for the holiday Monday, I decided to have lunch at Ginza Ramen. While the main location offers a variety of Asian dishes, this smaller sister spot in Chinatown concentrates on ramen and a few Japanese appetizers.

It was a tiny spot with a few communal tables. They have gone for the traditional "inn" look, all wood and cozy. First up was the chicken karaage ($6). Ginza's version of this fried chicken came in small pieces, reminiscent of KFC popcorn chicken. It was reasonably tasty dipped in wasabi mayo. For the main, I chose the spicy tonkotsu ($11.95). It was serviceable bowl but not outstanding. There were only a few bamboo shoots and mushrooms. The bean sprouts were just a little too soft. The broth was good, but the noodles didn't have that great chew. There were several good sized pork slices but they could be more tender, and should be seared to get that smoky note.

Love Hurts

I had tickets to the first night of Wavelength 15 at Sneaky Dee's. It turns out that some under-the-radar bands (e.g., Lockbox, Hervana) were doing short sets of other Toronto bands (Owen Pallett, The Constantines). I thought about the rough sound system at the venue and decided that if I'm going to be listening to covers all night, I might as well head to The Horseshoe to hear Dwayne Gretzky, who promised an entire set of "break-up" songs to celebrate Friday the 13th.

Amazingly, on this bitterly cold night, it was still at capacity. This turned out well for opening act Fast Romantics. Singer Matthew Angus has an intense stage persona, which seemed like a lot of work when I saw them at the mostly empty Drake Underground. But it went over well with a full floor. Angus commented that "all our songs are break-up songs" and he was right with numbers like Funeral Song. But despite downer topics, their songs were almost always upbeat and energetic, though perhaps too often overlong. They ended their set with a cover of their own: a manic version of Pulp's Common People.

Dwayne Gretzky promised break-up songs and they delivered. They started (relatively) obscure with Don't Do It (The Band) and Dirty Work (Steely Dan). But it was a set packed with hits, which meant that for every classic (I Want You Back, You're So Vain, Love Will Tear Us Apart), there was plenty of cheese (Total Eclipse of the Heart, Careless Whisper). But when played live with such enthusiasm, and sung along with lusty joy by the audience, you can't really hate Cryin' or Don't Go Breaking My Heart. One surprising omission was Robin Hatch doing You Oughta Know; from past shows, this cover is a huge favourite for the women.

Memories of Hanoi

It's great that there are good restaurants in Toronto everywhere now. But the increasing rent is pushing out many ethnic restaurants from the downtown core. Those that are left tend to dial down their dishes, aiming for a middle-of-the-road acceptability. On Friday, I found a Vietnamese restaurant at Runnymede and St. Clair that had interesting dishes, mainly from the Northern part of Vietnam.

I skipped the ubiquitous pho and got 3 other items. First up was chao long (sausage congee). This was perhaps the most daunting. The congee (rice soup) was familiar from Chinese restaurants, although the Vietnamese version had a thicker consistency. But the plate of cooked organ meat and the slices of blood sausage didn't look too appealing. However, drop a few into the hot soup, and it was rich, textured, and quite delicious. Bun cha Ha Noi was on more familiar territory: a plate of vermicelli, fragrant herbs, and salty grilled meat.  Finally, I did have pho, but in fried noodle form. Pho ap chao was a bed of crunchy pho, softened by stir-fried vegetables and beef. This was also good, but more for its novelty value.

Near East

With a day off on Friday, I was downtown to run a few errands. For lunch, I stopped by a small seafood diner at Queen and Spadina called Fresh Off The Boat. Just a little further up Spadina, that punny name may be questionable; but at this intersection, it's only twee.

Looking at the short menu, I settled on a soft-shell crab burger combo ($15.95). It was a generous portion of fries, slaw, and burger. The broccoli slaw had a good tanginess and the fries were abundant but a tad oily. The crab was heavily battered. That made for a rich bite but I couldn't taste much of the sweetness of good, fresh crab. With a drink, tax, and tip, lunch was over $20. Given that price, it's not a place I would regularly visit for a quick bite.

King Of The Lounge Lizard

I was in the East End for some yoga on Thursday, so I decided to stop by Kingyo for dinner. This Izakaya was an interesting mix. The tables and set-up had a quiet understated feel of dark wood and plush seats. But the wall niches held Japanese tchotchkes, pachinko machines were embedded in one wall, and a giant monster movie was being shown on a projection screen behind the bar.

The first dish, and my favourite, was grilled beef tongue ($10.20). A tray came with thinly sliced beef tongue with raw onions, oil, and lemon. You had to grill the meat yourself over a heated stone. The beef was tender and made a great base for the coriander sauce and yuzu pepper. The Negi Toro was also tasty (4 for $10.40). The gunkan (loosely-wrapped) maki was rich and messy. The tuna didn't come through but overall a good sushi dish.

The mackerel ($11.80) was the best value dish. A huge portion came nicely grilled and tender. With some rice, this could be an entire meal. The dried shallots didn't add much. The misstep was the ponzu sauce: too acidic and overpowering. The "death" chicken had the same problem. The bed of raw vegetables was drenched in a citric dressing and detracted from the dish. The diablo chili sauce does pack quite a kick so you should ease yourself into it. I would have liked smaller pieces so that they were crispier overall. But outside of some gristly bits, the chicken was soft and chewy.

My Lady Fair

I stopped by The Dakota Tavern for an early show of acoustic music. There were some minor irritations. First, there was some chatterboxes in the opening set. Why would they pay to sit and blab? Turns out they were friends with the barstaff and got in for free. Then a highly intoxicated woman made a scene until she was finally persuaded to leave. Finally, people complain about kids taping shows through their smartphone. But that's nothing compared to old men and their cameras. The "digital natives" may record for 30 seconds or take a selfie now and then. But you will hear the click-click from the fogeys' SLRs for the entire night.

The music, on the other hand, was wonderful. Andrew Austin mostly sang pop songs about love (If This Is Your Love). Combined with basic guitar strumming, and it was a pleasant but not memorable set. The one stand-out was the bitter If It Ain't This Town. Headliner Olivia Chaney played an exquisite set. Whether on her guitar flicking out shimmering notes, pumping the harmonium, or playing the piano, she had entrancing arrangements. I especially enjoyed the classical/medieval There's Not A Swain. Though it was primarily folk songs from the British Isles (You Rambling Boys, False Bride), she also gave us Chilean (La jardinera) and French (Ballade des dames du temps jadis). With a nod to Canada, she played Joni Mitchell's A Case Of You for the encore. Her own original songs (Holiday, King's Horses) were more pop and lacked the rich lyricism of the covers. Jordan Hunt added some nice accompaniment on violin and harmony. Chaney is a rare talent and a joy to watch.

Bigger Than Jebus

On Friday, I went to the 1st show of cover band Dwayne Gretzky's February residency at The Horseshoe. It's a bit incredible that they are now more popular than many "original" bands: witness their sold-out NYE show at the 2,000+ Danforth Music Hall. Unsurprisingly, there was already a line-up when I arrived at 9:30 and the bar was at capacity by 10 pm.

So Sam Cash and the Romantic Dogs experienced a rarity for most openers: playing to a full house. Though they played straight up rock, Cash sang like a young Bob Dylan. The first couple of songs sounded generic and didn't get much reaction. But the second half of their set had more interesting numbers (Steal My Car, That Was The Summer) that finally got some positive responses.

Tonight must be "Hits" night because Dwayne Gretzky packed both sets with crowd-pleasers: Psycho Killer, Under Pressure, I Want You Back. They have started to add more 80s numbers including Let's Dance and Sledgehammer. The crowd ate up all the tunes and even managed to dance despite the sardine atmosphere. For the music cognoscenti/hipsters, there was a 4 song Paul Simon mini-set including Boy In The Bucket and Graceland in the 1st set, and a couple of The Band tunes to open and close out the 2nd set.

Early Spring

Another year, another snowstorm on Groundhog's Day. So as per tradition, I made my way to Black Skirt for dinner. A day late, but they weren't open on Monday. This year, it was a seafood meal with spicy tuna crostini ($12.75) and grilled swordfish ($28). The crostini wasn't that memorable. First, there was the ubiquitous arugula. Second, the calabrese peperoncini was more acidic than spicy. More importantly, the mild tuna stuffing couldn't compete with that flavour. They should have chosen a stronger fish.

The generous swordfish main was better. Also a mild fish, and along with the firm texture, it was almost like eating chicken breast (or perhaps tempeh). The tomato and caper added freshness and interest. Tonight's vegetable was a bed of unassuming lentils. Unfortunately, that didn't add much to the entree; some roasted veggies or bitter greens would balance out the dish. As always, a competent but not spectacular meal from this Italian spot. We'll see about next year.