You Better Dance

On Friday night, I was dozing on and off all evening. But I finally roused myself enough to head to Kensington Market and drop by Handlebar. As a pun, outside of pinball machines, there was actually an old bike propped up on the wall.

boyBITCH opened the evening. The tall, bearded singer didn't play plaintive folk as his appearance may suggest. In fact, his contemporary may be Regina: dance tunes with queer sensibilities, yet with bitter lyrics. But whereas Regina is Gentleman Reg in full glam, boyBITCH didn't sex up his looks. But by the end of his set, he did manage to rouge up his nipples with lipstick and turned his shorts into a "mini-skirt" by turning it sideways and wearing only one leg. For a soft-spoken dude, he had quite a bold stage persona.

The dance trio Triple Gangers, after several years on the Toronto scene, finally have a debut album. Whether it was Beresford Boys or Avalanche, they were catchy and fun songs. It was a great set that ended with Coffee and Cream that mined that 80s vibe by include a few verses from Debbie Gibson's Only In My Dreams. Everyone enjoyed Gangers' synth-pop. But they really could have benefited from a beefy sound system to bring out those synth bass and dance beats.