Rest of the Best

Friday night, I headed out for 2 shows. The early show was at the Dakota Tavern for 2 singer-songwriters: Ivy Mairi and Jenny Berkel. The former admitted that she doesn't play live shows much, and initially turned Berkel down, but changed her mind. Unlike her "pop" show at The Burdock a few months ago, Mairie stayed strictly to her folk roots tonight with songs like Thrush, Sad Man, and First Day of Winter. The show started late so I couldn't stay for Berkel.

The line-up for "Best of Dwayne Gretzky" was already more than a hundred at 8:30 pm. I got there just as it really grew. When doors opened at 9:00, it was around the block and down the street. Both sets tonight were "greatest hits" material, though the second set had more sing-along. The first set had recognizable hits (Crazy On You, You Can Call Me Al) but more "obscure" ones as well (Up On Cripple Creek) so the younger people didn't join in as often. The second set was full of popular angst (You Oughta Know), epic (Bohemian Rhapsody), dance (Sledgehammer), and plenty of cheese (Dream On, More Than Words). For the encore, Dwayne Gretzky returned to their opening night with a 3 song tribute to David Bowie (Space Oddity, Starman, Young Americans).

Celebration

For their 5th anniversary, local label Idée Fixe had two rosters of artists playing. The first took place Thursday night at The Horseshoe. Jennifer Castle (with backing band Deloro) gave us Americana-tinged songs like Sailing Away and Travelling Man. Alex Lukashevsky blew minds with crazy chorded, chromatic originals and tight, funky covers. Fiver told stories with Calm and Collected and Brother. Bry Webb (and the Providers) closed out the night, "channeling Crazy Horse", with distortion-heavy "folk" off his two solo albums including Receive Me, Ex-Punks, and Lowlife. It was a night of excellent music and song-writing. Bassist Anna Rudick (Ladies of the Canyons) deserved a special mention. She played with Lukashevsky, Fiver, and Webb, in several disparate styles with ease and aplomb.

Hurts So Good

On Friday, Dwayne Gretzky was doing an all 80s night but I had to skip out because my favourite folk singer Basia Bulat was coming through town with her new album. Having moved to Montreal, she doesn't play much in Toronto anymore.

Opener She-Devils had a hard time connecting with the crowd. The duo's undulating beats, samples, and repetitive lyrics was probably not to the taste of predominantly folkie crowd. To a lesser extent, the reception to Bulat's new material was similarly subdued. Not only was the album just released a week ago, but on it she has fully embraced the pop sound. So Bulat's decision to play almost every song from Good Advice (including the first half-dozen to start the show) was politely received. But for me, her pure clear voice and incisive lyrics married well with the synthier sound. Based on a recent break-up, "La La Lie", "Let Me In", and "Infamous" gave sweetness to pain. The middle section, with just her and her autoharp, charango, piano, and guitar, taking requests, got the biggest cheer. Not surprisingly, most of the suggestions were for older material including some, as Bulat remarked, "deep cuts". Her band came back for several numbers from Tall Tall Shadow which straddled the folk/pop border. A fan yelled that she was a queen and Bulat winsomely asked, "Do queens play autoharp?" Some do, and some queens wear a sparkly sequin mid-length cape and sing about departed friends and inconstant lovers.

Dating Game

Valentine's Day was on Sunday but there were still a few straggling events. On Tuesday, I went to The Supermarket in Kensington for 416 Dating Stories where professional comics and story-tellers, as well as brave amateurs regaled us with tales of mostly dating woes, though there were a few success stories. The audience was primarily couples, so there might be a case of "but for the grace of God" vibe in the air.

The theme of the evening might have been unexpected twists. The emcee's craigslist adventure was a series of one-sided, increasingly explicit, "negging" texts. A perfect rom-com story full of accidental run-ins didn't get a happy ending. While a disastrous drunken second date turned into a 6-month relationship (which ended because the couple was too much like each other). The beneficiary of the evening was environmental group 350 Action, whose representative contributed some cheesy, "activist" pick-up lines.

Long Play

On Friday, though it was still packed, there wasn't the same long line for Dwayne Gretzky at the Horseshoe. Tonight, their themed set was Epic Dwayne so it was chock full of long songs with tons of solos, melody changes, and over-the-top lyrics (Bohemian Rhapsody, Crazy On You, The Chain). They even covered that hoary chestnut Stairway To Heaven. It was one of their weaker sets, only because it was too much of a good thing. After yet another 8-minute song, your energy starts to flag. Their more general second set was better received.

Opening the night was Guelph band So Young. As they opened for cover band Sheezer a few years ago, it was a bit of serendipity. Some liked their chuggy indie rock, but the chatty crowd was probably too loud for their pointed lyrics.

Happy Birthday

The Drake Hotel was celebrating its "dirty dozen" birthday on Thursday. Though the festivities were slated to occur in the main room, it was expanded to include the lower Drake Underground which was hosting Montreal band Emilie & Ogden.

Opening for them was Toronto singer Stacey. She was channelling that Lana Del Rey vibe with her candle and minimalistic piano playing. In general, I think Stacey should use her classical training to add more complexity to her arrangements. Emilie is the singer and Ogden her harp. Partially lit by a lamp hung next to her, she ran through the songs off her debut album. Although there was the shimmering glissando you might expect of a harp, I was impressed with the variety of techniques she used: arpeggios, chords, even hammers and taps. Some of the songs even rocked. This was helped by the bassist and drummer, who brought toe-tapping syncopation. Emilie's cover of Taylor Swift's Style, which got her some viral attention, was even prettier with a full band.

Afterwards, I went upstair to see the main celebration. 3-member Matrox was both bemusing and entertaining the audience. Dressed up in DIY robot costumes, with vocoded voice and dance-y synth, they exuded a great low-rent Kraftwerk/cheery Dalek vibe. I didn't stay for Lowell and the manic Rich Aucoin.

Bless Your Heart

I've never done Winterlicious. Outside of the desire to check out (on the cheap) prestige restaurants like Canoe, you're unlikely to get a great meal. Most places don't seem to enjoy it either except for the increase in foot traffic. But for a business lunch on Monday, I stopped off at The Tavern By Trevor on Spadina. Looking over the 3-course lunch ($18), I opted for the flatbread appetizer, a buttermilk fried chicken main, and a sorbet for dessert. Unfortunately, the meal looked good but was a bit of a mess (kind of like their décor and ambience). It started OK (you can't really screw up toasted bread), but the main was poorly executed: overly salted kale salad, mushy mac and cheese, and stringy chicken. I've also never had a sorbet that tasted medicinal before. I reflected that the bistro was an on-the-nose metaphor for the "disruptive" businesses in the area: lots of flash, not much sizzle.

Let's Dance

Friday night was the first Dwayne Gretzky residency at The Horseshoe Tavern. This cover band supergroup has been playing Fridays in February for the past couple of years. As they have grown in popularity, you have to make a bigger effort to get in. But it was a bit mad tonight. I got there 15 min before door and the line was 200 deep. When doors open at 9 pm, there were probably another 200 behind me.Things were looking dodgy for a while as they started to hold up the line for people on the guest list but I finally got in around 9:45.

Why the hoopla? Each Gretzky residency show comprised of a special "theme" set and their usual smorgasbord set. Tonight, it was their tribute to David Bowie. First up though was opener Midday Swim. It may have been their biggest crowd but they had a good pop sound including We Got The Feeling and She Has Time that went over well.

The members of Dwayne Gretzky came out all glammed up with glitter, make-up, and snazzy duds in tribute to the circa Stardust era. The audience roared with their first song: Space Oddity. From there, it was a huge set of Bowie classics, probably close to 20 songs. In many ways, it was better tribute than Holy Holy's a few weeks ago. For one thing, rock'n'roll is a "young man's game" and Dwayne Gretzky has never phoned in a performance. But mostly it was the variety of Bowie songs they played.

Like Holy Holy, they did plenty of old classics including Life on Mars, Ziggy Stardust, Changes, and Suffragette City. But by not limiting themselves to early Bowie, they also did great covers of Fame, Heroes, Modern Love and China Girl. The breadth of songs allowed every member (even those who normally just played bass or drums) plus several guest singers to have a go. The set ended with a vigorous sing-a-long to Young American. I was debating my decision in that long line but it was worth the wait.

Middle-Earth

On Friday, I stopped at Kabul Kabob at Yonge and Eglinton for lunch. In spite of its take-out/cafeteria vibe, the selection of dishes on display looked quite tasty. I settled on the vaziri plate ($10.99). For my choice of rice I picked a pilaf. It turned out to be fragrant and fluffy. The chicken and beef skewers were tender and nicely browned. In fact, lately with Lara's Restaurant amongst others, I'm noticing that Middle-Eastern diners are doing a great job with grilled meat. Overall, this spot offers a nice variety of reasonably-priced options.

Repeat

It has become a tradition that I eat at Black Skirt on Groundhog's Day, usually with a snowstorm in progress. On Tuesday, it was a balmy evening in a mild winter and the restaurant has closed. I guess that tradition is over. Looking around the neighbourhood, I decided to drop by The Emmet Ray.

As I sat there, I recalled that I used to sit in a similar pub years ago during my college days. But there have been changes. I'm no longer so fresh-faced. This pub has a much bigger selection of beer and spirits. Finally, its menu of roti, tacos, and so forth was more modern than the old offerings of stew or burgers. But I did settle on a typical fare of deep-dish pizza ($14), if only because the ubiquity of flat neapolitans has lately been challenged by Chicago and Detroit-style thick pies.

Mine came out looking quite substantial, and covered with ground beef, tomato sauce and mozzarella. Such hefty fare went well with my strong beer, soaking up some of that excess alcohol. The toppings were a tad on the salty side but all that dough helped. I took home half of the pizza. I don't know if this will be a new tradition, but this bar would make a good neighbourhood spot.