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.