Verso-oso

The Danforth Music Hall was packed for Courtney Barnett. This trio played big and created a lot of interesting sound and rhythm. It's a neat juxtaposition because this Australian singer is also known for her "stream-of-lyricness". Her songs have so many words that they are closer to a rap tune than your typical pop/rock song. Or perhaps closer to a folk song, but even when "Dylan went electric", he never played this loud and heavy.

Luckily, the sound mix tonight was impeccable. So all the clever rhymes and observations in songs like Pedestrian At Best, Avant Gardener, and Depreston still came through in their wryness. But supported by long-haired metal-esque drummer and bassist, Barnett's set packed so much explosive rhythm and sound that I thought the dude in front of me was going to pass out from his air drumming. Every song was accompanied by weird animation loops projected behind the trio. Sometimes things got so trippy and psychedelic it might have been a 60s revival. After a raucous recall, she came back for a 3-song encore including Pickles From The Jar and Nobody Really Cares If You Don't Go To The Party. Yes, her song and album titles are as verbose as her verses.

Big Shiny Tunes 3

On Friday, I was at the 3rd 90s theme show by Dwayne Gretzky, a "supergroup" cover band. Unlike their winter residency at the Horseshoe, Phoenix Theatre is much more spacious so people took their time to get here. Also, the hometown Raptors was fighting for their playoff lives at the ACC.

Though there was a mix of genre in both sets, Gretzky skewed more rock in the 1st and pop in the 2nd. So the first 1.5 hours got us 1979, Spoonman, and My Iron Lung while the second 1.5 hours came with Wannabe, No Scrubs, Always Be My Baby. There were few elitists in the crowd so everybody was into almost everything although some tunes like You Oughta Know and Sabotage got bigger cheers. The lighters came out with a tribute to Gord Downey when they covered Bobcaygeon. With these live shows, the energy from both the audience and band is so contagious that a groaner like Mr. Jones which might get you some side-eye at a party turns into a loud sing-along when it's done by guest singer Max Kerman (The Arkells).

Like the Sheezer show, I finally got a t-shirt from Dwayne Gretzky. But will this also be my last Gretzky show, too? Well, at the very least, I don't want to wait 45 min in line for a possible door entry at the Horseshoe or the Dakota anymore.

Top of the Pops

Folk singer Ivy Mairi had a show Sunday night at the Burdock. Her backup singer opened the night as Blunt Chunks. Though her fuzzy guitar, looping vocal layering, and lyrical snippets gave her set a meditative aspect, her songs were often too qualitatively similar.

For Mairi's set, their voices blended quite nicely on both original material as well as covers such as The Beatles' Julia. With a full band, Mairi explored pop sensibility with several new songs. I enjoyed these the most only because when I last saw her at The Dakota, she promised a full set of pop music. The audience also loved Strange Love with its 80s Whitney Houston vibe. But Mairi couldn't help but dipped into her old material which had a timeless quality. Both in the sense of feeling like an old folk melody but also running into 8 and 10 minutes long! For her encore, she did a great cover of Bowie's Soul Love.

I Dream of Justice

On Sunday, for the last day of HotDocs, I saw Migrant Dreams, a film about the precarious environment of foreign workers in Canada. Unsurprisingly, they are subjected to poor working conditions, exploitation, and predatory scams. The question period with long-time advocates made it clear that the documentary is meant as a call-to-arms for public engagement.

I don't know if this film can be a wake-up call for the average Canadian because it inadvertently presents worker exploitation as "their problem" and not "our problem". First, the main focus on the shadowy and double-dealing recruiter, because of his shared ethnicity with the workers, gives ammunition to the apologists similar to the usual "it's about black-on-black violence" argument. Second, without the power and prestige à la 60 minutes, they interviewed no Canadian employers, leaving them on the hook only for implied mis-behaviour. A short recording of a two-faced HR personnel, and the derision from the audience, suggests that more interviews with prevaricating employers would have gone a long way to cement the primary thesis: that it's the tacit complicity of these bosses that allow for these conditions to exist.

Dearly Beloved

Of the many tribute shows for Prince taking place around Toronto these past few weeks, I decided that the one at Holy Oak on Saturday was likely to be the most "joyful". The same group of local musicians who put together such a memorable Prince night a few years back was organizing the event. The redoubtable Mary Margaret O'Hara won't be there, but some of my favourite singers will be.

I was glad I got there early with the other senior citizens because the combination of a tiny café/bar and the musician count of around 15 alone meant there was barely any room for any one else. Since they recently had a visit from the police, management was adhering strictly to their capacity limit. But the sad truth was (from my numerous times at Long Winter shows can attest) a venue at "capacity" in Toronto is barely half full. Late-comers stared in disbelief at the empty space but had to content themselves with dancing outside to the music coming out through the open door.

And it was mostly dance music with the song selection coming from Prince's funkier output including I Wish You Heaven, If I Was Your Girlfriend, Sex In The Summer, and Money Don't Matter 2 Night. Folk singer Ivy Mairi was over the moon channelling a pop diva for her rendition of I Would Die 4 U while Isla Craig was her usual sexy cool self. Other singers were unknown to me but all were in top form. They excelled because the tight "house band" provided superb musicianship all night, especially Kieran Adams (Diana) who was a monster on drums.

Cancon

I don't go to multiple CMW shows anymore. But on Friday, I did go to Burdock, which was also making its CMW debut. Perhaps due to its of its out-lying location, relatively far from the other venues, it wasn't a large crowd that came out to see the bands playing there.

Opener Merival sang in the folk singer/songwriter mold. I liked that she showed a variety of guitar techniques, useful in a solo performer to keep a set interesting, but I was on the fence with her songs. A number of them lacked a compelling melody so though I appreciated the songcraft I didn't remember much afterwards.

Alana York came from Halifax. Being both pianists, their music usually had several complex layers, backed by pre-recorded percussions. They straddled between atmospheric pop and a new-age vibe. Often times, the combination of wavy synth and plinking piano made me think of Yanni writing video-game music, but in a good way.

Bernice was all over the map for their set. That is, their default mode were compositions where the musicians played in a chaotic way, with little of the typical pop cohesiveness. It wasn't jazz, but certainly invoking that free-form spirit. However, the dual harmony of the singers provided an anchor that kept things from going off the rails.

The High Sing

It was a surprisingly full crowd at The Horseshoe Tavern on Monday. Opener Mega Bog played a solo set with her guitar and the occasional chimes. Over shimmery guitar, she sang about odd and unusual topics. To my ears, there were often too many changes in her song. They sounded incomplete, fragmentary ideas that aren't given a chance to coalesce.

Cate le Bon charmed the audience with her Welsh lilt, in the rare occasion when she spoke to the crowd. That bird-like cadence also manifested in her usual light singing. But with a full band, her music was quite visceral and muscular. She sometimes let loose with her voice, which was surprisingly full-throated and big. She covered most of the material on her new release Crab Day, but also included several "hits" from past albums. The diverse crowd from the heavily tattoed to the silver-haired set seemed enamoured with le Bon, especially the few times she led the band in extended guitar solos.