Blink and Miss

On Wednesday, I headed over to Pharmacy and Sheppard for lunch. I heard that a non-descript Japanese sushi place was a hidden gem. The other lunch places I've been to in the other strip plaza were no longer there as it has been slated to be replaced with a condo.

Café Michi looked like any other low-rent sushi joint all over the city. But the inside was quite nice especially the sushi bar in the back. The chefs were also all Japanese, a good sign. The prices seemed surprisingly high, as I was still still thinking strip-mall food. But after my excellent meal, they made more sense.

The spicy tuna maki ($10.95) had good sushi rice, nice chunks of fish, and delicate flavouring. The gyu-don combo seemed pricey at $19.95, but it came with good quality salad, miso, green tea, and tasty beef and rice. You also had a choice of their variety of cake desserts. In my case, it was a huge slice of Chocolate sake. The drab suburban location was misleading, this café was a fine spot.

Come In, Look Around

The Steady closed after a few years in business. I never attended any of its night-time shows though I dropped by now and then for some food. After a brief fallow period, the location has re-opened as Open House. On Saturday, I checked out the new place for dinner.

They've essentially kept the same laid-back vibe, possibly even more casual. A difference in furniture, a change to the wall, that's about it. You can sit at the few tables in the front near the bar or head to the larger section at the back, especially if you were part of a big group. The laissez-faire attitude extended to the service. You order booze at the bar and food from the kitchen (through a diner-esque service window) separately. Maybe Open House is a joint venture with two owners?

In any case, the main specialty of the kitchen is 5-point Nashville fried chicken. You can pick the level of spiciness and "cut". I got the thigh-and-leg ($11) and some hot cakes ($5). A Blanche de chambly ($7) from the bartender completed the meal. Similar to other trendy fried food joints, the hipster side-of-choice is plain white bread. But it didn't go great with the fried chicken. Also, the latter had too much greasy batter. The seasoning was ok, but overall I'm not sure the dish was worth more than double the cost of Popeye's down the street. I liked the hot cakes though, it tasted like savoury pancakes. A little too heavy with the chicken, but good on its own.

Goddesses Bless

Friday night, I was ready to indulge my nostalgia again at The Danforth Music Hall to see 80s trio Bananarama. This group never toured Toronto, even at their height. In any case, when they achieved North American success in '89, original member Siobhan Fahey had already left. So given that Fahey was back for this reunion, this double bonus left many participants giddy with excitement. With only 4 shows in North America, there were also many out-of-towners in the audience.

Being a casual TV fan, I didn't expect to know much more than Shy Boy and Venus. But I was pleasantly surprised that my ancient memory also recalled I Heard A Rumour, Cruel Summer, Love In The First Degree among numerous others. I don't know how much was backing track and how much live singing, since the mics sounded suspiciously quieter during their chatter. But in any case, it was wall-to-wall music meant for dancing and everyone worked up quite a sweat. This included the trio as almost every song had choreography. The nostalgia factor was also dialed up with old clips and candid photos from back in the day. It was a nice touch for Sara Dallin and Keren Woodward to join with Fahey in singing her Shakespeare's Sister hit "Stay".

Erase The Space

Because of an early show, I was at The Rivoli too late for opener Little Boxer. Likely because it was mid-week, the venue was only sparsely filled. Another 'lil band was taking the stage: Little Coyote. This 3-piece gave us a set of ambient, dreamy synth pop with delicate piano. The crowd grew even thinner by the time head-liner Paperwhite came on. This was a shame because this Brooklyn synth band do not visit Canada too often, possibly because the last time they were here for CMW their festival slot was in the gastropub Bier Mrkt. That show must have been "traumatic" because they claimed this was their first show in Toronto.

Katie Marshall, along with an energetic female accomplice, gave a set of high-energy dance songs. The 80s influence was there, but it was modern and fun. As a duo, they did have to trigger a lot of samples and use backing tracks, but it was still enjoyable. The downside, of course, is that this type of music needed a room full of enthusiastic dancers to have maximum impact. Given tonight's tepid reception, I don't know if there will be another Paperwhite show around here.

Light and Dark

On Wednesday, I was at The Dakota for a 6-9 pm show. Despite the early time, the venue was packed. All-female band The Surfrajettes got the evening revved up with a light, fun set. As their name made clear, they were all about the surf rock sound. Even their get-up was a 60s go-go including the bouffant hair. Although they had a few originals, they mostly did instrumental covers: either of classic surf-rock tunes or 60s song given the surf-rock treatment.

It was the sophomore album release for alt-country musician Sarah Cripps. It has been 5 years since her first release and her sound has gotten darker, perhaps even Southern gothic on numbers like Leave Behind, Charcoal Heart, and Robbery. But inclusion of older tunes like Heart of a Man showed that the foundation of her new sound was already there from the beginning. Her backing band brought a live intensity to her set especially lead guitarist Tom Juhas.

Friendly Giants

On Sunday, I was at Gallery 345 for a mid-afternoon concert with violinist Leslie Ting, cellist Lydia Munchinsky, and pianist Kathryn Tremills. It was called Friends Before Facebook, and although that might have described these musicians, it was specifically about the relationships between the Schumanns (Robert and Clara) and Johannes Brahms. Actually, it could also describe the Schumanns who seemed to have bonded over a tremendous love of music.

Between various pieces by all 3 composers, the musicians also took turns describing some of the personal events in the composers' lives, especially if they had an influence on a piece. As it was also a relaxed performance, many in the audience also brought their young children. Unsurprisingly, almost none sat to listen. They mostly played in the back while running up to the parents now and then. Yet they were actually quite quiet even so. I've been to shows in bars that were not nearly as considerate with concert-goers who seemed to not know what "inside voice" was.

Minor Tone

Friday night at the Burdock, two singers had similar approaches to pop music. Both Merival and Corey Gulkin (formerly Corinna Rose) liked to play with unusual or partial chords, creating feelings of unfinished or fragmentary songs. Gulkin had stronger melodic lines so she did a better job of drawing in the listener. To be fair, she also played with a band including a backup vocal and harpist that helped to build out a richer soundscape.

Yatta

In previous years, a tradition for me is to eat at a regular haunt for Groundhog Day. But since the closing of italian joint Black Skirt, I've had trouble picking a new spot. This year, I decided to go more upscale and made reservations at Yasu. This popular sushi restaurant at Harbord and Spadina offers 2 seatings per night. Though on the pricey side, they are usually sold out every night.

I was at the later seating on Friday night at the sushi bar along with about 7 couples. There was another couple at a table, but part of the fun here is to watch the chefs. None were there on first dates, though I suppose that would be a way to impress, but to celebrate a special occasion: birthday or anniversary. Three sushi chefs stood behind the bar to prepare each dish and explained what they were.

Ankimo

Shirako

Oddly, the man next to me left after the first course and didn't return until the very end of the meal. At first, I thought it was an unexpectedly bad reaction at first but it was likely just a business phone call. In any case, that made things awkward for his companion and especially the chef for their section of the bar.

A woman at the far end was full about halfway through. The chef offered to continue but giving her portions to her date but the man demurred. Perhaps out of politeness but probably satiety as well; it was filling despite the deceptively small portions. But considering the price, I would have tried to make room for the extra pieces.

The chef's choice dinner was at $110, add a sashimi plate upgrade ($25), and some unfiltered sake ($15). So my evening came to $200 with tax and tip. This was the most expensive meal I've had in a while, but the sushi was divine. There were dishes I've had before but not of this quality including Spanish mackerel, grouper, sea urchin, and oysters. But the highlights were new experiences such as Shirako (cod milt), Ankimo (monkfish liver), and shima-aji (striped jack).

Final Bow

After 10 years, it was the final (Toronto) show for Ottawa/Toronto band The Balconies. The Horseshoe on Thursday was full but not sold-out, indicative of their inability to break through. First up was the debut of new band Tom Boy. They played the typical guitar-driven indie rock. Then The Mohrs took the stage. Their set had a chuggy synth dance vibe that transitioned to a more bluesy feel.

The Balconies set can be roughly divided into 2 parts. As a 3-piece, they went through their songs prior to their official first album Fast Motion (2014), more or less. Then as a 4-piece, they covered numbers off the sophomore Rhonda (2016) plus a few tracks off their final album which was a free digital release. Although they still played with intensity in the latter half, as a 3-piece the energy was off-the-charts. Jackie Neville of old was back, bouncing all over the stage, flicking out jangly riffs while Liam Jaeger laid down complex bass runs. The songs were indie and off-kilter. The shift to a 4-piece also signaled to a more top-40 rock sound of the later albums. But though catchy, the songs didn't have the same fire. The bass part got simpler as Jaeger moved to lead guitar and Neville played more rhythm parts and became a less manic singer.

As one of my favourite bands, it's hard for me to say what was the right choice for them: stay indie or aim for radio-friendliness. July Talk hit the big time with intense stage presence while The Arkells found success with middle-of-the-road songs. But after that 2-parter final set, I felt that had they kept that wild, but tight, indie vibe for just a few more years, they would have finally found their audience.