Indie-pendence Day

This week was the inaugural Estonian Music Week promoted by the Estonian Embassy (and business sponsors) to mark the 100th anniversary of its liberation. A number of Estonian and Estonian-Canadian artists were playing at various venues around the city. Friday night was Indie night at Lee's Palace.

First up was local songstress Kaili Kinnon. She was probably already well-known in the community for her church activities. With a throaty voice and a penchant for funky vibe, she entertained the already large audience. Although if she wants to achieve Charlotte Day Wilson's groove, Kinnon may need to dial back the transitions.

The next two acts hailed from Estonia, neither one of which required any proficiency in the language to enjoy their music. Erki Pärnoja, recent winner of Male Artist (Estonia Music Awards), played a muscular instrumental rock. His set got a lot of heads nodding. In contrast, Pia Fraus played softer shoe-gaze. But the knob-fiddling came from the synths and not guitar pedals. They also sang in English. Unfortunately, the introspective set thinned out the crowd quite a bit.

So local Canadian act (no Estonian link) Diana played to a sparse room, composed of mostly local fans. This was a shame because their only show this summer was a set of catchy 80s flavoured dance-pop. In fact, the few remaining newbies (Estonian or otherwise) joined in the fun because Diana's music was eminently dance-worthy.