Pay To Play

I was at The Drake Underground on Monday the last show of The Diversity Tour. This tongue-in-cheek headline was a winking reference to the currently in vogue idea that racism is over now that we have "diversity".

Unsurprisingly then, that both acts were fronted by performers who have something to say about this sort of tokenism. First up was the South Asian brother-sister act of Too Attached. Trans woman Vivek Shraya had plenty of experience on that subject, including being fired from mostly white "diversity office" of Toronto. Meanwhile, Alanna Stuart of Bonjay was too black for the Ottawa suburb of Orléans and too "white" for Rexdale. Both their music were electronics and synth heavy, although Bonjay's influences came from Dance Hall and Reggae.

I wished I had enjoyed the night more. Unfortunately, there were too many speeches between songs. I recognized the importance of articulating these thoughts and memories. But these lengthy breaks killed any momentum and energy from both sets. This was a shame, since along with quite catchy songs, Bonjay had outstanding and cohesive visual effects to enliven the show.