Jingle Bells

On Friday, I was at a free Christmas market at Longboat Hall, the underground venue below The Great Hall on Queen St. W. As Lot 40 was the sponsor, there were lots of whiskey concoctions in people's hands. There weren't too many vendors though. Not only was the space small, but most of it was left clear for the crowd to mingle, dance, and listen to the live bands. So along the walls there was a temporary tattoo vendor and the usual hand-made paper, scarves, lotion sellers. There were also a few small art installations scattered about.

A smaller Dwayne Gretzky configuration took the stage at 8 pm. As Tyler Kite mentioned early on, this was going to be a chill set. It was a definitely low-key collection of Dad Rock songs. It was an odd choice especially considering the young age of the crowd. Perhaps it was inspired by the setting or the corporate sponsor. Though enjoyable, new listeners might wonder from this set why this cover band would sell out The Danforth Music Hall.

As there weren't any Christmas merchandise that interested me, I wasn't there to drink and schmooze, and the CHUM FM vibe was soporific, I decided to leave early though the Surfrajettes was setting up and a 2nd Gretzky set was scheduled for 11 pm.