Super Saturday

Saturday was the sort of day that made urban-living exciting. Along with bright sunshine, it seemed that every neighbourhood in the city had something going on. I decided to check out 3 events: Dundas West Fest, desiFEST, and a show by U.S. Girls.

Several years on, the Dundas West Fest street festival stretching from Ossington to Lansdowne was still going strong. The crowd was large and lively. These festivals always have many food and other vendors setting up stalls. But I think Dundas' success is due to the numerous restaurants and bars setting up large temporary patios. This allowed people to linger and kept the party atmosphere going all day. I was there in the early afternoon for Andrew Cash and Moscow Apartment. The political songs of the former would be more interesting if they had better lyrics. The teen musicians of the latter band continued to impress me with their music. But I'm glad they are getting new gear because you shouldn't have to re-tune your guitars on every song. I returned in the evening for a powerhouse performance from Nyssa. As her set progressed, she was able to draw an ever-growing crowd with her swaggering stage presence and her catchy but nihilistic numbers. Lou Reed meets Elvis meets Carol Pope, several people were asking the sound tech for her name after the set.

From the West End, I then headed downtown to desiFEST at Yonge-Dundas Square. It was also packed with people enjoying South Asian food, games (like Carrom), and live music. I caught the tail end of XD Pro and his roster of guest performers. But I was there for rapper and singer Raja Kumari. With a hype-woman DJ, Kumari went through her biggest hits (Come Up, Believe In You, City Slums, Shook). Perhaps she was surprised that the crowd wasn't as raucous as expected, but Kumari kept telling the "aunties and uncles" that this new hip-hop sound was what the kids were into. But it wasn't because they didn't like her music, but because Torontonians (of all ethnic backgrounds) tended more toward polite appreciation and less wild abandonment.

On the final stop of a busy day, I made my way to the East End for an electrifying show by U.S. Girls at The Opera House. It was the loudest audience yet for Meghan Remy. It was impossible to keep still with her brand of socially conscious disco-esque music. But I confess that if I wasn't familiar with her songs, I wouldn't be able to understand her lyrics. I don't know if this is the onset of hearing problems from age and exposure or the sound tech's failure to correctly mix Remy's light and quiet vocals.