My Body My Choice

On Wednesday, I was at the Great Hall for an important cause. The Women's College Hospital was having a fund-raiser to benefit initiatives that continue to provide birth control and abortion options for women. In addition to ticket sales, there was a raffle for a plethora of gifts from businesses. Local bands provided the entertainment with short sets.

The first two performers Dae the Poet and Prince Innocence seemed like neophytes. They were a bit tentative and haven't created a strong stage presence. The former had a sort of Eryka Badu vibe with a combination of spoken word, pseudo-rap, and some singing. The latter had a 90s Savage Garden sound. She probably should stick to her middle register.

Ralph got the crowd dancing with songs like Tease and Gravity. She was recently picked to open for Carly Rae Jepsen across Canada. Appropriate to the evening, she did a cover of Okay Kaya's IUD ("baby, you're so baby but I don't want your baby").

The Beaches ended the evening with a powerful, abbreviated set. I haven't seen them since they closed their Canadian tour at The Opera House. They already had plenty of stage experience. But since then, they have played some huge gigs (mostly as openers) including with The Rolling Stones at Burl's Creek. So these young women were completely at ease on stage and provided plenty of swagger and punchy anthems including new number Snake Tongue.