Rock In Peace

On Friday, I headed to Lee's Palace for Death To T.O. This 9th edition of Toronto bands doing covers alternating between The Cave upstairs and Lee's itself. The show was on November 1st instead of Halloween like usual but since that night was rainy with gusty winds, it wouldn't have been as much fun without the sold-out crowd.

Compared to previous years, it was a bigger audience right off the bat. But the show started slow for me because the first 4 bands were a bit hit-and-miss: Beastie Boys (Dear-God) was a little shaggy; Twin Rains/Secret Sign played a pitchy Depeche Mode; Eno was all right but let's face it songs like Needles In The Camel's Eye aren't mainstream; Gorillaz (The Effens) did get audience buy-in (Feel Good Inc., Kids With Guns) but they were also kind of rough if enthusiastic.

Vypers finally got the right mix for Billy Idol. They had the 80s outfit and hair and book-ended their set with the hits (White Wedding, Rebel) so even Eyes Without a Face kept the crowd going. They could have toned down the cheesiness a bit and their late start derailed the rest of the evening with each set playing later and later. And I was so happy at that point that a Dan Burke show was on time. With the venue now fully jam-packed, I decided to stick to the main floor instead of trying to get upstairs for Heart (Hot Garbage) and later, Echo & The Bunnymen (Sahara).

Nyssa as Robert Palmer also covered the hits (Irresistible, Addicted To Love) and the lesser known tunes (Johnny And Mary). Her overt hip thrusts were something Palmer likely didn't do but they got plenty of cheers. Kudos to her male band members for wearing little black dresses. The biggest cheers and crowd sing-along was for Céline Dion (Jessica Upton Crowe) and songs like Power of Love and It's All Coming Back To Me Now. If her covert reliance on lyrics sheet sometimes bordered on karaoke, her big voice (albeit in a lower key) did Céline proud. She even managed a wardrobe change between the penultimate number All By Myself and closing ballad My Heart Will Go On.

The upbeat mood turned into non-stop dancing for Vallens' Madonna. Robyn Phillips was fully committed with not just a blonde wig, but the full pointy-bra Blonde Ambition outfit. Their set included mega-hits Hung Up, Express Yourself, Like a Prayer, and Ray of Light. Beautiful Stranger got a rock treatment for slight break in the frenzied dancing. With the show closing in on 1 a.m., I skipped out on Led Zeppelin (Witchrot) and The Shangri-las (Shrinehouse).