Send In The Clowns

As part of its grand opening, The Paradise Theatre is showing 7 movies from 1937, the year it originally opened. So I was there for a 6 p.m. show of Stage Door, a movie that underneath its zingers and rapid banter had some clear-eyed observations about the treacherous path for women actors and grabby producers.

After the movie, I immediately jumped onto the subway heading to The Danforth Music Hall for the 1st of 3 final shows for local band Hollerado. New band Luna Li, comprised primarily of young women including lead Hannah Bussiere, was finishing up their first song. Though Hollerado grumbled good-naturedly during their set that their retirement was due to these "young bands taking all the jobs", they are using their last shows to show-case these new whippersnappers. Hollerado has been touring with Luna Li though, so there were some extra connections there.

Luna Li have refined their set to take advantage of these opportunities. The slower, atmospheric songs (Opal Angel) are played first, especially with Bussiere switching between violin and guitar. People are impressed by multi-instrumentalists and their bona fides. The back-half is loaded with propulsive, punchy numbers (Star Stuff) to leave a strong impression. This crowd was about 5 times the size of their biggest solo show and judging by the talk around me, Luna Li won over some new fans.

Tokyo Police Club didn't need the exposure, being more popular than Hollerado. I liked the story-telling aspect of several of their songs. But the nasally vocal delivery and the can-rock feel left me mostly bored. I was in the minority though as people were belting out lyrics to every song.

With old pictures and posters projected behind them, Hollerado launched into an energetic Grief Money. That established the kind of songs they played (Americanarama, Fake Drugs): catchy, fun, full of sing-a-long choruses. No surprise that the confetti guns made several appearances. Their stage banter was equally enjoyable from being too high to remember the lyrics in Victoria, B.C. to standing around awkwardly in front of the stage before the "encore" in a mostly empty bar in Ohio. I came to the show with relatively fresh ears: I missed their start 12 years ago and knew them mostly from Stella Ella Ola and Bossie.

It was interesting to hear someone commented to their friend that Hollerado wrote good but not great songs. Was there a missing ingredient that scuttled their mainstream success? I certainly enjoyed this show more than my first taste of The Arkells at the CNE, who had an equal number of fun as well as corporate rock songs. Yet the latter is now selling out arenas across Canada. Either I have no ear for music or it's a roll of the dice when it comes to fame.