Spring Free

With a bright and sunny first day of Spring, and a loosening of restrictions despite climbing COVID cases, it seems that all of Toronto was outside on Saturday. I had planned for a walk around several neighbourhoods but I ran into a friend with multiple shopping bags. She was filling up a literal barrel of goods to ship back to family in Eritria via an import/export business catering to the local Ethiopian diaspora. I helped her carry them home and we had a nice lunch of avocado sandwiches.

Afterwards, I continued my walk and saw workers building makeshift patios or just plopping out some chairs and tables. And people were eagerly waiting for a spot. Other stores from the record shop to the bakery had line-ups. Down a garage lane, a giant plushed cat basked in the crook of a tree. Later on, I decided to have a meat dish for dinner, a rarity for me. While waiting for my jollof rice from Afrobeat Kitchen, I noticed that the patios were still in full swing along Bloor St. W.

This dish was a great choice. I had eaten this dish a while back in the East End. That main was good but nothing like this fragrant, smoky version. Even the white, boneless chicken meat was savoury and rich. So I justified to myself that I had a light lunch and finished off the whole entrée.

With Spring already here, it seemed odd to watch the final Youtube stream of the arts festival Long Winter. But there wasn't much else to do at night. In any case, I have a soft spot for Laura Barrett, one of the first local musician I followed. Long Winter online was in numerous ways better than the live version. For one thing, it ends around 9:30 instead of just getting started at that time. Also, they have always hosted art installations along with the musical acts. But at a venue, these tend to be ignored. Finally, even if the crowd has dwindled since its hey-day, there was still enough chatter that most performances are drowned out.

Online, the chatter moves to text chats which you can participate in but can also easily tune out. The art pieces were all videos but you can watch them with less distraction. Even the musical performances were mostly video collaborations. So Barrett debuted a new video made with Jared Sales for Museum Tour Guide, a track from her upcoming album. After a 10 hiatus before releasing new material in 2019, this was a surprising announcement. Zinnia showcased a quirky pas-a-deux shot at Bloordale Beach during the winter. There were also more art-heavy videos from Maylee Todd and most striking of all, one called Molecular Meditation from Mexican-based artist Orly Anan, all undulating and fractal images, built around a shimmering soundscapes of Spanish poetry and Asian instruments (Brandon Miguel Valdivia). Local collective Uma Nota was also able to highlight several Brazilian acts. These additions were welcomed since I find past Long Winter shows, like many other indie shows I have attended, rarely included non-white artists.