Hot In Herre

I'm not usually inconvenienced by public transit in Toronto but I think that the TTC has cut back service for certain time periods ever since the pandemic. So Sunday night, it took longer than I anticipated to get from my AirBnB to The Horseshoe Tavern. As such, I had completely missed the neo-soul band Brainstory as opener. To make matters worse, there was a gap of close to 40 minutes before the headliner came on even though the equipment was already set up. This was irritating since The Horseshoe was the rare bar that usually enforced promptness. But combined with 35C degree with high humidity (there was a rain shower outside) and no AC at the venue, everyone was stewing (literally and figuratively).

Lady Wray's fans were divided into two groups. Middle-aged people who knew her as a 17-year-old singer signed to Missy Elliott's label in the 90s and younger twenty-somethings who found her through numerous singles and collaborations of the aughts and 2010s. I first encountered Wray as a backup singer for late bloomer Lee Fields and then part of the short-lived Lady.

Her set spanned more than 20 years of R'n'B/Soul from Make It Hot (1998), If I Was Your Girlfriend (2003), to Guilty (2016) and Piece of Me (2019). Everybody enjoyed the groovy vibe and there was even a fair bit of dancing. The older folks seemed more familiar with the classic tunes. I was off to the side because I couldn't imagine being jammed close to the stage underneath the lights. I didn't stay for the whole show because the sweltering heat was becoming too much.