Deck The Halls With Poison Ivy

My December stay started with a desire to see the 25th Anniversary show of Retrocity at the Redwood Theatre on Gerrard. It was unlikely to be as emotionally satisfying as their 20th Anniversary show but this 80s a capella group always put on a great set. It would also give me a chance to finally check out the Redwood despite passing by numerous times during my sublet last year.

But on the eve of my trip I received a message that for health reasons the concert has been postponed until next year. I then remembered there was another show that I came across but had decided that I was too old to attend two events in the same night. On to plan B. After digesting my huge Ethiopian meal, I headed to the West End for an evening at The Garrison.

I wasn't sure who the organizer CLASS were (good luck finding them online with such a generic name) but in addition to band merch there were also painted mugs, artwork, zines and other knick-knacks. They also decorated the stage with old TVs, a crazed snowman resembling a South Park character, and popcorn garlands made with styrofoam blobs and empty beer cans.

The show started with short sets by several comedians. By coincidence, I already follow Sima Sepehri on Insta. Her comedy revolved around having recently gone clean (no more booze, weed, etc.) and celibate. But for that kind of "serious material", you need Maria Bamford's level of honesty to connect with the crowd. Kari Johnson did better with her "gross out" comedy about exes hooking up with curvy women, privates with too much dangly bits, and the logistics of tossing salad.

The first band was a duo group called Waste Youth. The drummer shouted verses while the bassist pounded out heavy rhythm. This got the crowd going. By the time Burner took to the stage, The Garrison was full and receptive to their loud, head-banging music. A mini-mosh pit appeared near the front. At one point, the singer was carried around while he screamed lyrics. Oddly enough, in the softer moments, he had the same vocal inflection as Adam Duritz of Counting Crows.

Bad Waitress has had a good run over the last 18 months with bigger and bigger gigs and I wanted to finally see them as the head-liner. Though I was getting sleepy, I would have stuck around if I still lived in the area. But after calculating the probable start and end time of their set and the public transit time to get back to the East End, I headed out. I thought about the young crowd tonight that harkened back to a grittier Toronto: goth gear, jackets with pins and patches, non-binary outfits, and plenty of tattoos, piercings, and wild hair. Many of them were probably just regular folks who ditched their casual wear for the night. But how was the hardcore minority surviving in a "$2500/month for a 1 bedroom" Toronto of 2023? Where do they even find housing and jobs in the now gentrified neighbourhoods? Well, I hope they and their non-conformity can continue to exist in The Big Smoke.