On Friday, I was heading again to Toronto for a concert. Will it be as mind-blowing as the last time I did that? Lately, Rider Express was packed especially after Kingston. I usually arrive the day before an event but there was no room at my East End rental for Thursday. After unpacking, I went to Abugida for a vegetarian platter.
As I noshed on some delicious lentils, okra, and other ingredients, I had 2 thoughts. First, my first experience with Ethiopian was in Ottawa back in university. Some Iranian friends thought it too spicy while I found the food quite mild. They would probably find Abugida's food intolerable. For myself, it was the perfect amount of kick. Second, last week I also had Ethiopian at Habesha with my financially-savvy friend. That veggie combo came in at $23, before tax and tip, for half the amount of food. This platter was $17 all-in! Maybe they didn't include tax because I paid in cash. But the price difference was eye-opening and why I rarely eat out in Ottawa.
On my last trip, I ended up going to only 1 concert. When I lived in Toronto, I often went to a show oblivious of the performers. But I listened ahead of time to the prospective bands and it deterred me because it all sounded mediocre. I did it again but this time, I was looking forward to the openers because hey sounded great.
When I arrived at The Mod Club just before 8, New Chance was in the middle of a song. And that was it because Ticketmaster had moved the start time to 7:30 without sending out an updated notification. But the number (and the rest of her album online) was good enough for me to get a t-shirt ($30) and a vinyl ($30). Luckily, CJ Willey was also good. Whether it was their mentorship with Meg (U.S. Girls) or side gig with Shania Twink, they had a strong and lively stage presence with country-inflected indie (So Brand New, Get Paid, Cheap Therapy). Willey showed they could also do intense on new numbers Gasoline and Wasp. So their debut vinyl ($30) also went into my tote bag.
I missed U.S. Girls last tour at The Velvet Underground in 2023. So I shelled out some big bucks to be in Toronto this week-end. These 3-day excursions typically clocked in around $800 for AirBnB, bus, food, and entertainment. Was it worth it? Well, I forgot that for every U.S. Girls' transcendent show, there could be some head-scratcher. It depended on the venue and the audience. Tonight's gig ended up somewhere in the middle. So maybe.
This ambivalence was likely why her audience doesn't seem to grow. There were still tickets at the door and The Mod Club ended up only half-full. It was also obvious from the crowd (and crowd noise) around me. Some wanted to groove to bangers like 4 American Dollars and others preferred atmospheric numbers like Rage Of Plastic (Simone Schmidt) and Family Tree. The younger fans (did Meg have a recent radio or TikTok hit?) seemed confused that U.S. Girls closed out the show with songs that used sample-heavy pre-recorded tracks instead of her band. But I wasn't surprised given Meg's beginnings. In any case, I suspect (and overheard some snippets) that a good proportion of the crowd left with a feeling of "I liked a bunch of songs but ..." U.S. Girls' eclectic output (Scratch It is the 8th album!) simply cannot satisfy everyone 100 percent.
So for her next gig, it'll probably the same amount of folks: many will not attend, and they will be replaced by new fans. As for me, I'd still go her shows if I was living in Toronto. But I wouldn't travel from out-of-town like this time.
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