The Peg

The Juno Concert Series enlist a number of local acts to play various Canadian music with money going to a music-related charity. The recent incarnation at The Horseshoe Tavern on Saturday night highlighted songs from musicians who came out of Winnipeg "the gateway to the West".

The show had a relatively early start with multiple sets anchored by a band and various guests joining them on stage. I was in a tired stupor after dinner and was dozing off and on. Combined with the Winter chill, it took several tries before I finally woke up fully and convinced myself to head out the door. So I missed the first set with The Harlequin and guests.

I arrived as Tonight's the Night (Neil Young) was being played. The second set had young band Harlan Pepper being the stage band. In fact, many "close to geriatric" audience remarked that they hardly looked old enough to shave. After they covered Don't Be Denied (Neil Young), Ridley Bent came on and ripped through an energetic version of his song Suicidewinder. Wait, can you pay tribute to your own song? He followed up with Guns Guns Guns (Guess Who). Del Barber came on for a song about Fort McMurray. Hmm, didn't sound like a tribute either. Most of the Peppers left so that the New Meanies can back their lead Damon Mitchell on 3 blistering numbers including Southern Man (Neil Young).

The next set had Cuff the Duke manning the stage. They were joined by Nikki Yanofsky on Undun (Guess Who). This 19-year-old, who mostly sang jazz-pop as a precocious teenager, had a big voice. The next guest was the highlight of the night. Randy Bachman of The Guess Who came doddering on stage. But he came alive once his guitar was properly set up. Bachman and Yanofsky did a sweet duet of These Eyes. But he really revved up the crowd (who actually was a bit tepid in cheering when he was announced) with blistering guitar solos alongside Ian Blurton on BTO songs Rock Is My Life This Is My Song, Stayed Awake All Night and hits American Woman and Takin' Care of Business.

It was a hard act to follow but Jeremy Fisher slowed things down with a melancholy tune. Neville Quinlan (NQ Arbuckle) also sang quieter songs. Refreshingly, he chose newer "Winnipeg" songs The Superman Song (Crash Test Dummies) with Miranda Mulholland and Blood's Too Rich (Luke Doucet). Cuff The Duke closed out the set with Powderfinger (Neil Young).

I headed home as the techies were setting up for the final set. I guess I wasn't as hardy as some of the "geriatrics". Though the crowd had thinned, many were still going strong with the boozing and whooping it up.

That's a Big Boy

Parkdale restaurant and bar Parts and Labour recently won best burger on a reality TV show on the Food Network. Flushed with this success, they decided to open P&L Burgers near Queen and Spadina (in competition with A&W, Hero Certified, Burger's Priest and a host of others) this past week. Before starting my Christmas shopping, I stopped by on Saturday for lunch.

The long and narrow space is painted in black and white. One wall is adorned with a giant graffiti of some sort of mutant, rampaging Hamburglar monster. There is a stretch of stools along the wall. The order counter occupies the middle space with some additional seating at the back. But these are right in front of the only washroom so don't seem appetizing. The kitchen is tuck away at the back with a counter where a cook will holler your completed order.

I got the combo ($13) with The Philly, fries, and some root beer. The burger was quite large, especially when compared to Burger's Priest at a similar price point (around $9 for just the burger). The meat was loosely packed which made for a sloppy bite, even before the sauteed mushrooms, hot peppers, mayo and American cheese. The patty was good, but could have used a bit more seasoning. The cheese was an error on my part because it tasted like Kraft cheese slice. That certainly makes it an "authentic" Philly cheesesteak flavour but sat like bad memory on my tongue. The bun was soft but thick to hold the gooey insides. The fries were reasonable but not great.

Keen No More

I was around the Yonge and Bloor area on Friday night. This strip has always had a proliferation (and turnover) of restaurants. Thinking I should stick to a known place, I stopped off at the 3rd location of Kenzo Ramen just south of Wellesley. This franchise, owned by Guu Izakaya, was the first to bring quality ramen to Toronto and started the craze. I remember the long line-ups at the location near Dundas and Bay.

I ordered the spicy King of Kings ($12.95), some agedashi tofu ($3.50) and takoyaki ($9.99). Everything was reasonably tasty and serviceable but seemed to no longer be so exciting: meaty pork and chewy ramen, soft tofu with a slightly sweet fried skin, gooey banana-flavour ball with a small octopus tentacle inside. It could be a quality control issue: not every location is on the money. It is also likely competition: the other joints have elevated the game. In which case, they should be worried. Their much better competitor on Dundas, Sansotei Ramen, also has a small printed sign in the window of an empty shop just a little bit north on Yonge.

Thought and Pop

Thursday night was the album release party (Bound) for Kashka, barely a year after putting out their first (which came on cassette). After Kat Burns' disbanded dreamy Forest City Lovers, she was looking musically in a new direction. The show coincidentally featured other performers which I thought I would see for the first time tonight, but events had transpired such that I got a "preview" of them a few days early at other venues.

First up was Kelly McMichael and the Gloss. Last week at the small Piston, they played a soft 80s pop. The bigger sound system here highlighted more details in their songs. Nevertheless, with numbers like Solo, Makes Men, and cover Erase Rewind, it was "bedroom" pop, the kind you put on as you lie around and chill. So McMichael's languid voice played better with pop than the more indie-rock tunes. Casey Mecija played next with her new act Warm Myth. With a set-up full of pedals and effects and a second guitarist (though drummer Kieran Adams is currently touring as Diana), it was clearer what the new approach was about. Vocal fragments and repeated phrases by Mecija, floating over an atmospheric layer of reverb, electronic synth, and often her own voice.

It was too bad there weren't more people here at the Great Hall for Kat Burns' solo effort. I have heard Kashka at smaller venues with just her, the guitarist, and a bevy of electronics. For this occasion, she had put together a full band. Paradoxically, given that this "folkpoptronica" can be done more or less with just computers, a live band gave it more muscle, more dynamism, and yes, actually more dance. This was the best performance yet. Many songs (Never Had It, Prophet, Body Like Lead) were dance-floor worthy while others (Bloodlines was about connecting with the painful past of her Polish predecessors) were more introspective. But they all had intelligent, evocative lyrics.

It's a bit of a bind. Burns' has admitted that "smaller" Kashka makes touring economically easier. Yet this "full experience" would win many more fans by highlighting the Austra-esque (intelligent pop) quality of these tunes. But the fans have to be there for "big" Kashka to make sense. Not sure how to solve this knotty problem. Body Like Lead's debut is doing great on the Canadian indie radio charts, so hopefully this will give Kashka momentum. Because a venue should be packed with dancers grooving out to her engaging music.