Summer Fun

The evening has been cooling off lately, though overall it hasn't been a hot summer. But it was still nice enough to head down to The Harbourfront Celebration Zone for some fun vibes with Stella Ella Ola. Unfortunately, they didn't quite draw the same crowd as their "alter ego" Hollerado a few weeks back. But for the people there, we enjoyed this upbeat band running through the songs of their debut I Think We Should Hang Out All The Time. From Summerette to Peter Sellers, their jangly guitar, 50s rock beat, and multi-part harmonies evoked beach blanket party vibes. With a relatively short repertoire, they added some a cover (Mirror In The Bathroom) and new song.

They got chuckles for their cute banter: it was the last show before bassist Jake Boyd was getting married - so he was celebrating his freedom; Anne Douris was getting stitches removed from her thumb - and narrowly avoiding having it replaced with her toe. This stage had camera people working to project the show onto a large, 20-foot screen behind the performers. The Olas all got their spotlight, but with her constant smile and photogenic features, Douris got the most face time.

Wired

With the Parapan Games beginning this week-end, the festival activities also started up again. So on Sunday, I went down to Nathan Phillips Square to see Janelle Monáe. It was the biggest crowd I've witnessed with the entire square filled up cheek to jowl.

On her albums, Monáe explore futuristic themes with herself as a fugitive android named Cindi Mayweather. But live in concert, she resembled a young, beautiful, female James Brown with her pompadour and white suit. The bass, horns, and vocals emphasized the funk in songs like Dance Apocalyptic, Come Alive, and recent club hit Yoga. She called out to the strong ladies in the crowd with Q.U.E.E.N. and Electric Lady. In fact, Monáe often tried to get crowd sing-alongs going on both upbeat numbers (Tightrope) and slow ballads (Prime Time). Along with her energetic dancing and popular covers (I Feel You, I Want You Back), she may be the hardest-working woman in show business. Unfortunately, it was a bit lost on the reticent crowd which comprised of a sizeable number of curious onlookers (for free events). So her usual crowd-surfing was aborted to a few waves when she waded into the front row.

The upside was that unlike her noisy show at Kool Haus a while back, I was able to enjoy the better sound of tonight's mix. Still, for such a large, outdoor gig, the set-up seemed rather anemic. Monáe's big pipes were sometimes reduced to tinny vocals and André 3000's guitar solos were completely lost.

Say It Ain't So

After 6 years as an intermittent Weezer cover band, the all-female Sheezer was calling it a day. I went to the 2nd of a 2-night farewell stint at Lee's Palace on Friday. I have seen them since 2009 and though I did recognize a few familiar faces, it was hard to tell how many Sheezer regulars there were in the crowd. Their shows do have recognizable but varying demographics: some had mostly the kind of dudes you'd expect to listen to albums that were 20 years old, and others skewed young and college-aged. So I would guess that any given Sheezer show had a good majority of first-time attendees and this evening was no exception. But whether newbies or veterans, they were in for a treat.

Army Girls opened for Sheezer, like they did a few years ago (well, Donlands and Mortimer). Carmen Elle wryly asked the audience: "Do you like guitar music?" to some enthusiastic yeses. She demonstrated over the course of several songs her brand of fast punchy pop, though they did throw it a slow number. The addition of a bassist to the duo gave their set some muscularity.

How did Sheezer end their career? By playing every song from Blue and Pinkerton (except for Why Bother?) over a 20-song set. Some were rarely or never played (Across the Sea, Pink Triangle, Butterfly). For the die-hard Weezer fans, they even threw in a couple of b-sides (Jamie, Susanne, I Just Threw Out the Love of my Dreams). It was all sing-a-longs from the enthusiastic crowd for the first 40 minutes. As with any long set, it sagged a bit in the middle. But the energy picked up with the participatory Undone and stayed high for the last 4 songs.

Dana Snell and Laura Barrett were excellent but Robin Hatch was a stand-out on vocals. Her gigs with Dwayne Gretzky have honed her singing. She sneered and snarled through several tunes, proving that if she met River Cuomos in an alley, we'd know who'd have the bigger pair (of ovaries). Their encore had Hash Pipe (after some wag joked "play something off Raditude!") and a wonderful Only In Dreams. After the lights came on, and a group hug, Sheezer led the crowd in an emotional a cappella version of Butterfly. By the time they sang, "I ain't never coming back", the ladies were sniffling back a few tears.

A confession: I'm more a Sheezer fan than Weezer. Even now, I may recognize the songs but would be hard-pressed to recite any of the lyrics. So at the end of the show and after 6 years, I finally bought a Sheezer t-shirt.

Here's Johnny

On Tuesday, to welcome a new employee, we dropped by Johnny's Burger at Sheppard and Victoria Park for a quick bite at lunch. This retro-looking, take-out only joint has been around for over 30 years. There was a steady line of people coming in to order. But the servers behind the counter were very efficient, so your turn-around time is about 5 minutes or so.

The lunch combo was the cheapest but for around $8, I opted instead for a bacon burger and some onion rings. The rings were quite good: crispy but not too oily. The squarish burger had a good heft and was reasonably tasty. It doesn't quite rank up there with the newer burger places around town. But on the other hand, it's a lot cheaper. Johnny's offerings are "McDonald prices", but definitely better than fast food joints. They're open until 3 a.m. so this place is a good option if you somehow find yourself in the area late at night.