Old Country

As part of Canada's 150th celebration, there have also been several municipal initiatives. In Toronto, one of the organized events was a free musical series called Toronto 150. Spread out over 6 shows at different venues, each highlighted a genre of music with local talents past and present.

On Wednesday at The Horseshoe, it was the country music scene on Queen St. W. Given the many clubs along this street over the decades, many bands have played here. But with The Horseshoe, The Cameron House, and other now-defunct bars, there was a country vibe in the early days. Tonight, some old performers and a new one will take to the stage.

I missed opener Johnny and the G-Rays. Lori Yates and Hey Stella was setting up when I arrived. This country singer has aged better than most of the crowd who were also here back in the 80s. She had a powerful voice and her set was a mix of old and contemporary country. With the death of Gord Downie (Tragically Hip) just yesterday, Yates did a sing-along cover of Bobcaygeon.

If Johnny and Lori represented Queen St. W. back in the day, then head-liner Whitney Rose was a showcase of Queen St. now. This is a slight stretch. Rose did cut her teeth playing here especially her weekly gig at The Cameron House. But she has been living in Nashville and Texas for several years now. Oddly enough, although young both in age and career, Rose's music sounds the oldest, reaching back for the sound of Hank Williams Jr and Tammy Wynette. Tonight she did several songs from her new album Rule 62 as well as some of her older material. Given her fairly extensive repertoire (3 albums and 1 EP), it was odd that she still sings cover songs. I could have done without Harper Valley PTA. On the other hand, as an explicit acknowledgement of the MeToo movement, You Don't Own Me packed a punch.

Whit Brit

I didn't really want to go out tonight but I decided to head on down to Theatre Passe Muraille for an artist showcase. This evening saw a number of theatre folks doing a tribute to Whitney Houston and Britney Spears.

There was a variety of singers who presented all over the theatre: on stage, by the piano bar, up in the catwalk. Most of them chose to reinterpret these songs in other styles, primarily musical theatre-ish. This mostly didn't work because what makes a pop song is the melody/hooks and also the catchy chords/rhythms. Without these stylings, they are rather insipid, or at least lack the artistic gravitas to carry the number. Also, the show turned to be more of a casual get-together combined with a meet-and-greet though tickets were sold at the door. So the performances were on the whole a bit loosey-goosey more appropriate to a living room jam. After the first set, I gave up and went home.

A Smorgasbord

On Saturday, I was at The Garrison to see an odd trio of bands. The noisy sound system at this venue was ideal for The Spirit of the Beehive and Mannequin Pussy who played loud, garage band music. It was a slightly less perfect fit for headliner Japanese Breakfast.

Michelle Zauner's solo project can get loud and rocking, so her airy vocals and light tones needed a better set-up to highlight her lyrics and melody. Tonight, anyone not familiar with her songs may be wondering why her 2 albums have been getting indie buzz. Still, it was an improvement over her 3-day residency at the Silver Dollar during CMW this year. Even Zauner pointed that out to her fans, but in a diplomatic way. Which just goes to show how terrible the Dollar was. And I'm one concert-goer who won't shed any tears over its closing.

With a couple of albums under her belt, Zauner has plenty of songs to engage the crowd. But nothing quite tops Everybody Wants To Love You which is a perfect gem of a pop song.

Sweet Hereafter

I was at the Berkeley Theatre Thursday night for a musical called Life After by newcomer Britta Johnson, who did book, music, and lyrics. The story revolved around Alice (Ellen Denny) who was coming to terms with the accidental death of her father Frank (Dan Chameroy). Her older sister Kate (Rielle Braid) and mom Beth (Tracy Michailidis) had to cope in their own way. Meanwhile, a parade of condolence wishers made their way through from school mates, to neighbours, and business colleagues.

I was struck by the musicality of the work. First, kudos for sticking to a cohesive theme instead of the pastiche of different styles that  musical theatre works often use nowadays. Second, the lyrics and music seemed modern and fresh, somewhere between the rap verbal density of Hamilton and the verbatim naturalism of London Road. The inclusion of a small, but live, orchestra was also note-worthy.

But I felt Life After had too much plot and so seemed a bit scattered. I wasn't surprised during the talkback to learn that there was a lot of workshopping, and late into the production too, to expand it from the shorter version presented at the Toronto Fringe Festival. Along the way, it got a bit overstuffed. As such, I was not deeply invested in some of the characters to emotionally react to their big scenes. Overall though it was a good start for Johnson. It'll be interesting to chart her progress since she is the inaugural Crescendo Series artist for The Musical Stage Company and they have committed to staging her works for three years.