De La Soul

Friday night I was in the mood for some toe-tapping music, and the tiny bar/cafe called Holy Oak at Bloor/Lansdowne was hosting a cover band called A Soul. One of my favourite local singers Maylee Todd was on deck. I was curious how they were going to fill a drummer (who continued his beatific beaming from the last time I saw him with the Eric Cheneux Electric Trio), percussionist, pianist, bassist, guitarist, and Maylee into that space. It was a tight squeeze with the band taking up almost 1/3 of the space.

It was 2 fun sets with the band playing some classic soul. Even if I didn't recognize most of the songs, I couldn't keep my feet still with all that awesome groove. There were only 3 things that would have made the night even better. One, there were lots of bopping heads but not many dancers. Two, whenever someone stood right in front of the relatively modest speakers, the singer's voice came through underpowered and muffled. Finally, everybody wanted to hear more Maylee, who took the lead on 3-4 songs. The two male singers were adequate, with the bassist having a nice loose drawl, but Maylee was born to sing soul.

Just to end this post on a soulful note (ha!), here are two original soul numbers, Hieroglyphic Love Letter and Aerobics In Space,  from Maylee during CMW at Supermarket. I was there and it sounded even better live. And here she is belting another original scorcher at UBC. I'm anxiously awaiting her new CD.

Hall of Sound

Tanika Charles

This Friday, it was another edition of The Big Sound at The Great Hall (Queen and Dovercourt). The Big Sound is a 20-piece Motown band composed of musicians from all genres who get together every 2 months to play.

Like before, the night started slowly with a DJ spinning Motown hits. Eventually, by the time the band took to the stage just after midnight, the venue was full with everybody dancing and shimmying. A great cheer greeted the first singer and it never stopped. I didn't realize how much dancing was going on until Tanika Charles singing Heatwave (Martha and the Vandellas). I stopped for a breather and wondered why I was still moving? Because the entire floor was shaking and undulating from 400+ people dancing.

Maylee Todd

Every singer had two songs and I was disappointed not seeing Maylee Todd taking the lead until her duet on You're All I Need To Get By (Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell). The male singer's visibly pregnant wife came on stage and it became a personal serenade. You can feel the whole place exhaled an "awww".

Their short set, only 10 songs, caught people by surprised. For myself, I thought Maylee should do more than 1 song as she was clearly the most dynamic singer on stage. To chants of "one more song", the band conferred quickly (probably didn't expect an encore), and came back to loud cheers. I was happy to see Maylee take the mike, and boy, did she ever blow the roof off the place with her high-octane rendition of the Jackson 5's ABC.

How Time Flies

On Friday, the 25-piece Motown cover band The Big Sound celebrated their 1-year anniversary, and 7th show, at The Great Hall. At previous shows, I spent my time right up against the stage. But tonight, I decided to be up on the balcony looking over the masses. With 500 people crammed into the venue, it was a throbbing pack that danced and clapped the whole night. For local musicians who have not yet gained wider exposure, it must be a thrill to perform to this larger audience.

From the first song, This Old Heart Of Mine to the last number, River Deep, Mountain High, the band played with energy and fun blasting through 20 tunes. Unlike last time, where they covered less well-known tunes, they kept pumping out the hits like Tears of A Clown, Superstition, and You're All I Need To Get By. But they did sneak in less familiar songs: Clapping Song and Knock On My Door. The stand-out song of the evening was Tanika Charles' emotional and powerful take on Otis Redding's I've Been Loving You Too Long. The hooting, hollering, and cheering started 3 minutes in and grew until the final note.

Set List:
This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You) - Aria Zenua
Uptight (Everything's Alright) - Andre Edwards-Roderique
Come On Do The Jerk - Drew Smith
Clapping Song - Maylee Todd
Nowhere To Run - Tanika Charles
Knock On My Door - Aria
Tears Of A Clown - Drew
You're All I Need To Get By - Maylee Todd & Gary Beals
Reach Out (I'll Be There) - Gary
Come See About Me - Allie Ho-Sang
Tell Mama - Maylee
Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While) - Aria
You Can't Hurry Love - Allie
Stubborn Kind Of Fellow - Drew
I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Aria
Superstition - Andre
Twenty Five Miles - Gary
I Want You Back - Maylee
River Deep, Mountain High - Tanika

For The Love of Todd!

On Saturday night, Wavelength 11th Anniversary Festival (1 louder) had a show at the Great Hall. This venue at Queen and Dovercourt has a large stage, standing room on the floor, and seats on the second level. With an vintage architecture style, it feels like you stepped back in time to the 40s.

First up was Grimes. She's a petite one-girl-band channelling 80s Madonna, Kylie Minogue and a bit of Bjork. With a synth, drum machine, samplers, and a mike she's her very own dance party. It's danceable music except for 2 caveats: Clair Boucher likes to switch up several times in a song which tends to kill the groove, and her stage experience is weak: songs tend to die off abruptly followed by some mumbled apologia. She is going on a US tour which hopefully will hone her skills.

The 2nd band was Eric Cheneux Electric Trio which actually had 4 members, the percussions and drums were split between two people. The percussionist was the happiest performer I've ever seen. He spent the whole set with his eyes closed and a beatific Buddha smile on his face the entire time. Eric was the singer and guitarist who seems to fuse jazz, blues, and folk music together. His songs had wonderful lyrics and melody but the 3 minute odd, atonal guitar solos left me cold. To be fair, the lead guitar mix the whole night had a hard, shrill metallic tone.

Little Girls was an punk band who hook their instruments to a laptop so we can see a digital visualization of their playing. All pedal effects and reverb, it was a bit hard to make out what the singer is singing. They had a lot of energy on stage but their music actually sounds better on CD, where it's easier to hear the mix, than live.

One of the highlight of the night was the penultimate act: Maylee Todd. I didn't know what to expect from this Jamaican-Chinese singer when she came up on stage in a fuzzy white felt suit, half of her face painted like a Maori warrior, with super-elongated false eyelashes. The rest of her band was practically sedate, having only a bit of face paint. When she strapped on a small harp, I thought quirky Bjork. In fact, her first 2 songs (and almost all of the tunes on her debut CD "Choose Your Own Adventure") were quiet, complex and dreamy. As it turns out, Maylee has done a 180 since her CD as evidenced by the last song on it "Aerobics In Space", which she also sang live. Channeling Aretha Franklin and James Brown, she went into full soul/funk mode (check out her new song Hooked) and did all new material. A James Brown who also sometimes like to break out into tribal dance a la Ballet Creole and boogie with a tooth-shaped mascot. The crowd ate up her performance and music, culminating in a Soul Train line dance on the floor. My first encounter with Maylee won't be my last, she's a great act to watch for in the future.

The other highlight is the final band: Hooded Fang. They always put on a good show and I was glad they got a good venue and great sound mix. Although ostensibly the head-liner, the crowd had thinned after Maylee because it was approaching 1 am. No matter, those of us who stayed got treated to catchy, danceable pop songs with lots of opportunities to clap along. They also did 3 new songs, one of which had a great 50s doo-wop feel. I think that one sealed the deal for the two drunk strangers slow dancing next to me. Doobie doobie doo, indeed.

Magic: The Gathering

Maylee In Ark Analog

The first show of the Music Series for Summerworks 2012 took place Friday night at The Theatre, an adjunct performance space at the Great Hall on Queen Street. Last time I was here, it was packed with industrious arts and crafts sellers. The space has been cleared away for a small stage, in front of an improvised shimmery curtain made of shiny streamers. Graduated risers have been installed but most people elected to dance near the stage.

The opening act was Ark Analog, an electronic music collaboration between Maylee Todd and Dan Werbs (Woodhands). Maylee's electronic forays that I have seen tended to be chill grooves with her tenori-on. These songs have stronger, more insistent beats meant for the dance floor. Dan did most of the instrumentation, moving between synthesizers, loop stations, and even a key-tar. Maylee mostly stuck to singing, though she did use effects pedals to play around with her vocals. Combining her characteristic short, puntuated phrasing with lush synth and heavy beats resulted in some great dance numbers. But there were a few songs that meandered a bit through strange off-kilter beats and chords that sapped a bit of energy from the crowd.

The main band for the night was The Magic, a neo disco band that was all about organ-y synth, funky basslines, and falsetto singing. The leader singer dressed in a gaudy leiderhosen-esque get-up with a giant sequined spider sewn onto his crotch. The Magic kept the party going for more than 1.5 hours. For me, though the music was infectious, there were times when it felt a bit antiseptic. As if all the elements of the genre were there, but some core element was missing. Most of time though, it was dance, dance, dance.

Because the night was billed as a "live show" of the 70s revue Midnight Special, there were dancers in silver suits and a drag queen to keep the crowd going. Confetti were thrown, and balloons were dropped from the balcony.

It's Cool In The Pool

Listening to Maylee Todd is always a fun experience so I went down to the Harbourfront Friday night to hear her play new songs from her upcoming 2nd CD as part of SoundClash 2012. It was a good-sized crowd but not full for the 8 pm set, and new listeners were bemused by this slight girl in an over-sized smock with a strapped on harp playing soft, tropical music (Summer Sounds) from Choose Your Own Adventure. But it was mostly new material (I Try, Hieroglyphics, Did Everything I Could, Baby's Got It) steeped in cool, sexy groove. It was so authentic to that aesthetic that on the 2-song encore, I thought her cover of the Isley Brothers' Work To Do was an original song.

A number of people came up to the stage to express their enjoyment afterward, but compared to her usual manic shows this was one of her more low-key performance . The crowd was in a bit of a stupor from the languid heat (no dancing for these people even with Maylee's encouragement); and the high fenced-off stage prevented the usual interaction between Maylee and the audience. Nevertheless, with the lake behind us and the air filled with sweet rhythm, it was more than good enough to get the toes tapping.

Bonus: Maylee plays an acoustic number after soundcheck.

Adobo's Big Adventure

Sunday afternoon, I headed uptown to Wychwood Barn for the Kapisanan Centre's Adobo Cook-off where several Filipino restaurants vied for the best adobo dish. There were also arts and crafts vendors and a small stage for performers. With the blazing sun, I felt too tired to eat very much so I can't comment on the best dishes (the judges' choice was Lamesa and the audience's choice was Adobo Cafe). However, I did sample 2 items.

Inihaw Adobo Liempo

Tinanok

From Casa Manila, I got the Inihaw Adobo Liempo ($7). It consisted of 2 small plates. One contained a nice pile of grilled pork belly with adobo sauce reduction and braised eggplant with papaya slaw. The other had a cone of garlic fried rice. The slaw, though augmented with onions and cilantro, didn't have enough bite. The rice was good, but brown rice may be healthy for you but doesn't soak up as much oily goodness as white rice. Need more greasy mouth-feel! However the pork belly was a stand-out. With an interesting sweet and slightly sour tartness, the fatty meat was firm but yielded nicely to the bite.

For dessert, I ordered 2 skewers of Tinanok ($3) from Adobo Cafe. These balls made from glutinous rice were rolled in coconut shavings and drizzled with caramel. They were surprisingly less sweet and sticky than anticipated. This was a fun snack.

Maylee, April, and Casey

Adobo Sisters

I had arrived just in time for the last entertainment slot for the day: a collaboration between Maylee Todd, Casey Mecija (Ohbijou) and April Aliermo (Hooded Fang, Phedre). The 3 ladies made their way to the stage covered in shawls and carrying over-sized cooking utentils. They sang songs from their own repertoire including Maylee's Downtown but this occasion was meant for a bit of fun and goofiness. To that end, they covered Manila (The Hotdogs) and Will You Love Me Tomorrow (The Shirelles). They finished their performance with an original, silly tagalog/tinglish rap with a shout-out to "fry it up".

Let's Get Physical

Surrounded by new condos and townhouses, the warehouse at 35 Strachan in the King St area is the last hold-out. It too is destined to be turned into a new development soon. In the mean time, it houses a number of businesses including prop storage for the Clay and Paper Theatre. Thursday night, Maylee Todd took over that space to hold an under-the-radar party for the video release of her new single Baby's Got It.

Looming over the party goers were giant puppets from Clay and Paper. Someone had hung 2 wooden swings from ceiling pipes. In one corner, multi-coloured vaginas were being sewn from felt as merchandise. Men channeled their inner 1985 dude in day-glo t-shirts and shorts, even if they weren't even alive back then. Women mostly went with tight peek-a-boo clothes.  In a large circle of whooping people, dancers strutted their stuff: hip-hop, 80s retro, 70s disco, and even glowing juggling balls.

Maylee eventually started Sweatshop Hop, an old dance/aerobics session that she used to lead, inspired by her collection of aerobics vinyls. Everybody gathered to stretch and dance to her instructions. However, it was clear that Maylee wasn't your typical GoodLife Fitness instructor. Squats became "Shitting in the Woods" and arm workouts turned into "Punch Tall Guy in the Crotch". She simply started making up moves including The Leg Hump. Then everything got sexy: sexy hamstring stretches, sexy splits, sexy bicycle kicks accompanied by mood-setting moans and suggestions.

It was appropriate, then, that when her video debuted it was also sexy: bright red lipsticks, flirtatious posing, and Madonna-esque dancing. A good chunk of people left afterwards, but the rest remained to dance to more music being spun by Circle Research.

Throwback Thursday

After several years of hearing Maylee Todd's retro-funk style songs, she finally released her sophomore album, Escapology. The release party took place Thursday at The Blk Box, the underground venue at The Great Hall.

Without openers, the sold-out crowd milled around for most of the evening. Although Harrison gave us some live mixing, and Alanna of Bonjay did a DJ set, it was a restless group. The late night start would have been all right with a fuller bill, but it seemed misplaced with only 1 performance. In fact, a few people left after 1 song, when Maylee finally came on around midnight.

After an effusive introduction by her room-mate, a comedienne dressed in a tight sparkling number and decorated with coloured beads on her face (fa-jazzling?), Todd bounded up on stage. She wore a glimmering dress with diaphaneous cape-like wings designed by her sister Leilanni, a Toronto fashion designer. The set began with the wistful Successive Mutations, with just her on the harp. With 4 slow numbers to start seemed risky as the audience was appreciative but didn't seem fully engaged. But after I Can't Stand It, they cheered upon hearing Baby's Got It, the first single from Escapology. Complete with dancers and choreography, the set proceeded with wall-to-wall dancing until the closing Do You Know What It Is.

The encore was a 20-minute set featuring all covers of classics including Pointer Sisters' Pinball Number Count, Hall and Oates' I Can't Go For That (No Can Do), and Isley Brothers' I Got Work To Do. A Soul Train dance line made an appearance after some encouragement from Maylee.

The evening was a smashing success. One minor issue was the slightly anemic sound. This was surprising as during the DJ sets, the speakers were powerful enough to vibrate your body from feet to chest. The mix was also a bit unbalanced and some of the finer touches were inaudible.

Soletaken

Since I missed Steamboat's CD release and their soul/funk music by going to the Garrison last Friday, I decided to remedy my soul deficit by listening to some classic soul covered by A Soul at the Holy Oak this time around. Opening for them was a short acoustic set from Duane Forrest. His reggae-inflected songs, often with short syncopated rhymes, got the groove going. It's the first time I've heard Toronto landmarks name checked in a soul song. He also had a song called "Jersey Shore" (strictly coincidental) that was a lot classier than the TV show.

A Soul was shaggier than usual, playing most songs with lots of extended jams. Luckily, Maylee Todd kept everything in line and on track. At the end of the 1st set, a particularly funky song stopped an Eastern European baba passing by. Inspired by the music and Maylee's dancing, she stepped inside and started to dance too. When the jam threatened to kill the song's momentum, Maylee took control with her vocals and got the band to segue to a rousing rendition of "I Was Made To Love Her".

Soul Man

I was so excited for the one-two punch of soul music from Maylee Todd and Lee Fields Saturday night at The Great Hall that I pulled out the good suit. Sometimes you have to dress up, especially for a show with such a great vibe.

Duane Forrest was the early act at 9:30. This early, only 20 or so people showed to listen to his acoustic soul. Accompanied by a latin percussionist, he got the vibe going with some catchy tunes. He specialized in short staccato rhymes and a laid-back tropical feel to his songs.

Maylee came on at 10:30. It was relatively early for an evening set but the place was 3/4 full with the seats in the balcony also taken. It has been a while since I saw her with a full band. For tonight, she added a trombonist and a Jill-of-All-Trades backup singer/keys/sax/flute to her regular line-up. Those new to her music were pleasantly puzzled by her strap-on harp to start her set, but enjoyed her chill rhythm and clear voice. For the second (also slow-tempo) song, with her on piano and singing passionately "I did everything I could", they were starting to dance. By the time she sang the chorus to Hieroglyphics ("Everybody needs some mouth to mouth") or the slow-burn "I Try", people were either dancing deliriously, singing along, or vocally testifying. She debuted some very "sexy jams" (in her words) as well as a groovy take on Sesame Street's pinball song. When her set ended, with her in the middle of the crowd shouting out "Do You Know What It Is", most people knew who Maylee Todd was.

Lee Fields was a soul singer from the 70s who never got that big hit. When the 80s rolled around and musical tastes changed, he fell into obscurity and left the business. With current interests for that retro sound, his old albums became collector's items and his last album "My World" was a surprise hit. Being in demand, he recorded a second one "Faithful Man", and is currently selling out (if tonight's crowd is an indication). He drew on the new record to sing hurting songs such as "Faithful Man", "Still Hanging On", "Wish You Were Here", "Who Do You Love" or cocky ones like "I Still Got It" and "You're The Kind Of Girl". He also sang some old favourites from "My World" including the titular one and "Money Is King". He was the consummate showman engaging in smooth banter with young women on "Ladies", and often screaming out "I love you" to the crowd. His stage act may be well-practiced, but seeing a 62-year-old man drenched in sweat after singing and dancing for 1.5 hours, you can't deny his passion. He ended his encore with a cover of "Sunny" that started slow and sweet and finished big and exhilarating.

After several hours of dancing to wonderful music, I was also well-drenched. I'm going to have to add the cost of a dry-cleaning to tonight's outing. Worth every penny.

Wishful Thinking

I caught up on some remote work from 5:30 am since I was sick yesterday. I took a break at 8:30 and walked over to Uncle Sid's Deli for a sausage breakfast wrap ($7.75). Previous times, it was some random employee but on this Thursday, I recognized that it was the son-in-law. That first time, he told me about why they re-opened as a deli instead of continuing with the roti business. This time, I related that I had been a weekly customer at Vena's Roti for almost 20 years. The roll was warm and tasty but I struggled to finish it. I wondered whether it had extra filling or more likely (foreshadowing), I haven't been my regular self on the porcelain throne.

I was so full that I worked through lunch. Finally in the late afternoon, I went to visit my friend at her restaurant. Our brunch had been cancelled due my illness. I asked after her brother who came to Canada last year. The good news: he was working (even if only temporarily) as a carpenter nearby. The bad news: he abandoned his ESL studies and spent his hours hanging out with new friends watching sports. Goofing off might be acceptable but he doesn't help with rent or cleaning. Her own health was a bit touch and go either from recent accidents or something chronic from childhood polio. She might give up the business and move somewhere warmer with a slower pace of life.

After I paid for my veggie plate ($18.50) and bid her til next time, I thought about walking "the world in 10 blocks" back to my rental. But the heaviness in my belly from previous experience changed my mind. It was a good thing too that I took the 2-stop subway trip instead because I needed to visit the washroom right away. It wasn't quite as bad as other times, more of a case of a week's worth of stuff gone in a few minutes. Still, there were several flushes and in this older bathroom without a fan system, things lingered in the air. Luckily, the host was out until the evening.

Which is why despite how well-furnished and pleasant this apartment was, I won't rent this on AirBnB again because I need my own private bathroom. But in general, I'm surprised that this nondescript house at Lansdowne have 9 apartment units. If most of them were as nice and well-maintained as this one, the landlord was actually doing their job.

Most of the other units weren't likely to be AirBnB rentals since I only saw 1 lockbox at the entrance. I wondered if the owner knew that my host was renting out a room. She was a retiree from Winnipeg who recently moved to Toronto to be near her daughter. She professed not loving the Big Smoke yet but, in my opinion, treating her scoliosis with aquafit in the saltwater pool at the Miles Nadal and frequent chiropractic sessions on Richmond were big city perks. If she followed through on her Spring resolution to start biking on Bloor St (at least until Doug Ford tears up the bike lanes), I think she'll be a convert.

Though my digestive problem was mild compared to similar times in the past, I knew that I wasn't going to the concert tonight. It was already a long-shot when I purchased the $20 ticket a few weeks back. I couldn't stay out late because I was heading back to Ottawa early next morning. But I had been looking into short-term sublets and was hoping to close a deal so this trip would become a "permanent" stay by Friday. Then a late show wouldn't matter. Perhaps describing myself as a "middle-aged early riser" translated to "cranky roommate" because I got no replies.

The show certainly sounded interesting. Carlyn Bezic is simply sensational as Jane Inc. And seeing for the first time Charise Aragoza fronting her own band Mother Tongues promised a "full circle" moment. Our paths briefly crossed on College St almost 15 years ago. Being my usual early self, I was chatting with Maylee Todd and her crew including Aragoza since they recognized me from various shows. Some behind-the-scene brouhaha with the promoter or venue caused Maylee Todd to pull out at the last-minute and I helped her pack up her gear. Todd invited me to a roof-top party instead but as an introvert who was decades older than likely everyone else, I politely backed out.

Turn The Beat Around

Ark Analog, an electronic duo comprising of Dan Werb (Woodhands) and Maylee Todd, held a video release party Thursday night at The Piston. DJs were spinning all night long, mostly retro soul and funk. After the video premiere, Ark Analog took to the stage, surrounded by keyboards, samplers, and numerous electronic gadgets.

Their songs often had 80s-inspired drum beat with accompanying vibrato synth chords. They usually layered on plucky arpeggios reminiscent of 8-bit arcade games, wah-wah effects, and even some dub-step-y wobbly bass. Though Maylee sang, she was just as likely to use her voice as another instrument, running it through effects and embellishments. In a room full of club kids and a massive sound system, it would do well. But in the smaller Piston with indie types, this music lacked traction. So unfortunately, the full room was down to a handful by the time their set ended.

Safe and Sound

On Sunday, I headed over to The Great Hall to see Maylee Todd's Virtual Womb show. Since there was quite the line-up at the last incarnation, I was there right at the "door opens" time. Unfortunately, we were still packed cheek to jowl in the stairwell as the organizers didn't open until 20 minutes later. The show's conceit is that the hall is a womb, which you enter through a giant fabric vulva (designed by Roxane Ignatius). Inside, you are encouraged to lie down on the floor with any blankets you have brought while the thump-thump of a heartbeat played in the background, and psychedelic projections cycled on the ceiling and walls.

You could stay that way for the entire show or you could sit up and experience Maylee Todd, a string section, backup singers, and dancers work their way through Todd's repertoire. The set was an equal mix of new songs from her album release and old songs drastically reworked. Somehow, the show straddled both soothing and funky.

It was, both the show and the new releases, a therapy session for Todd. It became clear through her stories that she has been doing some exploration of meditation and mindfulness and psychological self-analysis. She has chosen to share these discoveries, sometimes painful or embarrassing, with her fans/friends through music. It was a wonderful and elaborate show. I don't know if Todd even broke even on ticket sales, given how many people were obviously involved, but I'm glad she made it.

Cold Night, Hot Jam

After a mild couple of weeks, Toronto saw its first heavy snowfall and plunging temperature. But inside tiny Holy Oak, people were packed in to listen to some soul music with A Soul, a local cover band. Small tables were set up but with dancers filling the spaces in between, they were eventually moved out of the way for more dance room.

There were more singers than usual. A parade of vocalists made their way to the front with standouts being Maylee Todd and Emilie Mover. For whatever reasons, it was mostly slow jams tonight. From "Let's Talk It Out" to "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing" and "The Message", the bass was slow and the jams were long. On the last song though, Maylee finally let loosed those pipes and sent everyone home on a high note with an energetic "I Was Made To Love Her".

Tin Ear

Local record company Do Right Music was celebrating their 10th year anniversary at The Great Hall Friday night. A bevy of live acts and DJs was scheduled to perform. There weren't any Halloween costumes seen, except on the excitable teens at the All-Ages party in the adjacent underground space.

The second half of the evening had the reunited Movement Collective (a crew of local DJs) and legendary English DJ Gilles Peterson spinning tracks for the masses. But in the first half, two Do Right artists took to the stage.

First up was fresh-faced The Slakadeliqs, a quartet in salmon-coloured sweater vests and bow-ties. As befitting their attire, they played harmony-rich 50s/60s pop mixed with sing-rap 2012 hip-hop. But their vocals were thin and underwhelming and the odd chord changes seemed a poor fit. It wasn't until their final number, a new song closer to the driving psychedelic rock of The Who or Led Zeppelin, that they were in their best element.

The live "head-liner" was Maylee Todd, looking North African in animal prints and an orange wrap. With her full band, she laid down the groove from the melancholic "Did Everything I Could" to the shake-your-ass "Hieroglyphics". Maylee kept the energy high throughout her set: singing amid the crowd, falling down in supplication, jiving across the stage. Tonight, she even had back-up dancers on several songs. This funky singer always had the moves, but watching her doing actual choreography was another level of fun. Could we be witnessing the birth of "May-donna" (especially on 80s-sounding "Break Your Back")?

Walkabout

Maylee Todd

I haven't been to Pedestrian Sunday in Kensington Market for a while. It seems less crowded than before, but there were still lots of people walking around enjoying the free performances and ethnic food. One of the chilean empanada place opened up its garage lane, revealing a giant Phoenix made from discarded household items: wires, plastic buckets, and so on nestling at the back of the lane. One of the band that created a big draw was a soul/hip-hop outfit called Dead Bent. They all looked about 15.

Coinciding with Pedestrian Sunday, the Kapinasan Filipino-Canadian Cultural Centre presented the Kultura Festival to highlight young, local artists of Filipino descent. One of the big acts was singer Maylee Todd who ditched her retro-soul songs for a couple of chill electronica pieces on the Tenori-on, a synthesized light-box that bleeps and twinkles.

Lindy Hop Dancers

Bohemian Vendor

Performance Art Installation

Just Hanging Out

Upstairs, Downstairs

Wednesday night, Audio Blood Media was putting on a showcase featuring 3 of its artists at the Drake Underground. Upon arrival, I found out that there was also free music in the Drake Lounge. I spent the evening going back and forth between the two events.

At 9:30, Maylee Todd started indie music night at the Lounge playing a couple of songs with her Tenori-on. The darkened stage allowed me to finally see it in action. It made pretty patterns to match the programmed music, reminding me a bit of Conway's Game of Life. The most beautiful song, Downtown, had Maylee looped multi-layered harmonies with her pedals.

Then it was down into the Underground at 10:00 to catch Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers, an outfit from the Maritimes. There was actually only one smoker, the drummer, as the rest of band couldn't make it out East. Caplan is a manic performer, cracking jokes and trying to engage the initially stand-offish crowd. Near the end, he commented that he was channeling an old Eastern European. That was my thoughts during his show, with his enormous beard, fun folk/gypsy style, and wordless refrain. He was a crazier Tevye.

I skipped out on Sandman Viper Command, having heard them a few weeks back. Up in the Lounge, Hill and the Sky Heroes was pulling off some catchy alien surf rock. That's what hey call their music, but the blues/rock songs were uniformly entertaining. The only catch was that similar to Caplan, Hill sometimes wrote some banal lines or strained metaphors when in search of a rhyme.

The night ended for me with the powerful trio The Balconies in the Underground. Once again, I'm amazed at how much sound and groove 3 people can make. It was too bad there weren't more people enjoying their jangly rock, but those of us who stayed love every minute. The fat bass got the slim girl next to me into some major pole-dance writhing, which was a bit distracting.

Quadraphonic

Henri Faberge and the Adorables

Thursday night, I wandered onto University of Toronto campus to catch a short set of music in the Arbor room at Hart House. Maylee Todd was there as Maloo, laying down 4 electronica songs with her Tenori-on and a small array of effects and samplers. I've heard these tunes before but it was interesting to note their evolution: the tempo has increased, and there was more layering of beeps and squawks. As always, her sweet voice anchored the music.

She was also there as a back-up singer for her old band, Henri Faberge and The Adorables, who was active on the local scene in the mid aughts. With a rotating cast, the alums who showed tonight was Henri himself, Maylee Todd, Dana Snell (Sheezer), Juliann Wilding, and Drew Smith (The Bicycles). They book-ended the show, singing multi-part pop with a cabaret feel. Given the casual atmosphere, it was a loosey-goosey performance that nevertheless was more fun than a lot of local acts. Having missed them at their height, I'm surprised their catchy songs didn't garner them more success.

Throughout the evening, there were comedy skits involving an "arts coordinator" who was supposedly in charge of booking musical acts for the University and her stoner "security guard" son. A recurring joke for the night was that since peaking about 8 years ago, this band is now a has-been. Yet outside of the older crowd who came to enjoy the music, the college kids who stuck around probably did think we were all weird geezers, as they had just started junior high school back then.

Hot-Blooded

Though I had recently seen the Motown tribute band, The Big Sound, opened for Bettye Lavette, I went to their show Friday night anyway. Prior to the Lavette show, I was becoming a bit jaded with their bi-monthly gigs: the performances were becoming a bit ragged around the edges and seemed under-rehearsed. Their strong showing opening for Betty convinced me to give them another try.

I was pleasantly surprised at the Friday show. They have grown ever larger, topping out at 26 members. First, it was impressive that their set-list was almost all "underrated" or less well-known tunes. No "Dancing In the Streets" or "Stop In The Name of Love" to give the capacity crowd that instant recognition. But the music was excellent enough to keep everyone entertained and dancing. They did sprinkle a few better known hits here and there include Maylee's take on The Love You Save.

Second, the calibre of all the singers have improved markedly. I have maintained previously that Maylee Todd was, by far, the strongest performer with her soaring alto and explosive stage confidence. It was sometimes a let-down when someone else steps up to the mic. But new singers added to the line-up gave her a run for the money tonight. Aria Zenua and Edward Dottin had strong voices and smooth presence. Andre Edwards-Roderique blew the crowd away with a powerful rendition of "A Change Is Gonna Come". And regular Tanika Charles grabbed the mic, let loosed a towering a capella intro, and sent the crowd home dancing deliriously to a high-energy cover of "Shout!"

The Great Hall had recently installed some industrial air conditioning units. Either they were not turned on or were insufficient to the task because everyone came out of that show drenched in sweat. Well, it might also have been all that dancing.