This article was originally published on beingtheremag.com, an independent music and film magazine that ran from 2004 to 2007. It is presented here as part of the Being There Magazine archive.
By Adam Anklewicz | Being There Magazine, April 2005
Canadian Music Week is a celebration of Canadian and international independent talent. Celebrated over four nights in March, with more than 400 bands and 30 venues, I couldn’t see everything I wanted to, but isn’t that part of the fun? Plans changed and everything had to be flexible. I learned that the hard way.
Musicians came to Toronto for CMW from every part of the country: Kelowna, Barrie, Cape Breton, Montreal, Moncton and even Whitehorse. International bands travelled from as far as Japan, Paris and Australia to as close as Chicago.
Taking it upon myself to be Being There’s official CMW correspondent, I did see a lot, even if I was only one person with so much time to spare.
The festivities began on March 2nd with the Indies, The Canadian Independent Music Awards. Hosted by former Moxy Fruvous drummer Jian Ghomeshi, the night saw short performances by The Trews, Thornley, Great Lake Swimmers and Martha And The Muffins.
Concluding the opening night were controller.controller and Esthero. controller.controller were the band I had showed up for. Going in on word of mouth I wasn’t too sure what to expect. They were great fun and beat-heavy. The biggest problem was that the songs melted into each other without much difference between them. After a few songs I wasn’t sure what to think, because they had gotten boring, fast. Having exhausted my night’s allocation of film, I retired for the night after five songs.
Waking up Thursday morning, I was pumped. The festival was really beginning, and I had my night all planned out. Fruit, Ruth Minnikin, Cuff The Duke, Guitar Wolf and The Brown Hornets; five bands spanning the hours of 9 pm to 2 am. Things didn’t quite go as I had planned, however.
Climbing up the stairs to the Reverb, I continued through the large venue to another set of stairs. Holy Joe’s is located on the third floor of a shared building with not only the Reverb, but also Big Bop and Kathedral. There were too many choices for this first show that I didn’t have an idea what to chose and since I was planning to be here for Ruth Minnikin, showing up early and seeing another band whose bio sounded good was a reasonable idea. And so I was in a small room with about ten couches ready for the first band, Fruit.
Hailing from Adelaide, Australia, Fruit are occasionally a trio and at other times a quintet. On this particular night, they performed as a trio. Sam Lohs and Susie Keynes played acoustic guitars, while Mel Watson played various brass, percussion and woodwind instruments like a pro. Their three part harmonies were dead on, and reminded me of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Their songs were catchy, funny and smart. Able to take a heckler and gain a hand over him, Fruit proved themselves to be great performers. Being faced with a standing ovation at a festival and following up with an encore is unusual but well deserved. I overheard, “what’s the point of staying around, how can you follow that up,” as a group exited.
I had seen Ruth Minnikin once before, performing with the now defunct Guthries (no relation to Arlo or Woody) over six years ago, and was blown away. Minnikin can now be found in The Heavy Blinkers, but also released a solo EP that I love. Unfortunately Ruth had to cancel her show, a disappointment to numerous people in the crowd.
Word on the street is that The Heavy Blinkers will soon begin recording their next album. I had emailed Ruth Minnikin and asked if she had any upcoming shows in Toronto. She tells me that nothing is finalized yet, however “I’ll be passing through town in July (probably at the Rivoli) opening for and playing bass with a band called Reels (www.reelsband.com) and then again in the fall (Oct.) with Kate Maki, Nathan Lawr, Ryan Bishops and Dale Murray (another ex-Guthrie).” Keep an eye on her website (www.ruthminnikin.ca) for updates; I think this will be worth the wait.
Up to Bloor Street and heading over to Lee’s Palace I found a pretty long line-up and was unfortunately not let in to see the upcoming performances by Cuff The Duke and Guitar Wolf. Annoyed barely describes my feelings at this point. I had seen Cuff The Duke once before and loved their performance. I had to live with the disappointment of the night, so I decided to make the most of it. Back on the streetcar and down to Queen Street again I went. I decided to arrive early for The Brown Hornets and see who was playing before them at Jeff Healey’s. The Psychotic 4 were performing in the midnight time slot.
Visually, the group reminded me of Spinal Tap, though no drummers spontaneously combusted. The Psychotic 4 were a bad punk band in a venue which will never let your ears bleed, as half of their regulars are middle-aged men. Boring and sloppy playing, the music wasn’t great. So after about half of their forty minute set, I found myself crossing the street and heading back up to Holy Joe’s.
Sweet, sweet music
The trip across the street brought me to Luba Dvorak, a singer-songwriter in the old tradition. Though a rocky performance, Dvorak did surprisingly well, the biggest obstacle being a broken string. Without any extras available, he persisted and was able to play the show with only five strings and still sound good. Dvorak is a good, but not a great, songwriter, but served as an enjoyable diversion. Seeing only half of the set didn’t help, but his show was a much more pleasant way to fill the space before the final band of the night. He concluded his set with a cover of “Walk On” by Neil Young, which made me happy.
Back across the street to Healey’s, The Brown Hornets were preparing for their show. With their mix of punk, blues and classic rock ‘n’ roll, The Brown Hornets were a hoot. Starting with a cover of “Bo Diddley,” The Brown Hornets have great onstage personalities, incredible musicianship, self-deprecating humour and great songs, all equalling an incredible show.
Doing well, even with the limitations of a tired crowd at 1 am which consisted of only about seven people, The Brown Hornets were unstoppable. Dezz Asante was on drums, Brock MacArthur on bass, Mike Tomlinson on guitar and Danny Walters singing while occasionally playing organ.
Not afraid to interact with the audience, the band handed out condoms to the audience to promote safe-sex, Walters walked throughout the audience playing tambourine and Tomlinson tossed his guitar down on a table leading to a broken glass. Ending the night on a high note, I ignored the few disappointments that crept into the schedule, and enjoyed the unpredictability of the night.
Start the weekend with The Weekend
Going to work doesn’t make sense when you were out the previous night until 2:30. Unfortunately, I had to. I was falling asleep at my desk, but looking forward to the night’s entertainment… and the weekend. The time rolled around to grab my coat and jet. Out the door I went, into the bitter cold onto the streetcar and over to the El Mocambo, a venue which has played host in the past to acts as famous as Elvis Costello and The Rolling Stones, while still being a spot for the unsigned independent acts.
Starting the evening with the mellow Great Lake Swimmers, the venue was packed from the start. With all the local media pushing the show, the room filled and the hype was worthy. Great Lake Swimmers, fronted by Tony Dekker, are incredible musicians with amazing songs. The performance was great, but the energy was lacking. Great Lake Swimmers unfortunately don’t have much of a stage presence. Looking bored and tired, the band didn’t get across to the crowd too well. Their music could be used as the definition of Americana, very similar to Wilco’s Being There and obviously a music journalist for Being There would enjoy that. Able to convey a lot of emotion in his singing, Dekker’s voice is sweet and moving. Perhaps they’re a studio band; I look forward to finding out when their new album is released.
After the crooning came the rocking, The Weekend were up next.
Back in 2001, I had seen The Weekend at that year’s Canadian Music Week. I enjoyed the band, but thought they could improve. I don’t think they’re the same band. Though a few members have changed, the London, Ontario based Weekend are still at the core the same members. What’s changed is their style. Going from ‘80s influenced pop-rock to faux-punk is not a change for the better.
Sounding more like Avril Lavigne or Ashlee Simpson, The Weekend were not what I had remembered. They always had a bit of a punk influence, going back to my copy of their Teaser EP I found that it was around back then, but it’s moved into the front and over-powered what was good. Definitely disappointing.
Is that a cardboard cut-out of yourself?!?!
Over to the Rancho Relaxo I was confused by the carpeting on the ceiling, but fought my way into the tiny venue anyway. The first notes I heard coming from the stage was the quick paced chord change from the intro to The Monkees song “Circle Sky.” The Bicycles had me hooked. Playing one of the most obscure Monkees songs, which also happens to be one of my favourites, drew me in within a couple of bars.
With the entire band dressed in black T-shirts with the letter ‘B’ on it, you weren’t mistaken that they were there to have fun. The small stage was made even smaller by adding cardboard cut-outs of the entire band running along the walls. The stimulus never stopped as their own unique brand of pop-rock had the crowd dancing to their simple but infectious songs. I don’t think the The Bicycles are a band which will dissolve into nothingness. With an upcoming album, I have a feeling this band will go far.
I had to call it a night there. I didn’t think the night could get better and I felt I needed to collapse.
Sleeping until mid-afternoon
After eventually waking up and developing the first three rolls of film, I was unsure about the final night of CMW. A handful of bands I knew nothing about, a man who I was overly eager to see, a band I had heard good things about, but wasn’t sure and one band who’s name sounded extremely familiar but I couldn’t place it.
Soul in a toque
The 360 was the first stop for the night. Jessica Beach was performing her soulful blues with a bit of a rock edge. Her bio sounded interesting and I was interested to hear her play. The songs were nothing special and neither was the show. Beach has a solid voice and is a good musician, but her songs and the style have all been done to death. There was nothing new.
A French Orange
I had heard good things about Project Orange and I think a lot of people would love them. They’re very similar to Radiohead, a mix between OK Computer and Kid A. They make it work and they have really good songs. I think I would have liked it more if I liked that kind of music. The crowd seemed to love the show, where as I was left a bit unsatisfied. Project Orange mixed the best elements of those two Radiohead albums together and added some spice that was their own. I think any Radiohead fan would find what they’re doing interesting and get into it quickly, especially those left with a sour taste from their latest albums.
After their set I headed out the door and was lucky to catch a streetcar almost immediately which got me up to College quickly and at the Comfort Zone.
“To hell with Laura and her bourgeoisie lawyer friends. Fuck them. Let ‘em riot. We’re Sonic fuckin’ Death Monkey!”
You know the face that John Cusack’s character Rob makes when Barry (Jack Black) tells him the name of his band in High Fidelity? Well, I think I now know what was going through his head. I caught the last four songs of Two Korea’s set and I’m certain that this was where his mind travelled to. Whoever decided that they would be perfectly grouped with Gentleman Reg was a bit drunk, I think.
“Who’s the light haired fair man?”
Gentleman Reg was not exactly what I expected. Gentleman Reg was more than I expected. Reginald Vermue is more flamboyant than I has previously thought, and was able to infuse more folk and rock better than anyone else I had seen at the festival. Performing both his mellower songs and rockier songs seemed to be easier than one would expect and the crowd was enjoying everything.
Replacing the second guitar that that was usually found on the album was Owen Pallett on violin. Creating a sound very different from the album, their performances at times exceeded that which was recorded. The guitar and violin blended so very well and anyone who enjoyed Gentleman Reg’s latest album Darby & Joan should try to catch him soon.
Not quite four stars
Down the street one more time, I followed Spadina back down to Queen St. and walked over to The 360 where I had started my evening.
Fourstar were playing and I really don’t want to make the obvious comparison, but I have to do it. Their front woman’s shirt does not lie, the comparisons to Metric are easy. Similar dance-pop/rock style and a song like “Combat Baby” could easily fit into their repertoire. Their songs were infectious and fun; I think if I had their CD, it would visit my player frequently.
One more trip and the festival ends. I headed west on the Queen streetcar over to Bathurst, the same intersection where the true festival started three days before. Back to Jeff Healey’s for Frontier Index.
Frontier Index were a great combination of country, rock and blues. Competing with a 1 A.M. timeslot, the band did well. The crowd was packed and their music was really good. Talented musicians who kept on unfortunately annoying me because I could have sworn I had seen them before but couldn’t figure out where. I eventually solved this puzzle a few days later, they opened for The Sadies. Their songs were great and served as a great closer to the festival.
Of the 400 plus bands scheduled into Canadian Music Week, I only saw sixteen, not bad for four nights of the festival. But really, it only barely scratched the surface of what was out there. There were plenty of bands that I wished to see that I missed; Priya Thomas, Shaker, Elliott Brood and many more that I will perhaps later wish I had known about earlier.
Oh well, there’s always next year…