Pride Toronto 2010 (feat. Woodhands / Cyndi Lauper)
South Stage / Queen's Park. Saturday, July 3, 2010.
Time for Pride — the festival for all things LGBTTIQQ2SA1 — once again, and notwithstanding a controversy here or there, out on the streets it was the usual party vibe. Met up with A., and we spent some time exploring the booths while he queued up to get his picture taken with a variety of well-crafted dudes. I'm sure at some point in my past that I wouldn't have thought that I'd be regularly pressed into service to take photos like this.
We had planned things out to get over to the South Stage (the parking lot on the other side of Church Street from Maple Leaf Gardens) a bit early, as it's usually a terrible time getting into the licenced areas, but this time it wasn't so bad — and rather empty inside. Even J. came down for this one, so we at least had company as we waited for the show to start.
We were here to check out local DOR duo Woodhands. Somewhat amusingly, as the show started I realized that in this sea of a million partiers, I actually recognized a good percentage of the small-ish crowd that was up front and dancing. But then, Dan Werb (keybs, vox) and Paul Banwatt (drums) do have a contingent of highly-committed fans. I suppose I'm not amongst their number, but I was first convinced of their merits upon seeing them in performance. Especially live, there's an interesting tension between the sexual desperation of Werb's lyrics and the dance-y release of the music, evident here right off the top with "Pockets" — the lead-off track to this year's Remorsecapade — which has all of the band's strengths on offer. Throughout, Werb would play with a scrunched-up face, as if birthing this music was a pain, while Banwatt smoothly kept the beat as the songs stretched out.
That was followed by the slower tempo of the entirely-appropriate-for-Pride "Can't See Straight" — one of the highlights of their '08 debut, Heart Attack. Banwatt threw down with some rapping, slipping into a verse from Run DMC's "It's Tricky".2 Following a "remix" version of "CP24", Maylee Todd came on stage — wearing a Kids on TV "BRING BACK GAY" shirt and what I guess could be described as a jim-hat — to add her voice to "Dancer", with her silky smooth vocals on the verses punctuated by Werb's awkward-pickup-line chorus: "You're a very good dancer! Whatisyourname?" This one, too, stretched out with an extended outro groove. With the songs coming at 12" dance mix lengths, there were just four titles in the half-hour set. But really good fun — enough to leave a body wanting more.3
Listen to a track from this set here.
After that, we had plenty of time to make a relaxed walk over towards Queen's Park. I had heard some grousing about Pride moving the big concert stage away from the village, but I was cautiously optimistic as we headed over, thinking back to a fair number of shows that I'd enjoyed there under the tree canopy. Sadly, the same cattle-pen approach that Pride uses at their other stages was in force here as well — instead of letting people have the run of the park and creating a hassle for anyone wanting to drink at a beer garden, the whole area was licenced and fenced-off, meaning there a monumentally long queue to get in as we approached.4
The line was so long — almost stretching around the circumference of half the park — that we really didn't feel like standing in it. We wandered and ended up just sitting in a spot outside the fence, figuring we'd try our luck with seeing/hearing out here. But just by chance, we were settled down by what was quickly turned into a second entrance (why weren't they planning for this all along? Weren't they expecting a crowd?) so we joined that rapidly-forming line and got in without too much trouble. There was already a large crowd inside, and we weren't going to get too near the stage without pushing our way there. We weren't that keen. So as the nine o'clock start time approached, and then passed, we waited, as the crowd kept filling in, soon making it tightly packed around us in all directions.
Now, most of the time I'm pretty anti-nostalgia — I prefer it when musicians aren't just stuck replicating moments of past glory. That said, unusually for me, I was here expecting something of a warm hug of fondly-remembered greatest hits. It's a big, festival-style crowd, not a collection of hardcore fans, so I figured there might be a smattering of new material to show artistic determination in amongst the crowdpleasers.
Nope.
Once things got started, at about twenty after, Cyndi Lauper came out and burst right into material from her new album Memphis Blues, which is exactly what the title implies — Lauper's interpretations of some classic blues sides. For the first couple songs, we were politely impatient and figuring she was getting this out of the way early on. But by the third or fourth song, A. was hitting the limits of his patience, eyes darting around as if there was some sort of gigantic practical joke being played on him.
Long story short, it turned out to be pretty much a full set of "new material". Well — ecch. It didn't help that it was particularly insipid sub-late-night-talk-show-band blooze, really smooth and watered down like a casino cocktail. By the time of about the fourth song, we bailed from where we were and moved back to find, at least, some elbow room. Soon, the greatest source of entertainment was watching A.'s reaction after each song, as he waited for something he recognized. When Lauper led in to a song saying, "here's one by B.B. King!" he threw up his arms in theatrical defeat/disgust. We went and found the beer line.
And then we just wandered the perimeter for a spell, walking past merch stalls and hanging out, which was much more fun than the concert we were now largely ignoring. Oddly though, the further away we moved, the better the view and the sound were, and eventually we found an open area near the back with a nice sightline and not too many people around and A. just grimly waiting, realizing by now that any "hits" were going to be reserved for the finale/encore part of the show. And, indeed, eventually we did get "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", in a blues-band arrangement well-suited to throw off anyone who'd want to actually sing along. After the long leadup to that, it didn't feel cathartic or rewarding so much as, "I waited all night for this?"
Truth be told, I'd've probably gotten the effect that I was looking for at this show if I'd just stayed at home and watched the ending to Romy and Michele's High School Reunion three or four times. The burden of the nostalgia-seeker, I guess. Backhanded kudos are due to Lauper for, like, sticking with her artistic vision and all, but it really felt like the wrong set for this kind of crowd.
I guess all of this — especially dealing with artists proving they're still relevant while waiting for some fondly-remembered songs — is what "concert-going" is like for most people. At least it was a freebie, and I didn't complete the mersh experience with fifty dollar tickets and highway-robbery service charges, but there was definitely with a "Get to the 'workin' overtime' part!" vibe.
With such a crummy experience — company notwithstanding — as we got out of the caged-in zone, I was definitely ready for something less corporate — like standing under a bridge at midnight and hearing some abrasive noise.
1 And yes, this hard-to-remember mouthful deliniates the communities that Pride is serving — in full: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer/Questioning, 2 Spirited, Allies. Note that last one, giving official sanction that Pride is officially for straight people now, too! I think I'm going to try and remember it from now on by pronouncing it "legbittikwakwatoosa" — useful for any occasion where you want to say "queer" but feel that seven syllables would work better than one.
2 "This is where I tell that story about that girl I met last year at Pride," he said by way of introduction to the verse. That's actually an under-advertised but generally acknowledged side of Pride — plenty of those "Allies" are out to hook up, too.
3 Woodhands will be playing at Lee's Palace on Friday, November 19th at what will almost certainly be a sweaty good time.
4 Obviously, the bigger problem here is the archaic liquor laws that Pride has to operate under. But there are other solutions that don't punish the young and the part of the crowd that doesn't care to drink anyway.
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