Festival: Cultura

Cultura Festival (feat. Times Neue Roman / Maylee Todd)

Mel Lastman Square. Friday, July 30, 2010.

Apparently, this was going on all summer, a weekly festival in Mel Lastman Square, with live entertainment, art for sale, a variety of food booths and a free movie on the big screen. Like so much that doesn't happen downtown, this was totally off my radar, until I heard that the music on this week was being curated by the Daps Duo (a.k.a. Daniel Lee and April Aliermo from Hooded Fang). And, it just so happened that "downtown" North York was conveniently located on my way home from work, so I stopped by for a couple hours.

When you stand in the middle of the square and look around it seems weird to consider that this is supposed to be the middle of nowhere, especially with all the people wandering around and tall buildings looming above and condo towers on the horizon in all directions. And it's gratifying to think that culture, broadly speaking, is happening here — well off the map of where it usually takes place. Even if the name sounds slightly defensive, like it's offering aspartame instead of sugar ("Can't come downtown for culture? Come to Willowdale for cultura!") this was a decent operation.

On the Friday night before the long weekend, it was quieter at first than it would later be as I found Times Neue Roman soundchecking on what was described online as the Yonge Stage. They weren't kidding — the temporary stage was at the edge of the sidewalk just feet away from the street's southbound lanes, giving a constant traffic woosh as part of the sound — so I guess you could label this "urban" music. All the better, I guess, to announce to passers-by that something was going on here.

It would turn out to be an unusual TNR gig, as well. With multi-instrumentalist/beat provider/singer Alexander The unable to make it, we instead had a unique fill-in lineup, with the Daps Duo on bass and drums backing MC Arowbe (a.k.a. Robert Bolton). Lee's beats were sprightly, and Aliermo's fuzzy bass lent the sound a rough punk-ish undercurrent. Working alone on the microphone, Bolton didn't attempt some material like "Best est. 2019" or others reliant on Alexander The's vocals, going instead for a steady torrent of words, flowing like the traffic rushing past. The ad hoc arrangements were a bit sloppy here and there, but this was great fun, especially when Maylee Todd, before heading off for her own performance, hopped on stage to help out. It was a lightning-fast six song set, done in under twenty minutes.

And then, after that, there was a b-boy crew putting on a breakdancing demonstration. Staying behind the kit, Lee provided some beats as the breakdancers showed off their moves, drawing a small crowd of people pausing to check them out.

And then there was a second set from Times Neue Roman, making another run at mostly the same songs. Although there were a few friends scattered in the crowd who had come out of their way to show support, the music was clearly more designed to pull in passers-by than "destination" music types. There was a bigger crowd hanging around this time, as things were generally building up throughout the Square.

Listen to a track from this set here.

The end of that second set overlapped with the start of Maylee Todd, who was playing on a little stage set up on the plateau overlooking the big amphitheatre. As TNR wrapped up, I hustled over and grabbed some pavement to lean back and watch Todd working in her harp-wielding songstress mode, where she comes at her songs a bit more gently than the raging funkstress attack she engages with in her band shows. I settled in just in time to catch the delicate, lovely "Pegwee Power", which was competing a bit with the drumming lessons from across the square audible in the background. After some more harp action, there was a final offering with the Tenori-on — which, it turns out, was not made for easy use on daytime outdoor stages.

And then the stage was cleared for free Latin dance lessons — this event was nothing if not diverse in its offerings. I went for a wander around, cruised the food booths and reflected by the reflecting pool, mentally re-staging the Kids in the Hall sketch that is always at the front of my mind when I think of these environs. Wandered past the big stage, where another band was going through a soundcheck as a pretty big crowd of folks were staking out spots, both on the benches and on lawnchairs above, for the film later on. And then back up as Maylee Todd was getting ready to start on her second set.

Not a long one, just four songs, from the opening strains of "Protection Plan 101" to the Tenori-on finale. A nice crowd, and one that was pretty respectfully attentive. Stuff like this is definitely reaching people that wouldn't ever go to a show, and afterwards, Todd had a steady stream coming up to buy a CD from her.

Listen to a track from this set here.

There was still more going on, but I was feeling cultura-ed out, so I headed back into the subway and made my way home.