The SummerWorks Theatre Festival — Music Series
All shows are at The Lower Ossington Theatre (100A Ossington). All opener/headliner sets are at 10:30 p.m. / 11:45 p.m.
Now a summer tradition in its fourth year, the musical component of the SummerWorks Festival continues to shine a light on cool, mostly local bands. This year, the Music Series has been curated by the awesome Lauren Schreiber, who puts on concerts under the No Shame banner. That should be enough to let you guess that there will be plenty of intelligent pop with a high probability of dancing — and looking over the bands she's lined up, that looks to be about exactly right.1 The shows are a reasonable ten bucks and take place in the comfortable space at The Lower Ossington Theatre, a venue where both those-who-want-to-sit and those-who-prefer-to-stand can be accommodated. You'd do well to check out any of these shows, but if you're wanting to learn more about the bands, I've reached back to some of my past live reviews to give you a hint of what to expect — and some live samples, too.
Hooded Fang / Steven McKay
Friday, August 5, 2011
Hooded Fang have been delighting local crowds with their catchy, sunny pop for a couple years now, so some were taken by surprise when they torqued their approach on their recent Tosta Mista EP to foreground a tougher, scrappy beat group-inspired sound. It's still good to dance to, and the band will almost certainly be excited to show off more of their new tunes in a live setting.
Listen! Hooded Fang - Almost Done
Steven McKay, backed by a rotating cast of friends, is becoming known on his own merits, and not just as the drummer for Bruce Peninsula. His unassuming manner goes well with his songs, which are earnest little creations. Handled wrongly, they could have a fatal lack of pretense — songs about the quotidian pleasures of doing the dishes can easily be as dull as, well, doing the dishes — but the arrangements and musical collaboration are what makes this memorable. It might sound underwhelming, but if slow and steady wins the race, he'd surely take first place.
Listen! Steven McKay - Emma Comes Home
Bonjay / Lioness
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Gathering together different crowds is a by-product of the fact that Bonjay singer Alanna Stuart and sound provider Pho aren't interested in limiting themselves too much. This was proven on their EP Broughtupsy, which manages to straddle several divides. Founded in a fusion of dancefloor and dancehall, Bonjay have moved it to the next level with their ability to craft songs fortified by a lot of other pop influences that work just as well on headphones as sound systems. Their live energy has been boosted lately with the addition of a drummer, and the whole package is tied together by Stuart's glorious vox. Be prepared to sweat.
Listen! Bonjay - Frawdulent
Lioness is fronted by Vanessa Fischer (ex-No Dynamics) along with the ex-controller.controller rhythm section of Jeff Scheven and Ronnie Morris. The band's sound is an aggressively soulful death disco laced with bass-heavy maximalist reverberations that work like subliminal dancefloor invocations.
Listen! Lioness - You're My Heart
Great Bloomers / House League
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Great Bloomers, fronted by talented craftsman Lowell Sostomi have slowly been winning me over. Working at the poppier end of the roots-rock spectrum, the band is reving up after a period of lying low — expect some new material in their set.
Listen! Great Bloomers - Dark Horse
What we'll be hearing from House League, meanwhile, is mostly unknown right now, but the mystery comes with the sweet tang of anticipation. Listed as a supergroup "featuring members of Evening Hymns, Forest City Lovers, Matters, and The Magic", we can conclude that this is a new name for the "family band" that has played a few times at celebrations put on by local label Out of This Spark. In the past this has involved both reinterpretations of the members' own songs as well as some goofy-fun cover band action. Whatever we get from this set should be a pretty cool time.
Bruce Peninsula / Jennifer Castle
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Bruce Peninsula should be in a celebratory mood for their show. After taking off the first half of the year while vocalist/guitarist Neil Haverty was treated for leukemia, the band is finally gearing up to release their second album Open Flames. There should be a lot of good vibes as the band raises their voices on their new folk-inspired tunes. This will be one of the most-anticipated sets in the music series, so grab your ticket ASAP.
Listen! Bruce Peninsula - Open Flame
Meanwhile, the excitement for that shouldn't be allowed to eclipse opener Jennifer Castle's set. Following on the excellent Castlemusic album (released earlier this year), Castle is on a creative tear right now, her haunting, hazy songs animated by her blues-y guitar styles and expressive vocals.
Listen! Jennifer Castle - Poor as Him
Miracle Fortress / Ruby Coast
Friday, August 12, 2011
When Graham Van Pelt returned with his Miracle Fortress earlier this year, some were surprised with his new sound, sporting a strong Talking Heads vibe and an 80's DOR undercarriage. But it was actually something that had been foreshadowed when he played SummerWorks back in aught-and-nine. I'm expecting a rabid crowd out for his return to the festival.
Listen! Miracle Fortress - Everything Works
Meanwhile, the scrappy Ruby Coast, purveyors of Tokyo Police Club-esque pop, will be making themselves heard as well.
Green Go / Powers
Saturday, August 13, 2011
It's been awhile since we've heard much from Green Go, but word is that a new album (following up 2009's Borders) is in the works. So expect some new songs constructed with a stripped-down, dance-floor chant sensibility. Bring your dancing shoes.
Listen! Green Go - Brains for Breakfast
Powers were formed out of the ashes of The Ghost is Dancing, and admittedly haven't yet impressed me any more in their new incarnation than they did in their previous one. This unit is at least admirably stripped-down and focused, providing a blacklight dance party, though they have something of a propensity for overreaching for epic grandeur. But with two keyboard players, they're a rhythmically intensive crew who can get a crowd dancing.
Besides all of this, don't forget the Festival's Opening Party, taking place today (Thursday, August 4, 2011) in the MOCCA/Edward Day Gallery Courtyard. It's free and there'll be performances by The Elwins, Modern Superstitions, Light Fires and others. And also also, don't forget that besides all of this, there's the main theatre component, with a lot of shows worth investigating. (Me, I think I'll check out the one about Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger.) And don't forget to support the festival, which seems to be the victim of some fairly craven political interference with arts funding.
1 You can check out more info on all the bands from Lauren if you dig through the SummerWorks blog — look for the posts called "I Love This Band, and You Should Too".
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