Lioness
As this year’s Valentine’s Day rolled around, two of my four roommates were (and still are) in committed relationships, while I found myself celebrating “Singles Awareness Day” yet again. So instead of locking myself in my room and watching the latest episode of American Idol online (I think that Tyler Grady fellow is going all the way this year!), while crying into my tub of chocolate Hӓagen-Dazs (because nothing adds flavour to overpriced ice cream quite like human tears!), I instead decided to make my way to the Mod Club with my other roommate for the “For Florence” charity concert, featuring a diverse lineup of local female-fronted bands.
And what a diverse lineup it was! The night featured ten acts, all of whom played two to three song sets, and covered a broad spectrum of genres. Wanted to hear a modern jazz chanteuse? Check, courtesy of Jessica Lalonde. Folksy, acoustic duets? One Hundred Dollars’ Ian Russell and Simone Schmidt had those covered. A goth lesbian metal band? Umm…I’ll let you listen to Heavy Filth for yourself and judge their “artistic” merit for yourself. I wasn’t terribly familiar with most of the bands playing, but hey, it was for a good cause (all donations went to the Salvation Army’s Florence Booth House Women’s Shelter located at 723 Queen Street West) and everybody in attendance seemed to be in high spirits.
Also in high spirits was Toronto director Bruce McDonald, who used the crowd at the Mod Club as extras in a pivotal club scene with the film’s fictive band, Trigger, who were backed onstage by disco-rockers Foxfire. Even though the song they “played” was catchy, it was a drag having to sit through three takes, but they eventually got it to McDonald’s satisfaction. Things got even more bizarre afterwards with a performance from special guest Carole Pope, a 59-year-old Canadian rock singer-songwriter whose “provocative blend of hard-edged New Wave rock with explicit homoerotic and BDSM-themed lyrics made her one of the first openly lesbian pop stars in the world” (I had to text my friend and ask her to Wikipedia her name). The best thing that I can say about her performance is that she looked a bit like the Canadian version of Joan Jett. If only the same could be said about her singing.
Luckily the bands on the line-up that I had at least a passing familiarity with put on solid, if shorter than usual, sets. The night kicked off with some scrappy garage-rock tunes from Tonka & Puma, the side-project of Hooded Fang’s April (wearing some impressively large furry boots) and Dan, who were later joined onstage by the rest of their more pop-oriented “full-time” band. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Hooded Fang are one of the most promising young bands in Toronto, and I guarantee we’ll be hearing plenty more from them in the upcoming year. I was also pleasantly surprised with The Ghost is Dancing, an energetic, reverb and horn-heavy pop six-piece, who put out their sophomore album Battles On on Sonic Unyon this spring.
Rounding out the night and sending the stragglers at the Mod Club home, was Lioness, the trio of drummer Jeff Schevens, guitarist Ronnie Morris (both former members of the now-defunct contoller.controller) and singer Vanessa Fischer. Despite the fact that it was about one in the morning, and I was so exhausted that I could barely speak or stand, these guys’ live performance is so hypnotic that you can’t turn away. Call them what you want – disco, dance, electronic, punk, indie rock or some combination of all of these – but with Schevens’ powerhouse drumming, Morris’ bass-created wall of sound, and Fischer’s soulful pipes, you cannot deny Lioness has a completely unique sound going for them.
It was great to see such a large turnout at this event, especially when you consider it was competing with the final night of Wavelength 500 at the Garrison, whose organizers had announced earlier in the morning that Owen Pallett would be making a surprise appearance. And though I didn’t find anything remotely close to love at this concert, I’m pretty confidant when I say there could’ve been worse ways to spend a Valentine’s Day night single.
