Canadian Music Fest: Old Favourites, New Discoveries
So I start my tour with Kevin Quain of Mad Bastards fame who played an early evening solo set at the Rex Hotel, and for a guy from a band called Mad Bastards, his music was oddly soothing and mellow. (Maybe they’re ironically named.) Anyway, Quain
just rolled right into his set like easing into a warm bath and very slowly the nattering of the crowd faded away to a level just below his melodic charms. His voice that had Tony Bennett’s easy cool, and the way his hands flew over the piano keys was exquisite. He traded between his own songs and old standards like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and while in terms of tone he played somewhere in the middle, he did add this neat little up tempo flourish to the classic “Makin’ Whoopie.” A really charming set by a talented jazz pianist.
Another jazz act I caught at the Rex was the Hogtown Syncopators and this group was so tuned into the feel and sounds of classic jazz, they might well have been plucked out of a 20s speakeasy and brought forwards through time. They’re a five-piece band and e very one was the highest standard of skill and co-ordination. Violinist Drew Jurecka impressed by looking smooth while frantically sawing away on his instrument and drummer Terra Hazelton just kept hitting these mad beats, seemingly without breaking a sweat. The band went back and forth playing fast and loose before going back down low. There was also this really neat improv segment where the drummer’s signal would make the other musicians change up on who gets the solo. It was mad cap, it was frantic and it was an absolute joy.
Going more pop, we now movie to the young Ms. Michelle Madeira, who from Mississauga had a good run on Canadian Idol before falling out of place during the Top 32 round. But as we all know, the also rans on Idol end up having the better time more often than not, that is unless your name is Justin Guarini. Anyway, it seems that Madeira is just putting her songbook together; she played two of her own and filled up the time between with covers of Faith Hill’s “Breath,” “Sweet Child of Mine” and the Etta James standard “At Last.” Now a musical purist might say, “what gall,” but I say “why not.” You have to at least admire her confidence and it did feel like she delivered for the most part. You can tell though that her own songs were where the heart was, and I hope she keeps working on those.
Next we get a francophone artist named Amelie Lefebvre, and by francophone, I do mean that she mostly sang in French. Lost in translation? Not actually, she kind of reminded me of a French Chantal Kreviazuk. She was just one woman and he guitar making beautiful music that seems simple but is multi-layered. Those without a working knowledge of French never knew the full meaning of the lyrics, or even the names of the songs, but it really didn’t matter because you could feel it. Lefebvre did three really upbeat numbers before bringing it way down with a song she said was about waiting for your lover at the airport, and believe me you could practically bite into the longing.
Then, for something a little different, there was Sara Haze from the US, who, at the tender age of 19, was making her second stage appearance at CMW. Undoubtedly, she has the musical chops and a rock and roll ready voice that was evident even in spite of the fact that she had a self-confessed sinus infection. Her projection was good and she knows how to play a small room well, but her song-writing was difficult for me to get into because it was “pity me” pop. You know those songs that Britney and Christina used to do once in a while where they’d wine about their terrible (comparatively) lives. Yeah, that’s what I said. But as I stated, the girl’s got talent. She’ll get by.
Kelly Cha is from China, but that didn’t seem to stop her from having her own little fan base in attendance. Cha looked a bit like a Chinese goth chick with knee high black leather boots and long bangs, but looks can be deceiving and underneath the black is a Lillith Fair rocker that’s more Lisa Loeb than Amy Winehouse. (Probably better for her overall health, anyway.) She sang her own songs in Chinese, but while the tone was familiar, the foreign sounding lyrics let one’s mind drift as to their true meaning, so you can have fun guessing. Cha also surprised a little as she neared the end of her set and played Nickelback’s recent hit “Rock Star.” I still can’t stand the song itself, but the way Cha sang it made me feel bad for not liking it more. Talk about high praise.
Speaking of high praise, I took in the Sirius Songwriter’s Café on Friday night at the Mod Club theatre. It was a line-up that promised greatness and it was indeed great. On the bill were The Arkells, Serena Ryder, Sass Jordan, Tom Cochrane and Burton Cummings. But on Friday afternoon I learned that Cummings had been benched with the flu, and filling the Guess Who quotient instead would be Randy Bachman. If you like what you read here than you should tune in to Iceberg 85 on your Sirius satellite dial this Wednesday and Saturday to hear the whole thing from start to finish.
But to begin were The Arkells from Hamilton, ON, who were also the only band on the evening’s line-up. The theme of the performances was unplugged and I thought for a moment that the band had taken things a bit too literally as they gathered at the foot of the stage, clapping and stomping the rhythm to their opening number. But soon they moved to their instruments and started hitting it full force with solid jams about life at Hamilton’s Jackson Square Mall and “No Championship Socialists.” They wrapped their all too brief set with “Oh, the Boss is Coming,” an easy to identify with ditty about being a wage slave and killing time while the boss has his back turned.
If the Arkells riled up the crowd, then Serena Ryder cooled them off. She started her portion of the show on kind of a sombre note and getting things really mellow for the audience; just kind of chilled. Fortunately, Ryder likes to change the tone almost as much as she likes to change guitars (it was just her performing solo, after all). She played a couple of new cuts off her forthcoming album, Is it Okay including “All for 
Love” which is really cool in a temperate sense, but it also has a powerful chorus that draws you in. For her finally, Ryder was joined on stage by a couple of Arkells to once again employ their ample stomping and clapping skills.
With a mix of new tunes and old classics, Sass Jordan proved ably that she’s more than an Idol judge, unlike say, what Paula Abdul has become. She delivered a high energy set that was never short on surprise. The show ended with the really big sounding, chair-rattling new song “What You Need,” off her upcoming album, which was kind of jazz, kind of country, but all rock. What I admire about Jordan though is the energy she brings, and she was still going strong even after admitting earlier at the Canadian Radio Music Awards that she was running on very little sleep. Of all the sets, hers seemed to pass by the quickest.
Tom Cochrane also received a lot of cheers from the crowd, a symbol of the enduring fortitude of his music seeing how many of the people in the crowd were probably kids when his biggest hit came out. Playing with his long time co-guitarist, Cochrane played some newer songs and wrapped things up with “Big League” and “Life is a Highway.” His rendition of “Big League” was a little mellowed out as opposed to the recorded version, but it also had a bit more soul to it. “Highway” of course was a genuine rock and a rousing way to finish as set that had a nice high and low rhythm to it.
By far though, the best was saved for last, as Randy Bachman played favourites from both The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive and prefaced each song with the story behind it. These are songs that are part of the national soundtrack, and knowing a little about where they came from was an interesting treat for even the most casual music fan. For instance, did you know that “Taking Care of Business” was originally called “White Collar Worker” and was a take off of The Beatles’ own “Paperback Writer.” It’s true, and Bachman played a little bit of how that earlier version might have sounded. However, not wanting to sound like they were just rip-off artists, the band sat on the song for weeks, until fate gave Bachman an opportunity to play it, and by that time, with the new hook. The rest, as they say, is history.
Unfortunately, so to for Canadian Music Fest for another year.
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