Seitan and Country Gospel

Yesterday for lunch we went to the Wooden Monkey, on Maddie's vehement urging. As usual, she ordered ginger beer, and as usual, didn't drink it all ('too spicy'). But she enjoyed her quesadilla. Robie wasn't there for her to say hi to, and we thoroughly confused Alan by calling from the restaurant since someone from Nanny's had called us earlier.

Sean had a pizza which he quite enjoyed, and I finally got my first taste of seitan, after mulling over the potential pronunciations and mispronunciations, and finally just plunging in and saying it completely wrong. It was delish. Yet again I am certain that, had I a live-in chef, I could be slim, healthy and eat sustainably.

Of the three or four options that last night presented for entertainment, we wound up choosing the Stage Nine show on the strength of curiousity and some good reviews. We arrived toward the end of the first band's set, which I regret incredibly... the Sorrys were exactly the kind of 80s-inspired straight-on pop I love. The two catchy tunes we heard have convinced me to seek out another show by the band, asap. The next band was the hypnotic Sleepless Nights, who had that great drone-y sound that makes me feel relaxed and stoned. Not my favourite, but they were definitely enjoyable, especially the last tune with the extra jangly tambourine.

Third band of the evening were the SS Cardiacs (version 7.0, as announced by singer Jessica... stein?) They were brilliant, and since my brain works in Borg-like fashion, assimilating new experiences by tying them to the known, I am compelled to make very outside comparisons to the Weakerthans and Julie Doiron. But the singer had a unique voice, and the band had a great sound, and I look forward to seeing more and may in fact seek out their album to buy. (Should've gotten it last night... doh).

Jon-Rae and the River, the headlining act whose good reviews from sackville had bolstered our decision to go, was... meh. Definitely didn't enjoy them as much as the lead-up acts. They were interesting, but struck me as formulaic in a way, with each song having an outrageous premise (every second song seemed to prominently feature the word 'fuck')... this seemed like a contrived contrast to their "gospelly" sound and was a bit smug. And then, each song seemed to start off traditional style, guy / gal vocals to a standard pace and then kick into high gear about 2/3s through, which is effective when mixed up and used sparingly, but when used in every song is a bit boring. All of which sounds harsh, and is definitely more critical than it ought to be, since they did make my toe tap and made me smile. And they looked like they were having balls of fun, which is definitely worth something.

I was spoiled by the openers, I guess. Definitely looking forward to seeing the Cardiacs and the Sorrys again.