HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR at Wrongbar, Saturday, October 4. Rating: NNNN
Though dance music has ascended to the pop mainstream, the queer voices that helped originate and shape it have been largely left out. So we welcome a concert by house-pop group Hercules & Love Affair, where the hard-fought energy of queer dance music’s past comes alive in uninhibited fashion.
Led by producer/songwriter Andy Butler, the group was in town for their first proper North American tour in six years (and second T.O. gig this year, after WorldPride). Original member Nomi Ruiz is back on vocals alongside singer Richard Kennedy, who’s been working with Butler in the studio recently. Neither sang on the band’s excellent The Feast Of The Broken Heart album released earlier this year, but on Saturday they exuded the right mix of flamboyance and melancholy that gave the hour-long set of booming 80s- and 90s-style jacking house beats an emotional grounding.
The show culminated with an effervescent and techy reworking of the band’s breakout disco hit, Blind, and a resplendent cover of South Street Player’s (Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind.
It was the stuff that shirtlessness is made of.
Kevin Ritchie
CHRISTOPHER OWENS at Virgin Mobile Mod Club, Wednesday, October 1. Rating: NNN
Christopher Owens has never been a particularly engaging and outgoing performer, which might explain why the former Girls frontman drew an unexpectedly small crowd to the Mod Club. That’s unfortunate, as he seemed more comfortable onstage than ever before, and actually looked like he might be having fun. Kicking heroin has been good for him.
It also helps that he’s touring with a more stable band, including a few former Girls members. He focused on the gospel and country flavours of his latest record, A New Testament, which was more effective than the pastoral folk and flutes of his last tour supporting previous solo album Lysandre.
He’s still introverted, but his intensely cheerful, constantly dancing backup singers kept the mood light and the energy high. At one point, Owens even started dancing while ripping a guitar solo. He almost looked like a rock star, but only for a moment before shyly smiling and hiding behind his long, blond hair again.
Benjamin Boles
CONSTANTINES with COUSINS at the Danforth Music Hall, Thursday, October 2. Rating: NNNN
After a summer of playing open-air festivals, reunited gritty rock heroes Constantines returned to their natural indoor, sweaty habitat.
Openers Cousins had a few technical issues, but the playful garage rock duo eventually picked up the pace and found their groove. They showcased tunes from their excellent third release, The Halls Of Wickwire, which were a little quiet for the crowd, who were understandably more stoked for the main event.
Sure, the Danforth Music Hall gig wasn’t as intimate as the Cons’ legendary Ted’s Wrecking Yard shows, but it felt like it. Lead singer Bry Webb barely had to ask the enthusiastic fans to sing along. They drowned him out during Nighttime/Anytime, chanting “Turn it up!”
Constantines have never been super-polished, but at their best they’re as daring as any rock band on the planet. They were half a step slower on Thursday, but hit their stride mid-set with a blazing rendition of Working Full-Time before grinding through their back catalogue, barely pausing for banter.
Joshua Kloke
BOOGAT and PIERRE KWENDERS at the Drake Underground, Thursday, October 2. Rating: NNN
“World” is a funny genre name. While it embodies seemingly endless musical styles, it doesn’t always convey youth and hipness. Thursday night’s Small World Music Festival show at the Drake, however, proved the tag is a catch-all for anything we don’t quite know how to categorize.
Take headliner Boogat. Heralded onstage by raw, gorgeous trombone-playing by band member Etienne Lebel, the Franco-Canadian showcased his Latin-flavoured hip-hop – rapped in Spanish, natch.
I was most impressed by intimidatingly stylish opener Pierre Kwenders, though, making his Toronto debut. A decent crowd had gathered for the francophone artist, but people stuck to the sides of the room (how very Toronto, the Montrealer must have thought). Without too much trouble, he coerced them onto the dance floor with his fresh mix of Afrobeat, electro, Congolese rumba (he originates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and hip-hop. His drummer boomed away on pair of conga drums, a laptop subbed in samples like twinkly piano, and Kwenders’s vocals echoed with just the right amount of reverb (unlike Boogat, who kinda went overboard).
By the end, we were all converts to “PK Nation.”
Julia LeConte
