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Music

Musical bicycles

TORONTO BICYCLE MUSIC FESTIVAL, Various Locations, Sunday, September 18. Rating: NNNN


Sunday’s musical bike revolution was small but idyllic, a mobile festival with audience pedal-powered concerts at Trinity Bellwoods, Fred Hamilton Park and Dufferin Grove.

Keyboard-playing Lenni Jabour’s Bellwoods set was the best attended (the sun was out, and the Queen West Arts Crawl was crowded) but the whole afternoon was a spirited, family-friendly affair, a mix of music, bike-related theatre from CYCLOPS and activism complete with dogs resting in the sun.

It was a gentler way to take in music, with volunteer cyclists from the audience moving at a steady, leisurely pace on stands to keep things running without overpowering the system.

There were some glitches – while Abigail Lapell and Jessica Moore played the PA went out temporarily when one peddler got off to let someone else on – but overall the festival was a testament to this kind of event being possible.

Between parks and sets, the group moved in critical mass, corking off roads. “I’ve never performed on a trailer before,” said scrappy hip-hop artist Garbageface, as he climbed onto a bike trailer to rap his way to Dufferin Grove with a chorus of bike bells. Curly-haired bicycle-touring veteran Jeremy Fisher was a perfect closer for the evening.

As the sun went down and it got chillier, fans cozied up under blankets and called out requests (Lemon Meringue Pie anyone?).

Here’s hoping for a third year.

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