CMW 2009
By Bryen Dunn
(SugarBuzz Toronto)
Photos by Bryen Dunn
SugarBuzz Magazine
Wednesday March 11
My CMW experience began at Gladstone’s Melody Bar, not an official event. The place was jammed for the weekly Granny Boots, showcasing a mix of whatever works. Tonight was the first live performance ever for this female-fronted foursome. The shouts of Heavy Filth started before the band hit the stage, and immediately after they finished their last song. These girls were here to rock, and so was the crowd. They went through a short set of songs that showcased the vocals of Maija Martin. The heavy base was owned by Kristyn Dunnion (Miss Kitty Galore), who showed little concern about this inaugural performance. They were followed by headliners Tomboyfriend, who had no easy task to uphold. Ryan Kamstra let them crowd know he was up for the challenge. After a slow start due to awkward technical difficulties, the band got the crowd up dancing half way through. 
Their signature song End of Poverty had most of the bar singing along.
Facebook: Heavy Filth
Overall Rating: Awesome
I shifted over to the Ballroom, which was one of the official CMW events that typically only began on the Thursday. There were a couple of acts I wanted to catch due to the recent interest in their sounds. Fox Fire are a large group of individuals who play disco infused dance, and grabbed the interest of the disenfranchised crowd. Next up were Lioness, fronted by powerhouse vocalist Vanessa Fischer. The dub-rock sounds emanating from the speakers were most compelling. They are playing lots of gigs around town so catch them soon. Closer duo Mansion are laptop professionals, making for some great production vibes, but not much of a live performance. They’ve worked remixes
for XXX and are ones to watch go international soon.
myspace.com/lionesslionesslioness
Overall Rating: Nice
Thursday March 12
I chose the Montreal night at the El Mocambo, not only for the insanity of Duchess Says, but also for newcomers Pas Pas Chic and Radio Radio. Pas Chic Chic took the stage at 8pm opening the Sirius and CBC Radio 3 event. The bard can best be described as psychedelic ambience mixed with 60’s teen band. The organ sounds dominate most of the songs, while Roger Tellier-Craig croons through the catchy set. Kudos go out to Marie-Douce for her strong backing vocals. Duchess Says rose to the challenge of playing a 9pm show, with both the band and the audience not as intoxicated as late night shows. Annie-Claude Deschênes did her best antics, flailing demonically into the audience, throwing herself on the ground, and finishing up with a wide smile. Fans got a chance to hear a couple new songs, not yet available anywhere, but soon to be released. After the show they were heading off on a four day road trip across America to reach their next gig in San Francisco. They’ve also got another show here in Toronto on March 30th at the El Mocambo again. Radio Radio took the stage at 10pm, and won the crowd over with their zany outfits and rap-infused Chiac, 
a mix of Acadian French and English. This Moncton outfit are gaining steam and definitely worth a listen.
Best Overhead Line: Dude says to other dude entering and seeing Duchess Says on state – “That’s Fucked”.
Overall Rating: Good Vibes
I was off to The Kathedral to catch Left Spine Down and S.N.F.U. I opted out of the loudness of We Are Wolves and the francaphone of Majube to catch the louder noise-fest of old school punk opened by Vancouver’s LSD, featuring Jeremy Inkel of 90’s industrialist band Front Line Assembly. The sparse crowd was mildly entertainment by this energetic foursome, who has just released their second CD Voltage 2.3, including remixes by KMFDM, Revolting Cocks, and The Birthday Massacre. S.N.F.U front man and sole original member Mr. Chi Pig popped up on stage in a golden silk suit and belted through a full set of 30 years of rock and roll lifestyle. A faux moshpit almost materialized, but the energy quickly subsided. 
Watch for new material to surface in the next year as manager/promoter team Synthetic Entertainment are ready to give it a go.
Overall Rating: Tad Dated
Friday March 13
I caught the much anticipated performance of Anvil at Velvet Underground. Arriving late I was thinking I may have missed the opening couple of songs, but with many live shows they were running a bit late in my favour. Lips and the boys went through a 30 minute set of old time favourites and a couple of new ones from their forthcoming album, Thirteen. 
I opted out of any more shows this evening, and headed to a house party for some non-amplified chat. Travelling between destinations I realized that Toronto becomes a city of musicians lugging equipment through the streets or unloading vans in back alleys.
Saturday March 14
I saw the line up for the Indie Music Awards and thought it might be worth checking out, for the fact alone of partying at the Royal York. Within minutes I knew this wasn’t working for me. The canned announcements, lengthy changeovers, bright lights, and overall confusion made for a somewhat disjointed show. Anvil was inducted as Lifetime Achievement artists, and sang only one song which was their classic Metal on Metal. Other bands continued, including Montreal trio Beast, and Toronto troublemakers Crystal Castles. Apparently
CC front woman Alice Glass wasn’t too impressed either and walked off the stage before finishing their set.
www.myspace.com/crystalcastles
Overall Rating: WTF
I needed to clear by head, so started in the direction of the Bovine. Arriving around 11pm Hell Yeah Fuck Yeah was onstage and there was a line up at the door. I knew any line up at the Bovine meant a sweatfest inside, so scooted down the road to the Hideout. I caught the second half of Boston’s Say When gig. 
These boys have played over 300 shows in 40 states in the last year. Their sound is heavy rock balanced instrumentation. If you missed them, this eternal touring outfit promised to be back in the summer. Next up was Marble Index, who has been around for sometime, but this didn’t seem to matter tonight. Their choppy set started late due to technical issues with unknown causes. Once going, it took a while to get into it, but their closing new tunes were worthwhile rockers. Stay tuned for new materials soon.
Overall Rating: Bearable
Ending the night, I headed to the Horseshoe to catch a couple of novelty acts, Hexes and Ohs are a duo from Montreal who started off playing bubblegum lullabies on their laptops, and ended up doing a dual rocking guitar tune. Nothing new, but they did get some of the audience on their side by the time they left the stage. Bedroom Voices was released last year and provides that 80’s throwback feel. Vancougar took the stage shortly after 2am, possible due to an extended liquor license, First off these girls aren’t cougars in my opinion, and they don’t play cougar tunes. 
They are an all girl pop band that know what they are doing, and have a great set of vocals in Eden leading them through.
Overall Rating: Virgin Pop