Ummm, yeah. Okay. Art Students? Different. That said, this was a very interesting show. Put together by Student Union members, the evening started out with blank walls and an open stage, where students were invited to leave their mark ("Smack It Up"). By the time we went on at 10:30 the walls were covered in drawings, paintings, sketches and whatzits; there was a broken tricycle in the room, and the mic was broken in by singers, guitarists, a stand-up comic and a sonic arts performance which is best described as creme de chaos. We had a great time and met a lot of artists to watch out for. The most compelling visual of the evening was a lifesize drawing inscribed "If looks could kill" and my performance pick was photographer / spoken word artist Katie Skene's delivery of Ani DiFranco lyrics and original works. Courage.
So I guess we all know that I think GreenTara is hype. For her Canadian Music set at Holy Joe's she was backed by bassist Scott, Chi Turner on back-up vocals and keys and drummer, Gregor. She dropped some of my favourite songs, (including the Front Line and Babylon Bye Bye from Music For a Mixed Nation) and graciously invited me to perform with her on our new track, "Life Could Be Sweeter." Toukoo got on the mic and justified all the praise I've heard for her voice. I'm going to find out if she has a website and hit you all back with the link...
I shared a cab home with Saritah, an artist in town from Australia for CMW. I've got my eyes on Australia, and a new friend is one more reason to go, so who knows.
