CMW: Handsome Furs, The Darcys

Photo by Ciarán Thompson

I’ve been super busy this week with thesis work and design work for Tightrope, so I missed out on CMW’s Thursday lineups, while Curran held down the fort festival-wise. Friday, however, was a better night for me. Prior to hopping out for CMW festivities, I travelled west on College Street to a tiny hole in the wall where a friend of mine DJ Ghaleon was spinning old school jungle. I hadn’t been to a good jungle party in over a year, considering most parties in Toronto feature shitty drum and bass and even shittier sketch-faced crowds, so I was particularly interested in seeing Ghaleon in his element at a place that I knew (or rather, hoped) wouldn’t be sketchy. It was fantastic! Spinning exclusively off of old and rare vinyl, the music was delicious! I couldn’t help but hop around in an ecstatic fervour (partially due to the extremely cheap beer at this place) with my friend Sarah (who I hadn’t seen in far too long). After having re-acquainted myself with a fun hardcore environment at the Fucked Up show last Wednesday, to round out a week of nostalgia with wicked old school jungle was definitely an awesome treat.

I left the jungle party at around 1am to head over to the El Mocambo to see Handsome Furs at the Sirius Radio Quebec Showcase. This married electro-punk duo from Montreal had the audience riveted when I entered halfway through their set, making a ridiculous wall of noise with only the two of them onstage. I hopped around with my favourite show buddy Riaz for the last few songs before heading backstage to chat with the remarkably down to earth Alexei Perry, whose badassery is only rivalled by her sweetness. I finished the night at the Silver Dollar to dance to a couple of bands whose names and music I don’t remember.

On Saturday I was supposed to hit up more than a few venues for my friends’ shows: Hemingway at Wrong Bar, Jane’s Party at the Central, and The Darcys at Sneaky Dee’s. Unfortunately, but still fortunately, I only made it to The Darcys, after consuming my millionth lifetime plate of skeezy nachos at Toronto’s favourite scumbar. I was particularly interested in seeing their new set-up, as they lost a member of the band recently and were forced to re-shuffle. Curran saw them at the Audio Blood Showcase on Thursday, and said he actually liked the new format better, with less noise (considering there’s one less guitar) and more crispness. When I saw them at Sneaky Dee’s, I couldn’t agree more. They definitely still have the loud-as-fuck character that makes them so delightfully imposing, but the songs seem more concise and clean. I guess what could have been a loss turned into a pretty wicked gain for The Darcys.

Tonight I’m rounding out the festival with my friends at Rancho Relaxo for The Body Electric. I should probably be at home finishing up production for the next issue of Steel Bananas, which hits the web tomorrow, but during such painfully busy times like these (especially considering that my thesis is due in less than two weeks) beer and music with friends really helps to take the edge off of the work stress.

A recap of CMW can be found in this month’s issue of SB, with post-fest interviews finding their way into the April issue.