Overheard at Zaphod's

I walked into the washrooms at Zaphod's last night just in time to watch some girl lift up her shirt. A minute later I heard the same girl say "Touch my tattoo -- it's, like, lubricated!". The IQ level in the bathroom when another girl replied "Oh, it's like, TRIBAL, or something!" (The tattoo in question was of a bird, slightly stylised, but nothing tribal about it)

I came to find myself in this brain-numbing situation thanks to the Bicycles, a Toronto indie-pop band who just happen to be one of my favourites. Their pop-rock is very sixties influenced, Beatles/Monkeys/Beach Boys/etc style. Very fun and cute. Sadly their set was quite short and only featured music from their upcoming album, and none of their older songs, but the music was still good, and I still love them, and really wish I could be in Toronto for the album launch next week, so I could see a proper set, and buy the cd directly from them.

I spent much of the time knitting, while waiting for the first band, the Balconies, to play, and during their entire set. They were decent, but their music didn't really make me want to leave my knitting and go up and dance. The main act was Young Rival, yet another 60s influenced band, but this time much more of the louder, harder rock of the late 60s. They were good, but I found that most of their songs sounded the same. I still would have bought an album, but they didn't have one, only an EP, not enough tracks for my liking!

The crowd at Zaphod's was an uncomfortable and truly odd mix of complete and utter hipsters, and old folks (well, people in their 50s, 60s). Toward the end of the night the old folks had mostly gone home, and instead the hip-hop crowd had begun to infiltrate, since they had their stuff coming up right after Young Rival. I was throughout the night the odd one out. My whole "preppy" look, my weight, and the fact that I seemed to be one of maybe 3 people in the audience who knew the Bicycles (and probably the only one who came FOR them). Oh yeah, don't forget the whole sitting out the first act and knitting on my own!