Canadians And Transvestites Rock CMJ

10/28/08 4:59pm

by Gary McDonald (CHARTattack)

CMJ 2008 followed the long tradition of years past as a late fall bastion of bands, booze, panels and pizza.

Things kicked off for me at Arlene's Grocery on New York City's lower east side on Wednesday night. The venue was hosting the second annual Canadian Blast! showcase. The government-supported event featured a pre-show buffet built from more "Ray's Pizza" boxes than I've ever seen. There was no word whether they were from Famous Original Ray's or Original Famous Ray's, but the slices provided a nice base for the more than 300 people who flowed through the 150-person club throughout the night.

Standout performances came from London, Ont. rapper Shad, who's riding the success of his current sleeper hit video, "The Old Prince Still Lives At Home," and Toronto's The Midway State. To add some geographical balance to the evening, the showcase also featured the wistful west coast sounds of Said The Whale, the Radiohead-inspired Quebec quintet Karkwa and St. John's sensations Hey Rosetta!.

While there where numerous highlights throughout the five-day event, my stop at the Perez Hilton party at the Highline Ballroom certainly took the cake. After being aurally assaulted by glam rock outfit Semi Precious Weapons, I witnessed a transvestite breakdance fight.

Two six-foot-plus glammed-out lady wannabes in six-inch spiked heels busted out some of the breakin-est moves since Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. At one point, the blonde even handed over her 30-pound wig to an onlooker so she'd be better positioned to pick up her counterpart in a manner that can only be described as horny high schoolers in a backyard pool.

I kind of felt bad for Lady Gaga, who failed to live up to that opening performance — even with $50,000 worth of gear and four dancers on stage.

I saw so many bands throughout my travels that there are really too many to mention. But something must be said about how far Vancouver's Mother Mother have come since their debut album. They played two sold-out shows — one in Brooklyn, and another in Manhattan.

Then there was the Thursday night Crystal Castles onslaught, which many indie insiders were calling the show of the festival. Unfortunately, I missed it due to arriving late from the never-ending Dungeons And Dragons rock of Coheed And Cambria, who sold out four nights at Terminal 5. But I saw a hipster lose his fluorescent blue sunglasses in the gutter outside of Webster Hall after being pelted by a half-eaten apple, so I had that going for me.

Things wrapped early for a lot of folks on Saturday night as a Noah's Ark-sized downpour pelted the city for a few hours right after dinner time. One label rep I ran into was lucky enough to have a guitar player with two pairs of pants and a similar waist size with him, but many others weren't so charmed and either called it quits early or decided to sit and sulk at locales around town.

The only thing I saw the final night was a band recently signed by Nikki Sixx called Charm City Devils. The show was moderately attended, but be sure to check out their brand of four-on-the-floor shred-rock when they take it to clubs next year.