Music! Film! Burlesque?!

On Friday night, Wavelength returns to The Garrison for the first time since the grand finale of both our Sunday night series and the Wavelength 500 festival back on Valentine's Day. Wavelength 503 is our first take at staging our series as a monthly in our still-relatively-recently-adopted home, and though it will still feel like a Wavelength, it will also have a bit of a different flavour. We're trying out a bit of a multi-media cabaret format, though there won't be any cocktail tables or cigarettes girls roaming the Garrison.

First up is Opera Arcana, a new collaboration between Scott Kerr, drummer/electronics whiz from Kids on TV (and many, many experimental projects going back to the mid-'80s here in Toronto), and G.B. Jones, filmmaker and founding member of legendary Toronto "Riot Moms" Fifth Column — yes, that means they predated and influenced the Riot Grrrl movement of the early '90s. I caught OA at Double Double Land a few months back, and they were really cool, combining creepy Gothic imagery with equally creepy, carnivalesque Casio minimalism, slightly reminiscent of U.K. band Pram.

The second set of the night will consist of both a film and a performance by the group Elfin Saddle. This Montreal trio released an incredible album last year on Constellation Records (the groundbreaking MTL artist-run label that launched the trajectories of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Do Make Say Think) called Ringing for the Begin Again, a collection of uncategorizable tunes that I have awkwardly labeled "fantasy-world folk-pop." Live the Elfins utilize glockenspiel, accordion, guitar, tuba, upright bass, ukelele, singing saw and drums, so it should be interesting to hear how the pull off these songs in concert. Their set is preceded by the Toronto premiere of their 23-minute film WURLD, a stop-motion world-building reverie that should delight those of us old enough to remember that NFB sandcastle film from 16mm movie nights.

And the last band of the evening are alumni of our Wavelength 450 Ninth Anniversary Festival, and that's The Magic. This Guelph/Toronto crew have ballooned to a sextet, and we're looking forward to hearing how this expanded line-up is going to back up the sexy soul-pop that the suave Gordon brothers do so well.

But that's not all! WL 503 will feature our first-ever burlesque troupe, The Harlettes! Here to tease and tittilate you with tassels and tight outfits, these girls will do a few dance numbers of their own between sets, and then they will join The Magic on stage for a rare live-music striptease.

Doors are at 9, showtime is shortly thereafter, cover is a recession-friendly PWYC, and General Chaos Visuals will be working his magic. Check out some music from the bands on the show listing page.

(Show poster by Derek Ma.)

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Here's a few more Wavelength dates to mark on your calendar:

June 9-15 — Summer Courtyard Series at the Music Gallery feat. Grouper, Pocahaunted, William Basinski, Frog Eyes and many more (tickets now on sale at Rotate This, Soundscapes and TicketWeb)

July 23 — No Shame & Wavelength (ShameWave?) present the Pop-Off! Tour at The Garrison

Aug. 7-8 — The ALL CAPS! Island Festival at Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island