Punk in the city: !Attention!, The Decay, Barrier and Orphan Choir at Siesta Nouveaux
Toronto's !Attention! at Siesta Nouveaux Nov. 28, 2009 - photo Marsha Casselman
Punchy riffs, haggard gang vocals, spits in the face, a song about urban sprawl, Goonies screening in the background – We must be at a real pop punk show.
If you happened upon an artist’s co/op just south of the Rabba on Lower Sherbourne Saturday night, you’d have discovered something pretty special, as the first floor space called Siesta Nouveaux hosted Toronto’s !Attention! (also members of Springsteen-inspired Horses), Guelph-Kitchener’s The Decay, and Montreal’s Barrier who brought their heavy pop punk sets to open for the lighter headliners, Orphan Choir visiting from Windsor.
And despite the isolated venue, the slew of young bearded men, and the BYOB situation, the private party has rarely seen police presence (except for one incident) in the three years it’s been hosting punk and metal shows with the help of local hardcore promo vets Mark Pesci and Stuck in the City .
But it’s still fucking loud – and people live here.
Lynne Rafter, who’s called the back stoop her front porch for 8 years, manages Siesta Nouveaux and the upstairs theatre space, all together called Studio BLR.
“It’s kind of an in-house rule known to every unit that on weekdays we stop playing and making noise at 11,” says Rafter, a musician herself.
Weekends, of course, are open, and Saturday was a loud, packed house. Rafter wasn’t fazed.
“I think the people coming to these events are giving it a good reputation.”
This is one of the only scenes in the city you’ll spot the occasional non-chalent straight edger like Erik O’Neill, guitarist-vocalist for the Decay (soon releasing free and digitally on Juicebox.)
“I did so many drugs when I was 16, I’m pretty much over all that… Besides I don’t have time for it,” says the business efficiency manager and freelance music producer by day.
“I also do 95% of the driving because everyone else is drunk all the time.”
So perhaps straight-edgers aren’t the bulk of the this scene, but “It’s not a bar scene,” says Rafter. “I have bands coming over the border just to play here. It’s great because the band can get paid by the door money as opposed to their ability to get people loaded.”
Rafter says the landlord has suggested they get a liquor license, though she insists it not affect her goal to build a cafe to go with the art space, not to mention her daily freedoms.
“Would that mean I can’t have a beer on my porch after 2 a.m?” - Marsha Casselman
