2022 starts off on a dark note, with the COVID-19 Omicron variant wiping away much of the previous year’s vaccine euphoria. Wavelength pivots once again, cancelling a planned in-person edition of the Winter Festival, and instead organizing an online speaker series in barely six weeks’ time. Screen fatigue means there is little appetite for more virtual shows, so the Wavelength Winter Festival: Speaker Series (March 2-April 6, WL 824-828) is a weekly slate of online talks and discussions on the topic of “community care.” The series includes a keynote by Indigenous folk music pioneer Buffy Saint-Marie, an experimental film entitled “Who Cares?” by Sook-Yin Lee and Dylan Gamble (Hot Garbage), and a moving talk by Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Jeremy Dutcher moderated by CBC Radio’s Errol Nazareth.
As Omicron crests and crashes, Ontario reopens in March and the mad rush back to venues at full capacities begins in the wider music world. Wavelength takes a more cautious approach, making our second return to in-person events in May, and continuing to request masking.
In August, Wavelength relaunches its summer event under a new name: the Wavelength Summer Thing! Rescheduling much of the original ’22 Winter Festival lineup, the “more than a show, not quite a festival” weekend (WL 837-838, Aug. 26-27) takes place over two nights and two floors at the Lithuanian House in west-end Toronto, and features guest curation from the last two years’ Polaris Music Prize winners. Industrial horrorcore artist Backxwash puts together a lineup of all-Black 2SLGBTQ+ artists including NYC’s Dreamcrusher and Toronto pianist Morgan-Paige, while Wavelength veteran (and newly minted memoirist) Cadence Weapon invites electronic neo-classicalist Ouri, and R&B spark-plugs James Baley and Magi Merlin, among others. Montreal psych-rock collective Mothland, meanwhile, hosts a stage with Yoo Doo Right, Absolutely Free, and more. It all makes for an immersive weekend of creativity and discovery — and engaged audiences are thrilled to experience Wavelength in-person again.
Memorable shows:
- Indigenous indie-rockers Ombiigizi celebrate their album release amidst the gleeful chaos of Do West Fest (WL 831, June 3 @ the Garrison)
- The two-years-delayed book “relaunch” party for Jonny Dovercourt’s Any Night of the Week with sets by GUH and Psychic Weapons (WL 833, June 22 @ Horseshoe Tavern)
- Polish pianist/composer Hania Rani plays for a sold-out crowd (WL 835, July 7 @ St. Anne’s Parish Hall)
- Wavelength curates acts on the main stage at amazing new west-end street fest, the Geary Art Crawl, produced by our friends at Uma Nota Culture —performers include Icelandic visitors BSÍ and Montreal indie-folkster Ada Lea (WL 840, Sept. 24-25 @ Geary Avenue)
- Gothic drone-rockers Bonnie Trash’s album release and Halloween party (WL 843, Oct. 28 @ Dovercourt House)
- Anishinaabe musician/composer Daniel Monkman’s (Zoon, Ombiigizi) year-long guest-curation engagement launches with a sold-out show by Charles Spearin (Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene) leading a band of local all-stars (WL 844, Nov. 20 @ 918 Bathurst)