TORONTO -- Early Saturday night, The Breeders' guitarist Kelley Deal summed up what many people might remember about Canadian Music Week.

"Why aren't you people at home? It's a f---ing blizzard!" she said.

The brave (or utterly crazy) hundreds which filled roughly half the Phoenix Concert Theatre forgot about the elements as The Breeders -- only their second show behind the upcoming album Mountain Battles -- played a strong, polished 75-minute set that put an exclamation point on this year's music festival.

Led by singer, guitarist and tuque-sporting Kim Deal, the group opened with Overglazed off the new album. The four-piece (and occasionally five-piece) outfit soon followed it up with No Aloha and the tight, chipper Huffer fuelled by drummer Jose Medeles.

As for the new material, the retro-sounding, creepy We're Gonna Rise and the sullen, sombre Night Of Joy shined but Bang On sagged quite quickly. Later on the wistful, country-ish Here No More, which featured the twin Deal sisters harmonizing, rounded out the main set.

The Breeders made sure the fans left happy even though no covers of The Pixies were played. Instead they nailed The Beatles' Happiness Is a Warm Gun with Kelley Deal raising her fist in triumph. Whether it was the aggressive guitar-soaked Safari, the equally alluring Cannonball or a cover of The Amps' Pacer, the band sounded like they had been on the road for a while despite the occasional "is this how it goes" glances the members gave each other.

Elsewhere over the three-day bar-hopping event, Halifax quartet Dog Day's Thursday slot at the Horseshoe came off with only a few hiccups, notably the keyboard Crystal Thili played that seemed to cut out from time to time while lead singer Seth Smith kept things flowing.

Nonetheless, the band rhymed off minimal alt-rock numbers such as the frantic Zombie, Use Your Powers and Oh Dead Life that brought to mind some combination of Interpol, The Cure and The Smiths. And Thili also managed to deftly multitask, taking some pictures of herself and fans with her digital camera while playing.

Meanwhile, British soul singer and dapper dresser Nate James played an impressive half-hour set Thursday evening at The Revival. Although without an album on this side of the pond, James' steady delivery and great sense of melody came through during Back to You, Set the Tone and Choke, which brought to mind Terrence Trent D'Arby. The fact he managed to pull it off with a lone acoustic guitar player to his right was an added bonus.

Of course the passing of Jeff Healey the previous weekend was definitely not forgotten, especially at his club which hosted three nights of blues, rock and country.

Thursday night's opening act Alex J. Robinson paid tribute to the late guitarist by asking for a minute of silence before starting her country set that would cross over easily into pop.

Robinson, backed by a seven-piece band, came across quite well with radio-friendly numbers such as Me & The Girls, I'm Not Ready For Love and Don't Waste My Time from her debut album Never Say Never, coming out later this month.

Why she needs two backing singers when she's got the necessary pipes though is anybody's guess.

The following evening, despite a scheduling snafu which saw headliner Roman Carter come onstage around midnight, Hamilton blues rock guitarist Steve Strongman embodied a young Gordie Johnson circa early Big Sugar during a sadly abbreviated affair with songs from his new album Honey, including the seedy Hard Headed Lover.

The ensuing Son Roberts Band definitely lacked the same oomph, resulting in some long faces by a few seated in the front. While humorously stating this gig was their big break, it wasn't.

While enjoying themselves onstage, it was as if the band was the basis for the future Christopher Guest "mockumentary" A Mighty Wind (Blues Edition).

Other highlights of CMW, aside from sets by buzz band Hey! Rosetta and Plants And Animals, included Vancouver trio Immaculate Machine's early Thursday slot at the Horseshoe and Toronto female trio Magneta Lane offering up some intense, angular new material the following evening at the same venue.

This despite lead singer Lexi Valentine referring to CMW as "CMJ," an annual music marathon festival which takes place each October in New York City.