By Vicky Peters

Urban Planner is Torontoist’s daily guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Vic Chesnutt. Photo by Ben McCormick, courtesy of Gary Topp.

MUSIC: Vic Chesnutt has been fighting for his life with fiery music since experiencing a near-fatal drunken car crash in Georgia as a teen, and his career weaves together a string of collaborators thick with some of the most influential musicians on the continent. Jonathan Richman not only carries the same influential weight, but he also wrote the best two-chord song ever (“Roadrunner”)—not to mention his charming attraction to the best song subjects of anyone we know: Picasso, ice cream, secretaries, the astral plane, not owning a cell phone, and so on. There are only a few tickets left for the Jonathan Richman (playing as a two-piece with drummer Tommy Larkins) and Vic Chesnutt double bill tonight—get them while you can. The Great Hall (1087 Queen Street West), 9 p.m., $25 at the door.
THEATRE: EMS worker Morgan Jones Phillips wrote a one-man show, The Emergency Monologues, about his ludicrous emergency experiences. The show is hilarious and won the NOW audience choice award at SummerWorks last year. Phillips is re-staging his hit act tonight to raise money for friend and fellow Toronto EMS worker Kevin Mills. Mills, an eight-year paramedic veteran in Toronto, was left a quadriplegic on a recent family vacation in Cuba when a rogue wave drove him head-first into shallow sand. Centre of Gravity (1300 Gerrard Street East), 8 p.m., $20.
MUSIC: In the interests of re-invention, businesses at Queen and Broadview host a night of free music at twelve different venues in the newly monickered “Riverside District.” The musical net casts a wide reach to catch as many ears as possible, from reggae at the Real Jerk to Persian at the Rouge Concept Gallery or jazz at the Rasputin Vodka Bar. Who says business and music don’t mix? Sounds Like the Riverside, Queen Street East between the Don River and Degrassi Street, 6 p.m.–1 a.m., FREE.
ART: OCAD Professional Gallery hosts the opening reception in the guise of a strawberry social for their new exhibit, “The Path of Most Resistance.” The curators recognize the exhibit as a challenging one, and the gallery is hosting several events during the show to create dialogue between the art and its viewers. The four artists include Canadians Elizabeth McIntosh and Nestor Kruger, American Daniel Raedeke, and Briton Alexis Harding. OCAD Professional Gallery (100 McCaul Street, second floor), 6:30 p.m., FREE.
PRIDE: Tucked within the giant rainbow festival that is Pride 2009 comes the sixth annual Prism Festival (on through June 28). The festival hosts some of the biggest international acts at Pride, starting with Madonnarama tonight at Fly. Washington DC’s DJ Ed Bailey plays all Madonna, with live performances from Donnarama and Madgesty, fashion from Mikey Sin, and more. See the Prism website for the other big events hosted throughout the weekend. Fly Nightclub (8 Gloucester Street), 10 p.m.–4 a.m., $10 before 11 p.m.