Evil Dead: The Musical has returned to Toronto. Again. It was actually all the way back in 2003 that it made its debut in the Tranzac Club. Back then, it was known as Evil Dead 1 & 2: The Musical, on account of the fact that it took the plot of both of the first two movies in the cult schlock-horror franchise. It was a quirky concept and the budget little-show-that-could found itself an......

The final lineup for the benefit concert for the O'Keefe family has been announced. Organized by Andrew Copland—John O'Keefe's close friend and the Duke of Gloucester's head bartender—the concert aims both to honour John O'Keefe, who was killed walking home from the bar a month and a half ago, and to raise money for an education fund for John's son, Iain. This Sunday, March 2, the Mod Club will host a mix of Toronto......

Last week’s fire on Queen West didn’t only destroy some of the neighbourhood’s best stores; it also put the dozens of people who lived in apartments above the shops out of a home. Some of these folks didn’t have insurance and lost most of their possessions. Many of the artists who lived in the buildings lost their work, and thus their source of income. It’s great to see a neighbourhood—and Toronto as a whole—come......

Snappy Answers runs every Saturday afternoon. Send your questions, be they tough or trivial, to snappyanswers@torontoist.com. At work the other day a co-worker stated he was off to Club Wicked. Can you tell me how they get away with "sex" in that club? I understand he stated it was because it is registered as a "private club" but would like to know more. I'm sure one of your "roving reporters" would love to take this......

It's been a little over a month since John O'Keefe was killed outside the Brass Rail, walking to the subway from the Duke of Gloucester. While the makeshift memorial outside the Rail is gone now, the man it was for is far from forgotten––by friends, family, or city. Many of the stories about O'Keefe have told of a dedicated, loving father; indeed, the reason why he left the Duke of Gloucester early––a friend wanted him......

It’s a strange, perhaps undesirable, thing to admit to, but Torontoist spends a lot of time thinking about R. Kelly. Generally it comes down to one core question that we just can’t answer (nor do we think we ever will): Is R. Kelly a genius or a lunatic? Here is a man who has produced some of the most pitch-perfect songs in the sickeningly syrupy ballad category (including possibly the pinnacle, Michael Jackson’s "You are......

The last time Torontoist made mention of local punks The Little Millionaires, it was a few days after a rousing night of rocking and rolling at Sneaky Dee's. This time out, however, it seemed like a good idea to give some advance warning of the band's next Toronto show. So get your black t-shirts ready! This Thursday, February 7, the band will be opening for recent Juno nominees The Saint Alvia Cartel (another Torontoist......

Feeling S.A.D.? Toronto's Christmas spirit wore off weeks ago and waiting outside for the streetcar has become more face-numbing than going to the dentist. Thankfully, the City of Toronto is stepping in to cure us of our winter blahs by organizing the 5th annual WinterCity Festival, which runs from January 25 to February 7 in Nathan Phillips Square. While the cool kids have probably already marked the free Saturday night concerts by Tokyo Police......

For some magically ridiculous reason, CBC Radio 3's weekly countdown, the R3-30, is broadcasting from a skating rink this week in a move that's heavily dividing the hipster set after the announcement of another free—and markedly less active—event that same night: Tokyo Police Club at Nathan Phillips Square. But host Craig Norris offers this pitch in their favour: "If you've ever listened to The R3-30 in the comfort of your warm, cozy home and......

Kincardine-born, Mississauga-bred, Toronto-based, and Berlin-bound, Joel Gibb is the musical and managerial head of The Hidden Cameras, the fantastic and always well-populated music collective whose members have included Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy), Reg Vermue (Gentlemen Reg), Laura Barrett, Maggie MacDonald (Republic of Safety), Dave Meslin (founder of the Toronto Public Space Committee), Bob Wiseman, Steve Kado (founder of Blocks Recording Club, member of Barcelona Pavilion and Ninja High School), Ohad Benchetrit (Do Make Say......

Photo from Deko-ze. The holidays are normally a time for rest but nobody told that to Deko-ze. The man dubbed Canada's hardest working DJ has a doozy of a week. On top of the Christmas Bash he is throwing at Footwork on Friday, Deko-ze will be spinning a six hour extended set at CZ on Sunday for Mass and is a part of CZ's Christmas Come Get Your Fcukin Beats party. He's also at......

What's the most fun you can have in the days following a big snowstorm? Unlike many winter sports, snowshoeing is relatively inexpensive and requires little in the way of specialized equipment. Other than the snowshoes themselves—a decent pair costs less than a good pair of skates—you need only some warm layers of clothing, a sense of adventure, and as much time as your legs can stand. It really couldn't be any easier to learn,......

Once upon a time, we would hear the word "dodgeball" and be swept back to a simpler time, when colours were flourescent, New Kids on the Block were popular and dodgeball was little more than an excuse to work up an adolescent sweat. It certainly wasn't a sport. Redass was a sport; dodgeball was really just a way of scoring easy marks in gym class. Then in 2004, the Ben Stiller movie Dodgeball came out,......

Photo by Jeremy Farmer from Flickr. It’s an end of an era as the popular indie night Easy Tiger shuts it down on Friday after a 14 month-run. A hipster haven, Easy Tiger is responsible for introducing hundreds of people to the booze can downstairs of College Street Diner that is Tiger Bar. Midland’s finest, Born Ruffians (pictured), will take the stage and the Easy Tiger DJs will spin the tunes. Expect plenty of......

Photos courtesy of Light in the Attic Records The landscape of soul music, more than any other genre, has been littered with talented artists with unfulfilled careers spent in obscurity, grinding out appearances in dingy bars in the search for the elusive radio hit. Such was the fate of Jay Douglas, The Mighty Pope and many other pioneers of Toronto’s soul and reggae scene in the 1960s and 1970s. These artists—who are reuniting for......

In celebration of 60 years and counting for the local, legendary Horseshoe Tavern, Joel Plaskett Emergency will be performing six consecutive shows this week beginning Monday, each day playing in chronological order an album in their discography of full-lengths. After seeing its days as a blacksmith shop, a strip club, and of course the host of some of the most legendary first time Toronto performances including Willie Nelson, The Talking Heads, and Neutral Milk Hotel,......

If you are saddened by your procrastination that cost you Richard Hawley and Jose Gonzalez tickets this week, you can direct your attention to the eclectic choice of shows as a mild substitute. It does, however, appear as if local label Arts and Crafts have successfully cornered the market on this week's moderately sized shows (read: tickets that cost no more than $35). Tuesday you can catch Jason Collett with a surprise guest at the......

The next time you're walking along the wooded trails near the marsh in E.T. Seton Park, you may find a weathered sign overlooking a wet meadow. Still barely legible, it reads: Trees in this area were planted by the Outing Club of East York in honour of Charles Sauriol who was instrumental in the preservation of this valley August 1980 The Outing Club of East York's Diane Vieira told us that in its early......

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, the fourth volume in the popular comic book series by Brian Lee O'Malley, hits stores across the city today. We feel confident in saying that there has never been a person in the history of time who hasn't liked this series. The fact that Scott Pilgrim is set entirely in Toronto only makes it more appealing: live vicariously through the characters as they eat dynamite rolls at New Generation......

Photo of Wintersleep by Emerging Design & Photography. Musicologist is a tad behind this week, so it's too late to list tonight's shows. Luckily, there's not much of anything happening music-wise tonight, except for Stevie Wonder at the ACC, and we suspect that if you didn't have tickets before today, you'd be out of luck. This week, our picks are Wintersleep at the Mod Club on Friday and the Horseshoe's awesome lineup of ladies......

NOW's yearly Best of Toronto issue is out, and amidst a slew of other winners (Cherry DiNovo is the Best MPP! CiRCA sweeps "Best Dance Club" and "Best club for an impromptu orgy"!), the alt weekly has named Spacing Toronto as the city's best blog. We're a bit jealous––we were Best Blog in 2005, and we'd definitely be up for winning again––but Spacing has been pretty awesome, consistently, since its formation. If anything, the......

Knitting: it's not just for grandmas anymore, but you already knew that. It's not just for crafty hipsteristas either. A group of teachers at Highland Heights Junior Public School have started a Knitting Club to help keep inner city kids out of trouble. Many of the students come from public housing, so the school relies heavily on fundraising for a extracurricular activities. When the idea of the Knitting Club was first conceived, the teachers......

Last night, entertainment upstart CiRCA faced one of its toughest challenges yet: how can a club, especially one of its size, impress or even satisfy a massive crowd of rockers in Toronto? Well, Torontoist reader skeptical, it is our pleasure to report to you that it passed with flying colours. With the help of Paris-based electrorockersuperstars Justice, A.D/D. sold out not just one venue in Toronto, but two. Last night's show was originally scheduled for......

After intense public backlash over a boneheaded plan to expropriate the storied Matador Club and obliterate it into a paved slab, the Toronto Parking Authority has backed down. Thanks in large part to the Save The Matador movement, today's afternoon TPA meeting experienced some expropriation of its own when about forty supporters descended upon Meeting Room B to vociferously protest the the Council-sanctioned demolition. The matter will return to City Council to be officially......

There are trendsetters, trend followers, and those who plant their feet and shout at trends until they go away. Over the years, with their solid sound and party-till-you-puke attitude, Toronto band The Pariahs have survived countless club scenes by screaming louder and longer than the competition. On October 18 and 19, the band will celebrate 20 years of ripping through the eardrums of clubgoers with two back-to-back shows at the Bovine Sex Club. Also......

Photo of Architecture in Helsinki by Zach Klein. There are lots of great shows in Toronto this week—including a bunch of free ones. On Tuesday, Musicologist recommends checking out Sarah Melody at the Mod Club (where Snow of "Informer" fame will be making an on-stage appearance—YES!) and then running to the Horseshoe to see Wintersleep and A Northern Chorus. Spiral Beach, who also put on a great live show, have a free concert on......

Photos by mishkaoutofcontrol from the Torontoist Flickr Pool. Except to its frequent clientele, Toronto's legendary Matador Club is best known as the setting to Leonard Cohen's "Closing Time," which laments a place that "got wrecked by the winds of change." The Matador's been around since 1914. Built as a dance hall for WWI soldiers, it then became home to a bowling alley, and finally ended up as a quirky, late-night hangout with strong country......

This week Musicologist will be checking out Regina Spektor at the Kool Haus, thanks to the insistence of a friend who pretty much exclusively listens to hip hop. The fact the he loves Spektor means she's gotta be good. It's sold out, but Musicologist never shies away from listing sold out shows—we all know there's always an (expensive) last-ditch way to get in if you're desperate. (Why does that sound dirty? We mean scalpers,......

William the Conquerer may have been a great tactician and a bit of a bastard, but we're not quite sure if he was a talented musician. William the Conquerer (the band), however, is a talented musician. Five of them, actually. If you haven't heard their stuff, you should. They're a a buzzing mix of indie-rock and classical training, a blending of instruments and a quasi-seductive husky voice that makes you want to get up......

The Revue cinema is due to reopen its doors on October 4th, and if you’ve been waiting for the chance to buy tickets for the opening night, they’re now on sale at She Said Boom (393 Roncesvalles Avenue) at $20 for the film and the after-party or $10 for just the party at the Lithuanian Hall (1573 Bloor Street West). The opening night film is secret, but it was selected by an online poll,......