Results tagged “clubs”

Shortly after a series of shoot-outs and drug busts in Clubland last year, Councillor Adam Vaughan made a stout-hearted attempt to allay citizens’ fears: "There's a light at the end of the tunnel. And it's not a strobe light coming from the next club, but a better tomorrow."

              

On any given night, a few thousand photos are snapped inside one of Toronto's clubs. Packs of friends bring their own digital cameras. Professional or semi-professional photographers move from venue to venue, party to party. And other clubs employ their own staff photographers to shoot the action and make their place and its patrons look beautiful. But that massive amount of documentation is also inherently limited: the clubs are rarely captured dormant or off-guard, never shown absent of people or activity. So for In Praise of Shadows, Ryerson photography student Eugen Sakhnenko fought and obtained permission from three different clubs in different areas of the city—Embassy Night Club (117 Peter Street), Loki Lounge (577 King Street West), and Baby Huey (70 Ossington Avenue)—and shot them vacant of almost everything save for light to, as he told Torontoist, "[shine] the light into the shadows, both physically and metaphorically, to show what these spaces really are."

Photo of Mayor David Miller by Sarah Marantz/Daily Dose.

While there can be no doubt that Toronto loves metal in all its deliciously absurd incarnations, the genre has definitely had its share of ups and downs. In the 1980s through the very beginning of the '90s, metal rode right alongside rock, fledgling commercial rap, and pop music, and was a viable arena (get it?) for any dedicated musician. But the nineties took flight, friends, and metal's baggage was left on the ground as the Rock & Roll Airbus took off into outer space, leaving oftentimes more dynamic fare to rot on the Tarmac®.

Renda Abdo knew that she'd have some explaining to do about calling her boutique nightclub, located in the north end of the Village, "Straight." The name was ambiguous. Was Straight exclusive to straights? (Imagine if "Gay" opened in the middle of club district.) Or did it mock them? Straight was a response, Abdo explains, to the attitude that the Village had become irrelevant, a view laid out in a front page Star article with a bold headline: "Goodbye Gaytown?"

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Last time we checked on 178 Bathurst Street, it was just beginning to relive its Bassmint-era techno days with Derrick May at Crosstown, now closed. Since then, things underneath the Queen Street West and Bathurst Street Pizza Pizza have come full circle. Until 1999, Christian "DJ Unabomber" Poulson operated Bassmint, a famous party spot and afterhours that still conjures memories of sleepless nights for...

The National Post is reporting today that Coyote Ugly––the raunchy, almost-a-strip-club-bar that inspired a Jerry Bruckheimer movie that everyone, including Piper Perabo, forgot about five years ago––will open up its first Canadian "saloon" next year at 220 Adelaide Street West. Coyote Ugly is upfront about its intentions: on their website, the bar explains the "business plan" of its first owner, Lil' Lovell, was "beautiful girls + booze = money." The organization's slogan is "Don't Just...

There used to be a sign above a video arcade that proclaimed "Yonge Street is Fun Street." Back in the 1960s and 1970s, much of that fun was to be had at the many bars and clubs that lined the street south of Gerrard––Le Coq D'Or, Steele's Tavern, Friar's Tavern, Zanzibar Tavern and so on. Depending on the venue, you could listen to music, dance the night away or catch a striptease. Today's advertiser...

As the early days of autumn bring cooler temperatures and colourful displays of nature, many city folk long to get onto some of the GTA's best hiking trails. If you think that a solitary drive out to the Bruce Trail is your only option, think again.

If there is one thing Toronto is world-class in and world-renowned for, it is dance music. Toronto sees some of the world's most famous international music acts play its bars and clubs every weekend, and according to a recent article in Toronto Life, they bring with them at least $125 million in economic activity. Well, music enthusiasts, bartenders, club district employees, club owners, event promoters, and young people beware: a nightlife crackdown is coming to Toronto and the fight to save your scene (or your livelihood) will not be easy.

Yesterday the AGO revealed its latest summer exhibition, Treasures of the Tsimshian from the Dundas Collection—a first for the public eye in more than a century.

Hot on the heels of our review of the National Post's new Posted Toronto blog, they've reported that Toronto icon and terrifier-of-tourists Zanta, né David Zancai, is leaving.

Yesterday, the Lakeview Generating Station in Port Credit was demolished as crowds looked on. Toronto usually gets weepy over the destruction of buildings, but the station was a pretty ugly example of Soviet-era industrial architecture and it was powered by coal. Are you going to miss it?

It's almost time to say goodbye to North By Northeast for yet another year. Two longs nights have past, leaving tonight as the last chance to get out an enjoy some of the best new music from around the world. Seeing as it is Saturday, expect a lot of the shows to be really busy so going earlier is always better than later. All the cool kids are doing it!

ROFL for real—Sunday May 6 is World Laughter Day 2007. Founded in 1998 by Dr. Madan Kataria, this event is now celebrated in over 50 countries, and there are more than 5000 laughter clubs around the globe. Everyone has heard the saying “laughter is the best medicine”—it may well be true. Laughter is an effective way to reduce stress, which is implicated in many serious illnesses such as heart disease, depression, and cancer. It encourages deep breathing which increases oxygen in the blood for enhanced stamina and mental focus. Laughter gives you a boost in immunity, releases endorphins, and gives you an overall sense of well-being and positivity.

When people first hear the words "Professional Pillow Fight League," they often conjure images of jello-wrestling and hair pulling. However, if you've ever been to a Pillow Fight League event, you know that the fights are real, they're violent, and they're bloody entertaining.

British fashion magazines have been talking about "new rave" (or nu-rave) since early last year in outlandish glossies like Super Super and Pop. The genre's name is a little misleading, however, as it shares only small parts of the "old rave" aesthetic and none of the beats, which is why the movement has been generally confined to magazines about clothes, not about music. Related to dance-punk and no wave, new rave scenesters don day-glo, glitter paint, glowsticks and visors, among other old rave accessories, but are noticeably lacking in the trouser width department.

Each week, Torontoist chooses the most interesting cases from the Toronto Police Service crime blotter. All charges are alleged until proven under law.

Toronto is one of the most important centres of African music outside of Africa itself, according to cultural heritage organization Music Africa. Besides pointing out that Toronto has more African music on the radio than any other North American city and hosts the largest annual music festival of its kind (Afrofest), the site also has these flattering words to say:

Probably the most remarkable development over these last few years is how groups have combined musicians and styles from across Africa in a way that would not even be possible in Africa itself. Toronto has developed a sound of its own, one that includes and combines all the unique talents available. This represents what is the City's greatest strength - the ability to see our differences, not as barriers, but as great opportunities to share and grow in a way that enriches everyone.

For decades, Toronto music fans had access to several great venues where they could go on almost any night to listen to live jazz. The Rex may still be hopping, but the recent closures of Montreal Bistro and Top O’ The Senator left options limited and jazz fans heartbroken.

Sunday. Usually, a quiet, contemplative day in the Blogosphere. But not here in the Ist-a-Verse. Nonono! Just look below and see all of the wild and crazy stuff our staffs are up to.

Photo by avp17 from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

This council is markedly more powerful than any that have sat before it, and citizens should embrace this as an opportunity to redress a number of grievances that have long been insurmountable because of conflicts with other orders of government. Now that the City of Toronto has a charter, we can finally rewrite our rather prudish history with laws more suited to us metropolitan types. By no means a complete list, these are things that our new powers should change especially:

In Rome, at least 1 person has died, and 10 more have been seriously injured in a subway collision involving two trains. It has been over 10 years since the Russel Hill incident here in Toronto.

The City is receving about $980 million dollars from Toronto Hydro. There was some fierce debate about how the money will be used but in the end the City will earmark the money for waterfront redevelopment and the York U subway. Sadly fancy ketchups or green dresses were nowhere on council's radar. Pictured here are the very happy Toronto Hydro mascots.

First it was illegal guns, then it was Guardian Angels, are deposed club kings the next thing to cross the border into Canada? We got tipped off by Jen Chung of Gothamist that Peter Gatien, infamous NYC club king, is hard at work getting his new club ready for Toronto. Our city became his adopted home after he was hounded out of NYC. New York magazine has a massive article on the man. Here's a few things we managed to tease out of it.

Three divisions of Toronto Police will be trying out tasers in the coming year the Sun reports. We've written about tasers before and how other jurisdictions have had problems with them. We hope that Toronto Police approach this with caution and aren't trigger happy with their new toys.

Toronto doctor Gino Bucchino will be representing Italian ex-pats in the Italian parliament after winning a tight election. He'll be representing all of North America.

For those interested in 'it'-specific events, this Tall Poppy is for you. The Boat, the venerable 'It' club in Kensington Market, is the site of an increasingly popular monthly dance party called Zoi Zoi, the venerable 'It' DJ night in Toronto. If that wasn't enough 'It's, resident DJ Mimi plays what has become the 'It' music of the day - French language pop. We're using the 'It' phrase so much because we've never actually been able to get in to the packed Zoi Zoi nights, and thus knew sh-'It' about them. Luckily the redoubtable DJ Mimi was nice enough to help us with the translation.