Results tagged “phoenix”

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

ART: This month's exhibit at the Steam Whistle Brewing Gallery is called "It Figures" and celebrates the human form through varied and unique artistic interpretations. The artists featured this month are Michael Tenaglia, Aurora Pagano, Jessica Gorlicky, and Jacqueline Okuhara. There is an opening reception tonight for the exhibit, with the artists in attendance. Steam Whistle Brewing Gallery (255 Bremner Boulevard), 6 p.m., FREE.

Toronto's extensive work on the silver screen reveals that, while we have the chameleonic ability to look like anywhere from New York City to Moscow, the disguise doesn't always hold up to scrutiny. Reel Toronto revels in digging up and displaying the films that attempt to mask, hide, or—in rare cases—proudly display our city.

It's Canadian Music Week and that means there's an unusually large number of hip hop shows going on. KRS-One will be teachin' at The Opera House on Saturday as he continues his Stop the Violence movement. RZA dons his Bobby Digital mask on Sunday at the Phoenix. There's also grimy New York hip-hop (M.O.P. on Friday), French rap (DJ Orgasmic and Cuizinier on Thursday), and a strong showcase of local talent (Friday's Exclaim! event).

Photo by Darryl Scott.

It's snowing again! This gives Torontoist yet another opportunity to bust out a pretty picture of streets clogged with snow, and it gives the rest of Canada the opportunity to go, "Hey, how come those Toronto folks can't deal with a little snow ha ha ha don't they have plows?" Then we say, "No, we don't have enough plows, fuckers, because it turns out everybody else is entirely happy to suck money off us and not give us any of it back." Then they punch us, and we punch back, and it ends with black eyes and everybody drunk at the bar... no, wait, that was that wedding we went to last week! Never mind.

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.

Toronto seems to get its annual dose of legendary outsider filmmaker John Waters around this time.

The Hidden Cameras are back home, and we are all better off for it.

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...

Some musicians are professional wallowers. Others are professional romantics. And still others are professional fun-havers. Both Toronto's Spiral Beach and Brighton's The Go! Team fall into that last category—performers who embrace the sheer joy of performing. But more than that, they are young, talented, and famous, they know they are young, talented, and famous, and they're grateful for being young, talented and famous. Although Beach's Maddy Wilde and the Team's Ninja may strike diva...

Spoon have made only one big misstep in their ten-plus years of recording albums: Gimme Fiction. The 2005 album, a follow-up to 2002's absolutely brilliant Kill the Moonlight, marked a step backward for the band's music and a step forward for its accessibility––an album of decent, friendly, straightforward, catchy, and ultimately forgettable rock songs, an album able to retain the band's old fans while hooking tons of new ones. Gimme Fiction––save for (pictured) lead singer Britt Daniel's fantastic voice––sounded like some band aping Spoon, and not doing all that great of a job at it.

Steve Jordan, founder of the Polaris Prize, discreetly passes a bottle of Smirnoff to an ecstatic post-victory Patrick Watson. Just before he opened his two-song performance at the Phoenix on Monday tonight as part of the 2007 Polaris Prize gala, Patrick Watson welcomed the crowd of musicians, industry folk, and media to "the battle of the bands." Two-odd hours later, and after quick sets from The Besnard Lakes, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Julie Doiron, Miracle...

This Monday, September 24, the winner of the second-annual Polaris Prize will be announced at a gala event at the Phoenix. There will be stars, musical performances, free food and drink, and, unfortunately, you are probably not invited. Given to the best Canadian album of the past year, and awarded solely on artistic merit, the $20,000 prize is getting handed to someone (probably Feist) at a media and invite-only event. (Torontoist was graciously invited, but we're not sure if we'll be there to cover it yet.) This year's shortlist––which we spent a midsummer day covering––is heavy on the rock and light on everything else, with The Arcade Fire, The Besnard Lakes, The Dears, Julie Doiron, Feist, Junior Boys, Miracle Fortress, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Chad VanGaalen, and Patrick Watson all getting nods.

Lovers of live music are in luck this week—there are a great deal of quality shows in the next seven days. Musicologist's number one choice this week is The Cinematic Orchestra (Sunday at the Phoenix), since we were utterly enchanted by their free outdoor show at Harbourfront earlier this summer. Head over to their MySpace and give the songs a listen. Just try to resist being won over.

Musicologist is Torontoist's weekly concert listings. Check back in every Monday for more.

While the rest of the city ferried their way to Toronto Island for this weekend's Virgin Festival (Torontoist will have more on that later!), art-rock darlings Animal Collective stopped by at the Phoenix (early!) last night on their world tour for their latest album, Strawberry Jam.

Everyone loves the thrill of discovering a hot new band, but there's something equally exciting about watching a bunch of grizzled, middle-aged rock 'n' roll veterans show the kids that they can still hold it down.

Cat Power hit the stage at the Phoenix last night for her third Toronto show in less than a year. It was Torontoist’s first time seeing her live and after having waited a few years for the privilege, and hearing wonderful things about her shows of late, we were slightly let down.

Tut tut tut. We’re all very disappointed in you, John Krasinski, for your decision to star in License to Wed. Sure, you’ve been working so hard to build up your hipster cred—interviewing the Shins, playing on stage with Ben Gibbard, but I’m afraid we might have to revoke your hipster privileges.

Hey, so what are you up to tomorrow night? Wanna go to a concert for free? Of course you do. Texas mega-band The Polyphonic Spree are in town at the Phoenix with their 561 matching-robed band members (okay, so really about 23), in support of their third album, The Fragile Army. And we want you to be there!

For a band with an entire album named for Mississauga, The Hidden Cameras and Toronto sure haven't seen much of each other of late. Friday night at the Phoenix was the band's first full-length show within the GTA's walls in almost a year, the too-long hiatus forced by (pictured) lead man Joel Gibb's Berlin exile; as he goeth, so goeth the band.

Music blogs love to hate Silversun Pickups, brushing them off as a low rent Smashing Pumpkins. Besides the sound (the Pickups sound uncannily like the Pumpkins circa their criminally-underrated b-side collection Pisces Iscariot), there are the matching initials, the sweet-voiced female bass players and the lanky frontmen with similarly metallic-sounding voices. But when they rolled into the Phoenix on Wednesday night for a sold-out show, they proved that anyone dismissing them as such is missing out in a huge way.

Another ticket giveaway! This time it's to check out Toronto's very own Uncut at Sneaky Dee's tomorrow night, courtesy of The Musebox. Also on the bill for the evening are Debaser, Fjord Rowboat and Fire Hydrant, so it's going to be a busy night! We have a pair of tickets to put into someone's hands, and all you have to do to win is be the third person to email carrie@torontoist.com with your full name. Pretty simple stuff.

Comedians Dawn Whitwell and Elvira Kurt wanted to start a comedy movement. So they created Girls School, an all-woman comedy tour featuring some of Canada's most hilarious performers. The reason they chose the name and the all-lady lineup relates to research showing that students in all-girl schools perform better academically than those in co-ed schools. It follows that female comics would feel freer on stage with some sisters.

New Jersey singer songwriter Pete Yorn is stopping by Toronto on Sunday evening for a show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre, along with opener Moses Mayfield, for a night of making the girls swoon over his pretty face and golden voice. He's touring in support of his latest album Nightcrawler, the final installment of his 'day cycle' trilogy -- Musicforthemorningafter and Day I Forgot being the first two, respectively.

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to...

You wouldn't expect to hear the words "AC/DC's Back in Black" and "recital" in the same breath, but that's exactly what goes on each month at the Phoenix's Classic Albums Live concerts.

If you're a fan of Guster, the very excellent, very melodic, and, as this picture aptly demonstrates, somewhat quirky band from Boston, you'd know that they pretty much never ever play a concert in Canada.

It seems pretty appropriate that we just had Groundhog Day, given that we're feeling a little bit like Bill Murray looking at the concert listings this week. Not only is there very little going on, but most of the bands who are playing seem to be here every week (Apostle of Hustle, The Tragically Hip, Hostage Life, Friendly Rich). Thus, we have nothing left to say about them! So if you've already seen these shows, it is advised that you take this time to rest up because the end of February and month of March are going to be insane for loads of high quality live music.