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Payday’s Heyday
Fall in Toronto, especially during a month like October, can be a pretty hermetic time of year. It’s tough for some to venture out and see what’s what and who’s happening when the sidewalks are slicked, the streetcars humid and swollen with irritated, expectorating passengers, or the streets caked with soggy garbage blown from some overlooked, overflowing gutter. Hell, for the more easily grossed-out among us, even the effect of the season’s moistness on a few occasionally pungent laneways can be a bit much to bear.
But while it’s common, it’s not universally true. For the rest of us, the T.O. autumn, stripping away the summer’s illusion that maybe, just maybe, winter won’t come this year, can be pretty damn inviting. There’s nothing like the imminent threat of snow drifts and frostbite to put you in a romantic, experience-it-all spirit. And that is probably part of the reason why the launch of Matt Blair’s Payday series, his latest in a long, proud line of endeavours, became such a promising hit on one of October’s most apocalyptically drenched nights.
The groundbreaking Toronto DJ’s signature energy couldn’t have hurt, either.
Payday, an evening of classic retro, pop, hip-hop, and soul, was thought up by Blair after Paul Gagnon, the DJ responsible for Yo! Jamz nights at Augusta House, announced his hiatus. Deciding to fire up a fresh event in Gagnon’s wake, Blair organized the October 23 launch, and, as he describes it, this Friday’s “second launch party.”
“We had a lot of fun on our first night out,” Blair explains, “and we’re really looking forward to doing it right.”
Beginning at 10 p.m., Payday’s return to Augusta House will feature DJs Splattermonkey, Vijay, Dynamite Chris Wright, and Matt Blair himself, with a visual presentation by artist, writer, and cartoonist Jon Blair. The evening brings together the emerging and established, promising an eclectic, adventurous blend of music. Splattermonkey’s dedicated following, a product of both his weekly podcasts and his status as a veteran of Toronto’s scratch scene, joins that of Vijay and Dynamite Chris Wright. While relatively new to the club circuit, Vijay and Wright have spent the last year winning their own audiences through an effortless blend of funk, disco, and soul. With Splattermonkey’s sound added to the mix, Payday’s second night will set the tone for the series’ format: a rotating pool of DJs and special guests cut from the same musical cloth.
“Our plan from the start has been to host a night where all kinds of people, young and old with different tastes, can come together,” Blair says. “Those have always been my favourite kind of nights, and Augusta House has always been a great place to host them. The people who braved the weather to join us in October came ready for a night like that, and we were happy just to try and keep up with them.”
Augusta House is located at 152 Augusta Avenue in the heart of Kensington Market. Payday’s second edition happens this Friday, November 27, at 10 p.m., with no cover before 11 p.m.; $5 after 11 p.m. 19+.