Gracing The Stage

There’s been quite a bit of press for The Drake Hotel’s 5 year anniversary over the past few weeks; that is, the anniversary of its make-over and relaunch by entrepreneur Jeff Stober. In the past five years, the Drake has become many things to many people, and the various factions that have attempted to make the Drake their own have often bumped against each other.

Members of the dance rock outfit OPOPO play the Drake Hotel Underground during the year end "What's in the Box?" series, Dec. 28th, '08. OPOPO have shared a bill with Gravity Wave at the Steamwhistle Unsigned Series, and, like Great Bloomers, have played multiple times on promoter Lauren Schreiber's No Shame music series.

It’s been THE destination spot for out of towners and partiers flocking downtown from the Golden Horseshoe almost since the first Toronto International Film Festival parties were held there, and the crowd that frequents the upstairs bars and lounges doesn’t always see eye to eye with the local taste makers and artists of Parkdale and Queen St. W, who gravitate down to the basement venue; frankly, few of the 905 crowd even seem to realize or care that there’s a sub-culture that sees the Drake as anything other than an adult playground and meet and greet spot.

To its credit, the Drake has from the start attempted to forge connections with the various arts scenes, recognizing that if (or when) the fickle party crowd moves on to another hot spot, it’ll be the avant garde programming, and the up and coming future stars it attracts, that will bring in new clientele; the breaking-out bands, filmmakers and visual artists on the rise, comedians and literary movements, etc.

Of course, some of these have fared better in their association with the Drake then others; of late, it seems that the Drake has focused its energies on promoting cutting edge electronic and hip-hop acts in the Underground, like Skratch Bastid, who’s developed a loyal following for a monthly residency that’s stretched out over two years. But you can still see some great indie rock down there on occasion, weekly at the PWYC Elvis Monday series, for instance, or, say, with tonight’s 9pm onwards triple bill of Gravity Wave (a late replacement for Sports the Band), Boys who Say No, and Great Bloomers, which is being put on FREE of charge by the friendly folks at the Drake.

(Info about tonight’s three acts, including some choice mp3s, a video, and info on how to be in Gravity Wave’s NEXT video, after the fold.) Read more…

(Photographer Skye Regan, who’s been doing a terrific job documenting Impromptu Splendor through her camera lens, has uploaded a treasure trove of pictures of the GTS launch show’s performers to her Flicker account. You can view Skye’s photos of the launch party shows, and more, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skyesthelimit/ . Saturday night was also captured on camera by Albert Lee, who will hopefully have his pictures available just as soon as he gets his website up and running. Enjoy! – Steve)

What a weekend it was. 2 nights, 2 venues, 24 acts (including hosts Iron Cobra and The Flirts), more than 8 hours of entertainment, minus two 20 minute intermissions, and a lot of very impressed audience members, many of whom left talking excitedly about acts they’d not known before these shows.

Julie Tepperman played anxious bride Rachel in Convergence's Theatre's side-splitting excerpt from their play "Yichud/Seclusion", Friday night at Bread and Circus (this and all subsequent photos in this post are by Skye Regan).

Both nights had two things in common:

- it seemed like every third person in the doors of the venues exclaimed “this place is great! Why haven’t I been here before?” So, between that and the great advance press the shows got, my tertiary goal of promoting the venues certainly seems to have been accomplished;

- The shows couldn’t have gone any better on stage, save for going a little long both nights (the shows both started around 9:20pm and wrapped up around 1:30am), and for an occasionally hair-raising mic at Night 1.

Maylee judges a "fierce" competition of pose-offs during the Sweatshop Hop, Saturday at Comedy Bar.

Night One at Bread and Circus had a respectable audience turnout, and a great media and VIP turnout; in the audience were 3 staff writers from Torontoist, 2 from Blog T.O., reps from Plank Magazine, the Toronto Music Blog Collective, and Stillepost, and at least three music promoters. I was a bit of a stress case, worrying about off-stage issues, but it all worked out, off stage and on, chiefly due to the efforts of my volunteer coordinator Deborah Robinson and her crew behind the scenes, and on stage courtesy of stage technician Gordon Peck and his right hand man Craig Pickthorne (asking Deb and Gord for help with the shows was by far the smartest thing I did, logistically).

If Friday was a little touch and go at times (though that never showed on stage), Saturday’s Night Two at Comedy Bar went as smooth as silk. There’d been considerably more advance tickets sold for Saturday’s show, and the crowd turned up despite a pretty intense snowstorm. I was relaxed enough to get up there in my shirt and tie and do some ridiculously fun aerobics moves with headliners The Sweatshop Hop, and there were still enough people at Comedy Bar after 1am that the afterparty with The Bob Kerr Singers had an appreciative audience ( birthday boy Bob’s guests were Hawkmail, Adam Christie, Megan Fraser, and Levi Macdougall, who joined Maylee Todd and Ryan V. Hays as one of the elite few who performed both nights).

Below is a full roll call of the performers, in order of appearance (I encourage you to visit their online homes), and a few more choice photos of the night, all courtesy of crack snapshooter Skye Regan. Skye’s pics, and Albert Lee‘s from Night 2, will be up online in a gallery format of some form or another very soon (I’ll update this post with the links when they’re posted) . Read more…

Edit: Update 259 is still to come; these launch shows took a LOT out of me, though I couldn’t be happier with what happened on-stage, both nights (a more detailed description, and an incredible array of photos of the events, will be posted very soon). Hopefully, the update will be up by Sunday evening, but if not, this Sunday, you should consider attending the closing of the Rhubarb Festival, the Rural Alberta Advantage headlining Wavelength, or the Bruce Penisula CD release. – Steve

So, I haven’t exactly been keeping a strict schedule of daily posts this past week. The truth is, I’ve still been “internet-ing” plenty – but mostly for other people; answering interview questions, sending on hi-res photos, etc., etc.

Melissa D'Agostino and her character Lupe (who's on the bill for Saturday's Comedy Bar show) were interviewed in Torontoist this week.

And it sure has paid off; Gracing the Stage (and this weekend’s launch parties) has been extensively profiled by Torontoist’s theatre writer, Johnnie Walker, and Historyjen, a blogger affiliated with the Toronto Music Blog Collective, over the past two days.

When two of the city’s most authoritative bloggers, representing both the theatre community and the music community (Jen is, to my knowledge, the only music blogger ever given her own profile on Blog T.O.), are willing to devote so much text to these launch shows, you gotta figure they’re truly going to be something special.

Johnnie’s article, focusing on Convergence Theatre’s spearheading of the movement to amend the CAEA Agreement for Indie Theatre, and Melissa D’Agostino, who was named a “Hero of 2008″ by Torontoist, can be found here:

http://torontoist.com/2009/02/drama_club_inequity.php

Friday’s (and Saturday’s, really) show is the top pick on Torontoist’s Urban Planner, too!

http://torontoist.com/2009/02/urban_planner_february_20_2009.php

Jen’s post, with information about ALL the music acts performing this weekend, videos of The Williamson Playboys and The Sweatshop Hop, and MP3s from Entire Cities, Gravity Wave, Peter Katz, and Jehan Khoorshed, can be found here:

http://torontomusicblogcollective.blogspot.com/2009/02/gracing-stage.html

Or here…

http://historyjen.blogspot.com/2009/02/gracing-stage.html

The audience at Woodhands' Over the Top 2008 showcase. In this photo are Gracing the Stage editor Steve Fisher, local man about town Chris De Castro, comedian Marjorie Malpass, music blogger Jennifer Polk, and photographer and Sweatshop Hop performer Corbin Smith (Corbin is unfortunately on the bench for this Saturday's performance at Comedy Bar, due to a foot injury). Photo by Garry Tsaconas.

I’ll be editing this post with more links to articles about Gracing the Stage and this weekend’s shows as they turn up online (at least two other publications have something in the works). And tomorrow’s update is still scheduled to go out on time, before I head off to Bread and Circus to prep for the evening’s extravaganza!

(I’m going to crash SO hard on Sunday…)

It is with great pride and pleasure that I announce a weekend of top notch music, comedy, and theatre, to officially launch this website. Yes, we’ve been posting daily (or just about) since January 4th, but on February 20th and 21st, gracingthestage.ca will be announcing its presence in the real world in a BIG way, with two nights showcasing some of Toronto’s best music, comedy, and theatre artists, at two of the newest and most exciting performance spaces in the city.

JUST ANNOUNCED: two  new acts have been added to the bills, one per night! Friday, the music line-up will be bolstered by the addition of Tonka and Puma, AKA April and Dan from Hooded Fang! Saturday, the evening will continue well past midnight with performances from The Bob Kerr Singers, led by stand-up extraordinaire Bob Kerr. Bob, who will be celebrating his birthday that night, is well under way to meeting a New Years resolution to perform more than 100 stand up shows in 2009; the Bob Kerr Singers are, well, whoever BOB invites to share the stage with him!

Maylee Todd leads members of Toronto's indie rock community in a late night, drunken aerobicise routine at the second ever Sweatshop Hop. In this picture are members of Entire Cities, Gravity Wave, Woodhands, Henri Faberge & The Adorables, the Bicycles, sketch troupe Bull Hooey, and more, including yours truly (photo by Joseph Fuda).

Here are the straight facts:

gracingthestage.ca Launch Party Night 1, w/ Entire Cities, The Williamson Playboys, Gravity Wave, Levi MacDougall, Maylee Todd, 10,000 to Flight, Convergence Theatre, Tonka and Puma, and Carnegie Hall, with hosts Iron Cobra, Friday Feb. 20th @ Bread & Circus (299 Augusta Ave), 8pm doors, 9pm showtime.

AND

gracingthestage.ca Launch Party Night 2, w/ Peter Katz, The Remainders, Maylee & Slippers’ Sweatshop Hop, Pat Thornton, Melissa D’Agostino, Makesi Arthur, Jehan Khoorshed, The Bob Kerr Singers, and Kathleen Phillips, with hosts The Flirts, Saturday Feb. 21st @ Comedy Bar (945 Bloor St. W.), 8pm doors, 9pm showtime.

Tickets for both nights are $12 in advance @ their respective venues and at record store Soundscapes (572 College St.), and $15 @ the door.

The venues (Bread and Circus, and Comedy Bar) were chosen for the fact that they are both artist-owned and operated; neither space is particularly large, and tickets will go FAST. Don’t wait long to pick yours up!

(Edit: the following tune is not produced by anyone affliated with Maylee & Slippers’ Sweatshop Hop, but it comes Maylee-approved – have a listen to get in the mood!)

Neon Neon (feat. Fat Lip and Yo Majesty!) – Sweatshop

Marylou Flamingo.

So, I wrote a fair bit about Soundscapes in-stores last week. Since that post, they’ve announced three new dates: Feb. 4th – Bruce Peninsula (@ 7pm – These guys are terrific), Feb 10th – Hylozoists (@ 6pm – also a very highly rated band), and Feb 24th – Gentleman Reg (@ 6pm – I’ve been writing about Gentleman Reg for almost as long as I’ve been writing the Gracing the Stage updates – what I’ve heard of his new album is superb). Plus, Sonic Boom is doing an in-store with Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains on Jan. 29th @ 7pm.

Kristan Klimczak organizing yet another can't miss in-store performance and party for Marylou Flamingo

But record shops don’t have a moratorium on great FREE concerts. Enter Marylou Flamingo’s proprietor, Kristan Klimczak.

Voted Toronto’s best vintage clothing store this past November by Now Magazine, who also name checked the store in their style 2008 roundup, Marylou Flamingo has quickly established itself as a fixture for clothes horses looking to assemble fashionable vintage ensembles. Actress Christine Horne, so wonderful in the recent “Miss Julie: Sheh’Mah” at the Theatre Centre, was profiled at Marylou Flamingo when interviewed by eTalk Daily to promote her feature film debut in “The Stone Angel“.

(More about the Marylou Flamingo music series, including tonight’s guests Proof of Ghosts, after the jump.) Read more…

I’d planned on writing about the Rainbow Market Square for today’s post, but since there are two well reviewed films opening there as of this weekend (“The Wrestler” and “Slumdog Millionaire“), I’m going to wait to do that properly next week.

Another thing I’m planning on doing? More posts, but shorties: the sort of posts that don’t require a (more) break. I’ll still be posting at least a couple of in-depth profile pieces every week, but they don’t all have to be as comprehensive as, say, my write-ups of Wombat Wednesdays (Maylee Todd and Gravity Wave are up tomorrow night!) or Impromptu Splendor (They’ve got guest Ted Dykstra for their Samuel Beckett show this Thursday!), though I’m awfully proud of those.

New Pornographer, Corn Sister, and all around cool cat Neko Case.

So, briefly; we’re a new blog, so we’ve still got plenty of bandwidth, and I’m hoping you and all your friends will start gobbling it up. Here’s how to start: Anti- Records is donating $5 to the Best Friends Animal Society for every blog that posts a free download of the first single from Neko Case’s new album, Middle Cyclone, between Jan. 14th and Feb. 4th.

I loves me some Neko; you can hear me whooping between songs if you listen closely to her album “The Tigers Have Spoken“, recorded live at Lee’s Palace and The Matador in 2004. And Neko loves Toronto; after all, her favourite backing band’s from here. Yes, the cash will go to an American animal lovers society, but Yankee cats are cute too, right? So, here’s the lovely Ms. Case’s newest – grab it until Feb. 4th.

Neko Case – People Got a Lotta Nerve

Oh, and here’s a kitty (a Torontonian one).

Pip, by Craz11 from the Flickr pool (http://www.flickr.com/photos/craz11/2651069335/)

This is the first update available exclusively through the website; the Yahoo Groups site will continue to exist solely as an archive of the last 5 year’s archives. After going through the update, please do poke around the site, and peruse some of the articles; many of them mention weekly recurring shows, and shows yet to appear on the Events Calendar (though that is my next website priority).

(The full week in Toronto’s performing arts events, after the jump!) Read more…

Frankly, I find it shocking the website has been up for over a week, and this is my first music post. I’d planned to write posts about last weekend’s Rock n’ Roll Anniversary, Singing Lamb Launch, and Out of This Spark shows, but the update, and the new Event Calendar (move your mouse over it, why dontcha, and see what happens!) ate up all my waking time. So the next two days are going to be all about the music, starting with Wombat Wednesdays.

(That’s Basement Arms playing the Tranzac Main Hall in the vid above – Dwight Schenk lets loose with his signature growl at about the 4:45 mark).

(Ozzie marsupials, snakeskin motherf–ckers, a wave of gravy, and more, after the break.) Read more…