This week’s best parties include another stellar edition of Feast in the East, a city-wide bike rave, and new punk night STAIN.
Friday: A Bike Rave Christie Pits Park. Free. Assemble at 8:45 p.m.
Exclamation points! I can’t even begin to describe how amazing this Little Rave That Could sounds/how badly I want to go. I feel like it’s that teen sleepover thing all over again. Tomorrow night, the good-willed Bike Pirates will be hosting a traveling rave that depends on the flashiness of your bike—literally. In summary: “Bike Rave is a D.I.Y. event that combines glow lights and synched music while riding through the streets of Toronto from dance destination to dance destination.” Expected: “boomboxes, costumes, glowsticks galore.” Here’s how it works: cover your bike (or yourself) in lights or glowsticks or whatever, download the playlist to your iPod, etc., and bring portable speakers. At 8:50 p.m., everyone presses play and travels through the city (see: route map ) from Trinity Bellwoods to Coronation Park to High Park to a secret bonfire where y’all will dance and dance and dance. And—as if you need more convincing—check out the video below from the Vancouver edition (that is technically unrelated). Find out more here .
Friday: Feast in the East 16 With various performers. Polyhaus, 388 Carlaw Avenue. $7 advance at Circus Books & Music, The Film Buff, and Soundscapes, $10 at the door. Doors at 9 p.m.
When we ventured last to the east side , it was on the glowing recommendations of Tad Michalak and Neil Rankin’s Feast in the East nights. Sure, the ensuing dialogue got dicey with ridiculously passionate east vs. west rants, but hopefully you could overlook all that to see the point—or, rather, the perfection—of the east end music, food and installation series. This Friday, head over the Don for the 16th instalment of FITE, featuring a free (with advance ticket) Italian dinner by Anni Spadafora and art from Sarah D’Angelo and Joele Walinga . Oh, and music! Check out Tezeta (“spacious synth zone for fans of Boards Of Canada and Joy Division”) and Joseph & The Mercurials (“lonely guitar notes cradled by organ tones…for fans of Chris Isaak, seriously”), alongside Ostrich Tuning and punk shoegazers Lipp. Buy advance tix at Circus Books & Music, The Film Buff, and Soundscapes. Find out more here .
Friday: STAIN, a new live (punk) music night With various acts. The Velvet Underground, 510 Queen Street West. $5. Doors at 9 p.m.
Punk rock is not a crime. I’ve been reading wayyy too many think pieces about Russian rockers-turned-“criminals” Pussy Riot lately (P.S.: there’s a global rally with a 416 protest going down tomorrow ), and you could call this some sort of (very unofficial) after-party. For those westward-inclined not going to FITE, welcome STAIN to the city, a new music night calling “the curious and the underachievers to witness a show like no other, with music by some of Toronto’s sexiest bands, along with tantalizing performances of great proportions.” And it’s at the Velvet Underground! Starting at 10 p.m., five acts will take the stage including the ultra-ambitious, soon-to-break boyBITCH (“electronic, beat-laden, audio pleasure”) and new scenesters The Pussypops , a trio specializing in “indie-pop-puss-punk.” And so many other showstoppers, like Jenna Syde , dubbed Toronto’s only punk rock drag queen who endeavours “to incorporate surreal-socio political performance art as a drag medium.” Lexi Tronic hosts. See the complete line-up here . Ladies and gents, The Pussypops:
Saturday: Queen West Music Fest + The Foggy Dew at Trinity Bellwoods With various bands. Trinity Bellwoods Park. Free. Doors at 12 p.m.
It’s a weekend of music, and the epicentre seems to be Trinity Bellwoods. Plus, since summer is going to sneak out without saying goodbye, I’m going to pack your days full of stuff to do. Starting at noon, the official-ish Queen West Music Fest will take over a large chunk of the park with a line-up of seven rock acts (mostly Queen West progeny), six of which are unsigned. Retro-rockers/indie legends Skydiggers will headline, with supporting acts like Lazybones and Ian Blurton + Huron = Happy Endings. Plus, DJ Your Boy Bryan will weave together each set. Oh, and while it’s an all-ages thang, there’s a licensed area. (Personally, I think Bellwoods needs a seasonal bar. Period.) Find the complete line-up here . But wait! There’s also this very informal/totally rad Foggy Dew jam starting at 4 p.m. near the dog bowl, where you can take a breather and groove until sunset with Suitcase Sam , Henry Adam Svec , and more.
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Wednesday: Bassmentality I (Heart) Bass Music Featuring Bwana, Ryan Hemsworth, Vlsonn. Wrongbar, 1279 Queen Street West. $10. Doors at 10 p.m.
“Everybody dancing, nobody standing still”—that’s the Bassmentality tagline. Since its 2009 inception in a tiny basement, 416 music makers Zeds Dead and The Killabits have found a new home at Wrongbar for their Bassmentality night, which is quickly becoming the only reason to go out on a Wednesday night. The mission: “to make crowds go crazy every single night they throw down.” This Wednesday they plan on going hard with the homecoming of UK-based Bwana . Halifax’s current golden child Ryan Hemsworth will also make his Bassmentality debut, packing that pitch-perfect mélange of electronic meets hip-hop meets 808. (And maybe that Frank Ocean mix, please?) In other words: “Expect a relentless ride through classic crunk, trap music anthems, glitched out ghetto soul and everything in between.” Find out more here .
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