The best parties happening around the city this week: including the opening party for College Street shop Of A Kind, French-themed dance party Oui Paris, the Drake's new comedy series, and more.
Friday: Oui Paris Installation + Dance Party
The Brockton Collective, 442A Dufferin. #PRK No cover before midnight. 9:30 p.m.
Yes, yes, blah, blah…we love to love to hate other cities that are much more “le chic” than Toronto. Whatever. Tomorrow night, the team behind Yes New York —last month’s party on Ossington that I told you about when Toronto was all “Look, Manhattan!” for that one weekend (or until the foreseeable future)—are back at it…with a Paris theme! I’m an inch more excited this time. Oh, and does people Liking your photos on Instagram also get you off/is better than sex? (Uh huh.) Then look for “the world’s first Instagram music visualizer” created with Phill MV : it “parses photos in real time from Instagram. Guests are invited to add to the stream by tagging #OUIPARIS.” Yes, yes, the torrential sounds of Phoenix will fill the air and make your night a movie trailer, but please, please hope they play this too. (Hey, it counts.)
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Friday: Fuck U Fridays
With special guest DJ Steve Rock, DJ Triple-X. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street. #DTN $5 at the door. 10:30 p.m.
So, some Friday nights Buddies does Strip Spelling Bee, other Friday nights it just wants to get the fuck off. Part-organizer Bryen Dunn—a breezy, socially un-conservative cat whose radio show “Sex City” I guested on last summer—has been trying to get me out to one of these since Lana Del Rey was still Lizzy Grant. After all, he does have a point: “It will be nearly a month since your face down/ass up New Year’s Eve debauchery.” Lexi Tronic, a local party gurl-cum-activist, will also play host for the night, so expect the unexpected. (Not familiar with Ms. Lexi? She holds a soft spot in my bookmarks list for not backing down to Xtra! ’s holier-than-thou Danny Glenwright last month.) As for the music: Beastie Boys to Backstreet Boys, Vivian Girls to Spice Girls, and other clever pairings from the ’60s to now.
Saturday: Of A Kind opening party
1037 College St. #COL Free. 7 – 11 p.m.
There’s this little corner at College and Dufferin that no one but those in the area ever go to. Until now. Last week, Of A Kind—O.A.K. for short, except trust it’s (sadly) not this —opened quietly, but enthusiastically, to good press and high hopes. They sell vintage wares for guys and dolls, and also a sweet selection of vinyl. Wait, what’s vinyl? Kidding. Reasons you might want to go: support local (yes!), it’s free, there’s food, and you’ll probs find interesting people that don’t work directly in fashion but, like, blog about it. Other stuff: DJ, silent auction, etc. etc. Bar by BarberMoreno and Wellington Brewery, art by (widely-girl-crushed) Jeff Blackburn . Read more about all of this on Facebook. In the meantime, the best thing that should only ever be listened to on vinyl. Yup, yup. (Just, like, kinda ignore the actual video though.)
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Saturday: Come Up To My Room exhibit
With DJ Denise Benson and Joe Blow. The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen Street West. #WQW $10 at the door. Noon – 10 p.m. Love Design Party starts at 10 p.m. Free.
This weekend the Gladstone hosts its ninth annual Come Up To My Room exhibit, an alternative design event curated by Noa Bronstein, David Dick-Agnew and Deborah Wang. Tour 11 rooms and 14 public installations—alongside guest speakers and swatch-on-swatch mingling—designed to uncover what goes on inside an artist/designer’s head. On Saturday night, the culminating Love Design Party sets out to let loose all that artistic aggression for designers and admirers alike. Plus, badass Grid contributor Denise Benson is spinning. Find out more about the festival by watching the video below.
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Sunday: Live At The Drake comedy show
The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen Street West. #WQW $10, reserve in advance. Two shows: 5 p.m., and 8 p.m. Must arrive at least 30 minutes prior.
This week, I wrote about Sundays and how there’s hardly anything to do at night , yet there’s so much possibility. Case in point: introducing “Live At The Drake,” a new stand-up special featuring “some of the most exciting comedic talent in Canada.” It will be filmed live, whatever that means! You figure it out—and there will be two shows with three comedians in each slot. You’ve got to reserve tickets in advance by e-mailing liveatthedrake@gmail.com , but, well, how many assholes are going to reserve tickets and not show up? So, maybe call ahead-slash-try your luck at the door. I also hear the Dakota is pretty jumpin’ on a Sunday night. (Totally forgot, since every time I went in the summer the line was THIS. LONG. It’s $10.)
