GASWORKS RELIT: One of Toronto’s most venerable venues, the Gasworks, has reopened with new owners, new management and a new look. No longer the dank, dark bastion of hard rock, the club has been reborn with a ritzy look. Lotsa pink neon and flowers. Somewhere Mike Myers is crying in his beer. Among the attendees at opening night were [017-001] musicians Jerome Godboo of the Phantoms and Barbara Lynch, who performed that night. Also on hand was [017-002] artist Alma Roussy, in her self-designed and made “Art vs. Business” coat, and [017-003] John Grove, artist and occasional drinker. Nice use of the decorations there, John.
PHOENIX GETS STRANGE: The Phoenix Concert Theatre hosted the first anniversary party of Strange Paradise, its regular Monday theme night. Up in the DJ booth [017-013], we find Andy Frost of Q107, the announcer of record for Strange Paradise, with Heather Bowles, self-described “Q107 promotional princess.” Among those rockin’ the house down in the VIP lounge were [017-014] new Argo cheerleaders (l-r) Monica, Diana, Niki and Buffy. They had found out about their new gig the day before, so they had just cause to celebrate. Hanging around the parlour, taking in a different groove, we catch up with [017-015, l-r] DJ/martial artist Patrick Hodge, promoter Charlie Marks and Gerard Richardson of the Safe International clothing empire, an avid snowboarder. Just one question: if it’s a theatre, where’s the popcorn?
STRONG WIND: C’est What? was the place to be last Thursday for the cassette release party of indie recording artists Wind May Do Damage. The group, which has a jazzy/Latin/pop sound centred around the luscious vocals of lead singers Jane Miller and Kathryn Rose, packed the house to the roof, in obvious violation of fire codes. Here [017-019, l-r] we catch up with Miller, Andres Castillo-Smith (the group’s multi-instrumentalist) and Rose post-show Among the crowd of supporters and friends was [017-020] actor Christinna Uriarte, seen here in her party hat. The group tried to limit the show to the contents of the tape, but in the end the “evil hecklers” won out and got an encore. Outtakes follow.
Steven Lungley(https://eyespytoronto.com)