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Haunt Me Toronto, Or Show Me a Red Ball!
Jun/11/09 Filed in: Festivals, Events, Happenings
by Colin Rusch
You’ve been warned that this was not going to be a daily coverage of Luminato, and my experiences of June 10 are a day late. Still, I managed to follow the RedBall Project to Elm Street and prepared to be scared out of my wits at St. George the Martyr Church.
Staring at the red ball wedged into a tiny side street off Elm St. and recalling that it had a day off on Tuesday as well as Saturday, got my intellectual juices flowing. How many men or women, I pondered, does it take to deflate it, roll it up - if that’s what they do - heave it into the back of a van and then drive it back to what? RedBall Project headquarters? Who keeps the thing? What time does aforementioned deflation take place and who primes it back to its happy tomato red plumpness at its next destination? The other question I mulled over in my head concerned the choice of this particular spot on Elm Street. I’m just curious. Remember, this is all about revealing places we might not have noticed before or re-imagining familiar landmarks. Well, that little side spot is certainly not a landmark, but alright, I have never noticed it before.
I would have loved to tell our readers how the red ball has lured me to a place that visitors to Toronto should absolutely see. Well, I cannot really make that call although, generally speaking, Elm Street is certainly a fine street.
Now, the Music Gallery at St. George the Martyr Church turned out to be a gem in more ways than one. To begin with, visitors will like the location on John Street. Just half a minute’s walk off a very busy part of Queen Street West, it’s something of a little sanctuary right around the corner from all the shops, bars, restaurants, coffee shops and general bustle. Gothic Toronto, ‘Writing The City Macabre’ was the theme for the evening and gathered six of Toronto’s best authors reading short stories of the scary kind to a wide-eyed audience. If you think this was attended by a motley group of perhaps 20-30 ardent book-lovers, think again. The event was scheduled to start at 7:30pm and only my anxiety to be sure that I had the right venue made me walk past there 45 minutes earlier. The line-up at that stage suggested it might be prudent to stay, and I understand that by show time something like 200 people did not get in. Why do we like to be scared? Interestingly enough, Margaret Atwood who wrote the foreword to the little black booklet with the stories we were about to hear, asked the same question in said foreword and, yes, I am using her line.
It was an excellent evening with a fine line-up of writers and an entertaining introduction by Liisa Ladouceur, a music critic and poetess in her own right, hinting at the possibility of blood-smeared syllables, but being an otherwise fabulous host of the evening. Although blood-curdling moments were kept to an acceptable level, our authors Nalo Hopkinson, Cherie Dimaline, Tasleem Thawar, Andrew Pyper, Michelle Wan (via pre-recorded video) and Ann-Marie MacDonald created many haunting moments and ghostly enough images, coercing the odd hair to stand up to attention……and not only on my back, I am sure.
The stories of Gothic Toronto were collected in a limited edition publication, available only at the reading, hence my ability to weave my Margaret Atwood reference into this blog, and from what I could see they sold briskly.
The Music Gallery at the church was the perfect setting for this reading, and travelers will be interested to hear about the first-ever Summer Courtyard Series (June 19-28). Promoted as an experience of ‘out music in the outdoors’ it is a series of garden parties held in the delightfully whimsical courtyard of the church. They are licensed and scanning the program I note acts such as Exquisite Corps and GFR vs Wasted Nymph. This could be diabolically entertaining.
You’ve been warned that this was not going to be a daily coverage of Luminato, and my experiences of June 10 are a day late. Still, I managed to follow the RedBall Project to Elm Street and prepared to be scared out of my wits at St. George the Martyr Church.
Staring at the red ball wedged into a tiny side street off Elm St. and recalling that it had a day off on Tuesday as well as Saturday, got my intellectual juices flowing. How many men or women, I pondered, does it take to deflate it, roll it up - if that’s what they do - heave it into the back of a van and then drive it back to what? RedBall Project headquarters? Who keeps the thing? What time does aforementioned deflation take place and who primes it back to its happy tomato red plumpness at its next destination? The other question I mulled over in my head concerned the choice of this particular spot on Elm Street. I’m just curious. Remember, this is all about revealing places we might not have noticed before or re-imagining familiar landmarks. Well, that little side spot is certainly not a landmark, but alright, I have never noticed it before.
I would have loved to tell our readers how the red ball has lured me to a place that visitors to Toronto should absolutely see. Well, I cannot really make that call although, generally speaking, Elm Street is certainly a fine street.
Now, the Music Gallery at St. George the Martyr Church turned out to be a gem in more ways than one. To begin with, visitors will like the location on John Street. Just half a minute’s walk off a very busy part of Queen Street West, it’s something of a little sanctuary right around the corner from all the shops, bars, restaurants, coffee shops and general bustle. Gothic Toronto, ‘Writing The City Macabre’ was the theme for the evening and gathered six of Toronto’s best authors reading short stories of the scary kind to a wide-eyed audience. If you think this was attended by a motley group of perhaps 20-30 ardent book-lovers, think again. The event was scheduled to start at 7:30pm and only my anxiety to be sure that I had the right venue made me walk past there 45 minutes earlier. The line-up at that stage suggested it might be prudent to stay, and I understand that by show time something like 200 people did not get in. Why do we like to be scared? Interestingly enough, Margaret Atwood who wrote the foreword to the little black booklet with the stories we were about to hear, asked the same question in said foreword and, yes, I am using her line.
It was an excellent evening with a fine line-up of writers and an entertaining introduction by Liisa Ladouceur, a music critic and poetess in her own right, hinting at the possibility of blood-smeared syllables, but being an otherwise fabulous host of the evening. Although blood-curdling moments were kept to an acceptable level, our authors Nalo Hopkinson, Cherie Dimaline, Tasleem Thawar, Andrew Pyper, Michelle Wan (via pre-recorded video) and Ann-Marie MacDonald created many haunting moments and ghostly enough images, coercing the odd hair to stand up to attention……and not only on my back, I am sure.
The stories of Gothic Toronto were collected in a limited edition publication, available only at the reading, hence my ability to weave my Margaret Atwood reference into this blog, and from what I could see they sold briskly.
The Music Gallery at the church was the perfect setting for this reading, and travelers will be interested to hear about the first-ever Summer Courtyard Series (June 19-28). Promoted as an experience of ‘out music in the outdoors’ it is a series of garden parties held in the delightfully whimsical courtyard of the church. They are licensed and scanning the program I note acts such as Exquisite Corps and GFR vs Wasted Nymph. This could be diabolically entertaining.
Dedicated to the one that slides
Jun/07/09 Filed in: Festivals, Events, Happenings
by Colin Rusch
Slide into Sunday and get ready for an action-packed program at Yonge-Dundas Square. Today was dedicated to the many variations of the slide guitar. I should point out to Essentially Canada readers that the theme threading its way through this year’s Luminato is a celebration of the guitar. I was keen not to miss any more key guitar performances and arrived at ‘the square’ as the first act, Debashish Bhattacharya tuned up. What an opener to the genre: Indian slide guitar, played on two different versions of uniquely Indian instruments brought sounds to Yonge-Dundas Square that to some ears featured snatches of Ganges Delta Blues. Magic stuff! It was like opening the floodgates: slides filled the air and more terrific stuff just seemed to be appearing on stage continuously. I had not seen Don Rooke and Keving Breit live before and both of them were awesome. Don Rooke is known as a Hawaiian kona specialist, another twist on the standard slide theme, and Kevin Breit reminded me in one of his pieces of what Jeff Beck does right now. Not a shabby comparison and I trust Kevin won’t mind. Sonny Landreth is one of the big names out of Louisiana and the crowd was not disappointed. In fact, the Campbell Brothers asked him to join on a couple of numbers during their own set. Those Campbell Brothers, by the way, almost brought the house down; they certainly funkified the afternoon like nobody else. Introduced as a man who paints with many brushes, or something like that, the final act of the afternoon finally arrived: Canada’s own Daniel Lanois. Having produced U2 and Bob Dylan, among others, certainly puts him into a rather exalted space, but his performance today – while showing flashes of brilliance – was slightly more difficult to digest. The first few numbers, performed alone on guitar or pedal steel, combined melody and feedback and to fully appreciate Mr. Lanois an understanding and feeling for soundscapes is imperative. Joined by Don Rooke’s drummer for a couple of numbers and adding some vocals did, however, ensure that those unfamiliar with his work saw another - and perhaps more approachable - side of him.
From Daniel Lanois to line dancing might be a bit of a stretch, but not at Luminato. As part of the ‘Light on your feet’ program, Luminato’s version of dancing with the stars, we saw some serious participation in line dancing today, much as the crowd got into the salsa last night. Too bad I will miss the Bollywood session on Monday.
The main act of the night, the Derek Trucks Band, was eagerly anticipated by not just slide aficionados and he was ace. To those Essentially Canada readers not in the know, Derek Trucks also plays with the Allman Brothers, very ably filling the slide chores of the legendary, but sadly departed, Duane Allman. All I want to say is ‘this was a roaring set’ and another feather in Toronto’s musical cap.
Which leaves me with a brief note for the day about another Canadian premiere at Luminato: The ’Redball’ Project. The basic idea is to let an enormous red ball reveal places we might never have noticed before or re-imagine familiar landmarks. The ball visited Nathan Phillips Square on Friday, but had the day off Saturday. Here’s a look at Sunday's spot: Old City Hall.
Slide into Sunday and get ready for an action-packed program at Yonge-Dundas Square. Today was dedicated to the many variations of the slide guitar. I should point out to Essentially Canada readers that the theme threading its way through this year’s Luminato is a celebration of the guitar. I was keen not to miss any more key guitar performances and arrived at ‘the square’ as the first act, Debashish Bhattacharya tuned up. What an opener to the genre: Indian slide guitar, played on two different versions of uniquely Indian instruments brought sounds to Yonge-Dundas Square that to some ears featured snatches of Ganges Delta Blues. Magic stuff! It was like opening the floodgates: slides filled the air and more terrific stuff just seemed to be appearing on stage continuously. I had not seen Don Rooke and Keving Breit live before and both of them were awesome. Don Rooke is known as a Hawaiian kona specialist, another twist on the standard slide theme, and Kevin Breit reminded me in one of his pieces of what Jeff Beck does right now. Not a shabby comparison and I trust Kevin won’t mind. Sonny Landreth is one of the big names out of Louisiana and the crowd was not disappointed. In fact, the Campbell Brothers asked him to join on a couple of numbers during their own set. Those Campbell Brothers, by the way, almost brought the house down; they certainly funkified the afternoon like nobody else. Introduced as a man who paints with many brushes, or something like that, the final act of the afternoon finally arrived: Canada’s own Daniel Lanois. Having produced U2 and Bob Dylan, among others, certainly puts him into a rather exalted space, but his performance today – while showing flashes of brilliance – was slightly more difficult to digest. The first few numbers, performed alone on guitar or pedal steel, combined melody and feedback and to fully appreciate Mr. Lanois an understanding and feeling for soundscapes is imperative. Joined by Don Rooke’s drummer for a couple of numbers and adding some vocals did, however, ensure that those unfamiliar with his work saw another - and perhaps more approachable - side of him.
From Daniel Lanois to line dancing might be a bit of a stretch, but not at Luminato. As part of the ‘Light on your feet’ program, Luminato’s version of dancing with the stars, we saw some serious participation in line dancing today, much as the crowd got into the salsa last night. Too bad I will miss the Bollywood session on Monday.
The main act of the night, the Derek Trucks Band, was eagerly anticipated by not just slide aficionados and he was ace. To those Essentially Canada readers not in the know, Derek Trucks also plays with the Allman Brothers, very ably filling the slide chores of the legendary, but sadly departed, Duane Allman. All I want to say is ‘this was a roaring set’ and another feather in Toronto’s musical cap.
Which leaves me with a brief note for the day about another Canadian premiere at Luminato: The ’Redball’ Project. The basic idea is to let an enormous red ball reveal places we might never have noticed before or re-imagine familiar landmarks. The ball visited Nathan Phillips Square on Friday, but had the day off Saturday. Here’s a look at Sunday's spot: Old City Hall.
A Day of Near Misses
Jun/06/09 Filed in: Festivals, Events, Happenings
by Colin Rusch
It's Essentially Canada’s first time at Luminato but conflicting schedules came into play and I had to give the opening Friday a miss. The real day of near misses, however, was today, Saturday. The biggest one of them all was that an astounding assembly of over 1,600 guitarists was still short by a couple of hundred to make it into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest ‘guitar ensemble’ to play a song. An online vote chose Neil Young’s ‘Helpless’ as the number one Canadian tune, but the 1,623 virtuosos that registered to play it were left ‘down by the river’ and the record remains in German hands for now. The city of Leinfelden-Echterdingen (population 37,000) managed to line up 1,802 stringers to play Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’ and we understand the entire town was tuned into their shortwave radios today to hear the results from Yonge-Dundas Square. Despite this heartbreaker, the assembled crowd accepted the result in the true Canadian spirit and continued to have a great time.
So what about the other misses? Well, there were two and both were victims of those aforementioned schedule woes that did not allow me to attend the Shadow Notes panel discussion at the AGO and the ‘Travelling Blues’ event at the Metro Square. The latter event would persuade most lovers of the genre to drop everything and head for Toronto based on the strength of the line-up alone: Taj Mahal, yes the very one, Alvin Youngblood-Hart, Canada’s own Harry Manx and Mamadou Diabate from Mali, one of the leading kora players in the world today. ‘Shadow Notes’, meanwhile, is a photographic exhibition on the square that showcases the work of two photographers with a love for music, and a guitarist who loves photography. Danny Clinch and Ralph Gibson are the professionals, and the guitarist is none other than Andy Summers, known for pulling the strings for the Police.
That's the kind of gig that makes Luminato such an outstanding event; it's a truly multi-faceted festival of the arts and creativity. Although I am not covering the event every day, you will get a much better idea of what else Luminato embraces by the end of next week, including some of the public art installations around downtown.
It's Essentially Canada’s first time at Luminato but conflicting schedules came into play and I had to give the opening Friday a miss. The real day of near misses, however, was today, Saturday. The biggest one of them all was that an astounding assembly of over 1,600 guitarists was still short by a couple of hundred to make it into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest ‘guitar ensemble’ to play a song. An online vote chose Neil Young’s ‘Helpless’ as the number one Canadian tune, but the 1,623 virtuosos that registered to play it were left ‘down by the river’ and the record remains in German hands for now. The city of Leinfelden-Echterdingen (population 37,000) managed to line up 1,802 stringers to play Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water’ and we understand the entire town was tuned into their shortwave radios today to hear the results from Yonge-Dundas Square. Despite this heartbreaker, the assembled crowd accepted the result in the true Canadian spirit and continued to have a great time.
So what about the other misses? Well, there were two and both were victims of those aforementioned schedule woes that did not allow me to attend the Shadow Notes panel discussion at the AGO and the ‘Travelling Blues’ event at the Metro Square. The latter event would persuade most lovers of the genre to drop everything and head for Toronto based on the strength of the line-up alone: Taj Mahal, yes the very one, Alvin Youngblood-Hart, Canada’s own Harry Manx and Mamadou Diabate from Mali, one of the leading kora players in the world today. ‘Shadow Notes’, meanwhile, is a photographic exhibition on the square that showcases the work of two photographers with a love for music, and a guitarist who loves photography. Danny Clinch and Ralph Gibson are the professionals, and the guitarist is none other than Andy Summers, known for pulling the strings for the Police.
That's the kind of gig that makes Luminato such an outstanding event; it's a truly multi-faceted festival of the arts and creativity. Although I am not covering the event every day, you will get a much better idea of what else Luminato embraces by the end of next week, including some of the public art installations around downtown.
Mark your calendar for MUTEK 2010
May/31/09 Filed in: Festivals, Events, Happenings
by Colin Rusch
Saturday, but well into Sunday morning, was my final day at Mutek, much as I would have liked to stay for Picnic 2 and the last Nocturne sessions. Now back in Toronto, it’s time to reflect on the event and how it fits into what Essentially Canada does for a living: travel and lifestyle commentary. If you have read my blog these past few days, you will have come across selected sprinklings of travel references already. In this final installment, I want to address the topic of MUTEK as a reason to travel head on, but also want to pay a small tribute to all the volunteers that made this such an exciting event and, yes, some of them will get the visual treatment.
Let’s start with travel. MUTEK offers two of the key ingredients that turn it into a potentially desirable travel package: An event with an impressive line-up of international artists held in one of North America’s most interesting and vibrant cities. If this sounds simplistic to you, I can rest assured that I am on the right track. From the official website I know that some hotels offered special rates for MUTEK participants and VIA Rail offered a 50% discount to participants on the Quebec City –Windsor corridor. That’s a great start! Naturally, we at Essentially Canada feel that the potential for additional travel partners is even greater, and some ideas are already germinating in the ‘lab’. I already mentioned in one of my earlier blogs that only the workshops and panel discussions might be ‘beyond’ the interest level of customers that would like to combine a visit to Montreal with a series of cool concerts, but I believe it should be easy enough to develop another package or passport for that particular niche.
Another very likeable aspect of the show was that everything concentrated around, what we in the travel industry like to call a hub, namely the Monument-National Theatre on Boulevard St. Laurent. Across the road we then had the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), functioning as the other key venue, and a couple of minutes walk around the corner on rue Sainte-Catherine Est, was our nightly haunt for all those amazing Nocturne performances: the Metropolis and its more intimate partner venue, the Savoy. I liked the variety, as well as the option to easily come back to the Monument-National checking on things with MUTEK staff at their various desks or just having a quick break in between performances. Of course, this was also the spot to do a bit of networking at that other hub of activity: espacecocktail, where Philippe and Laurent, behind the bar, demonstrated the art of looping drinks.
Above: The Hub: The Monument-National, where you could take a break, network or get merchandise
Above: Note the vinyl version of Atom and the loop masters at espacecocktail Laurent (left) and Philippe
Above: Veronica, the Monument-National's tech lady, and (on right) one of the merchandise tents at the picnic.
There is one last attraction that needs to be brought to the attention of visitors that might consider a visit to Montreal during MUTEK: Around a 12-minute walk down St. Laurent from the Monument-National and you are, of course, in fabulous Old Montreal. I stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites, quietly tucked away on rue Sainte Jean Baptiste, a perfect spot if you want to discover Old Montreal from your doorstep. This is one of the more moderate Marriott brands and one of the best value deals around. With a high-speed free Internet connection in every suite and a very nice complimentary buffet breakfast, I felt this was not only a delightfully comfortable place but a perfect spot for MUTEK visitors.
Above: From the Marriott SpringHill Suites it's about a 12 minute walk to Mutek, or catch a carriage and be there in 8.
In summary then, MUTEK is a very marketable event to visitors from out of town and that, in my opinion, includes international travelers. Anyone with an interest in electronic music and other forms of experimental art might well consider a visit to Montreal to coincide with the event. Getting the message to a broader audience seems to be the key issue. Some of the websites, blogs and social networks I discovered over the past few days suggest that a lot of excellent work in that direction is already under way.
This brings me to the final chapter of Essentially Canada’s first-ever attendance at MUTEK, and I would like to end with a note of thanks to the organizers, and especially all the volunteers that made this event such an exceptional experience. Our readers would not necessarily be aware that MUTEK is a not-for-profit organization and relies heavily on the support of people volunteering their time to make this a continuous success and, indeed, grow and develop it further. Luckily I was able to meet with many of them – chief among them Michael-Oliver Harding who superbly handled all my interviews – but there were others with whom I did not get a chance to connect. To all of them, a ‘big thank you’ for a terrific job and delivering an outstanding festival.
Above: Dimitri Nasrallah, clearly working on a funny line, and Michael-Oliver Harding (on left in right picture) who stick-handled my interviews with aplomb.
Above: Stacey van Buskirk, MUTEK's very own online strategista, and Claire, whose team collected data.
Above: "Are you sure he's registered?" and (photo right) the late-night media table at the Metropolis.
Saturday, but well into Sunday morning, was my final day at Mutek, much as I would have liked to stay for Picnic 2 and the last Nocturne sessions. Now back in Toronto, it’s time to reflect on the event and how it fits into what Essentially Canada does for a living: travel and lifestyle commentary. If you have read my blog these past few days, you will have come across selected sprinklings of travel references already. In this final installment, I want to address the topic of MUTEK as a reason to travel head on, but also want to pay a small tribute to all the volunteers that made this such an exciting event and, yes, some of them will get the visual treatment.
Let’s start with travel. MUTEK offers two of the key ingredients that turn it into a potentially desirable travel package: An event with an impressive line-up of international artists held in one of North America’s most interesting and vibrant cities. If this sounds simplistic to you, I can rest assured that I am on the right track. From the official website I know that some hotels offered special rates for MUTEK participants and VIA Rail offered a 50% discount to participants on the Quebec City –Windsor corridor. That’s a great start! Naturally, we at Essentially Canada feel that the potential for additional travel partners is even greater, and some ideas are already germinating in the ‘lab’. I already mentioned in one of my earlier blogs that only the workshops and panel discussions might be ‘beyond’ the interest level of customers that would like to combine a visit to Montreal with a series of cool concerts, but I believe it should be easy enough to develop another package or passport for that particular niche.
Another very likeable aspect of the show was that everything concentrated around, what we in the travel industry like to call a hub, namely the Monument-National Theatre on Boulevard St. Laurent. Across the road we then had the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), functioning as the other key venue, and a couple of minutes walk around the corner on rue Sainte-Catherine Est, was our nightly haunt for all those amazing Nocturne performances: the Metropolis and its more intimate partner venue, the Savoy. I liked the variety, as well as the option to easily come back to the Monument-National checking on things with MUTEK staff at their various desks or just having a quick break in between performances. Of course, this was also the spot to do a bit of networking at that other hub of activity: espacecocktail, where Philippe and Laurent, behind the bar, demonstrated the art of looping drinks.
Above: The Hub: The Monument-National, where you could take a break, network or get merchandise
Above: Note the vinyl version of Atom and the loop masters at espacecocktail Laurent (left) and Philippe
Above: Veronica, the Monument-National's tech lady, and (on right) one of the merchandise tents at the picnic.
There is one last attraction that needs to be brought to the attention of visitors that might consider a visit to Montreal during MUTEK: Around a 12-minute walk down St. Laurent from the Monument-National and you are, of course, in fabulous Old Montreal. I stayed at the Marriott Springhill Suites, quietly tucked away on rue Sainte Jean Baptiste, a perfect spot if you want to discover Old Montreal from your doorstep. This is one of the more moderate Marriott brands and one of the best value deals around. With a high-speed free Internet connection in every suite and a very nice complimentary buffet breakfast, I felt this was not only a delightfully comfortable place but a perfect spot for MUTEK visitors.
Above: From the Marriott SpringHill Suites it's about a 12 minute walk to Mutek, or catch a carriage and be there in 8.
In summary then, MUTEK is a very marketable event to visitors from out of town and that, in my opinion, includes international travelers. Anyone with an interest in electronic music and other forms of experimental art might well consider a visit to Montreal to coincide with the event. Getting the message to a broader audience seems to be the key issue. Some of the websites, blogs and social networks I discovered over the past few days suggest that a lot of excellent work in that direction is already under way.
This brings me to the final chapter of Essentially Canada’s first-ever attendance at MUTEK, and I would like to end with a note of thanks to the organizers, and especially all the volunteers that made this event such an exceptional experience. Our readers would not necessarily be aware that MUTEK is a not-for-profit organization and relies heavily on the support of people volunteering their time to make this a continuous success and, indeed, grow and develop it further. Luckily I was able to meet with many of them – chief among them Michael-Oliver Harding who superbly handled all my interviews – but there were others with whom I did not get a chance to connect. To all of them, a ‘big thank you’ for a terrific job and delivering an outstanding festival.
Above: Dimitri Nasrallah, clearly working on a funny line, and Michael-Oliver Harding (on left in right picture) who stick-handled my interviews with aplomb.
Above: Stacey van Buskirk, MUTEK's very own online strategista, and Claire, whose team collected data.
Above: "Are you sure he's registered?" and (photo right) the late-night media table at the Metropolis.