The Weeknd’s west end
Sure, Toronto musicians make videos here all the time. Drake rented out the CN Tower for Started From The Bottom. K’naan, Nas and, yes, Jamie Hector (aka Marlo from The Wire) shot Nothing To Lose at Jane and Weston. Even rappers from out of town (we’re looking at you, Wale) have filmed in the 6. But with his recent video for King Of The Fall, the Weeknd is a contender for the most Toronto, of-the-moment Toronto video in years, not just for its gritty depictions of Parkdale, Kensington Market and Queen and Spadina locations, but also for its myriad cameos. Notable locals include rapper Teddy Fantum and the rest of his DSTRY crew, Get Home Safe emcees Derek Wise and Jazz Cartier, plus DJ Happy Boy Tona, a bunch of XO crew plus many more people we aren’t cool enough to recognize.
OMF AT WORK
On Sunday (September 7), from 4:30 to 9:30 pm, local bands Fresh Snow, Weaves, Most People and Matrox play the Wavelength Island Show (all ages) at Artscape Gibraltar Point on Toronto Island. Minus the ferry fee, it’s a free show – with special guests! – which should make it enticing enough. But not to worry if you can’t make it across the water. The concert’s being filmed for Wavelength’s forthcoming online video series, thanks in part to financial help from the provincial government’s new Ontario Music Fund. We’re happy to see the initiative at work with one of Toronto’s great non-profits.
So long, Andy
College Street stalwart Andy Poolhall is shutting its doors after 11 years on the nightlife strip. We’ll miss its retro-funky decor and inclusive atmosphere, and mostly, its famous weekly and monthly events and resident DJ nights, which have included, over the years, UKULA, Cherry Bomb, Version Xcursion, Beatdown, Major Rager, Unwound Wednesdays, Get Slayed and B-Boy & B-Girl Tuesdays. Owners and life partners Michael Sweenie and Scott Lane (who both recently had health scares) report that they’re in need of change after nearly four decades in the nightlife biz.
R.I.P. Reiner Schwarz (1948-2014)
Canadian TV and radio personality Reiner Schwarz has passed away. Schwarz’s radio work included stints on CHUM-FM, CFNY, Energy 108, TALK640, JAZZ FM and CIUT. He is also remembered for his cable TV show, Nightmusic, and was an actor on CBC’s Liberty Street.
