Alternative events artsy, inclusive Gays, straights drawn by music
By Catherine Patch
Staff Reporter Toronto Star June 17, 2004
It's warm and breezy and the morning is still young.
College St. W. is alive with the sound of music, laughter and talk as the crowd - some 600 strong - packs Andy Poolhall, where, on a recent June weekend, they'd party till breakfast time.
Andy Poolhall and its neighbour, Ciao Edie, at College and Markham are a big part of the booming "alternative-alternative" club scene.
As the Church Street Village shows increasing signs of becoming, well, matronly, the younger gay crowd in their twenties and thirties has headed west, looking for new horizons and a different vibe.
"I've lived in Toronto all my life, but I have no affiliation with Church St. culture," says Alex Wolfson, 22, a sexual diversity student at the University of Toronto. "I just don't find it very relevant to people my age; I think there's an idea of ghetto-ization that we've never felt."
Daniel Paquette, an entertainment writer for Xtra magazine and owner of a public relations company, points to the changing nature of The Village, as it slowly is hemmed in by new condo development.
"A lot more straight people are moving in and a lot of the new places that are opening up are really going after straight people," he says.
"For some people, there's a feeling that things are happening too fast," he says. "There's been a bit of a reaction to that, especially with younger people, who shy away from conformity. That's really been an impetus for a lot of gay club nights."
"West Queen West," Bloor and Bathurst, College and Spadina and Kensington Market are the new landmarks of the dance club scene.
DJ and Eye Weekly columnist Denise Benson has been a part of the west end scene since the late '80s.
"When I moved to the city and I was coming out, even then I discovered an alternative that was Queen West," she says. "It was very much a mix that centred around the arts, live music and performance. I think there always has been something that was more inclusive, but in the last five to seven years, it has really picked up momentum."
Benson says one reason the west end has become the developing nightlife centre is that many gay and lesbian people live around Spadina and points west. "There is a massively accepting and stimulating arts culture here," she says.
Some of the top attractions include Vazaleen and Peroxide, DJ Will Munro's monthly events; Miss Moneypenny's, every Sunday night at the Mod Club; Grapefruit, Fridays at The Tequila Lounge; Big Primpin', monthly at Stones Place and Savour, monthly at Andy Poolhall.
Music is a pivotal part of the scene, with clubs offering a mix of retro, hip-hop, house, techo, pop, new-wave, funk and punk. (If you don't know, don't ask.)
And DJs like Benson, Will Munro, Kiki and Ms. Van Bob Bon are minor celebrities, attracting enthusiastic and loyal followings.
"It's almost like curating an art show," Munro, who also books bands and performers for his events, says of the work that goes into his party nights.
"If I put together an event, I have a concept of what kind of sound of music it is, what kind of venue -for example, 56 (a now-defunct club) was this dark little basement club in Kensington Market with black lights and fake foliage, like you'd walked into a new wave bar in Hungary in 1984. That was why a certain event happened there and the music sounded the way it did."
The comfortable mix of gay and straight is something that attracts many people to the west-end scene. "It's really about the music, and whoever turns up, turns up," says Benson. "A lot of promoters are saying, `Yes, I'm queer and yes, the core crowd is likely to be queer because of that, but here's what I'm offering in terms of music. That's why you're seeing a lot more mixed crowds."
"Most parties that I go to now, I go because of my musical choices and because of the people who are going to be there," says Wolfson.
"I've found that a lot of my friends and people in my group have become totally disinterested in the sexual orientation of a club."
The inclusive, diverse nature of the newer club scene isn't limited to sexual orientation, says Paquette. "In the last year's Pride week, the number one, most highly attended lesbian and gay dance night was Funk-Asia, which is a south Asian dance night," he says.
"It packed upward of 1,000 people.
"Now we're seeing more and more events that are appealing to a broad diversity of people. It's not just that 19-year-old white boywho is into the punk or hip-hop scene - now it's that white guy who goes to South Asian dance night.
"That's the real alternative; that's the really exciting development."
By Catherine Patch
Staff Reporter Toronto Star June 17, 2004
It's warm and breezy and the morning is still young.
College St. W. is alive with the sound of music, laughter and talk as the crowd - some 600 strong - packs Andy Poolhall, where, on a recent June weekend, they'd party till breakfast time.
Andy Poolhall and its neighbour, Ciao Edie, at College and Markham are a big part of the booming "alternative-alternative" club scene.
As the Church Street Village shows increasing signs of becoming, well, matronly, the younger gay crowd in their twenties and thirties has headed west, looking for new horizons and a different vibe.
"I've lived in Toronto all my life, but I have no affiliation with Church St. culture," says Alex Wolfson, 22, a sexual diversity student at the University of Toronto. "I just don't find it very relevant to people my age; I think there's an idea of ghetto-ization that we've never felt."
Daniel Paquette, an entertainment writer for Xtra magazine and owner of a public relations company, points to the changing nature of The Village, as it slowly is hemmed in by new condo development.
"A lot more straight people are moving in and a lot of the new places that are opening up are really going after straight people," he says.
"For some people, there's a feeling that things are happening too fast," he says. "There's been a bit of a reaction to that, especially with younger people, who shy away from conformity. That's really been an impetus for a lot of gay club nights."
"West Queen West," Bloor and Bathurst, College and Spadina and Kensington Market are the new landmarks of the dance club scene.
DJ and Eye Weekly columnist Denise Benson has been a part of the west end scene since the late '80s.
"When I moved to the city and I was coming out, even then I discovered an alternative that was Queen West," she says. "It was very much a mix that centred around the arts, live music and performance. I think there always has been something that was more inclusive, but in the last five to seven years, it has really picked up momentum."
Benson says one reason the west end has become the developing nightlife centre is that many gay and lesbian people live around Spadina and points west. "There is a massively accepting and stimulating arts culture here," she says.
Some of the top attractions include Vazaleen and Peroxide, DJ Will Munro's monthly events; Miss Moneypenny's, every Sunday night at the Mod Club; Grapefruit, Fridays at The Tequila Lounge; Big Primpin', monthly at Stones Place and Savour, monthly at Andy Poolhall.
Music is a pivotal part of the scene, with clubs offering a mix of retro, hip-hop, house, techo, pop, new-wave, funk and punk. (If you don't know, don't ask.)
And DJs like Benson, Will Munro, Kiki and Ms. Van Bob Bon are minor celebrities, attracting enthusiastic and loyal followings.
"It's almost like curating an art show," Munro, who also books bands and performers for his events, says of the work that goes into his party nights.
"If I put together an event, I have a concept of what kind of sound of music it is, what kind of venue -for example, 56 (a now-defunct club) was this dark little basement club in Kensington Market with black lights and fake foliage, like you'd walked into a new wave bar in Hungary in 1984. That was why a certain event happened there and the music sounded the way it did."
The comfortable mix of gay and straight is something that attracts many people to the west-end scene. "It's really about the music, and whoever turns up, turns up," says Benson. "A lot of promoters are saying, `Yes, I'm queer and yes, the core crowd is likely to be queer because of that, but here's what I'm offering in terms of music. That's why you're seeing a lot more mixed crowds."
"Most parties that I go to now, I go because of my musical choices and because of the people who are going to be there," says Wolfson.
"I've found that a lot of my friends and people in my group have become totally disinterested in the sexual orientation of a club."
The inclusive, diverse nature of the newer club scene isn't limited to sexual orientation, says Paquette. "In the last year's Pride week, the number one, most highly attended lesbian and gay dance night was Funk-Asia, which is a south Asian dance night," he says.
"It packed upward of 1,000 people.
"Now we're seeing more and more events that are appealing to a broad diversity of people. It's not just that 19-year-old white boywho is into the punk or hip-hop scene - now it's that white guy who goes to South Asian dance night.
"That's the real alternative; that's the really exciting development."
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