Luke Pritchard sings to the crowd at Sound Academy in Toronto on November 23, 2011.
Luke Pritchard sings to the crowd at Sound Academy in Toronto on November 23, 2011.
Luke Pritchard sings to the crowd at Sound Academy in Toronto on November 23, 2011.
Jacob Rashid looks on as a city bus drives past in Hamilton, Ontario on January 30, 2012.
Goldie Greenspan-Glayt looks for money to pay for tea in her purse at Shalom Village in Hamilton, Ontario on April 2, 2012. Other Shalom Village residents chat in the background.
Ryan Phillips attempts to ride up a brick wall with his skateboard (wallride) on March 13, 2012 in downtown Toronto but leaps off.
Theresa Rashid sits on her walker in the prayer room at St. Joseph’s Villa to catch a quiet moment in Dundas, Ontario on April 1, 2012.
Kat looks out the window in a Toronto home on March 14, 2012.
On a Sunday night in February, haggard old men, pubescent looking university students and even clean cut businessmen slouch in chairs at the Zanzibar Tavern, ignoring the half-naked strippers forcing smiles as they cruise for lap dance customers. The men are rapt, eyes fixated straight ahead to the main stage, where a slim brunette is hanging upside down from a pole, removing her black lace top.
The main stage is half way down the narrow bar on the right hand side against a wall of grey streamers, covering a smudged mirror. Tables litter the bottom of the stage and even more are arranged on a two foot high platform across from it. Here, four strippers sitting together in lingerie and high heels scream at the main stage act, “Woo, take it off!”
“I’m trying,” laughs the upside-down stripper. “It’s stuck.”
Still upside down, the stripper eventually undoes the lace knot and removes her top. Smacking her butt, she gyrates on the barre.
Meanwhile, in the men’s washroom, the bathroom attendant is at work. In uniform, wearing a black tuxedo, he waits for customers on a wood stool beside the sink. The attendant will run the water for them, pump the soap dispenser, and provide a warm towel to dry their hands. A textbook is open on the sink counter with a battered yellow #2 HB pencil resting in its worn-down spine. The book is open to a page illustrating various ear infections. “I want to study to be a nurse,” he explains. The attendant has been studying at Centennial College for three months.
Located just one block north of Yonge-Dundas Square, Zanzibar is a microcosm of Toronto life and culture. It’s where the young and old gather and where a dynamic crowd perform and work. It is also a family business that helps students pay their way through school – some by dancing and some by turning on and off taps.
“If you’re in professional dancing, I’d like to think we are a nice place to work,” says Zanzibar owner and divorce lawyer Allen Cooper. “And [the girls] make a lot of money.”
As for how much money the girls make, and their interview procedure, Cooper would not comment. But since Zanzibar is so famous, “the dancers come to us and are happy to work here,” says Cooper.
Zanzibar first opened its doors to the public in 1960 when Cooper’s father purchased the Rosticceria Tavern building, which featured nightly entertainment and fine dining. “It’s kind of the history of Yonge Street,” says Cooper, who took over the bar in 2006. In the 1960s, many rock ‘n’ roll acts played on Yonge, often passing through Zanzibar. Bobby Dean Blackburn and Robbie Robertson were among the many.
But when Zanzibar opened, lap dancing was illegal. Then by the mid 1970s, it was permitted but with no contact. At this time, a teenaged Cooper was bartending and waiting part-time at Zanzibar for his father.
Now although Zanzibar did not permit contact dancing, the surrounding area on Yonge Street was overrun by the sex trade. Body-rub parlours were everywhere – some of which were even brothels.
Over the next 20 years, the body-rub parlours would shut down and Canadian lap dancing laws would constantly change, directly influencing the strip shows at Zanzibar. But in 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled lap dances to be legal, allowing for patrons to touch nude dancers’ breasts and buttocks, and now, so is the case at Zanzibar.
To this day, Zanzibar remains in the heart of downtown Toronto, bordering the campus of Ryerson University. The neon lights still brighten Yonge Street every night, flashing the words “Club Zanzibar: The Girls Never Stop,” with the building’s bricks still stained yellow. During the days, Zanzibar can be desolate. But at night, it’s the place to be.
This is the case on a Monday night in March, as the dim-lit bar is crammed with slouching men and women, young and old, with their faces hidden in darkness. The smell of stale perfume and sex is particularly overwhelming on this night. The ultraviolet lights along the ceiling give each stripper’s outfit a healthy neon glow. Strippers in lingerie cruise the floor for customers while Top 40 music thumps in the background.
A pencil thin blond stripper in a white skin tight dress locks eyes with a male customer nursing a warm bottle of Molson Canadian. After 30 seconds of casual conversation, Michaela jumps right into things. “So have you had any lap dances yet?” The customer explains he can’t afford a dance, which is $20 a song, and Michaela’s flirty and bubbly attitude turns snappy. Her soft posture becomes stern. “All right,” she says, swiftly standing up. “Bye!”
She immediately approaches another customer, wearing all black with a shaved head and eyes beaming. Keeping up the flirty routine, Michaela crosses her legs, and her dress rides high up her thigh. She has been doing this all night. But then something clicks. With a banana styled smile, she gets up with her new customer, and hand in hand, they walk towards the upstairs open concept VIP level – where there are about 12 private booths with leather lounge chairs, dim light and plants – for a private dance. As they climb the stairs, the man trailing Michaela looks back one last time, wildly grinning at his friends. But Michaela never looks back.
Last night, a wild punk moshing wave of music took toronto by storm. And the leaders of the storm were the Dropkick Murphys and they brought their loud Boston sound with them, fully loaded. The pipes were loud, the flute was perfect, the vocals were raspy and the foot stomping was prominent.
For the entire show at the Sound Academy, no word of lie, the whole floor was a giant mosh pit. There were no safe places to retreat to as each punk song got every person grooving. And grooving in punk terms means throwing people around like rag dolls and sloppily attempting to jump in unison with the bass drum.
Now, the Dropkicks did something very interesting – half way through the set they stopped with the heavy stuff and played a couple acoustic tracks. ”Warriors Code” was done acoustically and the crowd simmered down momentarily. But for the next couple of acoustic songs, the crowd continued to mosh. It was a never ending mosh medley of sweaty, beer soaked and puke stained punks. And to be completely honest, I would not have enjoyed the concert any other way.
It was also an all ages event, so there were big fat punk dudes in bowler hats and girls about 5 feet tall with Misfits shirts and eyeliner as thick as one’s index finger and dark as my black lab named Lincoln.
The music was great, of course. But it was hard to concentrate on songs because being at the show was also a constant battle to remain on your feet and not bet swept under and stomped by punk combat boots. As a result of this, most people were soaked to the bone in sweat. I know I was. My Metallica cut off sleeve weighed a good 10 pounds by the end of the night.
Also, in the encore, the boys played “Kiss me, I’m shit faced,” which is a bar classic. For this song, the band pulled up multiple girls to come on stage and the crowd engaged in a giant sing a long. And yes, it was also very sweaty.
My ears are still ringing and I smell like a monkey’s asshole.
JEFF the Brotherhood at the Kool Haus in Toronto on February 7, 2012.
JEFF the Brotherhood at the Kool Haus in Toronto on February 7, 2012.
Alison Mosshart, of The Kills, performs at the Kool Haus in Toronto on February 7, 2012.
Fred came into the studio to do a quick interview back in October. Here is how it went down! Enjoy.
It happens to everyone. After so many plays on your iPod or stereo and after so many spins of a record, every beat of music sounds the same, despite their musical genre differences. Hip hop, punk, metal and pop, they all eventually sound the same. The music that once put you in a head space of absolute wonder and joy now makes you lethargic and somewhat sick to your stomach.
There is the obvious treatment for this type of situation: play some new music, yes?
But how the hell can you go about finding new music to listen to? That was my problem. I weeded through all my favourite artists and found what music they were into and then checked them out. The problem with this was that I did not particularly enjoy their taste, I really just enjoyed the music that they created instead. For example, The Vines. I love them, all their stuff (yes, even their new material that most die hard fans think is shite). And one day I was listening to an interview with the band and they mentioned that Supergrass was a huge influence to them. So I thought, “Hey, if The Vines dig this group, I probably will too!” Not the case, however. I actually waited 3 weeks for the CDs to become available at the library for me and once I gave them a listen, I was absolutely stunned at how much I disliked Supergrass.
This cycle continued on and on with every other band that I enjoyed and looked up to. The list included the likes of The Libertines/Babyshambles/Dirty Pretty Things, The Strokes, Beck, Rancid and many more. And of course, every time I checked out their favourite musicians I was left with a pit in my stomach that felt as though it were growing larger and more detrimental to my health as I listened to more and more crap music.
But then a couple days ago, I came across Spin Magazine’s list of the best albums of 2011, thus far. It was done in August so I was a little late in discovering it, but nonetheless, great stuff because it saved me (at least for the time being). My musical door was opened once again and enriching and foreign sounds enlightened my dull and temporarily miserable life. I was exposed to Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Fucked Up, Smith Westerns and Yuck, all groups that I would have otherwise never heard of (aside from Bon Iver, he is quite popular now).
And for that, I would like to thank you, Spin Magazine. You not only showed me that good music is still out there, you also taught me that you just have to look in the right places.
RECAP – Trip to Chicago for Lollapalooza, 2011. A wild experience that full sentences can’t describe and justify.
Day 1: Experience a violent interrogation at the border going into the states. Those guys are real intense. Then when driving through Detroit, we missed our exit and had to drive through a classic Detroit neighbourhood. And we did not put on the breaks once, running about 5 stop signs so we could get the fuck out! Then we arrived in Chicago at 7am. Didn’t sleep but got wasted!!! Then at night at a pizza shop, after touring the amazing city, we ran into Aaron Paul (Jesse Pinkman from Breaking Bad) – he is the nicest guy ever, very chill. Talked music (Black Lips and Cage The Elephant) with him and had some great pizza!
Day 2: Kick off the day with Young The Giant. Grab lunch and beers, all followed by Foster The People, Skrillex, The Kills and finishing it off with Cold Play. Thought I was actually going to die at Skrillex because it was so packed and hot. People were falling 6 feet from the sky and mosh pits and landing on the metal floors on their heads. And Cold Play was actually quite good.
Day 3: Begin with drinks. Then sprint over to Black Lips where I am at the absolute most front ever. No one in front of me except for the band. Killer set, make eye contact with Cole and he said “What’s up!” Then ran over to the next stage and got my mind blown by Death From Above. Then took a break and rocked out with Eminem (also Bruno Mars and the girl who sings that doctor song).
Day 4: Walking down Michigan Avenue after some breakfast drinks and see Cole from Black Lips walk by. I then stalked him for 6 blocks and finally mustered up the courage to say hello and get a picture. He also remembered me from the show, so cool. Then the best of things! Cage The Elephant. This was by far the best show ever and best band. I was up with the mosh pit the whole time, getting pushed around, jumping and pushing back. Also participated in a circle dance to a chilled out Flow (name of song). Everyone was drenched from the rain, my phone broke for the day and we were can-caning around in a circle with girls dancing in the middle – truly magical. But the best show from the whole weekend – Cage are filled with raw energy and it feels good to rock out with them. Another highlight was for the final song, “Shake Me Down” when Matt sang “even on a cloudy day” and it was pissing rain. Another one was when he said that he was going to remember this moment for the rest of his life. Then when they finished the set, Matt (vocalist) jumped in the crowd and was surfing around. I held him up. Never washing my hands again. And trust me, this was a fucking goat rodeo.
Then I ran over to Arctic Monkeys in the pissing rain and no one was around because the show had been delayed due to weather. But when I got there, they went back on stage and I got within 50 feet of the stage. Phenomenal live band, great songs. And I did not move from this spot for three hours because Foo Fighters were on next. I got soaked, was soaked and my phone was broken, but it was all worth it. Dave Grohl blew me away. The coolest dude… words can’t describe. He then called on Perry (founder of Lolla and Jane’s Addiction vocalist) to come say hey and this further blew my mind.
Super duper weekend aside from almost dying on the way to Chicago going through Detroit at 4 in the morning and getting interrogated at the border. Nice to be back though.
The most recent cinematic phenomenon to sweep the nation, “Hobo With A Shotgun” is exactly what it’s title suggests, a hobo who has a shotgun.
It is by far one of the most violent and gory films I have ever seen. In almost every scene, someone is murdered. Most scenes are much too graphic to even think about.
But the film itself is quite entertaining. An aimlessly wandering homeless man traveling from city to city stumbles upon Hope Town. Now, this town is not hopeful in the slightest as it is overrun with crime, crooked cops and a pedophile Santa (all of whom are blown away by the homeless man and his pump-action shotgun).
Along his little adventure, the elderly homeless man develops an unlikely friendship with a young prostitute. Together, they have hopes of starting a new life together running a grass cutting company, but fist they must battle their way through the corrupt town.
There is blood, and lots of it. There is death, and lots it. And there are also two notable Canadian icons in the film.
First is Ricky from the hit TV show, Trailer Park Boys. Unfortunately he is murdered in the first five minutes of the film. Second is George Stroumboulopoulos from CBC Television’s George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight. He plays a news broadcaster who is killed with a hockey skate – absolutely crazy.
So if you are into Grindhouse films, blood and action, this is the perfect flick for you. Just don’t watch it while eating anything cause it’ll come right back up.
102.1 The Edge studio. By sanchom
For those who don’t know, 102.1 The Edge is Toronto’s radio station for amazing alternative music, and ultimately, for the best music around. They spin tunes by the Strokes, Arcade Fire, Social Distortion, Smashing Pumpkins and the list goes on and on. And the DJ’s are also incredible. Like Fearless Fred, Alan Cross and Josie Dye, just to name a few.
But there is one serious flaw with Toronto’s best radio station – they moved from their prime Yonge Street location to a lakeside location at the very south end of Toronto. Now, it’s only about a 20 minute walk from it’s old location, but still, it’s just not the same.
This past summer, in 2010, the Dirty Heads played at The Edge studio on Yonge. And it was a fantastic little show. There were about 30 people watching the new up and coming band play their hits like “Lay Me Down” and “Believe.” But now whenever The Edge has a band play in it’s studio, it’s just not the same because it’s not in the downtown core of Toronto.
However, much better bands are playing at the new studio. The list includes Mumford & Sons, Arctic Monkeys, Foster the People and many more. Check it out here.
So, you be the judge. Yonge Street or down by the lake?
But as for the Dirty Heads, their set was so great. They sounded incredible live, just like off their records. And they were also very tall, all over 6 foot 5 I would say. Nicest dudes though. Here’s some video of them.
