Live Music : Sylvan Esso at The Danforth Music Hall

My friend Andrea and I had a very fun time on Tuesday night, at the Sylvan Esso concert at The Danforth Music Hall.

The two of us seeing this show together was the closing of a circle, as it was Andrea who first introduced me to the band. That was back in early January, while we were playing Nick's made-up music game. It's a game we play when fellow music loving friends come over -- using the Xbox, through which we access Youtube, everyone takes turns with the controller, selecting a song that they like, which we then all watch the video for. It's fun to see where people are going with their choices, as they type. Some people prefer picking oldies-but-goodies and others (me included) enjoy new music. The rules are that we listen to the entire song and that the choice goes around the room, one song each at a time. It's a really good way to make sure everyone gets a chance to hear music they like, and to listen to stuff you wouldn't ordinarily hear. We have been known to play this game for hours!

So, when we played during our post-Christmas visit with Andrea (written about in this post), she chose something by a band I'd not heard before, which I loved right off. I guess you can tell where this is going ... yes, the band was Sylvan Esso. The song was "Die Young".

A couple of weeks later I saw that they were coming to town, so I went to Rotate This and got us some tickets.

Then, we waited nearly seven months until the show.

And it was great!

While this electronic pop band from North Carolina is made up of only two people, the married couple Emelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, they were small but mighty. The audience was full of energy the whole time. Everyone clearly loved their performance.

The fact that the place was packed and everyone was dancing, sure made it warm. I can't remember ever being that hot at a concert before, actually. The crowd (at least around us) was clean though, so while we were all sweating, it still smelled fresh. Maybe TMI but I think it's worth mentioning, since I've been to a concert in that same venue where the same could not be said!

My favourite Sylvan Esso songs are: Radio, Die Young, and Coffee, if you want to give them a listen. All their recordings are on Spotify and many are on YouTube.

Here's a short Youtube video compilation from the very show we saw, which gives you a good look at what Sylvan Esso are like when performing live. (Thank you for posting it, HeadfullofFungus!)

Here are my photos ...

Coming to You From a Saddened but Strong City

ass="aligncenter size-full wp-image-40168" src="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/kensington-market-street-sign-toronto.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480">I began this post last Saturday, fully intending to get it up early in the week. I've since gone back and rewritten it a couple of times, at one point thinking I would scrap it completely.It's a story about a Toronto neighbourhood close to home -- a place that Nick and I love, and go to all the time -- Kensington Market.On Canada Day, July 1st, there was a shooting in the market which left a 19 year old man dead and three others wounded. Four men were seen escaping the area.No details have been reported about the injured, beyond that two of them had minor wounds and the other was hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries. However, the market is a popular and busy place, so I imagine that at least one of those hurt was an innocent bystander.The incident was said to be gang related, possibly in retaliation of another shooting the evening before, that was also much too close to home. Two men were killed and an innocent woman was wounded. That one happened on Queen Street West, a mere 100 yards from the front door of the first home I shared with Nick.Looking at the crime scene pictures taken in Kensington Market in the news, just beyond the yellow tape, I can see exact places I've stood. And I can't help but think how easily I could have been there on July 1st.  In fact, I spent last Canada Day in the market, shopping, having lunch and then drinks on a patio with my friend Meghan.I realized that it's been over a year since I've featured this unique and interesting part of Toronto, so a couple of weeks after the shooting, I accompanied Nick on one of his regular shopping trips to get supplies for his favourite hobby of cooking, specifically to take pictures.My goal was to share photographs that demonstrate that bad men with guns cannot stop the beating heart of a vibrant neighbourhood. They may cause things to pause for a short time, while the community deals with the tragic outcome of their selfish, despicable acts, but they won't scare us into leaving our streets to them. We are strong and we will fight.That was what I aimed to express as of last Saturday. Then, as everyone in the city and many from around the world know, another, considerably more horrifying, shooting took place in Toronto on Sunday night, when a man with gun walked along a bustling section of the Danforth, aiming, shooting, wounding and killing.As you can see, I have decided to go ahead with my post about Kensington Market and the resilience and strength of the good people who go there, live there and work there. However, now my message of sorrow, hope and optimism has expanded to include all places, in our community and yours. Life is challenging enough without the horror that accompanies people intent on doing harm.

Summerlicious at Peoples Eatery

* * * Update - Peoples Eatery has permanently closed. * * *

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We had the rare opportunity to have dinner with my older brother and his girlfriend last week. They live a plane ride away so we don't get to see them often.

I suggested Peoples Eatery mainly because I really enjoyed it there in January, when my friend Meghan introduced it, but also because I'd seen that they were participating in the Summerlicious Restaurant Event.

The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair at Nathan Phillips Square

My love for The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is long standing. Now in its 57th year, this weekend-long event, packed with tented booths featuring the work of so many talented artists, is held annually in Nathan Phillips Square (in front of City Hall, beside the old City Hall).

I first attended the art fair as a teenager, when my friends and I wandered from The Eaton Centre, where we'd gone for a shopping trip. I grew up in Malton, west of the city, and every few months or so, we'd make a big trip downtown, taking the bus to the Kipling Subway station, and then the train downtown. Our afternoons usually involved a walk along Yonge Street, a visit to what was, in our opinion, the best shopping mall ever, a hamburger at Wendy's, and then a bit more shopping before heading home. The time we happened upon the outdoor art fair, we'd forgone the after lunch shopping and decided to walk westward along Queen Street West. We were quite thrilled to spot the tidy rows of tents in Nathan Phillips Square.

I bought a small ceramic plate during that first visit, glazed in shimmery shades of royal blue and bottle green. I thought it was one of the lovliest things I'd ever seen. I was pretty sad when, years later, my boss accidentally broke it when he and his wife were over for dinner. I'd been using it as a soap dish in the washroom and when he went to use the soap it had stuck to the dish, which ended up smashing on the floor. It was my fault because I knew the soap had a tendency to stick to that dish, but it looked so pretty. Anyway, I was sad about the breakage, but of course, told him not to worry about it at all.

Since that first visit, I've tried to get to this annual fair as often as I can. One year, shortly after Nick and I had gotten engaged (we were engaged three months after meeting on a blind date in November 1998, and married within the year), we went together. That time I bought a print that still hangs in our living room today -- this one, by artist Isabelle Mignault. Regular readers (thank you) will have seen it in photos of our living room many times, so you already know we really like it!

While we don't make it every year, we have been many times in the twenty years since, enjoying a walk around, admiring all the impressive works and picking up gifts.

This year, the TOAF occurred the weekend of July 6th and we went on the Sunday. As you can see by the photos, it was a brilliantly sunny day. What you can't see but we all certainly felt, was that it was absolutely broiling out!

Here's a little look ...

The Banksy Art Exhibition and Out for Lunch

c="http://www.loulou.to/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/old-warehouse-building-in-the-junction-neighbourhood-of-toronto-where-banksy-art-show-was-held.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-40017">My friend Julie offered me her second ticket to The Banksy Art Exhibition currently on in Toronto -- lucky me! We went on Thursday.As most will know, Banksy is an England-based graffiti artist, political activist and film director, whose identity is unknown. I read that the artist's own mother doesn't know that her son is the world famous Banksy, thinking instead that he's a house painter and decorator. His choice to remain anonymous probably began because graffiti is illegal in most places, and, I imagine, continues because anonymity would deliver a much easier way of life for a man who has become one of the world's most famous living artists.It is believed that he comes from Bristol England, and I estimate that he's about 40 now. He began creating his brilliant works of graffiti in England the mid to late 90s. In 1997 he met a photographer named Steve Lazarides, when Lazarides was asked to follow him around the streets and take pictures for a now defunct indie magazine called Sleaze Nation.Based on the decade long relationship between the two, during which Lazarides acted as his agent, the two hit it off. Lazarides opened a studio and shop, where Bansky prints were produced and sold, along with the work of other street artists. This coincided with interest in street art taking off and quickly lead to remarkable sums being paid by collectors for Banksy originals and limited-edition prints. By early 2008 an original called "Laugh Now" sold at auction for 228k pounds, the equivalent of about $450k Canadian at the time.So, based on my estimation of Banksy's age, by the time he was 30, he was creating artworks that collectors were willing to pay nearly half a million dollars for.The relationship between Banksy and Lazarides came to a complete end around that time, indicating that commercial success was not the route that Banksy chose to follow. He has subsequently made it clear that his motivation to make art is in no way financial. Rather, he is intent on delivering an ongoing commentary on the human condition and injustice in this world, though his ongoing clever and humourous street art.I personally became aware of Banksy, when he came to Toronto in May of 2010, and created seven pieces in different locations downtown. I became caught up in the story, as most were painted over or destroyed nearly as quickly as they went up (boo!). Two of those works remain, one is where he originally placed it, now protected behind a piece of plexi-glass, and the other, which was painted on a concrete, is enclosed within a display case, slab of concrete and all, somewhere in the city's underground pathway. I vow to go find "our" two Banksys and I'll report back once I do.While he has chosen not to pursue success in the traditional art world, Banksy continues making his statements. In fact, according to his personal Instagram account, he is currently busy at work leaving treasures hidden in the streets of Paris.I encourage you to look at photos of his awesome street-art on his site. There's a slide show of 115 images that are so so good.