Whooo! Seeing Stars tonight at Massey Hall! It's been a pleasure seeing them play many times in all types of venues, but playing Massey Hall is kind of special.
I tend to get a little photo-happy at Stars shows. I can't help it, they put on a great live show with a deep songbook of emotional, joyous pop. And it's hard to find a better, more charming duo than Torquil Campbell and Amy Milan.
Considering it's only 5 years old, Nuit Blanche has certainly made an impression on Toronto. And just as we always, there's highlights and things to improve.
The Task by Chris Shepherd proves to be one of the most fascinating projects I saw that night. A man stacks and unstacks cement blocks all night. It's not in the effort of building anything, but simply the task. Nothing will be built, nothing destroyed.
Big O by Žilvinas Kempinas. Like The Task, it was beautiful in its simple concept: a loop of magnetic tape precariously balanced between a series of fans. It wavers, it flows, but still remains aloft. It's like some simple game we played as children, growing anxious every time it touches the floor that the game will be over.
So what to improve on for next year? Well, there's the annual complaining about drunks and crowds, but not much can be changed about that: it's a public event. If it can't be changed at homecoming, it won't be changed much here.
For constructive criticism that's actually realistic, I found Torontoist had a good list of ideas to improve the event next year:
I liked their suggestion to close off Queen: closing Yonge was a new change for Nuit Blanche which I hope to see next year, but it's time to consider closing Queen Street to traffic from Church to Dufferin. With so much foot traffic going through, it was impossible for streetcars to get through. Close off Queen, make Dundas and King "streetcar only" and make the TTC free for the night.
It's all night, not late night: as in previous years, I found myself at 4am standing where an installation should have been, only to find they pulled up stakes and left. And some of the installations, such as Koerner Hall, were merely on auto-pilot with pre-recorded music playing on a player piano. If the event is marketed as "until sunrise", we'd count on the installations to still be there until sunrise. I especially admire installations which are designed to reach their climax at dawn.
Nuit Navigating: this was the first time using the Nuit Navigator on my iPhone. I stand by the hope that the Toronto International Film Festival adopt a similar app, but while I found the Navigator handy for planning, I wasn't using it as much that night aside from the occasional GPS check. Part of that was it didn't seem the app was compatible with the new multitasking OS for the iPhone, causing me to restart the app every time I used it - I can understand how that happened, probably not much time to update the program given the new system was a late summer release. But I found in order to access the "My Night" planner, I had to log in each and every time I started the app. If that kink can be worked out, all the better.
Another idea would be to integrate the My Night into the maps - show pins for all the installations, use a different colour for the installations corresponding to the My Night planner, and give us the ability to "check" off installations as we go.
Best advice learned from that night? If you intend to last the 12 hour event, stick to water and coffee, skip the energy drinks and alcohol. The latter two make you crash pretty hard - in previous years, around the 4am mark. Seeing a few installations and then taking a late dinner break also helped too.
Each year Nuit Blanche evolves, and they listen to public feedback. If you have some suggestions, be sure to let them know. Myself, I definitely will be diving into to next year.
Feeling re-energized by Daniel Lanois's performance, 3am seemed like a good time to visit the installations along Bloor Street in Zone A. One subway ride later, and we arrived at the Royal Conservatory of Music.
At the RCM and the lush lights of Aurora continues to draw audiences in (a5); calming by the2scoops via iPhone at 10/3/2010 7:28:28 AM3:28 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010
The atrium of the Royal Conservatory of Music was filled with these remarkable creations, with calm waves of light and sound reacting to the crowds passing underneath. Aurora was created by Philip Beesley Architect Inc. as "a responsive forest of light". The mechanics of it looked fascinating, but what we found ourselves in was a technological Northern Lights as we were washed in strangely calming sounds.
We made our way to the auditorium of the Royal Conservatory of Music, hoping to find some live performance, but only to find a player piano on stage. It was the first of many disappointing installations that seemed to shut down before the sunrise. Some installations closed not by choice, such asIskootāo, a performance in the heart of Yorkville that was reportedly ended after noise complaints from a neighbourhood condo. Some installations just seemed to pull up stakes early, such asKortuneFookie, which was nowhere to be found at 4:30am.
Finally got a look at Lower Bay Station. Sadly no Starbucks built yet by the2scoops via iPhone at 10/3/2010 8:14:16 AM4:14 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010
One installation that was open and still drawing an audience was the Interactive landscape Dune set in Lower Bay Subway station. A relic of a 3-line subway plan that was never implemented (Wikipedia - Lower Bay Station), Lower Bay Station is seldom open to the general public. But for Nuit Blanche, it was opened up and turned into "an interactive landscape of light".
The lights resembled a wetland full of glowing bullrushes and flickered with each noise from the audience, but the real show was when the subway trains passed above through Bay Station.
Only our 2nd coffee of the night, the hopping the subway down to the TIFF Lightbox in Zone C by the2scoops via iPhone at 4:46 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010
By 5am, the streets had taken on the air of post-apocalyptic zombie movie. Survivors staggered the streets, in search of the installations still open. Empty cans of energy drink piled into the gutters. As much as we wanted to check back in to some of the Zone C exhibits like Erik Satie’s Vexations (1893) and The Task, but we likely only had enough energy to take in one more stop. For us, our goal was to check out the brand new Bell Lightbox complex at King and John. By all reports, the new home to the Toronto International Film Festival was a stunning addition to Toronto, and I hadn't had a chance to see it yet.
The building was, as promised, a testament to film. We found ourselves in a beautiful, bright space, warmly greeted by the volunteers. We took a peek at the The Essential Cinema exhibit and grabbed a seat for some stunningly disturbed clips from their Grindbox! trailer screening (Make Them Die Slowly is a very messed up film that surely influenced the Saw series).
Shaking off the Grindbox, we sat down in the cinema that was home to Singin' in the Dark. Early in the night, a host was rowsing the crowd in a singalong to traditional movie musicals, and later more eclectic selections. By 6am, the audience was comfortable just taking in the clips, laughing and cheering the stranger selections. At the start, we had scenes from "Reservoir Dogs" and "Blue Velvet", charming clips from "500 Days of Summer" and "Almost Famous", and then just outright weird clips like "Clockwork Orange". To end the show, and the clip that finally got some singing from the crowd (or at least me), it was Always Look On The Bright Side of Life from "Life of Brian".
As we were leaving the Lightbox, a volunteer asked if we had seen the Atom Egoyan's 8 ½ Screens. It wasn't really on our radar, but was part of the exhibits marking the opening of the Lightbox. We told the volunteer no, and he in turn responded like we needed to catch the last helicopter out of Saigon. "It's your last chance, it closes tonight! Go, run to the elevator!!!!"
And you know, he was right, it was pretty spectacular. The cinema experience is inverted: from a projector mounted on the stage in front of the main screen, a key sequence from Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2 is shown. It flickers out into the cinema seats where various screens in all shapes and forms are hung.
It was something very unique to see, and we would have missed out on something cool if we hadn't listened to the volunteer. We made sure to thank him for his enthusiastic directions on the way out.
Thanks to all for a terrific Nuit Blanche. And with the last notes and the first glow of sunrise, adieu by the2scoops via iPhone at 6:49 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010
As the sky glowed with the pre-dawn, we passed through Nathan Phillips Square where Daniel Lanois was overseeing the teardown of his installation. Within an hour or so, the city would be restored to its normal state, and bleary eyed, despite a mixed bag of an evening, I absolutely look forward to the next year.
The morning was creeping up on us, and I was looking forward to taking advantage of a late checkout time from the Metropolitan Hotel, and all-day breakfast at a favourite diner.
I'll post a little wrap-up tomorrow with some final thoughts on Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010.
The hours between 11pm and midnight were not kind to us.
We fought our way north for the better part of an hour, browsing the Atrium on Bay and make it into Ryerson. By now the crowds were thick with drunken partiers, giving the night a bacchanalian flavour. And I don't mean that as a compliment. The streets were noticeably strewn with garbage, discarded samples from the corporate advertisers. The exhibits around Ryerson were, for the most part, underwhelming in scale and our Plan B falls apart when I couldn't find any sign of the shuttle to The Distillery District. All in all, about an hour and a half bogged down in the crowds, nothing "cool" seen, and the wind starting to flag from our sails.
But there's hope yet. We dove straight for two of the installations put on by well-known musicians. Sight Unseen was the more abstract of the two, from Lee Ranado of the band Sonic Youth and Leah Singer creating a fluid musical and visual landscape within the confines of the Old City Hall. Then it was on to Nathan Phillips Square.
Packed in at B1 Later At The Drive-in w/ Daniel Lanois & friends drawing us in by the2scoops via iPhone at 10/3/2010 4:58:59 AM12:58 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010
Daniel Lanois's installation Later That Night At The Drive-In turned Nathan Phillips Square into his personal canvas: screens and speakers of every shape and size filled transformed the square into a forest of sound, abstract video collages playing. We made our way to the small stage set up in the heart of the installation where we found the man himself at work. Every hour or so, Daniel Lanois and friends would play a few songs, their images projected onto the screens. It was like seeing him jam a house party that he invited a few thousand close friends to.
Considering this is only its 5th year, Nuit Blanche has become a Toronto mainstay in a relatively short time. I think it's the romance of the concept: 12 hours from sunset to sunrise when the city is teeming with people until the wee hours, roaming the streets in search of art and spectacle. And like any romance, there's good (witnessing a city at play, seeing the gleam of discovery in people's eyes) and the bad (the drunks, navigating the crowds, not every installation connects with me). But every year, the streets are thriving and alive at 4am and I want to be a part of that.
This year I served as one of the Nuit Narrators for the event, sharing the night as I went. It proved to be a great motivator for staying out for the whole event. Also, it helped piece together the next afternoon after 4 hours sleep.
If you want a few tips for getting through the night: wear good walking shoes, dress in layers, and pack some supplies. On the supply side, packing light is good as you're on the move and need to maneuver through the crowds.
6:51pm all signed in at the Scotiabank Nuit Blanche centre at Yonge and Dundas. One of the changes this year was Yonge Street being closed to traffic from Bloor to Front Street, and it proved to be a highlight, walking down the middle of the road at 7pm. Pedestrians turned out in the thousands to take advantage of the festivities. Woe unto any drivers who didn't get the memo.
By 7:15PM I've met up with my partner in Nuit, Ms Rita, and we're off into the night. It takes a little while to come up with a plan of action: the challenges are 1) don't miss anything cool; and 2) avoid those areas that get clogged with crowds. You'll see later I forget about #2.
We decide to plunge south into Zone C, curated by Christof Migone. When the exhibition is named "SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO", how can I resist.
Auto Lamp, C1 shining into the night. Ms Rita wants to make it into a Lite Brite
by the2scoops via iPhone at Saturday, October 02, 2010 8:00:51 PM
7:45PM we reach Yonge and Queen and the sun's gone down. The twilight is all the better to take in Auto Lamp by Kim Adams.
A van turned into a landlocked lighthouse, it's skin punctured with holes and insides filled with light. It shines out into the night:
"The vehicle's consistency is compromised, it's barely there, it's more holes than whole. "
C2 scape with 6 and 7 sound installation sounds like it's stalking us, the sound of breathing altered into something menacing
by the2scoops via iPhone at Saturday, October 02, 2010 8:31:46 PM
C14 The Task at 8:32pm moving bricks back and forth all night without building anything. An endurance test?
by the2scoops via iPhone at Saturday, October 02, 2010 8:34:25 PM
South of Adelaide we find one of the open call projects selected by the curator. The Task by Chris Shepherd proves to be one of the most fascinating projects I saw that night. A man stacks and unstacks cement blocks all night. It's not in the effort of building anything, but simply the task. Nothing will be built, nothing destroyed.
We talked with the artist, Chris Shepherd, about how the repetition of the task is a meditative thing, as much mental as physical. He found the murmer of the crowds akin to white noise, nice and comforting. Chris wasn't doing the task for a purpose, "I'm just doing it because I want to do it."
C13 Wait Until You See ... I can't spoil what's behind the curtain by the2scoops via iPhone at Saturday, October 02, 2010 8:46:40 PM
As a perk of my role as Nuit Narrator, I was given a media pass that allowed us to bypass any lines and head straight in to an installation. At "Wait Until You See This", my "skip the line" media pass was my undoing. This installation was based on the idea of lining up, the anticipation. And when you line up for 5, 10, 30 minutes, and finally peek behind the curtain?
Well, I skipped the line and wait straight in, to see what everyone else would eventually see: nothing.
My reaction was amusement, but what would my reaction be if I had waited like the piece intended me to?
Wedged between two buildings, three enormous inflatable clown heads.
Creepy but satisfyingly held at a distance, stuck with no place to go. One of the most popularly photographed installations at Nuit Blanche.
C10 1850 where the waters of Lake Ont reached by the2scoops via iPhone at Saturday, October 02, 2010 9:08:25 PM
At the southern tip of Zone C, we arrive at the point where Lake Ontario once reached. The water once stretched inland to Front. Those days are gone, but the shimmer of blue lights creates a ghost of that long gone time.
C9 Vexations the cycle continues song, sculpture, song ,sculpture by the2scoops via iPhone at Saturday, October 02, 2010 9:18:16 PM
I seemed drawn to these installations themed around repetition and time. Vexations was a remarkable project. Built around a composition which instructs the player to play 840 repetitions, this installation had to accomplish the task in 12 hours. 2 pianists, 12 hours, each of the 840 repetitions printed on an individual sheets which, after playing, were taken and transformed into a paper sculpture.
by the2scoops at Saturday, October 02, 2010 9:34:28 PM
In the Bay Adelaide Centre we found what was one of my favourite installations, Big O by Žilvinas Kempinas. Like The Task, it was beautiful in its simple concept: a loop of magnetic tape precariously balanced between a series of fans. It wavers, it flows, but still remains aloft. It's like some simple game we played as children, growing anxious every time it touches the floor that the game will be over.
Area around Ryerson is crowded, prob a good time to check out The Distillery District by the2scoops via iPhone at 12:16 AM Sunday, October 03, 2010
Greatly pleased by the pieces we found in Zone C, we take a break for food, and that's when we're struck by indecision: it's 10:30pm, either we head back into the main zones where it's likely the crowds are out, or head to one of the outlying areas like Liberty Village or The Distillery District. We decided to check out the exhibits around Ryerson University, which in retrospect was a wrong turn.
It's the 5th Annual Scotiabank Nuit Blanche tonight, with Toronto awash in public art and people from 7pm Saturday until 7am Sunday. As I have done for the 3 previous Nuit Blanche events, I'll be out and about. What's new this year is that I've been selected by the City of Toronto to be one of their Nuit Narrators, providing live updates, tweets, photos and commentary throughout the night. I'm one of 10 narrators, with all our content pulled up under the dedicated Nuit Narrator stream.
To follow the Nuit Narrator stream, either while you're on the streets or from home, go to:
You can be a part of the action to with the Nuit Nation stream. This is the moderated stream where the public provides the content from various avenues:
TWEET: use #snbTO (other Nuit events are happening around the world, so this is the hashtag to identify the Toronto event) and the tweet will enter the moderated stream
EMAIL: send messages and photos to share@scribblelive.com
Makes you with some other big Toronto events that have you running all over would get something like this. (Toronto International Film Festival, I'm looking at you.)
So a little housekeeping before I dive back into this blog. I know I've been off for a bit, and that's just life getting higher priority for a bit. But I think I'm back for a while here now. I'm going to keep blogging newer things, but also dive back a bit and fill in some blank spots that I missed during my absence. Anyway, for those that stuck around, thanks. For all those newbies, welcome.
It's chilly out there this Valentine's weekend. What better way to warm up with your sweetie this Saturday night then taking in the newest show from Toronto's premiere cabaret burlesque troupe, Les Coquettes, in a show they call Love Story.
With the ladies and gentlemen of Les Coquettes, your guaranteed to be tantalized. I was first swayed by their charms at the Spiegel show at Harbourfront in summer 2007, where I described the troupe as "playful, bawdy, lusty, and glamorous performance; choreographed titillation in beautiful costumes, with the women (and guy) enticing the audience with the old “you give them a little bit, you take it back; you show them a little more, you take it back”. They put the tease in striptease".
Can you think of any group better suited to tell you a Love Story?
On Valentines’ weekend, Toronto’s premiere cabaret burlesque troupe weaves together some of history’s greatest tales of love. Experience the triumph and heartache in an evening of song, dance, striptease and cirque.
One night only! Two spectacular shows! Bring your sweetie! Meet your soul mate! Sit between your wife and... girlfriend and hope they hit it off!
credit Ryan Visima for the above 2 photos
Saturday February 13th The LOT 100A Ossington Avenue Early Show - 7:00 pm Lounge open at 6:00 Late Show – 9:30 pm Tickets - $25-50* To order tickets please visit http://www.lescoquettes.com
* $50 VIP tickets for this fundraiser include priority seating at a cabaret table and a complimentary specialty cocktail. Tax receipts for $25 available upon request.
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