Whether it is an illusionist or sideshow freak, a rock band in an art gallery or a matinee performance of folk music at one of the cafes along the street, the Parkdale Village Business Improvement Area (PVBIA) has amassed quite a schedule of funky and fun west-end talent to draw you out to Fireside Culture Week.
The second annual Fireside Culture Week starts Feb. 22. It’s a weeklong celebration of art, fashion, food, music and theatre that features the best of best of this artistic nook of Toronto.
Artists bring their unique styles to Fireside Culture Week.
This series of live performance will take place at a number of venues along Queen Street West between Dufferin Street and Roncesvalles Avenue.
The BIA has partnered with Heart and Stroke Foundation as part of their Heart Month events. During Fireside 2010, the PVBIA will be fundraising for Heart and Stroke Foundation by asking attendees at the shows to make a donation as they enter.
There are any number of events planned for each day and evening of Fireside culture week. Visit www.firesidecultureweek.com for an updated schedule.
Here are some highlights:
Nymphetamine – The Sideshow Performer
A falling ovation, as it is called when someone passes out during a performance, is the highest form of praise for a sideshow performer, according to Jennifer Booth.
Booth, who goes by the stage name Nymphetamine, is a circus sideshow performer, a dominatrix by day and self-described freak.
“I always joke that I was always called a freak in high school and now I get paid for it,” said the 31-year-old performer.
A sideshow performer for six years, Nymphetamine performs an intense combination of classic stunts such as cinder block breaks, laying on a bed of nails and walking on broken glass as well as modern stunts such as flesh-hook suspensions and lifting objects with her piercing.
Nymphetamine, who also has a degree in philosophy and training as a paramedic, said she has always had some unusual tastes.
Born and raised in Toronto, Nymphetamine was introduced to the art of sideshow performing by a friend from New York City.
“When I saw him do it I immediately went from ‘You’re absolutely crazy,’ to ‘Hey, that looks like a lot of fun’,” she said.
So she started to explore the art form, which she said was relatively easy to learn.
Now a resident of the Dundas Street and Dufferin Street area, Nymphetamine performs all over the city, usually at night clubs.
“You always get the young guys right up at the front of the stage screaming and wanting to see blood and wanting to see something go wrong,” she said. “And then there are the people who are absolutely fascinated, but happy to stand a ways back from the stage.”
The details around Nymphetamine’s Fireside Culture week performance are yet to be announced.
Visit www.myspace.com/nymphetaminesideshow for more on Nymphetamine.
Jef Kearn – The Urban Flautist
Jef Kearn, 33, takes band geek and turns it urban chic with the soulful sounds of his solo flute songs.
“I started playing about 20 years ago,” he said. “I started taking lessons and I just stuck with it. I kind of felt drawn to it.”
He went to school at Humber College and then York University to study music, but his brand of music isn’t what one would traditionally expect from the flute.
Kearns, who now lives in Mimico, grew up in Chatham listening to broadcasts of urban music radio stations out of Detroit. Before he was a teenager, he was transposing hip-hop lines and verse into the rhythms of his flute.
Now he has crafted a unique style of flute-focused R’n'B that cross genres from modern soul to hip-hop to classic Motown.
His CD of original tracks, On The Level, features nine tracks including I Wanna Be the One (Savage Groove Mix), which spent five weeks in the Top 10 of the Canada National House Music Charts.
Kearns is slated to perform on Friday, Feb. 25 at the Local Kitchen from 8 to 9 p.m.
Visit www.myspace.com/jefkearns for more on Kearns.
Brian Byrne and The Flamming Hoops
You may recognize Brian Byrne’s name as the lead singer of I Mother Earth, but since the band took a hiatus, Byrne has released two solo albums, opened a tattoo shop in Parkdale and performs regularly with his hobby band, The Flaming Hoops.
“The thing we do with the Flaming Hoops is just totally silly fun,” he said. “It is all covers and we cover a bunch of old country classics and on the flip side we cover classic rock, but done country.”
“I just wanted to be part of it,” he said of the Fireside Culture Week. “Anything that is going to help bring people around, because I do love this area… it is so eclectic and crazy.”
Byrne, 35, was chosen as the new lead singer of the Canadian alternative rock band I Mother Earth after singer Edwin left the band in 1997.
The Flaming Hoops is comprised Christian Tanna from I Mother Earth, Gerry Finn from David Usher and Chuck Dailey from The Salads.
“I have always been a massive country fan because that is kind of what I grew up on,” said the Newfoundland native. “All the people in the band have been road dogs forever so this was an opportunity to go play for the weekend without any pressure and not be out on the road promoting your next great project that ultimately leaves you broke and wondering why you do it anyway.”
The shows, he said, are simply fun. The Flamming Hoops cover songs like The Trouper by Iron Maiden, Crazy Train by Ozzy Osborne in a country fashion. They also cover songs by the usual country suspects like Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson.
“We even do Footloose by Kenny Loggins,” he said with a laugh.
Byrne, who lives in Kingsway Village in the city’s west end, is scheduled to perform on Saturday, Feb. 26. The location is yet to be announced.
Visit www.myspace.com/brianbyrne for more on Byrne.
Winston Spear – The Funny Man
Winston Spear loves to dance and apparently people love to watch him do it. The comedian has a video of a Bollywood-inspired dance, which has gotten more than a million hits.
He’ll be bringing his trademark dance moves as well as a few jokes to Parkdale for the Fireside Culture Week.
Spear, 45, is a Canadian standup comedian and actor from the Bloor West and Dundas area.
A working comedian for more than 20 years, Spear was a member of the cast of the popular CTV sketch comedy show Comedy Inc.
“I’m a pretty clean act,” Spear said. “I only have a few dirty jokes.”
Spear is scheduled to perform on Thursday, Feb. 24 during a comedy night, also featuring Jamie Rallison and Parker Seville, at the Snowball Gallery, 1690 Queen St. W., from 7 to 11 p.m.
You can view videos of Spear’s comedy at www.youtube.com.
ByErin Hatfield
Source: InsideToronto.com
