Maybe I’ve been living in this city too long, but I can’t help noticing that Queen Street West is moving further west. Used to be, all the gigs were around Queen and Bathurst, but now ya gotta go to Parkdale to see some bands play. (Well, either there or Ossignton Ave.) One of the new places that’s popped up in the past year or so is called The Shop, right downstairs from hipster restaurant Parts and Labour (1566 Queen Street West). A pre-fab “punk” bar with battered metal barstools, wooden bleachers, an air hockey table and plenty of hipster beers–but no actual stage. Just a rug for bands to put their gear down on. Catching a gig at some dive-bar, jam-space hovel is one thing, building a new venue to look like a shitty basement is another. But hey, you gotta go where the bands are playing, right?
And tomorrow nite, Rhode Island sludge/doom duo The Body is playing there, fresh from its appearance at Montreal’s Mountains of Might fest. The gig was supposed to be at The Garage (The Body’s in The Garage!) but being weary of Sunday nite noise complaints, the organizers decided to switch venues. Thing is, The Shop was already booked, so this one’s starting early. Real early. Doors at 5 pm, and it’s all over by 9, unless you wanna stick around for whoever’s supposed to go on afterwards…
Since there’s limited space on The Rug for a backline, the promoter dug up a pair of bass-less duos to open up from ’round here to open the show. A quick Myspace page perusal has me thinking Mad Ones will be a little outta place, but Indian Handcrafts are intriguing. There’s a Fu Manchu cover on their page, which sounds about as faithful as a no-bass, one-guitar band playing the Fu’s can be. Might be worth getting there early… Only question is when and where do I eat? (And don’t say upstairs!) Where can one find some cheap grub in the Heart of Darkness Parkdale, anyways?
Might hafta be a liquid dinner, methinks.
Peace,
Greg