Toronto Cider Festival 2017

The thing about Toronto summers is that every weekend something is happening somewhere. I'd wager that multiple festivals are happening everyday at weekends. August 26, 2017 was the date for the Toronto Cider Festival (and also the Tamil Festival, Scarborough Afro-Carib Fest, Craft Beer Festival, Taiwan Fest, Korean Harvest Festival, Coconut Festival and Market, Leslieville Beerfest, Bloor Arts Fair, Scarborough Alive with Art fest, and more!)

I didn't even know about the Cider Fest until a day before. We quickly decided that it might be interesting as I love cider but have had difficulty enjoying Canadian ciders due to being spoiled by UK ones. (I used to live in Bristol which is basically known for the best cider in the entire world.) We figured that a festival would be a great chance to sample all sorts that I wouldn't normally pick up at the LCBO.

We ended up arriving just before 7PM and staying 'til after dark. There were a few pretty decent offerings and a few that I just couldn't take (the worst one smelled like urine to me, although it didn't taste like it). My favourite had to be the Muddy Waters 8% scrumpy from Duxbury's, a Meaford brewery. Sulker's kombucha cider was also quite nice to me, especially with my adoration of kombucha (as long as it's not flavoured).

There was even more to Cider Fest than just cider sampling. There was free stuff! Food trucks! Clothing! Now, I'll be honest and I didn't really have a chance to explore all the booths which is something for next year. But there were vendors giving away t-shirts and more! All for a little Instagram post. If I had been paying better attention, I totally would have done that too. Indie88 was giving away cheap sunglasses, stickers, and the best: high fives! I'm sure there was way more stuff but I was intent on drinking cider and hanging in the party zone.

I wasn't sure what the music really was but people really enjoyed it! You had DJs spinning hip-hop and pop throwbacks from the 90s and 00s. There was also a guy doing cover songs with a violin that were a huge hit. Didn't get his name but I think it was William.

Everyone seemed to be having a great time, just dancing, drinking and singing. So, here's to next year!

Please enjoy some photos and check out even more here on my flickr.

1977 Punk Rock Blitz-O-Rama 8 @ The Linsmore Tavern

The Linsmore Tavern at Greenwood and Danforth has always been somewhat of an "avoid" place for me. Having grown up nearby, I can't say there was ever a temptation to venture there. I considered it akin to the Eton or really any number "old man bars" along the east Danforth. Then the other day, my mother gave me a flyer for all the live music coming up. The Blondie tribute caught my eye... And that's how, on the 14th of April 2017, I ended up sitting with friends, surrounded by old punks in what turned out to be a pretty cool venue for local rock music.

It's also how I came to realise I actually really like The Jam? (I can't claim any punk authenticity. Having not even been even close to born in 1977 I considered myself into punk... in the 90s, with the likes of Pennywise, Social Distortion, Rancid, Bad Religion, and The Offspring.) For some reason, I just assumed The Jam was literally a jam band and I've never been particularly into that genre, save the typical late-teenage Phish obsession. Like, do not even talk to me about Dave Matthews Band or I may have to punch you.

Up first were The Jammed consisting of Richard McCarthy ("Filthy Rich") with vocals and guitar, Cleave Anderson (formerly of Blue Rodeo) on drums and Lucas Stagg (of the Lucas Stagg band) on bass and vocals. As expected, it was one The Jam cover after another and people were going wild already.

Soon after, the band was joined by Blondee lead singer, Sarah Dishart to cover a few of Blondie's tunes.

Sarah Dishart in Blondee takes the stage (Nikon D7200, 35mm, 1/200 f1.8, 3200 ISO). One of these days I'll work on lower ISOs and less noise. Any sort of post-processing just seems to exaggerate it.

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After a few tunes, out came The Blanks (Lucas Stagg on guitar/vocals & Drew Cowsill on bass/vocals) to cover some CBGB's classics. Again, I'm not old enough to really know a lot of this stuff but I did know about CBGB's... mostly because a character on The O.C. (Oh, Alex Kelly) wore a CBGB's t-shirt once and I wanted to know what it all meant. After educating myself on the venue and its history just in time for it to close down. Figures. And I gotta say not only did the crowd go wild for "Let's Shake" but I did too -- as it is the only Teenage Head song I actually know. (Thanks, Goldirocks! Those were some fun days being an extra.)

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Then came a surprise... They hadn't been listed on the flyer but the B Girls took the stage in their current form (two of the original members). Lucasta Ross on vocals and Cynthia Ross on bass were complemented by Sam Ferrera on guitar and of course, Cleave Anderson on drums. Again, I had no idea who they were so I googled it today. (You can too!) Turns out they were actually a pretty big deal back in Toronto's punk first wave days. And, there's just something about (old) punk that requires black and white photos, even though I didn't shoot in monochrome.

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The interesting thing is that all the bands that played shared at least one member. (Cleave Anderson joined each one.) It actually made the night seem like it was one big rock jam with members popping in and out as needed.

So, for my first actual trip to the Linsmore, it wasn't bad. Yeah, it's still sort of a dive. Yeah, there are still a lot of old dudes. But the drinks are reasonable and everyone is friendly. Plus, the music was kinda of sick. By the time I left, a younger bunch of punks was finding the place.

I suspect I'll be back again. And again.

Cynthia Ross on bass, B-Girls @ The Linsmore Tavern, Toronto. (Nikon D7200, 20mm, 1/160 f.2.8, 6400 ISO)