January 21st-24th Come Up To My Room @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. CUTMR takes over all floors of the historic Gladstone Hotel, inviting the creative community to take the temperature of contemporary practice and to explore the space between design, fine art, craft, landscape design, performance, and sound installation. Open 6-9 pm Thursday, 11-10 pm Friday, 11-6 pm and 7-10 pm (opening reception) Saturday, and 11-5 pm Sunday. Tickets available online.
WEDNESDAY
7 pm Music Bingo @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. A FREE weekly event combining the love of music with the traditional bingo format. Each player receives a Music Bingo card which consists of an assortment of songs. Instead of calling out numbers, they play the music! Singing along encouraged.
9 pm Bowie Night @ Cherry Cola’s Rock ‘n’ Rolla Cabaret & Lounge, 200 Bathurst St. All request Bowie night! Bowie videos on the big screen and drink specials.
10 pm Sore Hands, Hidden Tears @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Gripe about the people in your life and drown your tears until you feel like picking yourself off the barstool to create new regrets, pain, and suffering. There’ll be a soundtrack of classic country to help you along.
10 pm Homebased Pop Up @ Bar Fancy, 1070 Queen St. W. Toronto’s premier hip-hop party is back for one night. DJs James Redi and Jon Chetty on the decks.
10 pm Karaoke @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Karaoke! Jessica Upton Crowe and Tom Avis host! Will this be the week someone finally sings “My Baby Takes The Morning Train”?
THURSDAY
5 pm Adult Colouring Workshop @ The Gladstone Hotel Melody Bar, 1214 Queen St. W. Let your inner child out and kick it old school with the Gladstone’s adult colouring-in every Thursday from 5 pm to close! Grab a beer and groove to some tunes while trying to stay in the lines. All supplies included.
10 pm Studio TBT @ The Steady, 1051 Bloor St. W. Bad girls, Proud Marys, Blue Jean babies, L.A ladies… everyone is invited to get down at Studio TBT! Disco, soul, funk, and glam tunes. Suck and Blow contest at 1 am with a mystery prize.
10 pm Get Lo @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. The secret is out and now we know why Gretchen Weiners’ hair was so big! Bangs & Blush bring you the ULTIMATE 2000s dance party, GET LO! So slap on your Von Dutch hat and get ready for a total ear assault because your Thursdays will never be the same!
10 pm Strangelove @ Early Mercy, 540 King St. W. The infamous Strangelove party has arrived at King West’s newest bar/restaurant, Early Mercy. Join hosts Jonathan C and Josh Seaton as they enter the unseen, the society in the dark.
FRIDAY
7 pm Drunken Cinema Presents: Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker @ The Steady, 1051 Bloor St. W. Moonwalk your way to The Steady to celebrate one of the weirdest movies in history by playing a movie drinking game for Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker! There will be a raffled prize, gourmet popcorn, a themed cocktail, and of course, classic MJ tracks! Groups of four or more recommended for the drinking game. $5 (includes game cards, props, and free popcorn).
9 pm Sorry Not Sorry: A Bieber Dance Party @ Studio Bar, 824 Dundas St. W. A Justin Bieber dance party for all the Beliebers and party people! DJ Lacapone and Max Zims will be playing JB mixed with all the best dance floor anthems all night. $10 advance tickets available online.
10 pm Grilled Cheese @ Dundas Video, 831 Dundas St. W. Grilled Cheese is back! New venue, same cheesy party. DJs James Redi and Jon Chetty hold it down on the decks with hip-hop, RnB, reggae, trap, house, Motown, and funk tunes while the George Forman holds it down front and centre with a stack of cheesy slices and a fresh loaf. That’s right – FREE GRILLED CHEESE ON THE DANCE FLOOR!
10 pm Fast Times @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. Fast Times is back by popular demand! Featuring the best ’80s new wave, pop, rock, funk, and electro-pop for your aural pleasures. Joining DJ Tweed on the decks is Mr. Shawn Disgrace, the proprietor of Disgraceland.
10 pm All That @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. A ’90s night like no other! DJs Streets and LK play mostly hip-hop, dirty R&B, and club kid jams. $5.
10 pm Brass Tacks @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W.Diggy the DJ throws down hip-hop bangers all night long! $5.
10 pm Get Buck @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Hip-hop, soul, RnB, soca, dancehall, and deep grooves with DJ Nino Brown.
10 pm Stones Place Friday Nights @ Stones Place, 1255 Queen St. W. Friday night party with DJ Blush! Dance all night to the best of ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s rock ‘n’ roll, soul, and pop at one of Toronto’s most legendary dance venues in the city of Toronto. Bring those dancing shoes – you’ll be sure to leave sweaty and smiling. $5.
11 pm Motown Party @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. Motown Party’s suited resident DJs play the best and brightest in Motown, soul, funk, and modern edits all night flanked on each side by beautiful backup dancers while archival footage is mixed on the spot to get you on the dance floor! Expect to hear some old favourites and rare grooves from the likes of Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross & The Supremes, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Four Tops, The Temptations, and more. $10.
SATURDAY
11 am The Trinity Bellwoods Flea: Local Food Edition @ Studio Bar, 824 Dundas St. W. The Trinity Bellwoods Flea is back with a fresh lineup of local artisans and vendors, music, and cocktails! This month, they’re focusing on good ol’ fashioned local food. They’ll still have fashion, vintage, and handmade vendors you love, but are throwing in a whole lot of local food vendors to shake things up. Bring your appetite! As always, admission is free and four legged friends are welcome. Until 6 pm.
8 pm DJ Skate Nights: Wavelength x Synthesexer @ Natrel Rink at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen’s Quay W. Sharpen your skates and skills on the Natrel Rink as Toronto’s best winter block party returns to Harbourfront Centre! This week, Small World Music and DJ medicineman promise to deliver a cross-cultural concoction to sizzle your skates and groove you deeply into the heart of Toronto’s waterfront rink.
8:30 pm GUTS Winter Dance @ The Steady, 1051 Bloor St. W. Digital feminist magazine GUTS is throwing another funky fundraiser to help pay their contributors and keep the party going! Come early for the conversation, stay for the hot tunes and a big bad dance party with DJs Ace Dillinger, Chandler Levack, and No Cops. Featuring amazing door prizes and Canadian-made tote bags for sale. $10 at the door (but no one will be turned away).
8 pm Great Poets Series: Reflections on Sultan Shah Khatayi @ Aga Khan Museum, 77 Wynford Dr. It’s impossible to speak of the arts of Muslim civilizations without considering the art of poetry: for centuries, poets have influenced music, dance, and visual art in all its forms. Ali Riza and Hüseyin Albayrak are modern-day troubadours and heirs of the Ashik tradition in Anatolia. Together with Kiya Tabassian and Pooria Pournazeri, virtuosos of setar and tanbour, they have mapped out a voyage into the heart of Anatolia and Persia via the passionate poetry of Sultan Shah Khatayi. Tickets start at $40 for adults, $32 for students/seniors.
10 pm Love Design Party @ The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St. W. Come Up To My Room returns for the 13th year in a row to pack all four floors of the Gladstone with site-specific, immersive art and design installations over four days. And how do we celebrate Toronto’s favourite alternative art and design event? With a party, of course! Join the Gladstone for the opening reception and explore all four floors – then drink and dance the night away in the Ballroom while admiring work by world-renowned artist Tom Dixon. DJs Denise Benson and Joe Blow throw down while you celebrate all that is art and design.
10 pm Off The Rip @ The Shop under Parts & Labour, 1566 Queen St. W. Rap, R&B, grime, and house with Rollie (Cadence Weapon) and DJ Slavalanche. Free before 11 pm, $5 after.
10 pm In Touch @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Get in touch with your party self. DJ Andrea Winkler spinning everything guaranteed to move your ass.
10 pm Shake, Rattle & Roll @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Spend the night together with the Bangs & Blush ladies! ’60s pop, soul and rock ‘n’ roll to drink, dance, and get messy to. $5.
10 pm F’unreal @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. Music for your dancing pleasure with pals Well Said, Slater, L-Sos, Kek, and Ty. $5.
10 pm Pressure Drop Meets Footprints @ Double Double Land, 209 Augusta Ave. Pressure Drop and Footprints join forces for a night of killer Jamaican sounds: ska, rocksteady, roots, rub-a-dub, dubwize, and dancehall. This is a vinyl-only event, to maximize your listening and dancing pleasure. $5 before 11 pm, $10 after.
10 pm Beam Me Up Disco: Édition Spéciale @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. Celebrating the best of the global disco spectrum with caribbean grooves, afro-disco, mediterranean boogie, sovetik sleaze, japanese jazz-funk, and brazilian breaks soundtracking the soirée. Residents A Digital Needle and Cyclist take the reins on this planet-spanning party.
10 pm Stones Place Saturday Nights @ Stones Place, 1255 Queen St. W. Saturday night party with DJ Blush! Dance all night to the best of ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s rock ‘n’ roll, soul, and pop at one of Toronto’s most legendary dance venues in the city of Toronto. Bring those dancing shoes – you’ll be sure to leave sweaty and smiling. $5.
11 pm Shake A Tail @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. ’60s pop, rock, soul, funk, garage, ska, ANYTHING! Always humid. $5.
11 pm Stuck On Stupid @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. DJs Fase and Dougie Boom throw a no-holds-barred, anything-goes, sky’s-the-limit, all-out dance-a-thon! Expect hits and not-so-hits, jams old and new. $10.
SUNDAY
7 pm Brass Facts Trivia @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Test your knowledge and win prizes! Hosted by Famous Kirk Hero. Until 10 pm.
~ For event submissions, email Caitlyn Holroyd at caitlyn_holroyd@hotmail.com