New music video pays homage to Toronto's iconic and closed concert venues

A new music video from a Toronto band features unlikely stars: the closed venues of the city.

While a recent Arkells video paid homage to a still-open local No Frills, the members of duo Jo Ryder walked around to various open and closed venues around town to get shots for the video for their song Bliss and Nothing Less.

"The Bliss and Nothing Less video acts as a love letter to the music spaces that have supported live music throughout the years and have had to close their doors (temporarily or otherwise) because of COVID," reads a release about the video.

"It's a nostalgic longing and a realization of the changes that are happening in the city of Toronto."

Venues in the video include The Boat, Round, El Mocambo, Tranzac, Sneaky Dee's and Lee's Palace, and singer Lauralee Sheehan can be seen in a small practice room at the Geary Rehearsal Factory, a well-known practice space used by many musicians in Toronto.

There's even a nod to a infamous loft space on Sterling where bands used to rehearse and perform.

"We recorded the entrance and that little stoop that we all used to hang out on in between sets," Sheehan tells blogTO. "Those were the days."

A release about the video says Jo Ryder was "born from a chat between two old friends reminiscing about their involvement in the DIY music scene" and "aims to have conversations and ask questions about identity and the human condition in the digital era."

The duo is a collaboration between Sheehan and Odale Cooper who currently also plays in indie band The Mooks.