Radar: Women x Women, Nature Month at the ROM, Simmer Down's One Year Anniversary, Monsters of Mock, Mars-1 Infinite Tapestry, Julian Casablancas at the Koolhaus
GALLERY | Women x Women
As anyone who's attended runway shows at this year's Fashion Week can attest, roles in the fashion industry are highly gendered. In other words, women are usually in front of the camera and men are behind it. Women x Women flips the script by presenting the work of twelve Canadian female fashion photographers, with the aim of inspiring like-minded young women to break into a creative field typically dominated by men. An official Fashion Week event, the second annual edition of Women x Women features photos by Malina Corpadean, Anouk Lessard, Lindsey Drennen, Renata Kevah and eight others, who all shot high fashion editorials featuring Canadian designers for the project. After a swanky invite-only reception last night, the show's only public viewing is this afternoon.
Thrush Holmes Empire, 1093 Queen St. West, Free, 11 am - 5 pm
MUSEUM | Nature Month at the ROM
Along with the AGO, the Ontario Science Centre, and the Metro Toronto Zoo, the Royal Ontario Museum is keeping its doors open this Good Friday. April marks the start of Nature Month at the ROM, during which they're presenting green programming, eco-friendly activities, and informative lectures. Tonight is the first Friday Evenings in the Earth Rangers Studio, a weekly event that offers hands-on activities and curator's lectures. You can also check out the newly renovated Bat Cave and the Life in Crisis: Schad Gallery of Biodiversity. Other Nature Month events later this April include Jane Goodall coming to town next week, an evening with Sharkwater director Rob Stewart, and Prowling for Owls on April 30.
Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queens Park, 10 am - 9:30 pm
PARTY | Simmer Down 1 Year Anniversary
Augusta House's most popular dance party celebrates its paper anniversary tonight. After holding it down on their own for a year, DJs Mogpaws and Vjam have decided for the first time to enlist some help in the form of General Eclectic, a DJ who's sweet sounds are familiar to anyone who's been cutting rugs in this city for the last little while. The modest five dollar cover charge will get you all the funk, soul, and hip hop you can handle, and to mark Simmer Down's first birthday the boys are giving out free mix cds so you can recreate all the fun at home.
Augusta House, 152a Augusta Ave., $5, 9:30 pm
MUSIC | Monsters of Mock
Last night, former Motley Crue singer John Corabi played a solo show at Rock 'n Roll Heaven, an obscure metal club in northeast end of the city. It's somewhat ironic then that tonight Crued, Toronto's premiere Motley Crue cover band, is playing a much bigger show at Lee's Palace. Monsters of Mock is a full bill of hard rock cover bands, including Thunderstruck (AC/DC) and Yankee Rose (Van Halen) that will take you back to the glory days of heavy metal and hair bands, if there ever was such a thing. Make no mistake, this is not your average bar band stumbling through some one else's hits. These guys go all the way, with Crued making at least four set and costume changes through the night to represent separate eras of Crue's career. More importantly they can play, and come pretty close to note for note reproductions. The question is, if Corabi is still in town, will he show up, or would Crue meeting Crued cause a rip in the space-time continuum?
Lee's Palace, 529 Bloor St. West, 8 pm, $10
GALLERY | Mars 1 - Infinite Tapestry
The Meta Gallery presents a new exhibition by Mario Martinez, a.k.a. Mars-1, master of organically conceived abstraction, UFO-inspired graffiti artist, and outsider art pioneer. The show, featuring works on canvas, wood, and paper as well as two recent bronze sculptures, pushes the boundaries of the ever-changing style that has made Mars-1 famous in art circles from Portugal to Sao Paolo. It's been said that his imagined landscapes explore the deepest reaches of our imaginations, and if that doesn't sell you on him, apparently his work is in the private collections of Lance Armstrong and Everlast. If it's good enough for the guy who wrote "What It's Like", it's good enough for you.
Meta Gallery, 124 Ossington Ave., April 2 -25, Opening reception tonight 7 pm - 10 pm, Gallery house, Wednesday to Saturday 12 pm - 6 pm, Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm
MUSIC | Julian Casablancas at the Koolhaus
Julian Casablancas is in a tough spot. Ten years after reviving old school rock and roll and starting a mini music revolution with the Strokes' Is This It?, he's looking for some new creative territory. A decade of fame, numerous world tours, a marriage and a child later, it just wouldn't make sense for him to keep writing about drinking 40s at parties anymore. That's why Phrazes of the Young, Casablancas's solo record debut, veers into some unexpected territory, including lyrics about Manhattan's original native inhabitants and even a song lamenting how his actions have affected others (pretty rare for an ice cold front man). No matter how far he's come from the boyish singer of the Strokes's heyday, Casablancas will always be cool. Seeing him live is like watching some rare rock 'n roll animal, an endangered species that will one day be in an enclosure with Lou Reed on one side and Joey Ramone on the other. Casablancas hits up the Koolhaus tonight, and though tickets are sold out there are sure to be scalpers. Not that I condone that kind of thing.
Koolhaus, 132 Queens Quay East, $34.50, 8 pm
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Photo: "Untitled" by ronnie.yip, member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.
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