Oh man, what a busy week for all Toronto socialites/party-go-ers and music junkies a-like. So much has gone on these last 4 days and it isn't even Friday yet.
As with all my run-downs, I always like to make sure that what I say is honest and factually correct from MY point of view. ACTION WORD there is: MY. And what would a review be without the sometimes live video footage and photos. So now that the disclaimer is out of the way, let's begin.
Friday May 29 was the official launch of the Stylus Awards SpinFest weekend. There isn't really much to talk about since hardly anyone was in town [apparently]. We went to a few spots that night including the CATHOUSE and the ORANGE ROOM, and the turn-out was kinda lacking. Not to be a prelude of things to come, but it really did come to me as a surprise that with the weather being somewhat decent, the people weren't really out taking in that evenings festivities. Not just me though, ask anyone.
Saturday May 30 was the “It Starts With The DJ 2.0” Conference which I heard was a huge success. The panel was well spoken and equally researched. Panellists included:
- Abby Tobias (DJ, President: Soul Power Productions, Scratchlab & Six Degrees Event Venue, Keys N' Krates, Eh team DJ's)
- Wristpect (DJ, Sole Proprietor)
- Neil Forester (Management: Baby Yu, Owner: Mass Appeal & The Substance Group)
- Baba Kahn (DJ, Promoter, Owner: Scratchlab & Soulshock Marketing Group
- Stephane Lecuyer (Full Capacity Concerts - CEO / National Concert & Event Promoter)
- Adrian Strong (DMD Promo - Radio Promo)
- Tony Sal (CEO - CP Records)
- Justin Dumont (Music Director - FLOW 93.5FM)
- Jester (DJ: FLOW 93.5FM, 2007 Stylus College Radio Show of the Year Winner - Worldwide Wake Up Show CIUT 89.5FM)
- Samantha Pickard (VP: Strut Entertainment, Public Relations, Branding and Event Management)
- Joe Bartok (Entertainment Accountant/Owner - This is the Deal)
- Lissa Monet (DJ, Blogger, Personality & Tastemaker)
- Miro Oballa (Entertainment Lawyer - Taylor Mitsopulos Klein Oballa)
- P-Plus (DJ, Radio Personality: FLOW 93.5FM, Entrepreneur
- • Adrian Strong (DMD Promo - Radio Promo)
- Jay Devonish (Marketing Manager- E1 Music Group)
- Jonathan Ramos (REMG Entertainment - Promoter)
Monday June 2, the Main Event. The day started at 5:30AM, headed into the CHRY studios for the pre-Stylus Award Toronto Morning Live show with myself and DJ Manifest. Kid Famous and Kim Davis passed through the studio to talk about their most recent projects as well as [you guessed it] their Stylus Award nomination. Call-in guests included Stylus Founder Mike Zafaris, Marc Ecko Watches Brand Manager Jesse Jones, winner of MC of the Year Kid Kut, winner of College Radio Show Jester and winner of Best Underground DJ DJ Grouch. TML were the only ones in the city with 2 pairs of tickets to the SOLD-OUT 2009 Stylus DJ Awards Show. Congratulations to our ticket winners Rachel and Jeselle. Can you think of a better way to wake up on a Monday morning? Nope… good neither can I. You can check out Toronto Morning Live every Monday morning’s on CHRY 105.5FM from 7-10.
Later that evening the TOFLO team reached to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre around 7 ish. The place was buzzing with electricity, was packed from bar-to-bar and there was absolutely no room to even do a side-step turn. Seriously, it was shoulder-to-shoulder body-checking traffic. Being 5 foot nothing though, in this situation, proved to be highly advantageous. I was able to get in to everyone’s face with my Qik.com equipped iPhone (which I gotta say is the best gadget a techy-slash-blogger could possibly ever have). Check some of the footage below.
TOFLO.com was the official web streaming partner for this year’s Stylus show and given that it was sold out, this was hands down your best alternative to take in the evening in the comfort of your own house/basement/bedroom or dare I say your girl’s man’s bed HAHA just joking. Anyway, the show was slow to start, but once it did, it turned into a grand prix of award winners, presenters and celebrity guest appearances down to the sealed off exclusive TOFLO.com interviewing area. People who appeared on the TOFLO live stream included recording artists Andreena Mills & Saukrates (Canadian Hip Hop Single of the Year), Colin Munroe, Jahvon, Rochester aka Juice, Michie Mee, Kid Famous, Kim Davis, Trish, Danny Fernandez, Solitaire, Lincoln and Gary Beals, world-renowned producer Boy 1da, DJs P Plus (Best Radio DJ), Lissa Monet (Best Female DJ), Grouch (Best Underground DJ), Jester (Soca DJ of the Year) & Chief (College Radio Show of the Year), Illkidz (Toronto DJ of the Year), Agile (Mixtape of the Year), Spexx (Reggae DJ of the Year) and Wristspect (Club DJ of the Year). It was an abundance of Canadian love, and words on this blog are only a fraction of the undeniable support we all had and felt for those who won and participated in this year’s show.
A last, all good things must come to an end. And quite frankly by this time I was EXTREMELY tired, those 5 energy drinks I had did not help not one bit and I was near my collapse. We all agreed that we would just do a pass-through, that unnoticeably ended up being another couple hours at This is London [the official after-party spot]. With live free-style performances by 17-year old rapper Jahvon, A-Game, Kid Famous and a few others, this truly set the bar for next year’s showcase. The venue was decently filled, again with TO industry’s finest.If you are a fan of music and were in the Toronto area this past weekend, and you were NOT in attendance, I am sorry to say you surely missed out on one hell of a weekend.
Want more?
You can watch more video footage at qik.com/toflo or you can check out the Stylus coverage on TOFLO.com/stylus
View the TOFLO.com 2009 Stylus DJ Awards slideshow below.
Photos courtesy of beanpiepromotions.com
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