It was hard not to notice this year Toronto’s Pride seemed to have a lot more paid events than any other year. No, I’m not talking the Prism Festival events but the two hosted by the new party impresario Joesph Patrick and his Epic Weekend Splash Bash. Now I’m a pretty jaded party guy. I’ve been to big circuit parties all over North America so when I got notice of a  Foam Party in Dundas Square I had to go. So I did. Now, before you shriek, “there was a foam party in Dundas Square?!!!” Yes there was and as this was a new event so there was good and some things need to be tweaked.

The Splash Bash In Dundas Square

As I walked to Dundas Square it took me a actually 10-minutes to find my way in. In fact, I was lost with Sofonda who had to call Joseph to say, “um, how do I get in?’ Sofonda and I both laughed at that. Once you found your way in you were greeted by a woman at a desk who took my ticket and gave me a wrist band. The first thing I asked was, “is there a clothes check?” This ticket woman looked at me, screwing up her face, and huffed, “clothes check?! No there isn’t one here?” When I asked her what do I do with my bag and clothes she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know.” Translation: I don’t care.

The Splash Bash In Dundas Square

Once you were inside it was actually an interesting set up. The main stage was up front and the entire area was blocked off by a blue metal fence with see-through holes which was a little unnerving at first. As parade was turning two blocks up on Gerrard, curious on-lookers where gawking through the fence to see, as I heard one man say, “the strange men dancing in dish water.” At the end of the of the space, there standing 60 feet high was foam machine. This machine with four making devices cranked out enough foam to  cover one area, which was closest to Yonge Street,  and not the rest. When I heard about this party, I expected to be knee-deep in foam and not having to walk to one area to get my foam action. However, there was a lot of good to this event.

Toronto’s Pride party scene needed a little shaking up. Yes the Prism Events are good but they are the same events I was attending almost nine years go. Patrick brought an event, which got it starts in Europe back in the 90s, updated it for gay boys and took a huge risk by plopping it right in Dundas Square. So I’ll answer the question you most want to know, was it worth the ticket price? Well here’s my honest review, it brought a smile to my face and I witness people laughing and playing with each other, so I would say “yes”. However with a few caveats.

As this event is new I hope next year Patrick adds another foam machine and clothing check. I can’t tell you how dismayed a few people were about attending a foam event without a clothing check. The signage was lacking and it was hard to find you way in. Though, when people did get in they enjoyed posing in the for onlookers who were flashing their cameras way. I look at this way, how many people can say they got to play with hot boys and in foam on Pride Day? That alone made this event a conversation started for months. Oh and if you are wondering, the foam is not wet so you won’t go “slip, sliding, away” should you be rubbing against a hot boy while dancing. I can’t wait to see how this evolves in 2011.

Photo: SERIAL SEAN

Ok,
so did anyone else notice Elevate on their opening night (2010.03.24)? Nobody could say that promoters Joseph Patrick & Sofonda didn’t do their jobs that night. Anyone and everyone was either inside or lining up down the sidewalk (read: down the entire block) in hopes of getting into the place to be witness to their huge Pride Toronto announcement and to see the event headliners, Girlicious, perform.

Luckily, I was inside well ahead of time – in the afternoon – talking to both Sofonda and Elevate’s security to ensure my admittance that evening to snag an exclusive set of photographs for my ‘Unhinged & Raw’ readers here on GGT 2.0.

Personally, I’m not even really a fan of Girlicious, but I am a huge supporter of the business community here in the Church/Wellesley Business District & of Pride Toronto, so my attendance was warranted – plus I am now able to add another ‘celebrity’ name to my photography call card. These were all more than enough reasons to make me attend a performance that I wouldn’t normally enjoy.

Before Girlicious` performance of way too much hair-flipping and I-want-to-ride-you-like-a-stripper-pole booty shaking for a crowd comprised of gay men, Sofonda & Joseph Patrick announced their 2010 Pride events of which they’ve dubbed ‘Epic Weekend.’

Photo: SERIAL SEAN

Saturday July 3^rd sees The Beach Ball on Toronto Island’s Hanlan’s Point, which is famously known as Toronto’s hottest nude cruising ground. Headlining this event will be Girlicious who reportedly will be bringing their full production set-up (which wasn’t present at Elevate’s opening) with the supporting DJ line-up to still be announced. With hot weather, hot bodies, and a specially licensed event on a nude beach you can be sure this is going to be a sizzling event.

The following day will be The Splash Bash in Toronto’s Dundas Square – an outdoor water and foam party in the centre of the city with music by DJ Brett Henrichsen and The Freemasons with supporting performances by Sofonda and a ‘surprise superstar performer.’ Also a licensed event, this will be sure to cool down all those hot sweaty bodies on Pride Sunday.

Photo: SERIAL SEAN

After Girlicious` performance the girls were quickly whisked to Elevate’s upstairs where they continued to interact with their fans and event attendees in very friendly fashion. Definitely a good public relations move for their upcoming Toronto Pride performance.

The question that still remains to be answered is if Elevate’s grand opening turnout will continue to come back in support of the establishment.

So let’s get our readers involved – being the newest dance bar to hit the village in a long time, do you think that Elevate has staying power or do you think that it will close it’s doors like other establishment’s before it?

SERIAL SEAN
xo

SERIAL SEAN is a Toronto based entertainment entrepreneur that specializes in publicity, event planning, public relations, journalism, photography/videography and is the creative director behind his Performance DJ shows. Contact him through his website http://serialsean.com.