Pride

During Toronto Pride this year, I got to see a really great band/project. Usually every year consists of going up on Friday, doing the same clubs and parks, 3 bottles of Jack Daniels, ridiculous dancing to horrible music in an overly crowded area, and intense conversations about the social politics of anything and everything queer. Then the drive home out of a place that never actually existed.

This year we said fuck it.

Well kind of. We said fuck it on Friday night. No more going to an over-rated club filled with pretentious lesbians who just came out last year and want to make out in front of people, while still expecting to shock them for some fucking reason (nothing creeps me out more than people making eye contact with me while making out with someone). No more cougars (who clearly just left their incompetent husbands) calling me "Shane" because they want me to be her. Most importantly no more bad music. At least not for one night.

Jaime, Amanda, and myself headed to Lee's Palace to see MEN, expecting it to be sold out. Two of the members were formerly of Le Tigre, so we had hopes of being in the company of like-minded queers, while having some breathing room outside of the overwhelming area that was blocked off. The area segregating everyone, and telling them where they could be gay, and where tourists could come and see "the gays" It wasnt sold out at all which was a giant relief.

MEN fucking rocked. Such an awkward trio with the tackiest outfits. Such an amazing time. Im already excited to see them come back to Toronto in October. The crowd was refreshingly unpredictable. I couldn't tell who was gay or straight, and I couldn't tell what most people were carrying in their pants, which is exactly where I wanted to be. I wish more people cared less about image, and more about substance. Of course I also wish more people weren't conformists (yes, even at Pride) and pushed the envelope as well.

They ended with a fantastic cover of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror", even though I'm not a huge fan of him. I bought their 4 song EP (all they had) and picked up a zine they were selling (the zine deserves a whole seperate entry).

Jaime got hit with a bag of drunk, and after wandering off, came back to report the staff had "stolen" her ID. We threw our arms around her, walked out and quietly asked the bouncer for it back promising not to come back.

We laughed the whole way back to the hotel.