One of my favourite music projects/series I did was called dig.it.aLL (a play on the word digital) – which was a fusion of live electronica with DJs and visuals.

The main reason I liked it so much was I had almost total control of all elements (bands, concept, the look, promotion, the venue) and it was an opportunity for me to showcase acts I really enjoyed at the time who were also awesome live.

The other reason was I really wanted to do concerts at The Rivoli. For me, this venue is the best in the city from top to bottom. They have a great intimate live space and sound system, delicious restaurant (famous for their pad thai) and upstairs a fab high-ceiling space with pool tables and a dance floor. The mix there of great music, ambience and food is like triple cream brie to me! 

The Rivoli is one of the places where lots of great events can happen from music to comedy to even theatre (5 time Tony Award winning play Drowsy Chaperone premiered at The Rivoli in 1998 before going onto Broadway.)

Comedy wise The Rivoli’s has been pivotal in starting the careers of the Kids in the Hall, Mike Myers and Shaun Majumder and The Altdot Comedy Lounge has been going strong there on Monday’s since the 1990s. 

Music wise the location is famous as hosting gigs for Adele, Drake, Arcade Fire, Flaming Lips, Handsome Ned, Parachute Club, Blue Rodeo, Cowboy Junkies, Indigo Girls, 10,000 Maniacs, Stone Temple Pilots, Patti Smith and Feist.

My first concert there was seeing the awesome Canadian punk band SNFU as a teenager. I became a fan of them and the room immediately and still love to go there for landmark Toronto DJ events like Footprints and Bump N’ Hustle. Doing a series there was my desire to be part of the legacy of all those events.

So for me, doing this series at The Rivoli was a real pleasure on a number of levels and the staff there were so great too! The first event I did was with a Toronto group Directions, who I did a number of concerts with. Their Jazzy House sound was always head nodding and foot stomping at the same time. We had a totally full house and it was a memorable performance and series launch.

The next two gigs I did was with live drum n’ bass soul group Liquified with a wonderful singer Stach from Toronto. Musically this night was the most varied and rich and all the performers were oozing talent.

The third event was by a Detroit group the 19.5 Collective. They were lots of fun all dressed up in doctor smocks doing some furious knob twiddling onstage. They described themselves as Sly and the Family Stone doing the Hustle with Kraftwerk which was spot on – right on! 

The last in the series was with Montreal group Jazz Pharmacy doing a CD release for their album Amnesia. I programmed a few concerts with them while they were together. They were so fantastic music wise and so freaky funky! 

After that, I got distracted by other music and life dramas so decided to stop the series. Oh, and I didn’t make any money doing it. It was a short ride but very memorable and worthwhile. Every reason why I loved doing music events.