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Category: Culture

This Week in Sound: The Wilderness, Blink 182, Lil Wayne and more

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This week’s roundup required me to listen to a bunch of new music in order to figure out what the hell was going on. First among the gems was Toronto’s own The Wilderness (August 19 @ Lee’s Palace). Their press material namedrops indie-cum-mainstream juggernauts Interpol, and with good reason: their debut e.p., .272, mines the same danceable post-punk rhythms and minimalist/maximalist dichotomies that made Turn on the Bright Lights so great.

Shirts versus skins: the debate over Toronto’s scantily-clad female sports teams heats up

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It seems Toronto female athletes are showing more skin than ever these days. First, the Lingerie Football League announced its inaugural Canadian franchise, the Toronto Triumph, earlier this year. Now comes Bikini Basketball Entertainment, set to debut on pay-per-view on August 17. With the Triumph’s first game scheduled for September, Toronto will soon be inundated with ladies in their skivvies playing sports, which has left some with their undies in a bunch.

Q&A: Michael Chang battles Jim Courier on the courts at the Legends Cup tonight

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Michael Chang burst on to the tennis scene in 1989 with his French Open victory just one year after going pro. Competing in one of the greatest eras of men’s tennis, he regularly battled other greats including Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Jim Courier. In the lead up to the Legends Cup — a round-robin match between Chang, Agassi, Courier and John McEnroe (Chang plays Courier tonight) — we spoke with the living legend about tennis past and present.

Q&A: the Meligrove Band performs at the Horseshoe Tavern tonight

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The Meligrove Band goes way back. I mean, when these Mississauga natives first came together in 1997, people still bought albums — in, like, stores made of bricks and mortar and other weird corporeal stuff. Their name and their music are well known and well loved in the Toronto rock scene, yet due to a combination of bad coincidences they’ve never managed to penetrate the mainstream market.

New Cirque show takes acrobatics to another level

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If I didn’t know any better, I’d think there were some serious shenanigans going on in the row behind mine during last night’s premiere of Cirque du Soleil‘s new show Totem in Toronto’s Port Lands district. “Oh my god, oh, oh, oh, no,” was such a frequent refrain it was almost comical, as was the slightly less provocative “Yes! wow, oh god, yes!” Foreheads were slapped, jaws dropped.

Q&A: Serena Williams serves up a mean return at Rogers Cup, winning match against Ukraine's Bondarenko

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While sister Venus may be out with an injury, Serena Williams is quickly rising back to the top. Forced to take an 11-month leave after hurting her foot, the 13-time Grand Slam winner played a strong match against Alona Bondarenko Tuesday in Toronto. We caught up with the legendary tennis star to get an insider’s look into her recovery, her match against Martina Hingis, and her journey back to number one.

 

Band of the Week: Samantha Martin and The Haggard

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Samantha Martin has soul. It’s obvious from the moment the rural Ontario hometown girl opens her mouth. Whether she’s belting out country-tinged blues numbers with her band The Haggard, or trading stories from behind the bar, it’s apparent Martin has the music of years-gone-by coursing through her veins. Listening to her music, you can hear the dust and gravel of long, late-night road trips through nondescript towns and feel the dirt of a hard-days work under your nails. 


Here are the 10 TIFF flicks we’re most excited about so far

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Last month, the Toronto International Film Festival proved it could still shock and awe its faithful festival-goers when it announced that a documentary — on rock gods U2, no less — would open its 36th edition for the first time. With the festival filling out the rest of its slate this week and the opening night only a month away, the intense process of picking your 2011 TIFF flicks has officially begun. Here’s what has us buzzing so far.