On the 26th of July, (the day after my birthday) Beaches Streetfest took over Queen Street East less than a block away from where I live. I think of it as my birthday party (well, I'm not delusional in thinking that it's actually for my birthday but I do consider it a celebration!) and hey, maybe someday I will have a birthday party but in the meantime, I consider this a pretty awesome way to mark another year of being alive. Alive to hear the music. Alive to see people enjoying the place where I live. Having relocated from a small city and before that, an even smaller town, events like this are what creative-yearning-types like myself dreamed of, thought of, wanted to get to, to be. So here I am. & I want to make the most of it.

Starbucks: Hammersmith & Queen (aka 'Home Base')
I was going to share this photo just to say that this is the Starbucks location where I've held down foursquare mayorship for awhile now. It's a place where the baristas have adapted, nay, accepted my quirky ways and where I feel like they're not just smiling because they have to, ya know? I appreciated this place during Streetfest not only for the caffeine (OMG i love the new Refreshers!) but also because I could recharge my camera & phone batteries here. I watched the Hammersmith crew work their butts off and deal with literally THOUSANDS of teenagers (intoxicated, among other things) stampede through there to use the washrooms (no, I didn't use the washroom, not even once during Streetfest - you're welcome!) and I saw the staff be amazing. They're located at a corner which is known for a mob of hundreds of teenagers collecting at that corner after Streetfest EVERY. YEAR. and police being involved and whatnot --- I don't know why, either - again, I give kudos to the staff. I'm not just saying this because they're nice to me. OH! What I loved about this photo was something I didn't notice until I started going through the photos to make the post! Look at the window above! Things like that make me love taking photos all the more.


Neil Chapman.
Yay for eye contact! I managed to get a few photos where performers let me have that and it's great when they do it. Their performance went over well with fellow vloggers on vloggerheads and it makes me happy to know other people got to experience what I did too. You can also see a larger crowd where they totally rock out on Day 2's vlog.


Queen Street East & Lee Avenue.
I was out early so the crowds hadn't gathered yet (by the way, anyone who complains about the crowds - um, there are places to go to get away. Inside businesses, stroll south down to the lake and walk along the boardwalk, get yourself situated in front of a band before the crowd gathers and you won't even notice them as you're caught up in the music) but what I wanted to share was that this was what my agoraphobic side calls "downtown" - my bank is there and it's as far as I'd go for the longest time from my apartment. Just a little personal informational TMI/FYI? Also, I once gave the guy sitting there outside Foodland a folded up 20 dollar bill out of my birthday money after buying a couple gifts for Tallman & a stack of books for myself. I couldn't help but look back and watch as he unfolded it. I didn't see him when I walked by later. Regardless of what he did with it, that little guy (known as 'Hollywood') shows up almost EVERY DAY with his crappy pens & on the day I shared my good fortune, I could only think of how hot it was outside and if that could help him get home sooner, good. We all have our vices, I thought to myself as I carried my books, knowing I had so many at home left to read. & check out that beautiful dog! I'm not a dog person but he's gorgeous, eh?


Food at Beaches Streetfest.
You're going to find many of the same vendors (excluding the restaurants on that particular street who put their own food out, too) but they're an essential part of a festival. Although this photo is blurry, her smile came through pretty clear! I was too busy to eat and the only thing I managed to get was the roasted corn on the cob - my gosh it's delicious! - I had it at the end of one of the evenings and it was so good. Prior to that, I picked up a dozen Tiny Tom Donuts for Tallman & a regular lemonade because he was working all through streetfest.


Dr. Draw.
So if you managed to watch Day One's vlog, you would have seen my reaction to first "discovering" this guy - I made my way through the crowd to try and get as close as I could but he was surrounded. I thought, "wow, this kid's gonna really make it someday!" I had those spine tingles from watching him perform - the energy & talent! - and I was wow'd. Afterward, the group let me take their photo (one member said he didn't have any of them together like this) and I loved the candids. As for asking the band mates while Dr. Draw signed cds if they worried he'd leave them behind when he made it big one day, they graciously smiled and such. When I got home I did a major face palm when I looked this guy up and read that he'd performed ALL OVER THE WORLD for THE BIGGEST AND BEST THINGS & PLACES EVER and I felt like an idiot. The fact he still performs at this festival so enthusiastically for the crowds for free (although I bought two albums and no doubt he sold quite a lot!) was just one example of many in the musicians I met who showed that it's the music they're passionate about, it's the music, man.




The light was glorious for taking photos at this moment in my personal history of musical discovery. And look! There's 'Wunderland'! An independent coffee shop that promotes artists and has the best 'Alice in Wonderland' sign. People who've read my journal/blog over the years or know me in person are aware of my obsession passion for all things AiW.


I asked if I could take a photo of the entire group together. It's actually all about Dr. Draw but his ensemble sounded fantastic accompanying him and you could tell they had something good working together. I was still in the dark about how Dr. Draw is a legend on his own and joked that it'd be great to get a photo of the band in the background while he was signing... they were so kind to humour me but I must've seemed like such a dork.


Someone else to the side of me from a different angle was also getting the group shot after I got them to stand together and so it's kinda funny how the photos started turning into this candid confused mess but I loved them for being so kind. I was lucky to get these photos, I think.




Streetfest Street Shots: It's about the people, too.




Trip the light love-tastic with Suzana d'Amour.
I love this photo!
I tend to like shots like this where I get squiggly light blurs & colour.


& although I took MANY photos on the 3rd day, this was the only time I was able to get the whole group in pics & on video. (The drummer had a wedding to go to on the last day, oh noes!) but I'm so glad I got at least this! - a spectacular performance from a recently signed to Universal after working together for 11 years & by gosh they deserve this! - wonderfully talented ensemble.



~> View vlog from Day One of Beaches Streetfest