With more than 140 days to go until spring, Torontonians have a cold, dark winter ahead — but while it may not be a trip to Hawaii, experimental hardcore band F--cked Up is offering a reprieve.
Starting Nov. 9, the Polaris Prize-winning group is kicking off Long Winter, a monthly night of immersive and interactive music, installations, visual art, readings, food and dance “to help get Toronto through our long and cold winter" — and they've just released a few more details.
The first instalment of the pay-what-you-can event is at Queen Street’s Great Hall, and includes live music by F--cked up, Diana, Unfinished Business and more, as well as readings by Spencer Gordon and Helen Guri, art by Melissa Fisher and even “telephoney” by Ars Mechanica with Emir Tops.
The inspiration for the interdisciplinary evenings, said F--ked Up guitarist Mike Haliechuk, was a show he saw at Toronto's SummerWorks festival.
"A dance routine opened into the crowd right after a band had finished playing on stage, and I realized that it would be fun to try and put together an FU show that wasn’t just music,” he said via email.
“We have a lot of great and artistic friends that don’t necessarily express themselves with music. The idea is to present a night of ‘stuff’ that all kind of flows together seamlessly."
The recently posted announcement also promises that the Latch Keys Kids will be cutting keys all night, “adding doubles to a growing cloud above our heads,” and a mysterious link to a Craigslist ad hints that Damian Abraham look-alikes will also have a role to play.
“We're trying to do a bunch of things that create a bit of a surreal atmosphere, where the line between audience and performance is a bit blurred,” said Haliechuk, taking a break from working on a new album with Austra.
“We want people to not really know what is part of the event and what is just happening; the idea is for people to feel like everything and everyone there is a part of the show.”
Related:
Polaris Music Prize nominees F--ked Up: ‘You don’t win the second time’
Polaris juror André Péloquin on why F--ked Up should win the prize (again)
Polaris album stream of the week: F--ked Up's David Comes to Life