A Zone of our Own Part V

One of the highlights of our little Niagara St. community in the early to mid-90s was an annual party called Zone of Our Own. The three buildings, 89, 101 and 109 along with another chunk stuck onto 109, which we called the annex, formed a U with the hollow of the U facing the tracks and Fort York. This formed the parking lot and loading dock for the building. Each year we had a big party there. This was organized by some of the tenants in the building. Typically, there would be a huge cauldren boiling sweet corn, and a bbq set up, and one year, there was a bath-tub full of couscous. One of the tenants was a woodworker and he would supply a stage. Others would decorate the stage and the fences surrounding the property. A lot of the musicians around would get their bands together, and I can recall 8 or 9 bands playing over the afternoon and evening. To attend, you needed a ticket, and to get a ticket, you had to know somebody who lived in the building. One of the musical highlights were The Subtonic Monks. These spirit drummers captivated the crowd and were a popular favourite. Another favourite for me was Rodney Brent, who performed as Bartok Guitarsplat. These days I understand Rodney lives and performs in the Calgary area. His music was always innovative and fun and I remember him to be a really nice guy as well.

Speaking of parties, I hosted one huge party in my studio during my time on Niagara. Jughead provided the music. Jughead were a band we first saw playing outdoors, outside Natalie's cafe and also at the Drake back when it was a dive. It was a fairly early incarnation of the band, before they had accordion. There were a lot of people at the party, and it was tremendous fun, went much of the night, and taught me that the problem with hosting a party is that you have to clean up later.