ANOTW: A Walking History of Toronto Music Podcast - Episode 5: Queen West, Pt. II

The fifth and final episode of the ANOTW walking-tour podcast for the Toronto International Festival of Authors is now up! Episode 5 completes our wander down Queen West, from Spadina all the way to Dufferin.

What to expect in this episode of the podcast:

"Queen Street West is arguably Canada’s most important countercultural main street, and may even be North America’s. Queen West was a quiet, mostly forgotten commercial strip until the punk rock, new wave and reggae explosion of the ‘70s, and it really came to live in the diverse, inclusive, alternative ‘80s - eventually becoming a main hub for the Canadian music industry in the ‘90s.

This two-part tour will take us west from University all the way to Gladstone Avenue. Part II follows Queen West as the subcultural strip pushed further west past Spadina — and towards more glorious black-clad griminess. Venues visited include The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, the Cabana Room, The Cameron House, Drom Taberna, Velvet Underground, the Bovine Sex Club, The Big Bop/Reverb, The Great Hall, The Drake Hotel and the Gladstone Hotel. The tour concludes with a consideration of where else future tours might go - such as the East End or Toronto’s inner suburbs."

And follow along visually with the third of Daniel Rotsztain's beautiful maps - covering the entire expanse of the two-part Queen West walking tour!