Rivoli

What do you do on a Sunday Afternoon? I think people either rest or finish their weekly chores. Well, if you ever need to break free from this boring routine, May I suggest taking a mid-afternoon break and head over to the Rivoli to wind down and listen to music. All you need to do is walk upstairs and enjoy. They have food and drinks if that is what you want. Just escape for three hours from 3-6pm and then make it home early enough to feel well rested for work the next day.

They have a couple of different acts to keep you entertained.

The Empty Glasses

Every other Sunday from 3-6pm, the empty glasses are here to fill you up with great country music. The day I showed up, they were celebrating 3 years of playing at The Rivoli. I saw the ad, but I didn’t look too closely at who was in the band. Well, to my surprise, this is a little super group made up of some of the most talented players around.

We have: Jamie Oliver on singing duty and guitar

Clayton Yates on Guitar

Michelle Josef on Drums

Bazil Donavon on Bass

Burke Carroll on Steel Pedal

Derek Downham on Piano and drums this day.

The band started the afternoon “On the Road” with Willie Nelson. As the afternoon progressed with one great country song after another, I noticed a big tray filled with treats. This was a thank you gift from the band who really appreciates all the people who have come to see them for the last 3 years. As the party was getting started, the band was surprised by how filled the place was right from the start. These people came to celebrate and even dressed up to be at this party. We are talking about some pretty cool country shirts and even a beautiful red dress with adorable cowboy boots.

Special Guests

You can’t have a party without special guest showing up. The second and third set saw plenty of friends who wanted to celebrate and party as they were ask to come forward. I may not get to all of them, so contact me and I will add you to this special list of people.

We had Chris Stagg come up for a couple of songs.

Steve Ketchum

Rob Hiemstra from Chairmen of the Boards

Downtown Jeff Brown

Alec Fraser

Ally Sunshine

Mark Stafford, who I learned was part of a team of the Scenic arts department. They won a special Oscar for their contribution to the movie- “The Shape of Water”. They received a special Oscar from Toronto. It is pretty cool taking home a big award like that.

Country Lovers

I think this is an easy conclusion when I say, if you love country music, you should visit the Rivoli every other Sunday from 3-6pm and recharge your batteries with some good ol’ songs . Blast Toronto and the Rivoli are working together to give you a great musical experience. We do have future plans that will get you out more often. See you upstairs!

Here is their Instagram account so you can plan your visit to a grand experience- www.instagram.com/rivolitoronto/

www.instagram.com/the.emptyglasses/

Here are some of the players that afternoon: