kd lang at Luminato 2011

Toronto embraced Canadian musical superstar kd lang as she played a free concert at Metro Hall as part of the fabulous activities know as Luminato. What a treat it is to see the singer work her magic on her well known hits with the band Siss Boom Bang during the Friday, June 17 event at Metro Square which also saw special guests The Belle Brigade opening for kd. It was also a pleasure to see Denise Donlon of the CBC hosting the night's concert (photo below).

The Luminato appearance is the official launch of the grammy and juno winning kd lang's latest North American tour. PS did I mention that I loved her singing Hallelujah at the opening of the 2010 Canadian Winter Olympic opening ceremony - way to represent.

So it is extremely exciting to see her in Toronto, what a score for Luminato. Thanks to Dan and Michelle from Luminato for getting us onto the press riser.

The full square takes in The Belle Brigade in advance of kd's appearance.

See more pictures after the jump.

Large screen monitors help people see kd lang perform.

Opening act Belle Brigade.

Fans jam into every available space at Metro Square.

Don't forget that Luminato still has a full weekend of activities to enjoy, so check out their website and plan your fun. Here is a giant coloured pegs with backlight installation (like a lite-brite).

Flashpoint by Hard Rock Cafe in Toronto

The road beside the Yonge Street Hard Rock Café was closed to traffic today as filming on the television series ‘Flashpoint’ was being shot in O’Keefe Lane. The series continues into its fourth season and the cast was rigged out in their full Emergency Tactical Force (ETF) outfits.

Actor Hugh Dillon, David Paetkau and others waited for their scenes where they rush into the alley, going after some type of bad guy, automatic weapons at the ready.

The Canadian police drama takes a large crew to prep the actors and film the action. They also need a ton of security and actual Toronto police to keep people away from the talent and out of the camera shots. Luckily as a well known Toronto blogger I was able to catch some of the action.

See more pictures after the jump.

Hugh Dillon and 'Rosseau'

Updating his facebook status?

The film crew in the alley

Part of the movie set and support equipment and some real cops

chillaxin

Sears Stars on Ice at Eaton Centre

Sears presented the stars of the show ‘Stars on Ice’ at the Sears store at the Yonge & Dundas Eaton Centre. It was great to see Kurt Browning who is also know as the celebrity skating host of ‘Battle of the Blades’ and ultra-cute skater Jamie Sale signing autographs and meeting fans. You can get tickets for Friday April 29, 2011 show at the Air Canada Centre at their Stars on Ice website.

More from the Stars on Ice "This year's Sears Stars on Ice presented by Samsung brings an all-star cast of world renowned figure skaters to an arena near you. Four-Time World Champion Kurt Browning will be joined by a phenomenal cast of some of the world's most respected athletes, including 2010 Olympic gold

medalists Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir. Evan Lysacek, Olympic gold medalist, will bring his flare and passion for the ice to the Canadian tour for the first time as well. Returning for another great season are Stars on Ice fan favourites, Jamie Sale & David Pelletier, Joannie Rochette, Sasha Cohen, Jeffrey Buttle, Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto, Shawn Sawyer and Kyoko Ina."

See more pictures after the jump (click on read more >>, below).

UFC Experience at Y-D Square

The UFC Experience descended on Yonge-Dundas Square on Wednesday, April 28, 2011 and it didn’t take long for fans of the mixed martial arts fighting league to gather, eager to see some of the stars of the sport. Three Ultimate Fighting Championship athletes including Ryan Bader and Jon Fitch greeted the large lunchtime crowd and signed autographs. Fighter Dominick Cruz came by later to sign autographs.

Fighter Ryan Bader (left), Royce Gracie (centre), Jon Fitch (right)

The big rig Octagon Nation was parked and inside you could find the massive silver UFC belt, pictures and memrobelia and actually wear a replica of the championship belt and stand next to the life-sized cardboard picture of Georges St-Pierre (GSP), picture at top.

Later, Octagon Girl Chandella Powell made an appearance along with fighter Josh Koscheck who also helped to receive the City of Toronto Proclamation presented by Mayor Rob Ford. You can also get UFC Fighter Stephan Bonnar’s autograph at Sears Yonge & Dundas today only between 6pm-8pm.

Octagon Ring Girl Chandella

See more photos after the jump (click on read more >>, below).

Mayor Rob Ford arrives

Fighter Josh Koscheck, left, holds the Mayor's Proclamation

XYIENCE was giving out free energy drinks

The Big Rig

102.1 The edge broadcasting from the site

Fighter Josh Koscheck

Mortal Kombat booth

The Spoons at Sunrise Records

80’s band the Spoons were rocking at Sunrise Records at 336 Yonge Street on the weekend with a free concert in the store. The band is listed by Wikipedia as a Canadian New Wave Romantic Synth Pop Music group started in 1979. I think that they were eating in a KFC store in the late 70’s and decided to form a group named the Sporks but after careful consideration and sober second thought they decided to go with the more straight forward name, the Spoons.

Gord Deppe

Sandy Horne

They had a number of hit songs including Romantic Traffic, Old Emotions and Tell No Lies. Vocalist and bassist Sandy Horne and lead vocalist Gord Deppe were joined by Casey MQ on keyboards and Chris McNeill on Drums.

There were joined by Lemon Bucket Orkestra during the event, including this guy with heart sunglasses and a squeeze box.

Posted by Joe Hamilton.

Fan Appreciation of the ComicCON type

Hobbystar Marketing gives back to the Fans during a special FREE Toronto ComicCON event at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  This Fan Appreciation event runs April 9 and 10, 2011 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Comics, Illustrated books and cosplay are a big part of the show and there were some really interesting costumes. Don't forget the Fan Expo Canada which is coming to Town August 25-28, 2011.

The program schedule has two full days of entertainment and I looked forward to seeing Richard Hatch  (above) from Battlestar Galactica and the sad guy (Alan Ruck, pictured below) from Ferris Bueler's Day Off among many other entertainment guests.

SATURDAY APRIL 9 (show runs 11am-6pm)

• Q&A with Industry Legends Geof Darrow and Bob McLeod
• Sketch Duel: Chris Sprouse and Patrick Gleason
• Q&A with Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch
• Workshop: Drawing the Human Figure from Memory with Ty Templeton
• Q&A with Actor Alan Ruck

SUNDAY APRIL 10 (show runs 11am-5pm)

• Q&A with Actor Dominic Keating
• Sketch Duel: Khoi Pham and Marcus To
• Q&A with Anime Voice Actors Jaimi Marchi and Trina Nishimura
• Workshop: Comic Book Penciling and Inking with Leonard Kirk

See lots more pictures of the cosplay after the jump (click on Read More >>, below).