$25 general admission
Top Funk bands Shuffle Demons (Toronto) and Lexsoul Dancemachine (Estonia) celebrate Toronto Estonian Community Landmark, Tartu College’s 50th Anniversary!
Tartu College (Toronto), student residence and community hub of Estonians in Canada, turned 50 in 2020 and it’s finally time to celebrate! There’s no better way to mark the occasion than with an all-out dance party, so we called in the experts: Estonia’s eminent funksters Lexsoul Dancemachine and Toronto’s legendary party-starters the Shuffle Demons. While this is the first ever visit for Lexsoul Dancemachine to Canada, the Shuffle Demons performed their hit Spadina Bus in Estonia in 1991, days before the country was granted its independence. Lexsoul Dancemachine also share a love of public transport, performing atop a moving bus for 3.5 hours in Tallinn. Both bands have a reputation for captivating stage shows all the way down to their matching splashy attire. Estonian singer-songwriter, music historian and champion Vaiko Eplik will not only host the evening but will be performing a crash course of Estonian music history both in Canada and at home. Tartu College is home to a student residence, a community newspaper, a museum, multiple academic organisations and rich cultural programming. Whether you’re a Tartu College regular, or never heard of it, as long as you like to move your feet - you’re invited!
Lexsoul Dancemachine (Estonia)
Raw street funk on one side, sweet soul on the flipside - Lexsoul Dancemachine is known for tearing venues apart with their merciless stage presence and captivating energy. Active since 2013, the aim of the machine is to hypnotize feel-good music lovers with thumping bass lines, syncopated rhythms, repetitive grooves and soulful vocals. It’s the kind of music you can break dance to, although in between those hard-hitting sounds you’ll find some more tender grooves.
The raw funk beast shines first and foremost in a sweaty live setting. They’ve yet to leave a crowd unfazed as evident from the first UK tour in February 2017 when the Dancemachine made people stomp their feet in London, Bristol, Manchester and Leeds. Among the dates was a sold-out evening at the iconic Band on the Wall venue during the Craig Charles Funk and Soul Club evening.
The Shuffle Demons (Toronto)
The Shuffle Demons are a high-energy Canadian band that blends virtuosic jazz and funk playing with eye-catching costumes and over the top stage antics to produce an incredible show.
The Shuffle Demons first broke onto the Canadian music scene with an electrifying musical fusion that drew in equal measure from Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. The band was one of the first indie acts to break out on MuchMusic. This band was genre bending, highly visually entertaining, funny, and best of all, could really PLAY. All their eye catching, crowd pleasing stunts were backed up by incredibly solid musicianship and real ground-breaking playing.
Vaiko Eplik (Estonia)
Vaiko Eplik is an independent Estonian pop-composer, producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist. A diverse variety of influences includes artists and composers from Beach Boys to Stevie Wonder and J.S. Bach to Frank Zappa.
Over the course of his two decade musical career, Vaiko Eplik – a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, music champion and living legend of the current generation of Estonian pop music – has played in groups such as Claire’s Birthday, Ruffus, Koer and Mammut, Eliit, released 21 albums, produced music for many other artists and written a couple of thousand songs.
Presented by: Estonian Museum Canada/VEMU, Tartu College and Estonian Music Week
Major funding: The Estonian Foundation of Canada
Lead sponsor: Northern Birch Credit Union.