Gary17's New Weekly Open Stage

My new weekly open stage, from 6-10 p.m. on Sundays, starts June 3!

I’m back in the saddle as host of a weekly open stage starting this coming Sunday, June 3! It’ll take place 6-10 at Happy’s Bar & Grill at 498 Horner Ave. in Etobicoke, ON, which is easily accessible by transit or car (details below) and offers free parking.

Speaking of free —if you get there between 6 and 7, you can enjoy a free burger and I can tell you these are not chintzy McDonald’s-style slabs of breaded beef but real honest-to-the-gods homemade burgers with all the toppings you want! Sweet, huh?

I’ll also have a few beer tix with which to thank participants and the weekly feature guest doing a half-hour set at 8 p.m. (I’ll be the feature myself for the kickoff night and will fill you in on the whole lineup of guests for subsequent weeks as they come up.)

Naturally there will also be a house guitar available for use and I’ll be in DJ17 mode between live acts, spinning tracks from Canadian and local singer-songwriters and bands —mainly those you read about in to-nite or who’ve been part of my various events and open stages over the years, naturally!

The club is easy to find and access. If you’re driving, you can take the Gardiner/QEW or the 427 south and get off at the Brown’s Line exit. The third light south of the off-ramp is the intersection of Horner Ave. and Brown’s Line (there’s a Petro Canada station on the northeast corner) and Happy’s is located right next to the gas station, a stone’s throw from the corner! There’s parking in front of and behind the club, as well as on the street.

It’s also easy to get to by transit. You could take the GO Train to Long Branch station (they arrive hourly at 11 minutes before the hour, going east, and 1 minute after the hour, going west) and then get the northbound Shorncliffe (#123 or #123C) bus from the TTC terminal there —they leave at 5:12/27/42/57, 6:12/30/50, 7:10/23/46/, 8:09/32/55, 9:18/41 and it takes about 3-5 minutes to get to the stop at Brown’s Line and Horner (ask the driver if you’re unfamiliar with the area).

If you’re coming from TO via the subway, you catch the Southbound #123 or #123C at Kipling Station. They leave at 5:00 /15/30/45, 6:00 /20/40, 7:00 /23/46, 8:09 /32/55, 9:18 /40 and take about 17 minutes to get to the corner of Brown’s Line and Horner.

NOTE, at 10:30 the frequency of the #123 bus changes to every half hour, going northbound from Happy’s about 10:06/32, 11:02/32, 12:02/32 and a final bus at 1:02 (gets you to Kipling in time to catch last subway) and southbound to Long Branch to the GO or 24-hour Queen streetcar at 10:20/50, 11:20/50, 12:20/50 and 1:20. (Last GO east is at 11:49 , last going west is 1:01 .)

Hope to see you on Sunday, June 3 and/or each and every Sunday afterwards for many moons to come!

Gary 17
Publisher & Editor, to-nite magazine
(online and hard-copy editions available)

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