Groove Institute/United Soul

Groove Institute / United Soul are DJ members Anand, Yogi, and Mark, an organization that has been promoting and supporting soulful dance music since 1998. From their travels over the past 15 years, they have acquired an understanding of music that they wish to share with everyone. As United Soul, they have organized well over one hundred events and recently celebrated nine years of Solid Garage. As DJs, their sets ran the gamut of genres, including soul, jazz, Latin, Brazilian, disco, garage and house.

Genderfuckt!

Genderfukt!, a gender performance cabaret, presented by Sky Rocket Productions, has been a staple in the Toronto drag scene for the last two and a half years. Featuring performers from a wide variety of backgrounds and genres, there's something for everyone in this all-star show. Ranked last year as the 6th best place in the world to find drag kings, the performers blend dance with politics, comedy with drag. A show not to be missed!

gl.tch

gl.tch has always been a fan of music loves how people react and are moved by it. As a dance music DJ, he's inspired by new wave, disco, funk, electro, house, hip hop, industrial, and the underground. Playing anything from downtempo to house to full-on "ragin' choons," he can provide the perfect soundtrack for any occasion. Mash-ups, overdubs, and effects, combined with an aggressive mixing style engage both the mind and the feet. With gl.tch in the system, things will never be the same.

Gun Street Girls

A celebration of queer femininity, the GUN STREET GIRLS are bringing girly back! Join Rani Rhinestone, Miss Nestle Chocolate, Paige Turner and Mlle. Ceci My Playmate as we bring you back to the old-school burlesque stage adding a new millenium twist. Just itching to entertain you, the girls have been primping and priming to give you a show not soon to be forgotten!

Jamal

Jamal has worked with many top DJs, like Derrick Fox, Hex Hector, Honey Dijon, Shawn Riker, Deko-Ze, Matt C, Sylvain Girrard, and Gold Finger. He has also worked with promoters Gary Brown, Boost Boyz (Pump Sundays), Steve Iverson, Adam Pardy (Its a Boy's Life), Schwarzkopf Hair Show( Prova group), and Savage (Fly nightclub). DJ Jamal has a style like no other, always leaving the crowd in a frenzy.

Jelo

Known as 'the people's DJ' and one of the fastest Canadian beat matchers live on decks, Jelo has remixed pop stars and performed around the globe. With dazzling live sets, he is a innovative leader and ambassador in North America's electronic music movement. He has supplied the heartbeat to Toronto's dancefloors in Eastern Bloc Records to the most top-secret clubs in the coziest corners of the country. Experiencing his awe-inspiring sets is what makes the Jelo experience so unforgettable.

Johnny Dangerous

Self-proclaimed 'homo hip-hop head of controversy,' theMinneapolis-born, Chicago-based emcee is taking names and throwing verbal blows unlike any other. A voice for all sexualities, Johnny Dangerous prides himself on being boldly honest and downright crass! Alternatingly aggressive and demure, he's best described as a male Lil' Kim, he is clever, talented, and has created his own remarkable persona. He's taking gay rap to the next level.

jojoflores

DJing for over twenty-four years, Montreal’s jojoflores has established honorary residencies in Toronto, New York, San Francisco,Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Dubai, and Athens. His accolades include “Best International DJ” four years in a row by NYC’s Undaground Archives and Montreal’s “Best Club DJ” by Sounds of Blackness. His client list includes MAC, Montreal and Toronto International Film Festivals, Apple, Hugo Boss, Vanity Fair, Puma, Details Magazine, and Banana Republic. He’s headlined events with Wyclef Jean, Jody Watley, K-OS, Jazzy Jeff, and designers D-Squared. Add CEO/A&R of Gotsoul Records, founder of underground label Jamsteady, founder of award-winning Therapy, and you can see why jojoflores is truly one of Canada's ambassadors of soulful music.

DJ KANi lays down a deep soulful mix of afro-centered house, funk, hip hop, and sexy Latin vibes. Originally from Rwanda and now based in Montreal, Kani has been getting crowds in Montreal to bliss out on her spicy blend of world beats in the club scene for eight years from Girlz Rule at Evolution, Mystic at Luba Lounge, Fiesta at Le Temple, le boudoir, lesbomonde, coco café, and Soulmeka Pride editions at Salon Daomé and Academy to Blockorama. She’s made it her mission in life to get everyone dancing (especially the lesbians!)

Geoff Kelleway

Geoff Kelleway has played in countless venues across the city. He's been resident DJ at both Sonic and Byzantium. Equally at home playing deep soulful grooves as he is with a big room tribal set, he's most recently opened for house music legend Junior Vasquez at Fly.

Kids on TV emerged from the drainage pipe of a Toronto bath house in

the spring of 2003. Formed by John Caffery and joined by Minus Smile and Roxanne Luchak, Kids on TV has built upon it's burlesque roots, breaking barriers between the audience and performers with live mixing of steamy visual projections, sexy choreography, and a blend of experimental rock and irresistable beats. KOTV has played in the US and Europe and has resisted traditional venues in favour of performing in bath houses, arcades, squats, protests, farms, Roman army forts, and parks. Kids on TV create short films and videos and have screened their work internationally. They have new releases on Alien8 recordings, Alt Del records, Out of This Spark Records, and their new album is coming out on Blocks Recording Club in Canada and Chicks on Speed Records internationally.

King Sunshine

This completely original and captivating nine-piece Toronto collective combines a big brass section and a powerhouse vocalist. Creating a house centric fusion that integrates elements of jazz, techno, latin, and soul into a disco- funk sound, King Sunshine dares anybody to resist the dancefloor.

King's Cabaret is a bi-monthly show created by the owners of Goodhandy's in the fall of 2006. King's Cabaret stars drag kings Rider Gently and Aidan Zaas, as well as trans man Holden. Since their debut performance in November 2006, they've had popular shows suchs as "50's greaser," "90's" and most recently "80's hair metal." Todd Klinck, co-owner of Goodhandy's calls King's Cabaret "the tightest, most well put together king show Goodhandy's has seen yet... the chemistry between these three performers is just amazing." The boys from King's Cabaret never fail to entertain, whether it's stripping down to their undies during a modelling sequence or braving the blinding neon colours of the 90210-era, they will do whatever it takes to ensure their audience has a great time.

Lady Bass

Lady Bass began DJing over 6 years ago while working for an internet radio station. She started out playing all different styles of music, during a weekly online show, but she always knew that her UK roots would one day come shinning through. Today you can find her behind the decks spinning up a storm - UK hard house, Nu NRG, and hard trance style! She has played everywhere from Montreal to Calgary, as well as in parts of the US, sometimes sharing the decks with such top DJs as Madam Zu, Chris Liberator, Aaron Liberator, Illogic, Frankie Bones and Hatiras. Lady Bass has worked hard to earn the reputation as a promoter, DJ, and supporter of the Hard Dance music scene.

Utterly original Ottawa-area oddity, Mackenzie MacBride is a modern-day Cyndi Lauper with NYC-glam-meets-Hank Williams sound. This rock diarist sings songs of heartache and hope with an ethereal voice that sounds like an angel who's been banished from heaven. Although her music is fun, the former cruise-ship entertainer communicates with Lou Reed-esque honesty. Performing across Canada and the US with her queer music act, MacBride wants to show folks the beauty that lives inside the bizarre.

DJ Memphis Sugar

DJ Memphis Sugar spins the sweet soulful beats that make your hearts sing and your feet move. Spinning soulful grooves from off of the STAX, DJ Memphis Sugar makes resistance and music going hand in hand in love. Get on up!

The Mr. Goodhandys

The Chippendales of drag kings, these five studs met and bonded at the Mr. Goodhandy pageant, the first Ontario based drag king and trans men pagent. Each brings a unique twist to the Chippendale-style of showboating masculinity, while teasing their audience not only with their sexuality but with their gender. Stripping, of course, is a must.

Mr. Kicks

Mr.Kicks played the Blockorama stage for the first time at the tender age of fifteen. Now twenty, he's back, playing his seamless blend of classic and new music. He's made a name for himself on the afro-latin house music scene in and around the GTA, playing under his father's watchful eye, at some of the top nights in Toronto. With tens years experience behind already, he's held residency at Roxy Blu and Alto Basso.