Memo to TIFF party planners: Ambient house muzak and generic electro-beats do not a fun fête make. And yet, these soulless vibrations are what pass for a soundtrack at the majority of festival bashes. Who exactly enjoys the oppressive unce-unce? Nobody! This makes the whole situation all the more frustrating. But rather than whine, we're going to go ahead and give props to the TIFF parties that stood out from the musical humdrum.
Timeless dance-party classics at Patria
Safe to say the aforementioned soulless dance beats won’t inspire Bill Murray to lead a conga line through a King Street West restaurant. What will? Well, Whitney Houston, as it turns out. A mix of indisputable boogie anthems à la I Wanna Dance with Somebody, Don’t Stop Believing, Billy Jean and Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) turned the St. Vincent after-party on Friday into the festival bash to beat. Murray was joined by his co-star Melissa McCarthy on the makeshift dance floor (anyone who’s seen Tammy knows that MMcC has serious moves), as well as Kristen Wiig who pulled out that most beloved of eighties dance moves, The Robot.
Celebrity DJ at the CN Tower
The English turntable wizard Mark Ronson was flown in by the Armani team to play their party at a thousand-plus feet – inside the CN Tower’s 360 restaurant, that is. Ronson’s set was a mix of sing-and-dance-along classics heavy on nineties hip-hop (Missy Elliot, Mariah Carey) and Britpop classics (Amy Winehouse). The quality of the night’s mix-master wasn’t lost on celebrity guests Jessica Chastain and Chloë Grace Moretz, who let loose with a little couch-dancing.
Concert at Casa Loma
The annual Artists for Peace and Justice fundraiser was hosted by Paul Haggis and raised over $1-million for a good cause. It also packed an impressive musical punch with performances by Hamilton’s The Arkells and Ohio rockers The National. Live music can be a somewhat risky move, but in this case the indie soundtrack fit the audience and gave the party some personality, which is never a bad thing.
Notorious P-Ar-Ty
You really can’t go wrong with classic hip-hop like Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z and a remixed version of Pharrell Williams’ criminally overplayed (and yet impossible not to bop to) Happy, which made up the soundtrack at the Grey Goose Soho House party held for Chris Rock’s new movie Top Five. The venue has had a bunch of parties this week, but this crowd was probably the most festive, thanks to an impossible-not-to-groove-to set-list. Saturday Night Live’s resident Barack Obama (Jay Pharoah) knocked back shots at the bar. Not exactly presidential, but hey, great music will bring out the worst (read: the best) in all of us.