Queen Street West is arguably Canada’s most important countercultural main street, and may even be North America’s. Queen West was a quiet, mostly forgotten commercial strip until the punk rock, new wave and reggae explosion of the ‘70s, and it really came to live in the diverse, inclusive, alternative ‘80s —  eventually becoming a main hub for the Canadian music industry in the ‘90s. This two-part tour will take us west from University all the way to Gladstone Avenue.

Part II follows Queen West as the subcultural strip pushed further west past Spadina — and towards more glorious black-clad griminess. Venues visited include The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, the Cabana Room, The Cameron House, Drom Taberna, the Velvet Underground, the Bovine Sex Club, The Big Bop/Reverb, The Great Hall, the Drake Hotel and the Gladstone Hotel. The tour concludes with a consideration of where else future tours might go — such as the East End or Toronto’s inner suburbs.