The Toledo Show : In The L.A. Weekly!!

The LA Weekly came to The Toledo Show on Sunday night, and wrote this excellent review.

photo : Nick Faigin

[LA Weekly link]

Harvelle's & The Toledo Show :In The Huffington Post

For the complete post click [here]

Toledo Show : Mad, BadAnd Dangerous To Know

It's a Sunday night at Harvelle's and that means only one thing!

The awesomely delicious burlesque funk performers collectively known as the Toledo Show are taking over!! From 9:30 til close, The Toledo Show have been bringing their patented blend of bump 'n' grind funk with the gritty storytelling of front man/lead singer Toledo Diamond.

Allison (violin) and Sebastian (trumpet)

Toledo Diamond is a legend.

He is easily the hardest working man in show business. He is definitely one of the most entertaining. And you know what? I think I'm underselling it here.

Brian Allen (bass)

Brew (keys)

Toledo is mesmerizing.

Sober as a statue, his only vice being his steady stream of Erik™ cigars, he ringmasters one of the funkiest musical experiences I've ever been privy to witness. Tight as a snare drum, this group, which ranges in numbers from 4 - 15 (+) features singers, horn players, rappers, keyboardists, one of the greatest bass players ever(!) - basically, everything you would need if you were going into funky battle.

Shamari (vocals)

This has been going on for the better part of a decade at Harvelle's, and the rabid fans and Toledo Show every-week regulars are almost as much a part of the show as what's going on onstage. Especially for the un-indoctrinated, there's a bit of a cultural learning curve; The Toledo Show's funk exists at almost lethal levels and seems at it's best, when mixed with much sweat from dancing and perhaps a cocktail (or two)* from Mika or John behind the bar.

Women have been known to swoon at Toledo's aura, and men have become instantly smitten by the waaaay too-sexy dancing girls known as The Dames (not pictured here).

Walter Davis (saxophone)

Besides the music though, witnessing the clothes, the sound, the lights, the dancing girls, the aerialists, the Toledo fans, the sexy women in the front, the cats, the dames; the whole dirty deal.... will leave you glad you decided to step out on a Sunday night.

It's a scene man.

You gotta check it out!

(There's CDs for sale behind the bar if you want a souvenir)

*never drink and drive!!

Big Blog shout-outs to Mr. Toledo Diamond, Brian Allen, Walter Davis, Leigh (aerialist) and

The Dames : Erin, Mindy, Ashley, Leah & Molly.

Happy belated birthday to Jackie O'Neill!

Special thanks always to David and Cevin and the

Harvelle's Sunday cast & crew - John, Mika, Melinda, Emily, Stan & Ernesto.

Howdy to Kasey, Amanda and Baby Blues Bar-B-Q

Toledo Show Images

The long running Toledo Show is every Sunday night at Harvelle's. This soul-funk burlesque cabaret stars the charismatic Toledo Diamond as ring leader to the Dames, the band and the emotions of the audience.

Toledo Show : A View From The Decks

Vicious Lee is the world's greatest D.J.

He's at Harvelle's every Sunday night.

The place is a sweaty frenzy of funky madness when he's spinning.

He also has a first row view of The Dames, the burlesque dancing beauties that provide the show with unbridled sexuality. He also has a camera. Here's some of his flicks of Dame Mindy.

Thanks Vicious.

Sunday Night's AliveWith The Sound of Toledo

The Toledo Show is Harvelle's much celebrated Sunday night cabaret. The electric funk and wild dancing dames bring out L.A.'s most hip, fun and eclectic crowds. The club is often filled with repeat attenders and it's as much a friendly neighborhood hangout, as it is one of the most exciting weekly productions in the city.

See what it's all about...

9:30 sharp

1432 4th St

downtown

Santa Monica

OH! It's The Toledo Show

What could follow up a day and night of friends, family, food and fireworks?

THE TOLEDO SHOW of course!

You party, while they do all the work.

Singing, playing, dancing - all for your entertainment.

Mr. Toledo Diamond (above) oversees the whole production.

:o

The Toledo Show : Positively 4th St

The city of Santa Monica presents it's big Summer Soulstice (sic) festival today, but tonight... whassup? 

I'll tell you whassup! 

The Toledo Show struts it's stuff right down here on 4th St.

The Toledo Show - if you don't know - is a show unlike any other. Toledo Diamond is the frontman and he leads his electric cabaret through a night of jazzy r&b soul-funk as dancing girls (aka The Dames) swirl around on stage and through the crowd . The place is always packed with hipsters and newbies alike. Pretty people who know how to party on a Sunday night. 

Longest day of the year? Maybe.

Baddest show in L.A.? Most definitely!

Toledo Show : Sunday Night Funk

If you know anything about nightlife in L.A., invariably you know of or have seen The Toledo Show. The Sunday night residency is as infamous as it is funky. That is, very! Dancing girls, high energy performances, and the ringleader himself, Mr. Toldedo Diamond doing what only he can do. If you've never heard of The Toledo Show, or if you've heard of it and never been, tonight is the night to get your Toledo on!

If It's Sunday, It Must Be Toledo

Internationally known, The Toledo Show graces the stages of Harvelle's every Sunday night. This electric live cabaret is filled with hot dancing dames, horn-fueled jams and heavy funk. The man - Toledo - holds court, and directs the controlled chaos like a cross between P.T. Barnum and Petey Wheatstraw! One show not to miss.

The Toledo Show : Slightly Hung Over

The Toledo Show cranked it up a notch tonight. Their Sunday night residency continues to thrill the crowd, and dazzle with incredible musicianship, those hot dancers and the cabaret atmosphere they bring with 'em. Down on 4th St. in Santa Monica it was a party and a half. I met some great folks from Yonkers, NY and the band sounded better than ever. Brian Allen's thunderous bass riffs never stopped, guitarist Rok channeled Eddie Hazel and Vernon Reid during his featured solos, Sebastian rocked the trumpet, Asa pouned the skins into submission and Brew improvised on the keys. Singers Malik and Shamari sang their respective hearts out and the incomparable Walter Davis maceo'd his way to the top of the mix for the over-the-top-excitement factor he brings with him wherever/whenever he performs.


In the morning, I'll be slightly hung over and I really shouldn't have eaten that bacon double cheeseburger from Jack-in-the-Box I picked up on the way home. But I know it was worth it. A club full of music fans I'm sure would agree. Carlos? Jackie? Nate? Viv?

(Big shout-outs to John and Emily)

Toledo Show : L.A. Faves

Recently a topic of an article in the L.A. Times, The Toledo Show are some baaadass muthafuckers! This gang of musicians, dancers and the enigma that is Toledo Diamond (singer/songwriter/dancer/movie star), bring their dark, dangerous and incredibly funky riot to their Sunday night residency at Harvelle's. If you haven't experienced it yet, tonight is the night! Don't sleep, don't stress, don't go shopping for Xmas bargains, come down to Harvelle's for The Toledo Show's Sunday night mayhem!

THE Toledo Show!!

The Toledo Show. The Toledo Show! Sunday night at Harvelle's. Toledo and The Dames are here to entertain you in their own dark-funk cabaret style. Read the recent story on Toledo, The Toledo Show and Harvelle's in the L.A. Times.

(all photos : Ringo H.W. Chiu / Los Angeles Times)

EXTRA! Read all about it!The 'Toledo' Show make the L.A. Times

The 'Toledo' show gets a second look
Los Angeles Times December 11, 2008

Casual clubbers are forgiven in advance if they think they've entered a night-life wormhole this month. Burlesque and gritty blues-and-jazz-influenced music are back in vogue all over town, perhaps as a result of a faltering economy that harks back to the Depression era.

Consequently, some Angelenos are taking a fresh look at long-running, music-and-burlesque experience "The Toledo Show," which plays Thursday night by special arrangement at Hollywood nightclub-restaurant hybrid the Kress. Partly responsible for the new popularity is a movie opening Friday in limited nationwide release, "Dark Streets," which features the soul cabaret's frontman, Toledo Christopher Dimon (a.k.a. Toledo Diamond).

"We never went away," said Dimon before his long-standing weekly gig at Santa Monica venue Harvelle's on Sunday. His "Toledo Show" played all over Los Angeles for the better part of the last decade before settling in the small 4th Street lounge the last five years.

"But we've evolved," the husky-voiced ringleader said with a laugh.

This month, the Toldeo Show is suddenly back on some night crawlers' radar, thanks in part to a tie-in with a small production company who is using the band to market the film, in which Dimon appears and plays a pivotal role.

Andrea Balen, one of "Dark Streets' " producers, said Dimon, though not a professional actor, was a natural pick for the role of Prince in the film, which is sold as a sort of noirish, blues version of "Moulin Rouge."

"Once we met Toledo, we stopped auditioning people," Balen said before the Sunday show (the film's female lead, Bijou Phillips, also performed with the "Toledo Show" band Sunday and is expected to sing again Thursday at the Kress). "He was perfect [as Prince]."

However, it's fans of the real Prince who might enjoy "The Toledo Show," which is sex-soaked and funky. The entire experience is akin to listening to the famed musician's "Black Album," with dancers, called "dames" in the show, bumping and grinding near audience members at certain junctures during the evening. And while the original numbers the band performs rarely elevate to anything as catchy as a tune written by his Purpleness (Dimon's vocals aren't for everyone), the experience is what the Toledo Show is all about.

And while jaded L.A. nightlife veterans may scoff at the Toledo Show as a poor man's version of the (now closed) nightclub Forty Deuce, others say the show is underrated.

"It's artistic and different," said Jackie O'Neill, 34, in Sunday night's crowd. "You can see live music all over L.A., but you can't always see a real show."

— Charlie Amter/L.A. Times

photo by Ringo H.W. Chiu/L.A. Times

The Toledo Show : Sunday Night Dynamite

The Toledo Show.

This is the hottest ticket in town. 

The man in charge - Toledo - describes it as "film noir soul on a svengali kiss". 

It's loud, dark, funky, sexy, intense, non-stop and addictive!  

And then there's The Dames - incredible beauties who dance around the stage, the floor, through the crowd, on top of the bar and sometimes off the walls!

Every Sunday night.

The weekend isn't over until Toledo says it is. 

The Toledo Show : Join The Congregation

You know what day it is. 

You also know what happens at Harvelle's every week at this time. 

That's right. 

The pandemonium known as The Toledo Show. 

It's as indescribable as it is soulful. 

The combo of Mr Toledo Diamond, his bevy of burlesque beauties, and the awesome powerhouse band that holds it all together is something that packs 'em in, week after week. 

Just like church. 

At night. 

With the pastor chain-smoking cigarillos, 

and the choir turned up to 11.

Watch the video below for a clue.

You'll go to work Monday telling all your friends you've been born again.

And you'll want them to believe too.

 

The Toledo Show : You better ask somebody!!!

More energetic than So Cal Edison, and certainly way way funkier, The Toledo Show starring Mr Toledo Diamond, is one hell of a power supply!!! Fronting his impossibly soulful revue, he leads his army of grimey funkateers through their paces for your pleasure. And that's not all. His troupe of dancers, The Dames, satisfy your lust for beauty in the form of women who dance with wild abandon. One of the underground's best kept secrets, the club is always at capacity when Sunday night rolls around. Don't sleep!!! 

(pictured - Toledo Diamond takes the Back To The Future Time Machine out for a spin)

Toledo : the show, the whole show and nothing but the show

It's all about the show. 

The Toledo Show. 

What is it? 

An indescribable musical experience mixing the drama of cabaret with the funk of Sly and the Family Stone. Maestro Toledo's incredible vocal style is commanding and nicotine coated. 

Surrounding him is a a team of burlesque dancers. These women - The Dames - will take your breath away as they gyrate and become slaves to the rhythm of the hottest band in town!

Spend some time with Toledo and company, and you'll be addicted to the show - every Sunday night at Harvelle's.

The Toledo Show : the speakeasy vibe

As always, Sunday nights at Harvelle's is all about The Toledo Show. The night features cabaret jazz and dramatic funk and R & B as led by eccentric maestro Toledo.

The over-the-top show features burlesque-style dancing girls known as The Dames. A local troupe of beautiful lingerie clad women - they are the thinking man's Pussycat Dolls.

They seem possessed by the big band, who are some of the hottest players in town. I've heard that Toledo lives somewhere in Tinseltown, but he appears to have come from Planet Cool.

This Sunday night party is just what you need as the weekend comes to an end.