The Toledo Show : Shamari's Having A Par-tay!!

The annual birthday celebration of Shamari of The Toledo Show took place this past Sunday. The revved up atmosphere was like an Xmas explosion. Tinsel and presents everywhere! There was rumors of Shamari descending from the ceiling - which were exaggerations - although she did have at least 3 clothing changes through out the night. Happy Birthday Shamari! Enjoy your next trip around the sun!

Shamari - seen here beaming in the rapture of a Spoonie bass solo.

The night was all about Shamari and her prescence ...errr presents.

That's Mindy. One of The Toledo Show Dames.

Shamari raises the roof!

Walter Davis on the saxophone.

Walter Davis is incomparable. That has been proven by Toledo Diamond. This post about The Toledo Show features no photos or mentions of Toledo himself. That doesn't seem right. It's The TOLEDO Show. He's Toledo. My apologies to Toledo.

T-Smidi & Toledo : Right There : Video Shoot

Harvelle's legend Toledo Diamond recently shot a video for "Right There" - a song written by T-Smidi, who also performs with Toledo on this clip.

The video features Dame Erin and Dame Mindy who perform as part of the Toledo Show every Sunday at Harvelle's.

Where's Captain Kirk?

Indeed, even as the marquee says Kirk Fletcher, the band was without their leader. The rest of the dudes are here; Luke Miller on keys, Bobby Tsukomoto on bass, Paulie Cerra on sax and vocals and of course, legendary drummer James Gadson (google him).




The house is packed tonight with Harvelle's royalty. Sir Harry Bowen is owning the dancefloor, while Miss Willie Brown's Amanda and Kasey, along
with guitar hero Sam Meek and bassist Brian Allen are here to support their bandmate Luke.Toledo Diamond is at the bar chillin, and on his way out, as I was coming in, was Toledo Show bassist Spoonie.


Josh Smith is standing in for Kirk tonight and he's rocking it.



Also sitting in is the incredible bassist Travis Carlton (again, google).

Toledo (above)

Amanda (above)

Closing the first set with the theme from Sanford and Son, they helped this poor scribe to have a less unpleasant "first Monday" of the new decade.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:4th St,Santa Monica,United States

Soul Funk : DJ Vicious Lee Pix

It's Soul Funk time!

Joining Ryan Cross was the star of the Sunday night residency at Harvelle's known as The Toledo Show. The inimitable Mr. Diamond hasn't been seen round here on a Tuesday night in ages.

DJ Vicious Lee shot the pix!

Thanks VL!

Toledo expounds on the nature of cool with Ryan Cross on bass.

TheArtist Kiki proves who's got the love!

Ian Martin on bass and Todd Washington on guitar!

Harvelle's : Memorial Day Weekend

Kick off the weekend early with Kandace Lindsey !!!

The Delgado Brothers on Friday!

Alan Iglesias : Crossfire Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute Saturday night!

The Toledo Show (pictured above) will infamously zazz it up on Sunday!

Was (Not Was) le ("Walk The Dinosaur")are performing on Monday with Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Harry Bowens, Don Was and the guitar wizardry of Randy Jacobs.

T-Smidi : The Thursday Bash

Welcome To The Studio

The Bongo Fury Band

Tuesday night's Bongo Fury Burlesque and Afro Samba Jazz show is a club favorite and always provides unbelievably fun and funky entertainment. This is weekend caliber stuff on a week night!!! The furious artists who collaborate and make this night the party that it is, are (pictured above l—r) Victor Orlando-congas/bongos, Toledo-vocals, Carolina Ceresola-dance, Todd Washington-guitar/vocals, Asa Watkins-drums, Bjørn Fleuren-bass guitar, the incomparable Walter Davis-sax, DJ Daylight(in front)-spinning wax on the 1's and 2's.

Bongo Fury : The "Bongo" Blog

I've been accused of devoting much of this blog to Tuesday night's Bongo Fury, so much so that it has been suggested I call this the "Bongo Fury Blog". To those critics, you are correct sir, i love the Bongo Fury show and think everyone should experience it. 

There's nothing like it. 

The incomparable Walter Davis leads the band, who coax the women out onto the stage, who dazzle the audience. Men and women alike are enchanted by the beauty and movement of these dancers; burlesque beauties who entertain with their bodies in motion.

A sight to behold.

Bongo Fury : Music To Watch Girls By

This Tuesday, rain or shine, Harvelle's will host it's weekly Bongo Fury party. Rich afro-cuban jazz-funk, beautiful burlesque dancers and DJ Daylight spinning funk and brazilian beats entertain like nobody's business. The incomparable Walter Davis leads the band, plays the sax and directs the action.


(thanks to Jeff Cranford for the pix)

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.

Bongo Fury : Dakota & Nina : Pix

The incomparable Walter Davis ruled the night this past Tuesday. Dancers Dakota and Nina seduced the crowd with classic burlesque. Special guests this week included Toledo, Dorthea and a French singer named Jasmine. Each and every Tuesday. (pix - from top : Dakota, Nina, Walter, Jasmine)

Bongo Fury : Dancer? I didn't even know her!

Tonight: The return of Carolina Cerisola!!! Fresh from her performance on ABCs "Superstars Of Dance", the beautiful and dangerously talented Carolina is not the only dancer on tonight's bill. Also - for your pleasure - Zepha, a greek goddess with knock-out legs and a backside fit for even the most discerning connoisseur of that particular muscle. Of course, the incomparable Walter Davis on sax and flute leads the Bongo Fury orchestra through the night's improv afro-cuban jazz. DJ Daylight spins funk, brazilian beats and acid jazz for your dancing pleasure deep into the night. Toledo Diamond might sit in if he feels like it.

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)

The Toledo Show : Liver Than You'll Ever Be!

Note to self : 

Toledo Show. 

9pm. Harvelle's. 

Downtown Santa Monica.

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 : 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.