Friday night, slip on the Chucks, your skinny jeans & leather jacket, head to a New York diner, and listen to MGMT play live to an invite-only crowd of fashion & film celebs mingling amongst the downtown hipsters - recipe for a good night out in the big city? Most definitely. But, it wasn't NYC, it was Toronto. And the diner wasn't the dive you might have expected - it was set in Holt Renfrew's Bloor Street flagship store as part of the Converse by John Varvatos Event sponsored by GQ magazine.











On a night where TIFF parties were in full-swing (most talked about being Brad Pitt and the "Burn After Reading" party over at Spice Route), the annual Holt's bash was a must-hit hot-spot.
Jeremy Piven, Gael Garcia Bernal and Sophia Bush were among the many TIFF party-hoppers...











As were local music talents Deryck Whibley, K-OS (who told me he was there purely to see MGMT perform), and Fritz Helder & the Phantoms...











Throw in a few familiar tv faces...

George Stroumboulopoulos, Dan Levy, Jessi Cruickshank


And even a home-grown superstar designer or two (even better when that comes in the form of fun-loving, matching-outfit twins!) Yep, the adorable Dean & Dan of Dsquared are never one to miss a party...





But, I have to admit, of all the famous faces, I was most impressed with Steve Nash. I always knew he was small relative to the giants of the NBA, but to see him in a crowd, he's just a slightly-above-average-height guy, and also much slighter than I would have thought - seems built for a runway just as much a basketball court. Oh, and loved his haircut too...








And finally the night's big draw - MGMT. They arrived on the 'black' carpet and were either extremely camera shy, or too cool for the media, and seemed more into their stuffed dog that apparently was taking calls??... (some joke I'm so not in on).








Anyway, strange entrance aside, their much-anticipated performance was worth the hype. They even, get this, had the fashion folks, uh, "moshing"... so not what you're used to seeing inside Holt's...





So, overall a good night - tons of great food...I even hear that Steve Nash scooped gelato for a lucky few - I unfortunately missed that, probably waiting in the endless line for a drink... I would have taken that over my double scotch if only I'd have known...

Photos courtesy of: Keren Jackman & WireImage.com
Posted by KEREN

September 8, 2008 11:28 PM | Permalink