One of Toronto's favourite music venues and Queen West staples is closing this month, but don't worry there's good news.

In a statement on their Facebook page, The Rivoli tells revellers they're closing the main floor of the bar and music venue for renovations, but will reopen March 1.

Toronto has had some bad luck with other music venues closing permanently recently, Hoxton, Hugh's Room, Soybomb and the Silver Dollar included. But management insists they're just upgrading the main space.

The second floor pool hall and loft space will remain open for drinks, games and a select snack menu during the month. They'll also move the popular Alt Comedy Lounge events upstairs every monday until the renos are complete.

2017 is off to an emotional start. Torontonians are clearly frustrated about what's going on in the U.S., what just happened in Quebec and its effects on Canada. There are some great ways to peacefully act on those frustrations through protest, discussion and sometimes dancing.

Here's a round-up of upcoming events to help awaken the activist in you this winter.

Toronto businesses that closed in January were some real doozies. Particularly of note were the gems that occupied the charismatic stretch of Markham St. called Mirvish Village (let's hope some of its charm is preserved). Some of these spots will be greatly missed.

Here are the most notable Toronto businesses that closed in January.

American Apparel

Every location in Toronto (and everywhere else) of this bankrupt, Canadian-born, U.S.-based chain that sold minimalist basics has closed or is closing very soon. Canadian company Gildan Activewear Inc. has bought its assets but not the rights to the retail stores.

Shoes.com

Speaking of going bankrupt, this Vancouver-based online retailer opened this bricks-and-mortar store on Queen West six months ago, and now both online and retail store operations have shut down following the company filing for bankruptcy.

Bloor Street Diner

First opened in 1981 and then moved to the Manulife Centre in 1994, this classic spot shuttered earlier this month to make way for Toronto's (and Canada's) first Eataly.

Bravo Restaurant

This burger and oyster joint on Dundas West had a short-lived existence—it closed in under four months.

Suspect Video

A beloved Mirvish Village staple, this video store had been around for over 25 years, and will now live on as an online-only entity.

The Victory Cafe

Yet another beloved Mirvish Village casualty to the Westbank redevelopment plan, this go-to watering hole had its last hurrah on January 30.

The Central

Like The Victory and Suspect, this indie music venue on Markham St. closed its doors after one final big bash on January 31.

A3 Napoli

Sadly, the owners of this Italian street food shop in Little Italy have decided this place will be better off as another Pizzeria Libretto location.

County General (Riverside)

The Riverside version of this restaurant specializing in fried chicken and crafted cocktails closed on January 31, but you can still get your fix at the original on West Queen West.

The Hoxton

Music venues are having a rough go of it lately. After six years, this venue known for showcasing EDM artists, closed on January 28. A new rental development has been proposed for the site.

Yunaghi

Known for its Japanese-French fare, this small space at Harbord and Manning quietly closed and has been replaced with a fully French bistro.

Big Sean joins the likes of Kanye and The Weeknd with his very own pop-up shop in Toronto this weekend.

He's celebrating the release of his new album, I Decided, out February 3, and ramping up excitement for his tour, which stops in Toronto on April 2. 

The "Bounce Back" rapper's first-ever pop-up will be open Friday February 3 and Saturday from 5 - 11 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. at Rally on Ossington, a.k.a. the king of pop-ups shops. 

Fans can expect I Decided-inspired merch including limited edition T-shirts, hats, hoodies and bomber jackets that range from $30 to $200.

After we broke news yesterday of a proposal to dramatically increase license fees on patios in Toronto, many local business owners and patio-lovers alike were shocked and outraged.

It's a good thing then that the City of Toronto has decided to revisit the price hike.

Please, Toronto. Don't do this to small business owners. I love outdoor patio culture. This price hike will ruin it. https://t.co/snEbr0xkcN

— Blake Morrow (@ShootBlake) February 2, 2017

As we mentioned in our original story, the city did inform us that the changes were still under review and that nothing was final. There was a meeting on Monday and the feedback was loud and clear.

"At this meeting we heard very clearly that the initial proposed permit fees, as presented, were too high," a city official told us.

Today Municipal Licensing and Standards Spokesperson Tammy Robinson reaffirmed to CP24 that the proposed fee increase would be revisited.

"Staff will be taking this feedback into account and looking at alternatives while preparing a report with staff recommendations for the licensing and standards committee in April, " she said.

Weekend events in Toronto will keep you warm with skating, dancing and indoor shopping. There are also a ton of parties on Friday and Saturday (including Long Winter and ROM's Friday Night Live). You'll barely have time to catch your breath with the dozens of Super Bowl parties that await on Sunday.

Toronto could be in for a big dumping of snow next week, right after we suffer through one of the coldest spells of the season. You didn't really think we'd escape winter without some nastiness, did you?

The Weather Network is calling for 10-15 centimetres of snow next Tuesday, followed by 5-10 centimetres on Wednesday. That'd be enough to make for a few nightmarish commutes. 

It's still a ways off, so it's possible we could still dodge the bullet if temperatures creep above the freezing mark, which Environment Canada suggests is possible. Then we might get a mix of snow and rain for a slushy mess. 

In any case, it sounds like we have more plenty more of winter in store. And, lest you get too optimistic, do remember that Toronto experiences about 40 per cent of its annual snowfall after January. 

Just yesterday we told you about Drake taking a piece of Toronto with him on tour in the shape of Director X's fire globe from last fall's Luminato Festival.

Well, the globe is now broken and you can thank Travis Scott. The rapper, who's touring with Drake in Europe fell through a hole in the stage at London's O2 Arena where the globe is kept, deflated. 

@trvisXX😔pic.twitter.com/lY9IEosT9p

— Ben Gregory (@ben_gregoryy) February 2, 2017

Drake helps his tour mate back up onto the stage soon after and the two jump right back into "Goosebumps" as if nothing happened. 

Twitter knows it happened though, and Twitter doesn't forget. The Tweet below reveals that the fall was so hard it broke the globe, which is supposed to appear at the end of the show.

Travis Scott fell at Drake LMAO pic.twitter.com/My7Fc9T6xx

— Ashley Keep (@ashkeeps) February 1, 2017

@ashkeeps Travis broke the Globe that is meant to come up at the end hahaha Drake claims he'll refund everyone too...

— Ashley Keep (@ashkeeps) February 2, 2017

Drake apparently claimed he was going to refund everyone since they didn't get the full show. Officials from 02 Arena are still waiting to hear from Drake's team on whether that's going to happen. No word yet on if the globe will be fixed. 

In a city filled with condos, it's still rare to find units with remarkable features for less than $2 million. This space at King West's Fashion House Condos is a noteworthy exception. The interior isn't especially stunning, but the sprawling terrace is exceptional.

Clocking in at just under 2,000 square feet, its presence actually makes the entire condo feel bigger. Coming in at $1,599,000 for two bedrooms and two bathrooms, the outdoor space certainly plays a factor in the asking price for this one, but there's little doubt that someone will love the idea of owning this rooftop perch.

The rest of the condo is fine, though its design flourishes tend to look cheap rather than sophisticated. The best feature is the ample floor-to-ceiling windows that allow loads of light to filter through the space. 

Amenities are also a strong feature here. If you ever want to leave your private terrace, there's a sweet rooftop pool as well as a full fitness centre, and the two parking spots will appeal to couples who own two cars.

Specs

• Address: Suite 902 560 King St. West
• Price: $1,599,000
• Bedrooms: 2
• Bathrooms: 2
• Parking: 2
• Walk Score: 99
• Transit Score: 100
• Maintenance Fees: $1049.20
• Listing agent: Emmet Wade Molyneux
• Listing ID: C3629194

Noteworthy Features

• 1,195 square foot terrace
• Crestron automation (blinds, lights, thermostat, and TV)
• Built-in Murphy bed
• Rooftop pool

Good For

This condo would be perfect for the consummate entertainer. The massive terrace is the perfect space to invite a hundred friends to party above the city. The unit might be a bit underwhelming, but the outdoor space screams baller.

Move On If

You have an aversion to the sun. The best feature here is the terrace, so if you're not the type to use it regularly, there are better condos out there for less coin. 

Thank you to Bosley Real Estate Ltd., Brokerage for sponsoring our condo of the week. All editorial written and selected by blogTO.

College Street Bar has been shut down until at least May after it was reported city councilor Mike Layton put forward a motion at City Hall to revoke the bar's license and review their workplace safety protocols. 

The city's Municipal Licensing and Standards division stepped in to enforce and extend the closure in coordination with owner Gavin MacMillan, one of the two men accused of forcibly confining and sexually assaulting a woman inside the venue late last year.

The city says they plan to continue to monitor the venue until further notice and if the bar attempts to open or offer bartender training courses, its licence will be immediately suspended.

Toronto apartment and home sizes seem to be shrinking, and shared office spaces seem to be growing. The missing link here seems to be space, and one local start up is hoping to fix that

They're called Wundershed and they make modern boxes that you can put in any backyard space to create an office, studio, extra bedroom or just a quiet place to zen out. 

They're customizable and available for as tiny as 108 square feet, and can be built on site, without any additional city permits in two days. They're also all season, so you can do yoga in the middle of the winter in your backyard box, no prob. 

Pricing starts at $140 per square foot, but the total cost depends on the size and materials you choose to built the shed with. 

Dog lovers rejoice! Toronto is in store to get its first dog cafe later this year when Wishbone opens its doors in Koreatown. Modelled after Toronto's twocat cafes, this will be a place to stop by for a drink or a snack as well as say hello to a new four legged friend.

The plan is for the cafe to act as both a meeting place and an adoption shelter for dogs. It also hopes to avoid some of the criticism leveled against Toronto's first cat cafe by making safety and cleanliness a top priority.

Passport Canada office locations in Toronto are going to be your best friend when you need to renew your passport. Or maybe you're applying for one for the very first time - how exciting.

Service Canada, Service Ontario and Passport Canada offices in Toronto are often plagued with seemingly inert lineups (and terrible fluorescent lighting) that can make you feel as if you've stepped into the first circle of hell, limbo.

But waiting around might seem like a fair price to pay for the privilege to carry around a Canadian passport, which is apparently the fifth best type of passport in the world.

Now, where should go if you need to apply for a passport, or get one renewed? Well, there are a number Service Canada, Passport Canada Post offices in Toronto.

The Canada Post and Service Canada offices listed will accept passport (and passport renewal) applications, but they can't provide any rushed services if you need to get your passport expedited for some reason.

If you need an urgent (same business day) or express (two to nine business days) pick-up, you should head to a Passport Office.

Passport Canada Offices in Toronto

Downtown

• 74 Victoria St., Suite 300
• Hours: Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

North York

• 4900 Yonge St., Suite 380 (Joseph Shepard Building)
• Hours: Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Scarborough

• 200 Town Centre Court, Suite 210
• Hours: Mon-Fri, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Service Canada Offices

Downtown

• 559 College St., Suite 100
• Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:30 a.m - 4 p.m.

Midtown

• 25 St. Clair Ave. E., main floor
• Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Lawrence Square Mall

• 700 Lawrence Ave. W., Suite 103-105
• Hours: Mon-Fri, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Canada Post

North York

• 2708 Yonge St.
• Hours: Mon-Fri, 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

The west side of Toronto might have the majority of popular restaurants, hotels, and cultural institutions, but that doesn't mean the east side is a slouch when it comes to desirable features. While the pace might be a bit more laid back, with that comes increased livability, more green spaces, and a beach network that's worthy of serious envy.

Here are 5 things the east side does best in Toronto.

Beaches

If there's one thing the east side has that's way better than the west, it's beaches. From the boardwalk along Woodbine and Kew beaches to the sandy shores at Bluffer's Park, these waterfront spaces are key to the very identity of east side Toronto.

Ravines and nature

The natural landscapes of east side Toronto have more to offer than what's found in the west. This is partially thanks to the network of ravines related to the Don Valley, but is bolstered by the Leslie Street Spit, Glen Stewart Ravine, and the Scarborough Bluffs.

Brunch

If the west wins the overall battle of the city's restaurant scene, the east side stakes a major claim when it comes to brunch. Leslieville and Riverside is the brunch capital of Toronto with places like the Lady Marmalade, Bonjour Brioche, White Lily Diner and many more packed with hungry locals eager to devour their eggs.

Kid-friendly landmarks and attractions

Some argue that the east side of Toronto is more livable than the west. Part of that revolves around the additional green space, but kid-friendliness also plays a role. You have the excellent Corktown Common, Brick Works, Sprouts, the Toronto Zoo, the Cherry Beach Sports Fields, and all the above mentioned green space to explore.

Cheaper rent

While there are pockets of the east side that rival the west when it comes to the cost of renting an apartment, in general the east side is a bit more reasonable, particularly considering that it's home to up and coming neighbourhoods like the East Danforth, Birch Cliff, and Little India.

Toronto Food Events rounds up the most delicious festivals, pop-ups, winemaker dinners, supper clubs and other food related happenings in Toronto this week and next. You can find us here every Friday morning.

The indie coffee shop scene in Toronto is thriving. In neighbourhoods across the city, baristas are slinging expertly crafted cortados and flat whites, often made with locally roasted beans of course.

Check out all 50 essential Toronto coffee shops in this photo gallery.

Blue Rodeo's Toronto concert at Massey Hall  last night got a whole lot cooler when a surprise guest showed up to help sing the band's massive hit "We Are lost Together."

This may make your morning. Gord Downie shows up with @BlueRodeo& the Sadies at Massey Hall to sing Lost Together: https://t.co/9FgoZ0JP0l

— Matt Galloway (@mattgallowaycbc) February 3, 2017

The show was already a good one with the Sadies doing opening duties for the night, but when a denim-clad Gord Downie strolled on stage and gave every band member a hug and a kiss, the crowd really went wild.

Social media channels also erupted following the surprise appearance.

We love you Gordie. #bluerodeo #thetragicallyhip #gorddownie #masseyhall #lovecanada #lovetoronto #canadianmusic

A video posted by Leanne C (@leannechiz) on Feb 2, 2017 at 10:07pm PST

He may not have sung as much as the rest of the band and had what appears to be a sheet of paper with the lyrics in front of him, but the power of the presence of the Tragically Hip front man who announced he had be diagnosed with terminal brain cancer last year was plenty.

You can watch entire six-minute performance below.

If you thought that Toronto housing prices might come back down to earth in January, a rude awakening was in store to start 2017. The Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB) just released its numbers for the first month of the year, and it's more of what we witnessed in 2016.

"January 2017 picked up where 2016 left off: sales were up on a year-over-year basis while the number of new listings was down by double-digit annual rates for most major home types," reads the monthly report from TREB.

Toronto home prices were up 21.8 per cent in January on a year-over-year basis. Put differently, on average it cost $140,552 more to buy a home compared to 12 months ago. 

The price increases are driven by a variety of factors, but the most significant is a lack of supply.

“The number of active listings...at the end of January was essentially half of what was reported as available at the same time last year," says TREB. 

Until supply issues are addressed or the government decides to intervene, you can trust that the Toronto real estate market will continue to see home prices driven further and further out of reach.

Most people associate Vice with ultra-hip, youth-focused content about food, parties, music and on-the-ground news from around the globe.

Now thanks to allegations surrounding a former editor, their Canadian headquarters here in Toronto has turned into a story of its own.

According to the National Post, former Vice Media music editor Yaroslav Pastukhov might have  tried to use the Toronto office as a base for recruiting journalists into a drug smuggling ring.

"Three current or former Vice journalists independently told the Post that Yaroslav Pastukhov, then Vice Canada’s music editor who went by the name Slava Pastuk, personally tried to recruit them as international drug couriers, offering each of them $10,000 to carry illicit cargo hidden in the lining of suitcases from Las Vegas to Australia," writes the Post.

According to the report, the journalists in question all refused the offer, but several people associated with Pastukhov, including his one-time roommate Jordan Gardner, have been arrested for possession of cocaine since 2015. Gardner is currently in an Australian prison.

Holy shit. One of the editors I worked with on a story back at Vice was reportedly running cocaine smuggling ring out of the Toronto office.

— Julia (@loudmouthjulia) February 3, 2017

Vice Canada disassociated themselves from Pastukhov in February 2016 after employees raised concerns about him, which precipitated an internal investigation by the company.

The Post claims they are not aware of any criminal charges or police investigations into Pastukhov's alleged activities.

has anyone written a take on how depressing it is Vice pays it staff so little it took a drug investigation to reveal more work conditions

— Karen K. Ho (@karenkho) February 3, 2017

The story has since been picked up internationally by publications such as the New York Post and the Hollywood Reporter.

Any talk about Toronto nightclubs for EDM must be prefaced by the admission that EDM is a terrible umbrella acronym that encapsulates 30-plus styles of music into a palatable and sugary cereal-like mush of uplifting beats.

Some of the more common genres that fall into the term include Dubstep, Complextro, Tech-House, and Trap music. Toronto has had a long history of electronic music as a rave mecca in the 90s (maybe thanks to our Commonwealth past) and onwards.

Here's a roundup of some of the top clubs in Toronto to get your underground groove on.

Coda

Coda is the spiritual successor to the much loved Footwork, one of Toronto's best-known dance clubs to cater to a demanding, techno loving audience. Owners Joel Smye and Stephan Philion transformed what was once the Annex Wreckroom into a high caliber nightclub that properly makes use of the sprawling space.

Nest

Home to a mix of impressive local and international DJs, Nest is a house music club located where Ryze used to be. It features a whopping sound system and 13,000 square feet of room and is home to parties like Yes Yes Y'all and any type of Sunday before a long weekend 5a.m. turn-up.

Rebel

Rebel is the re-incarnation of what used to be Sound Academy on Polson Pier and was created night club king Charles Khabouth (who also runs Uniun, Veld Music fest and Cube among other venues). They host huge international DJs and concerts, and boast one of the city's biggest sound and lighting set ups.

Uniun

This back alley spot near King and Portland sports a multimillion-dollar interior outfitted with everything you could want in a lighting and sound system.

Velvet Underground

No longer a Queen West goth club, The Velvet Underground is a high-powered music venue and a great space to see EDM DJS and producers roll through town. Embrace bought the space and completely renovated it in late 2015, so the DJ roster is on point.