I’ve never been to PRIDE before in Toronto, and while I skipped out on the parade, I took a quick walk down Church before checking out Diamond Rings and Katie Stelmanis (with her new band) at the “Alterna-Queer” stage. I felt too voyeuristic to take any photos, and considering that I don’t drink or enjoy house music and overall dislike hot summer weather, I didn’t get a whole lot out of it personally. But the primary reason I went down there, two see these two performers, was well worth it. Diamond Rings had a great set of his moody electro rock… and finished his set without doing “All Yr Songs.” As if! He relented and looked a little bored doing it to close out his set. Katie Stelmanis and her awesome band were up next, and they were so awesome. Katie has made leaps and strides in terms of on stage confidence, and is growing into being a consummate performance, and the trio of musicians backing her up must give her that boost — including her drummer, which hands down is one of the best drummers I’ve heard in a while. Her new material is fairly dark and gothic, but is still pretty uptempo… I’m really curious to hear what the new record is like. P.S. Did you see her on the cover of Xtra? I couldn’t believe it was her it the glittery bodysuit.