Toronto - Flamenco rock guitar virtuoso's Rodrigo Y Gabriela will be playing the Phoenix this Friday March 5th. It's been a while since I've been this psyched about a live show. The day these tickets went on sale, I high-tailed it over to Rotate This and bought 10 tickets so I could take myself and 9 friends. That's how much I like this band. Rodrigo and Gabriela are two Mexican born guitarists that moved to Ireland to make it as musicians. They grew up on a steady diet of rock, but blend this [...]
Toronto - "So this is an interesting evening ... I think, anyways." These were the words of Peasant, AKA Damien DeRose, as he began his set this evening, and truer words were never spoken. This was certainly an interesting evening, one full of a wide range of musicians and a lively crowd. Peasant started the night off early, playing a short but sweet unaccompanied set of acoustic guitar based songs which brought to mind performers such as Elliott Smith or Badly Drawn Boy. The crowd [...]
Toronto - Yup, your favorite trip hoppers are touring North America once again. I saw them last time at the Carlu (2006) and it was my favorite concert of that year, they even brought Liz Frasor and Horace Andy. People were passing out, it was so good (or crowded). Highly recommended. I will even venture to the fifth level of Hell (aka the Sound Academy) for this one. Here are the tour dates thus far: Massive Attack - 2010 North American Tour Dates 5/07 Toronto, ON - Sound Academy 5/09 Toronto, ON - Sound Academy [...]
Toronto - With two Swedish bands playing, it was Nordic night at The Mod Club. In fact, taking into account the documentary on Norwegian black metal that I saw on Saturday, this was a whole Nordic themed weekend for me ... but I digress. I will add though that El Perro Del Mar and Taken By Trees seem much nicer than Count Grischnach and are highly unlikely to burn down any churches. When I arrived at the club, Taken By Trees were already more than halfway through their set, which was a bit disappointing [...]
(Toronto) This was the third of four Wednesday night performances by Gentleman Reg at the Drake in February. Opening up the night was Dance Yourself To Death . My theory about the word 'dance' is that if you use it as a song title or in your bands name, then your music needs to make me want to dance. The same theory applies to the words 'clap', 'shake', and 'party' as in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, The Cajun Dance Party, Harlem Shakes and You Say Party! We Say Die! All of these bands [...]
Toronto - My first show of the year was a No Shame showcase at the Garrison featuring Casey Mecija (of Obijou ), Ghost Bees and the Wilderness of Manitoba . Aside from Wilderness of Manitoba, I don't really know much about the other two acts. I think I saw Obijou perform in a tent at that Book in the Park thing before, but I think I only went because it was a nice day outside and I wanted to see what this whole 'reading' craze was all about. Anyways, if you [...]
Toronto – Even though I was pretty stoked about catching the last ever Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien , I opted to go out and catch this show instead. It turned out to be a pretty good call. Besides, I'm sure all the best parts of Conan will make it onto Youtube or something anyways. The Lonesome Ace Stringband is made up of guys who I've seen playing the regular Wednesday bluegrass nights at the Silver Dollar and they offered up what you would expect: old [...]
Toronto - I hate the winter. I can't even imagine why anyone would be walking along here a few hundred years and think ' hmm, this stinging sensation I like on my face, I like it! Lets live here permanantly! '. It's so cold. Anyways, once winter comes, the concert season purely becomes a season about proximity. Since I live in the west, the shows I'd most likely randomly pop into become Lee's Palace, the Mod Club and now, the Garrison. These are all within walking distance for me. Even the Horseshoe and El Mo become slight hesitations. So on [...]
While we were at the xx / Friendly Fires show last night I found myself pondering this question the entire time the xx were on stage: What the hell was I doing when I was 20 years old? If memory serves correctly, I would've been getting blitzed every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, and trying not to fail my Greek and Roman Classics 101 course. I also went to a lot of formal dances with my boyfriend at RMC, but lord knows I wasn't penning albums of the year or putting out the most wicked basslines heard since [...]
Toronto - Last night Bebel Gilberto brought her Bossa Nova influenced music to Toronto as part of a tour promoting her latest album, All In One . Opening for Miss Gilberto was Vancouver-based Alex Cuba, a Cuban-born musician. Together the two shows provided for a solid night of latin music that varied from laidback chill vibes to upbeat dance-friendly fun. Alex Cuba is an afro-sporting musician that has fused elements of soul & funk with Cuban music into a style all his own. He plays electric guitar [...]
Toronto - There are so many Asians in the golden horseshoe area of Toronto, it boggles my mind that there is no pho or chinese (or even thai) places along the 401 from Toronto to Montreal/Ottawa. Are you telling me if you are driving along the 401 and there is a service station with some pho there, you won't instantly get it? We have really limited options when doing that commute. I think the only time I ever eat at Wendy's is when I'm in a car from one place to another. Did u know their chicken salad now features [...]
It's been over a year since we've heard any news on a new Black Rebel Motorcycle Club album. Something we have been anticipating especially after the heated debate on whether their last release 'The Effects of 3332 was considered a proper follow up to Baby 81 (or even a proper album for that matter). According to a recent update the is set to release 'Beat The Devil's Tattoo', on March 9th and is embarking on an extensive tour through North America and Europe beginning February 26th, 2010. I for one am looking [...]
Toronto - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros played a sold show on Tuesday at the El Mocambo. Prior to Monday afternoon, I didn't know who they were. Then I got an invite to go. At first, I was like, who the hell are these guys and why is this show sold out ? So I asked Nick, my Edmonton music friend: me: have u heard of edward sharpe Nick: sounds like some twilight character? That was of no help. So I checked out the [...]
Austin - I'm not sure how, but my review of this show completely vanished into thin air sometime in the last week. It's annoying, too, because I thoroughly enjoyed it and put a decent amount of time into my writing. Anyway. I had seen Final Fantasy once several years ago and remembered being pleasantly surprised by Owen Pallet's music. It's just him and a guitarist and several instruments on stage when he plays. He records the beat, which could be tapping against his violin or a few simple notes, and then layers other components of a song over [...]
Toronto - I don't really listen to enough Canadian music. This I know to be true. This is possibly because I don't listen to much CBC Radio 3 . Anyways, Friday night was a big night for Canadian music. Over at Lee's Palace, there was the Rural Alberta Advantage, Bahamas and Fox Jaws show (you can read a review here ). While over on the East side of the city, Steamwhistle was presenting their very own Canadian night at the Phoenix, featuring Little Girls , Think About Life and You Say Party! We [...]
Toronto - Brazillian songstress Bebel Gilberto is currently on tour promoting her latest album All In One . It's a laid-back blend of Bossa Nova with modern influences. You can read our full review of the album here . Her tour brings her to Canada in the end of November where she will be playing both in Montreal (at L'Astral 2000) and then at Toronto's Sound Academy. I remember fondly the last time I saw Bebel Gilberto play Toronto at the Mod Club. Her show had been delayed because she had broken her foot I [...]
Went to The Mountain Goats & Final Fantasy last night in Austin; full review coming, I'm tired and trying to track down a set list. For now enjoy this video I took. The Mountain Goats - Enoch 18:14 Related posts: Final Fantasy to tour Canada, US Toronto-based violinist and singer Owen Pallet AKA Final Fantasy has... The Darcys vs Final Fantasy I hate remixes. I suppose that it's because I... [...]
Concert attended and reviewed by Karen I 've never been to a Billy Bragg concert before. In fact I couldn't name you one song that he sings. My best friend Louise however has been a huge Billy fan for a very long time and has seen him six times so I went along with her to check him out. Oh I should let you know she's from Leeds. Billy's from Essex. This means nothing. Turns out Billy Bragg is pretty amazing and pretty effing funny! [...]
The Balcones are a three piece from Ottawa, who have recently relocated to Toronto to attend school. They consist of Jacquie Neville, Steve Neville and Liam Jaeger. On the CD you can hear the occasional three part harmonies for mostly upbeat, catchy song with super catchy riffs. The stand out song on the CD has to be Battle Royale . I played this for Ricky and his response to me was "Man, that Balconies song you played for me was awesome". My response to him was "Yah, too bad it is the [...]
Toronto - Since September 25 , the San Francisco band Girls has seen their popularity skyrocket. Their Tuesday night show at the El Mocambo was completely sold out. I was lucky enough to snag myself a pair of tickets and so off I went on Tuesday to check out the latest pitchfork media buzz band. We arrived earlier then expected for the show and thus, decided to go to the Red Room instead of hanging out at the El Mocambo. How clutch has the Red Room been over the years? Always the same cheap [...]
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