Jason Collett brings his Basement Revue to the Dakota Tavern
Jason Collett will kick off a three-week residency Dec. 4th at the Dakota Tavern in Toronto. Advance tickets are available at Rotate This and Soundscapes, beginning this weekend, with a limited number available at the door each night.
There will be guest appearances and random shanagins each week. It’s a super small basement space, so be prepared to get intimate and personal. Share some pitchers and enjoy the night!
Stars started from the roots up with Set Yourself On Fire, pushing and tormenting each other to make their most ambitious and collaborative album yet – this time, Torquil, Amy, Chris and Evan brought drummer Pat McGee along for the ride.
The result? A massive leap forward for the band. Let’s say Stars’ first album, Nightsongs, was the result of two Toronto boys marooned in Brooklyn feeling small and alone, and recruiting a rotating cast of friends to help them whisper a lovely message of beautiful, hopeful things. Heart, their second LP (which was nominated for a Juno, the top honour for musicians in Canada’s frozen hinterland), was a full band falling in love together and settling into a euphoric hibernation under grey woolly covers.
Set Yourself On Fire is the sound of what happens after the thaw. It’s thinking your life is on track, and when the floorboards collapse under your feet, giving in to the chaos instead of fighting it, starting over again more brilliant and gorgeous and raw than you’ve ever been before. It’s knowing you have to decimate your own history in order to understand it. They claim they were aiming for a straight-up sex record, but ended up writing a sex and death and robots record – in Stars, everything that starts off simple blows up big, ornate and rich.
ADVANCE FAN TICKETING — A limited amount of advance tickets will be for sale via Arts&Crafts Fan Ticketing at www.arts-crafts.ca/starsticketing. Onsale Now!
Public Onsale Saturday 10am!
Tickets are $22.50 in advance, available at all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.ca, Rotate This, Soundscapes, and by phone at 416 870-8000.
The Weakerthans are promoting their new album, coming out this fall. The Weakerthans are pleased to announce the worldwide release of our 4th album, Reunion Tour, on September 25th 2007 (September 24th for Europe). Here is a link to the Epitaph/Anti page with the cover art and track listing: link!
The Winnipeg indie-country-rockers last release, Reconstruction Site broke them into the mainstream demonstrating that real Canadian talent can also equate to big success. Their narrative lyrics are introspective and witty, jam-packed in 4 mins or less.
They’ll be stopping by to perform Toronto on Thurs, Nov 11. Be sure to pick up your tickets now as it will probably be sold out in no time!
Here’s a full video clip shot of Rufus Wainwright performing “Get Happy” in drag at the Danforth Music Hall on June 11/07. His Judy Garland is second to none… well, except may be Judy herself!
Its almost here! Virgin Festival has just added even more artists to an already amazing line-up headlined by The Smashing Pumpkins, Björk, Interpol, and The Killers, plus dozens of hot acts including Metric, The Arctic Monkeys, Paolo Nutini, Stars, M.I.A., and Dirty Vegas.
New Sept 8th Acts
k-os Dragonette The Most Serene Republic Hayley Sales The Vincent Black Shadow The Wildbirds Spectrum, feat. SONIC BOOM: SPACEMEN 3 & E.A.R Bang Camaro Sybris
New Sept 9th Acts
The Heights The Red Romance Liam and Me The Postage Stamps
Fall listings for concerts are heating up. Looking for some bands to check out new shows this late Aug/Early september? Here are a bunch that may tickle your fancy:
Bang Lime – Lee’s Palace – August 24
“Featuring Josh and Joules of Metric”
Tickets on Sale Now!
$14.50 in advance at TM, RT, SS
Doors 9pm / 19+ // Support: tba http://www.banglime.com/
Tea Leaf Green – Mod Club – August 28
Tickets on Sale Now!
$15 in advance at TM, RT, SS
Doors 8pm / All Ages // Support: The Populars http://www.tealeafgreen.com/
Neil Hamburger – El Mocambo – August 31
“America’s $1 Funnyman”
Tickets on Sale Now!
$12.50 in advance at TM, RT, SS
Doors 9pm / 19+ // Support: Nick Flanagan http://www.myspace.com/americasfunnyman
Jagermeister Presents The Expendables Mod Club – September 2nd
Tickets on Sale Now!
$15 in advance at TM, RT, SS
Doors 7pm / 19+
Support: Authority Zero and The Supervillains http://theexpendables.net/
Plaster – Drake Hotel – September 22nd
Tickets on Sale Now!
$10 in advance at TM, RT, SS
Doors 9pm / 19+ http://www.plasterband.com/
Thomas Dolby and The Jazz Mafia Horns
Mod Club – September 25
Tickets on Sale Now!
$24.50 in advance at TM, RT, SS
Doors 8pm / 19+ // Support: tba http://www.thomasdolby.com/
Suzanne Vega – Mod Club – September 26
Tickets on Sale Now!
$30 in advance at TM, RT, SS
Doors 8pm / 19+ // Support: tba http://www.suzannevega.com/
Passionate and intense singer/songwriter Damien Rice is coming back to Toronto for the 2nd time this year, this time at the Hummingbird Centre. I saw the Irish singer/songwriter perform at Massey Hall a few months back, where we put on a near identical performance when he was here at the sweltering hot Danforth Music Hall sweat-a-thon show last year. It was a brief solo stop before meeting back up with the band.
I was severly disappointed with backup singer Lisa Hannigan left the band to pursue her own endeavous. Her haunting smoky alto voice combined with Rice’s intense and pain-stricken music went straight to the heart. Use of chilling call and answers and warm Hannigan echoes lost meaning when he had to respond to himself – it was on the edge of schizophrenic.
Nonetheless, Rice still packs an intense electro-acoustic punch and will put in a great show – even if it echoes his last few Toronto performances.
Ben Harper is doing a show at a great venue. It’s a perfect place to chill out and relax w/the Innnocent Criminals, no? I’ve found since he did some work for Standing on the Shoulders of Motown (a movie paying homage to the Greatest Motown hit machine ever, The Funk Brothers), his full band work takes me back to the Detroit Motown/soul era.
He’s a terrific performer that’ll get ya groovin’ and dancing.. and perhaps a few tokes between sets So if you’ve never seen Harper perform than check this show out!
Singer/songwriter Dallas Green is back doing this acoustic thing as City and Colour, performing 2 shows at Danforth Music Hall, Sept 11/12.
Known for his work as singer/guitarist in punk/hardcore band Alexisonfire, Green has been praised for his piercing and melodic vocals. His chops also work well in his acoustic City and Colour work, without sounding too “whiney emo”.
Tix on sale July 20 via , and will likely sell out fairly quickly, so get ‘em now if you’re interested!
North by Northeast 2007, an indie music fest, rolled into Toronto and taking over 40+ venues and 400 bands over 4 days. Loaded with industry folk and scenesters, one can feel cynical and a bit intimidated. With so many artists it can be daunting, especially when it appears everyone knows who the ‘hot’ ones are to see. But let’s be honest, it all depends on what you’re looking for. Play it by ear, chat with others and enjoy the randomness of the festival. It’s all about finding out about new music and having a kick ass time doing it.
After checking out about 10 artists, here are a few that blew me away:
Hey Rosetta! - An east coast roots rock band from NFLD. Lead singer and songwriter John Mullane has an explosive voice that sounds like he’s been smoking, drinking and singing for 20 years, when he’s probably barely passing 25 himself. With elements of Matt Mays, Joel Plaskett and a bit of Counting Crows, HR! has got a repertoire of infectious emotional and comforting music that pulls you right in. Songs like The Simplest Thing and Into the Night evolve as they play them, changing tempos and dynamics to keep you on your toes. It’s like every song is a soundtrack to a movie climax. Good shit.
Justin Rutledge – a heartbreaker roots country singer/songwriter. During his set he described his music “drunken bastard ballad tunes,” and I couldn’t agree more! It was my first time seeing him perform live, and I’d have to say it was much better than the recorded CDs. He’s a terrific performer, entertainer and storyteller.
You Say Party! We Say Die! - As part of the CBC Radio3 sponsored evening at the Horseshoe, it appeared to be that YSP!WSD! was band everyone wanted to see. With both media and wristband lineups that went for miles down Queen and all the way up Spadina, I wondered if they would be worth the fight with scenesters to get in. I was a little hesitant after a lukewarm crowd reception at the Exclaim! Spring Fling festival with DJ Champion (but granted, they were given the kiss of death 8PM opening start). This time around it was absolutely incredible. Their suburban punk-rock sound had the crowd jumping, crowd surfing and even moshing. It’s not every day when you see the comatose Toronto crowd moving at an indie show. With Rogers contracts and major labels buzzing around, YSP will be going places!
King Sunshine – A local Toronto act, King Sunshine once again delivered a 40-minute rollercoaster 70s disco funk/groove party at the Gladstone. It took a few numbers to the crowd moving, but once the engine got going the crowd was hopping. The lead singer has got both the Whitney Houston power and Aretha’s soul and sass, enough to turn your 2 left feet back to the right foot!
Here are more photos/videos from other artists that week. ENJOY!
k-os
So if you’ve never seen Harper perform than check this show out!
