Posts Tagged ‘concert reviews’
Lights @ Commodore Ballroom
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
LIGHTS was welcomed back into Canada with open arms at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on Saturday night.
Now, I don’t know much, but there are two things about Lights in which afterwards, I became certain: 1) Boys want her, and 2) Girls want to be her. I know, that sounds cliche, but I am not kidding. The dude in front of me was all, “Lights! You drive my soul!” and I actually counted eleven girls wearing neon headbands across their foreheads a la vintage Lights. With the release of her month and a half old debut album, The Listening, it isn’t really any surprise why. If you think about it, she’s easily one of the best new Canadian talents around. Shall I compile the facts? She was a Juno winner for Best New Artist before she even had a full length album out, has a pet tarantula, writes songs about video games, collects swords and is probably better than your little brother at World of Warcraft. I’ll stop there, it’s getting a bit wearisome championing all her accomplishments and interests, I’m beginning to suffer from low self esteem.
Continue Reading »
Tags: concert reviews, correspondents, lights, reviews, vancouver
Posted in Concert Reviews | 1 Comment »
Florence + The Machine @ Mod Club
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Musically, there are few things that bring me as much pure joy as the last 30 seconds of Florence + the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over”. But 70 minutes of Florence live in a small venue?! Pure bliss.
Fronted by the completely enchanting Florence Welch, London’s FATM has quickly risen from obscurity thanks to a buzz-building live show and their debut album Lungs. Which, by the way, is a top contender for my favourite album of 2009. Florence writes and sings, the Machine provides the very strong backbone for her powerful, stunning vocals.
Just a couple months ago I found myself routinely scouring FATM tour dates, crossing my fingers for ANYTHING on this side o’ the pond. Sadly, it seemed the schedule was firmly booked through 2009 in Europe. BUT HARK!!! About a month ago, four North American dates popped up, including Toronto! Success!!! And last night I finally got to see Florence in action, AKA one of the best shows I’ve seen all year.
More plus photos after the jump…
Continue Reading »
Tags: concert reviews, concerts, Florence and the Machine, gallery, mod club, photos, reviews
Posted in Concerts & Events | 1 Comment »
Jay-Z @ ACC on Hovaween!
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
I don’t know how many emcees could hold down the Air Canada Centre like Jiggaman, but then again, no other emcee can boast more number one albums than Elvis, can they?
Nope.
Combine endless swag, the Roc Boys band (possibly one of the best touring bands in the biz), a beat-thirsty Halloween crowd and a near endless supply of hits and son… you’ve got yourself a SHAAOOW.
More, plus photos after the jump!
Continue Reading »
Tags: acc, concert reviews, concerts, gallery, jay-z, photos
Posted in Concert Reviews, Featured | 5 Comments »
Jay-Z Takes London (Ontario)
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Midterm time is a busy period for students. There are a lot of sleepless nights, a great deal of stress and headaches, and a nice pile of dishes in the sink that you know you’ll get to tomorrow. Professors place due dates one after the other, and as much as you keep telling yourself that you’ll work ahead, cram sessions are pretty much guaranteed.
The solution?
Go see Jay-Z live. Duh.
Continue Reading »
Tags: concert reviews, jay-z, reviews
Posted in Concert Reviews | 4 Comments »
La Roux Shine @ Guvernment
Monday, October 26th, 2009
It was a dark and dismal night this past Friday - the kind where once you’re home you’re done. I only had eyes for my bed and bad TV but despite the comfort looming in front of me, I donned my wellies, busted out my brelly and made the trek down to Toronto’s dismal waterfront. After battling with rain that was magically coming down sideways (how does that happen anyway?) me and about 600 other daring souls had made it to the La Roux show.
Continue Reading »
Tags: concert reviews, La Roux
Posted in Concert Reviews | 1 Comment »
Metric @ Massey Hall
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
The last two days were ripe with firsts: I enjoyed my first pumpkin beverage of the season, Kanye suffered his first death hoax, Metric played two sold-out shows at Massey Hall in Toronto for the first time, and I went to both of ‘em - marking the first time I’ve seen back-to-back concerts. Hooray!
The significance of Massey Hall lies in its storied history - as one of Toronto’s oldest venues, its stage has seen the likes of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Dalai Lama and Winston Churchill. Metric wasn’t shy in expressing their excitement about playing on that historic stage, gushing that it had long been a dream. However, the problem with Massey Hall - a seated venue - is that you can’t really DANCE. And isn’t that the point of a Metric show, to have a sweaty dance party? (Yes.)
Continue Reading »
Tags: concert reviews, concerts, metric, reviews
Posted in Concert Reviews | 3 Comments »
Dan Mangan @ Criminal Records
Monday, October 19th, 2009
With the c-c-c-crazy amount of music floating around in the world/on the internet today (and the amount of it I listen to), you’d expect there would be a lot of good stuff out there. And there is. But rarely do I find a song so darn good that I don’t even need to put it on my mp3 player – because it gets itself stuck in my head for five hours straight.
This is surprising enough, but I really didn’t expect that it wouldn’t be a track from a NME buzz band, and instead come from a brave young indie-folk singer from Vancouver, Mr. Dan Mangan. Haven’t heard of him? Just you wait.
Continue Reading »
Tags: concert reviews, dan mangan
Posted in Concert Reviews | No Comments »
The Gaslight Anthem @ Kool Haus
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
The last time The Gaslight Anthem played Toronto, they had a decent size fan base but seeing how crowded the Kool Haus was on Tuesday night it’s safe to say these guys are getting bigger as the months pass.
As the lights dimmed and oddly enough Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Want To Have Fun playing in the background, the New Jersey quartet emerged on stage to a thunderous crowd.
With no intro needed, the guys picked up their instruments, looked at each other and just started rocking out. Opening the set with High Lonesome followed by Casanova, Baby! it was clear that Tuesday night was going to be a good night for a rock ‘n roll show.
Tags: concert reviews, kool haus, the gaslight anthem
Posted in Concert Reviews | 1 Comment »
Said The Whale: Fancy-Free Show
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Sometimes concerts are kinda like mystery comic books!
No, seriously. I’ll show you.
Let me set the scene for you. The date: Friday night. The city is dark, and it was probably gloomy, too. The scene: Yonge Street. The bucket-drummer dude is camping at his usual spot on the corner, probably up to some un-nameable trickery. Meanwhile! Two-dozen eager concert goers (and me) are hovering like mysterious indie-fog in front of the Edge radio studio, waiting for the doors to open. Inside, Vancouver’s Said the Whale are tuning their instruments in an openly suspicious manner. Something was definitely about to go down.
Continue Reading »
Tags: concert reviews, concerts, said the whale
Posted in Concert Reviews | 1 Comment »
Mika @ The Sound Academy
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Beginning a tour can be nerve-racking. Beginning a tour with a brand new album can cause even more anxious jitters. Last night Mika kicked off his North American tour in Toronto having just recently released his new album The Boy Who Knew Too Much and he didn’t seem to have even one butterfly in his stomach. Why should he? His show is nothing short of a spectacular performance.
Opening with a theatrical tableau of sorts, two lads and two lasses sat watching TV and socializing on a couch. Just then, who should appear on the TV screen but Ian McKellen (I’m 90% sure it was him) playing a newscaster! He greeted the audience telling them of a space launch, but suddenly - Oh no! Malfunctions! Explosions! But wait – who’s that? It’s Mika in a space suit! Surrounded by a bunch of giant bubble planets that decorate the entire stage! Next thing you know he’s out of his space suit and cheering in his boxers (I kid you not)!
And thus began the show.
Tags: concert reviews, concerts, Ian McKellen, Mika
Posted in Concert Reviews | 2 Comments »
Featured
-
Much Presents Lady Gaga!
Rah rah oo la la rama ma la la gaga!
READ MORE + -
Much Presents: Karl Wolf
Wanna some-a tickets-a?
READ MORE + Categories
-
Pages
