GOING LIVE: Two Door Cinema Club
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB, MOON KING, GUARDS SOUND ACADEMY, TORONTO / OCTOBER 5TH Indie rock doesn’t shake the Sound Academy as much as it should but TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB’s Friday night gig rampaged about as older folk and youngsters fell ill to grooves and excessive foot-tapping. Both Richie Follin’s Cults-associated outfit GUARDS and local indie giants MOON KING turned up a side of alternative you rarely get to see, and through ear-tugging... Read More
GOING LIVE: How To Dress Well
HOW TO DRESS WELL, FOXES IN FICTION THE GREAT HALL, TORONTO / OCTOBER 4TH Bringing his reflective HOW TO DRESS WELL project to Toronto, Tom Krell flattened any pre-conceived perceptions with a gut-shiving vocal performance that made The Great Hall quiver. Following the local punch of FOXES IN FICTION’s honest set, the Colorado native crossed the ethereal spines of his records Total Loss and Love Remains with informal confessions that grated... Read More
GOING LIVE: Propagandhi, Comeback Kid
PROPAGANDHI, COMEBACK KID, BURNING LOVE PHOENIX CONCERT THEATRE, TORONTO / SEPTEMBER 26TH Unfurling a vast collection of shin-kicking material, Winnipeg icons PROPAGANDHI slammed into a 23-song set at their headlining show in Toronto like it was 1992. Alongside COMEBACK KID and locals BURNING LOVE, the intensity inside of the downtown venue conceived the perfect setting for sheer chaos. Crowd surfs, oblivious freak outs and wrapped numbing works such... Read More
GOING LIVE: Mutemath, Civil Twilight
MUTEMATH, CIVIL TWILIGHT PHOENIX CONCERT THEATRE, TORONTO / SEPTEMBER 25TH Since the release of their self-titled record in 2006, MUTEMATH have instilled a subconscious belief that if you don’t pour your soul into every angle of your music, you’re not doing it right. Even six years later, the New Orleans quartet are still abiding by the same ethics as their sold-out gig at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto rarely dimmed as tempos... Read More
GOING LIVE: Coheed And Cambria
COHEED AND CAMBRIA THE MOD CLUB, TORONTO / SEPTEMBER 20TH Even though it’s been just more than a year since COHEED AND CAMBRIA last visited Toronto, the feel to their sold-out set at The Mod Club made it seem like forever ago. The New York prog rockers known for their innovatively loud take on alternative outfitted their guitar operas with power-hungry nostalgia that couldn’t resist from leaving blisters on ears when cuts from Good Apollo... Read More
GOING LIVE: GZA, Killer Mike
GZA, KILLER MIKE, SWEET VALLEY, BEAR HANDS SOUND ACADEMY, TORONTO / SEPTEMBER 15TH On paper, the bill for GZA’s Liquid Swords run is more like a hybrid portrait of exceptional songwriting rather than a mirror image of hip hop, but in this case, it just works. Brooklyn indie rippers BEAR HANDS manifested magic out of experimental numbers and while offsetting KILLER MIKE’s lethal bombardment of rap music, Nathan Williams and his brother... Read More
GOING LIVE: Stray From The Path, Northlane
STRAY FROM THE PATH, COUNTERPARTS OBEY THE BRAVE, BACKTRACK, NORTHLANE THE MOD CLUB, TORONTO / SEPTEMBER 14TH Long Island punk quartet STRAY FROM THE PATH have performed a handful of sets in Toronto but their Friday night affair at the Virgin Mobile Mod Club was a piece of history. Touring with the likes of COUNTERPARTS, OBEY THE BRAVE, BACKTRACK and NORTHLANE, the energy level at the sold-out gig transformed the Little Italy venue into a fevered... Read More
GOING LIVE: City And Colour, The Avett Brothers
CITY AND COLOUR, THE AVETT BROTHERS MOLSON AMPHITHEATRE, TORONTO / SEPTEMBER 12TH With an autumn-like sky acting as a backdrop, Dallas Green’s sold-out performance at the Molson Amphitheatre really couldn’t have been more perfect. Clashing powerful sets from the talented likes of THE AVETT BROTHERS, GREY KINGDOM and HEY ROSETTA! with an electric crowd may seem practical, but the emotional tinge to records such as Little Hell and Bring... Read More
GOING LIVE: Bloc Party, Ceremony
BLOC PARTY, CEREMONY DANFORTH MUSIC HALL, TORONTO / SEPTEMBER 10TH In support of their colourful and spectral new record entitled Four, London’s BLOC PARTY made their return to Toronto fixed on kicking out the vintage jams. While a good slab of their audience were lazily out-of-tune since the start of CEREMONY’s opening set of alt punk, the four-piece rock group squeezed out enough tasteful experiments to grip listeners by the shirt collar,... Read More
GOING LIVE: Riot Fest 2012 (Toronto)
What do Ribbed, Fuel For The Hate Game, Hidden World, Pezcore and Milo Goes To College all have in common? They’re timeless dedications to punk from artists who just happened to be stashed into RIOT FEST’s newborn Toronto lineup, which full of homegrown misfits and restless pioneers, made it easy to not ignore the blistering chaos stomping on Fort York’s outdoor stage. Taking a note from it’s brother in Chicago, the brute of a festival... Read More