Das Fagott Mannschaft brings big schtick to Relish tonight \TORONTO EAST\ Although you might think that tonight’s five-piece band at Relish tapas bar and music emporium is a hold-over from the PRIDE weekend, Das Fagott Mannschaft, while it certainly has a big schtick, isn’t at all about what you might be imagining. In pretty much…
Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian at Hugh’s Room tonight \TORONTO WEST\ In the mid-1960s, when Beatlemania was at its height, one of the few North American bands to be able to compete with the “Fab Four” in popularity this side of the pond was The Lovin’ Spoonful. After nearly 50 years their songs are still as…
With or without Peter Hill, Laura Hubert is Jazz festival worthy \TORONTO DOWNTOWN\ I’m fairly certain that Peter Hill, keyboard wiz and longtime accompanist to Jazz singer Laura Hubert, won’t be back in TO in time to be part of her 3:30-6:30 gig this afternoon at The Rex as part of this year’s Toronto Downtown…
Should you stay or should you go? Long weekend has staycation appeal \TORONTO & GTA\ Was a time, a couple of generations ago, when Canada Day weekends left the city looking like a ghost town, as thongs of people migrated from its steamy bowels out to cottages and campgrounds in the hinterlands. Many people…
Tasmanian Pop star Rod Fritz in TO to do shows with rocker Al Reilly \TORONTO EAST/SCARBOROUGH\ It’s a long way from Tasmania, off the coast of Australia, to Toronto, and songwriter Rod Fritz, who’s in town this week through the weekend to do shows here, took a leisurely route to get here. The Pop songwriter…
Fat Albert’s wraps up another season tonight with The Curries /TORONTO DOWNTOWN/ At 47 years of age, the weekly (except in summer) Fat Albert’s Wednesday open stage is far and away the longest running such event in Toronto –if not in the history of the world! When you think about all of the talents,…
Gary LaRocca getting noticed for his superb guitar instrumentals /TORONTO EAST/ From very early on in the very first instrumental song that Gary LaRocca performed as a participant of one of my open stages last fall, I knew that this earnest and unassuming young man had a very bright musical feature ahead of him. I…
140623Mo With or without keyboardist Fonfara, Bentroots delights \TORONTO EAST\ With summer finally in full swing it means that international touring acts like multi-award winning Downchild Blues Band are in much demand across the country and continent for festivals and various other events. What that means to TO five-piece swampy Blues band Bentroots, which appears…
East Danforth Sunday afternoons are like weekly festival /TORONTO EAST/ It may not be a festival by name, but the concatenation of fine musical events that take place every Sunday afternoon along Danforth Ave. between Pape and Woodbine in TO’s East York area gives it that feel, especially this time of year. And…
This weekend’s plethora of TO festivals is absolutely insane! /TORONTO/ As if I hadn’t written enough this week about festivals (namely the EXEE at Only Café, NXNE and Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival), there’s at least four others for various interest affiliations taking place over the weekend, including one happening today and tomorrow downtown and…
/TORONTO/ A petition organized on the Change.org website a few days ago following reports, including one in this publication on Thursday, about the North By North East festival (NXNE) forbidding its artists to play downtown venues for a 45-day period prior to the start of the festival, has led the clause to be dropped…
Al Reilly has a knack for turning gigs into special occasions <SCARBOROUGH / ETOBICOKE SOUTH> It seems it’s almost always a special event when Al Reilly’s Catalyst takes to the stage. At McGradie’s Pub on Victoria Park at Ellesmere in Scarborough, where they appear tonight and every couple of months, they’ve regularly turned their gigs into…
NXNE pushes into TD Jazz week and flexes its muscles to acts /TORONTO DOWNTOWN/ What possessed the planners of two major music festivals to not liaise with one another to avoid the ridiculous situation that will ensue this weekend, I wonder. Is there some sort of animosity between the organizers of the North By North…
Orbit Room don’t need no festival to showcase top talents /TORONTO DOWNTOWN/ With the concurrence of two major music festivals this weekend (or maybe that should be “collision” of festivals —more about that in another article) over the next few days many non-music rooms and many bars and other venues that present music regularly will…
EXEE “festival” puts focus on East Toronto artists all week /TORONTO EAST/ When big music festivals like the recent Canadian Music Week and forthcoming North By North East take place, it can have a deleterious effect on live music rooms outside the favoured downtown area. While those festivals have made an effort to expand their…
Jazz Hockey monster band trades ice for stage to support Richard Underhill for mayor /TORONTO DOWNTOWN/ When Mike Murley and his throng of Jazz-playing Friday Jazz Hockey All-Stars drop the gloves tonight it won’t be to fight –at least not with each other, but only with the challenge of creating great music. Murley and…
Fundraising for injured Steve Madden at Scarborough jams /SCARBOROUGH/ Although putting up posters for gigs by musicians has pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird except for in the venue where they take place, some old school performers still make the rounds, spreading the word, in hopes that it will enhance the turnout…
/TORONTO WEST/ As I’ve written about before on several occasions, Roncesvalles Ave. on Saturday afternoons is a special place to be for live music pretty much any weekend of the year. But today it’s extra-special as the local Business Improvement Area and community-oriented residents in the area put on the 5th annual Roncy Rocks…
Pricey Durham West Blues Fest has lots of Blues, not so much Durham /AJAX/ Three things stand out to me as I look at the website for the new Durham West Blues Fest , a three-day event starting tonight and running all day tomorrow and Sunday afternoon in the Annandale Golf & Country Club in…
Sean Bourke won’t help you to define Country music /TORONTO EAST/ Country music comes and goes in popularity in Toronto it seems –while two new bars offering live Country music have opened in the last few months, a short-lived experiment at Legends On Queensway in Etobicoke of offering Country groups on Thursday nights seems to…
Rockpile East jam takes over Wednesdays in Scarborough /SCARBOROUGH/ With barely a whimper the weekly Wednesday jam at Scarborough’s Loaded Dog slipped into the abyss a couple of weeks ago. But fortunately a new event in a new room had started up and now remains the go-to place for Rock artists on a Wednesday night.…
