I’m surprised at how many bars seem to take seriously the very loosely enforced laws and bylaws about doing business on Boxing Day.  But a lot of places that normally have live music seven days a week are in fact closed today, while others may be open but are offering no entertainment.  No wonder they call it Boxing Day —you really do have to fight for the right to party!

For people looking on Facebook for musical offerings the pickings are likewise pretty slim.  While a lot of bars advertise they’re holding a “Boxing Day Bash” or some such similar description, in most cases it turns out be basically just drink or food specials.  Some places, however, in particular Irish ones, are also celebrating something called St. Stephens Day (I never even knew that was a thing!) and a couple that normally have no live music Tuesdays do this afternoon as part of those celebrations.

One event that Facebook seems to love is the Solaris Festival happening tonight at the Rebel club in downtown TO —various instances of the same event appear 16 times on the “Discover Events” section you can go to on Facebook to supposedly find all the stuff happening on a given day that has a Facebook event associated with it.  But while someone with enough time or staff might be able to create 16 different events for a show (this happens regularly with big clubs and concerts being promoted commercially) I have found the utility to be less than thorough, since I often later on encounter events that never came up in the search.  Just another instance as to why social media alone cannot really do the job for promoting your gigs.

With listings from NOW and other online sources also unusually thin today (and also not particularly reliable since often events that were cancelled long ago still appear on many such services’ offerings) I have erred on the side of caution by deleting, for the most part, any event I can’t be reasonably sure is happening.  (It’s the old newspaper editor’s adage: “When in doubt, take it out!“)

Fortunately I have my own list of websites, emails and messages received from various people along with other sources to find out what is and isn’t happening, so hopefully the listings contained in today’s post are accurate.  If I missed something or should have kept something in that I deleted, feedback is always helpful.

No doubt a similar scenario will unfold this coming weekend when New Year’s Eve means cancellation of most regular Sunday shows and things are bound to be hit and miss for January 1.  If you have events in that period be sure to send me an email to the address below to ensure they appear —and don’t forget I need a start time and street address in order to be able to guarantee a listing will be included.

-Gary 17, TorontoMoon.ca
[email protected]

SHOW LISTINGS for Tuesday, December 26, 2021

For KEY to listings codes and schemata see note at end of shows list.

Names of subscribers appear in bold, are underlined and, where applicable, include a live link to their websites.
FOR SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS VISIT:  http://www.torontomoon.ca/subscribe/

Advertisers’ listings are in larger, highlighted type, include live link to website and also have ad icon included in listings.
FOR ADVERTISING INFO VISIT: http://www.torontomoon.ca/advertise-with-toronto-moon/

ON AIR/ONLINE

4-6pm> Blues Blast w Ken Wallis @ 101.5 FM or 1015thehawk.ca

**7-8> “Songtalk Radio” songwriters interviews/chat with weekly guest @ CJRU 1280AM Toronto and online

7-9> “Unsung and On The Side” with Carolyn Fe on Rock-Fm.ca

10-11> “Howl” with hosts Nancy Bullis & Valentino Assenz on CIUT 89.5FM & online ~profiles of and interviews with poets and songwriters

416 – TORONTO CENTRAL

7> open mic for singers, rappers & poets with host Breanna Chanelle @ Harlem Underground, 745 Queen St. W.

7:30> Fergus Hambleton & guests @ Tranzac Club (Southern Cross), 292 Brunswick St.

7:45-11> “Irie Tuesdays” open mic for singers, rappers & poets @ Harlem Underground, 745 Queen St. W.

8> The Sinners Choir @ The Rex, 194 Queen St. W. ~Blues; $

8> Ginbombs; Big Brother; Giraffe @ Bovine Sex Club, 542 Queen St. W. ~Metal/Grunge/Hard-core; $

*8:30-12> “Open Mic for the Starving Artist” @ Cavern Bar, 76 Church St. ~with food for songs!

*8:45> Tyler Yarema & His Rhythm @ Reservoir Lounge, 52 Wellington St. E. ~Jazz/Blues; $

*9> Game.Set.Trap @ Mr. Robinson, 574 College St., TO Central ~Hip-Hop covers

9:30> Good Enough Live Band Karaoke @ Handlebar, 159 Augusta Ave.

10> Solaris Music Festival with Zed’s Dead; Oliver Heldens; Parker; Nighmre; Rickyxsan @ Rebel, 11 Polson St. ~indie; $

10> open mic night @ The Hideout, 423 College St.

10:30> “Jingle Bhang” with The Bhang Family @ Mod Club, 722 College St.

416 –TORONTO EAST

*7> Shawn Nyquist et al @ Salty Dog, 1980 Queen St. E. ~Jazz; $0

**8-11> open stage hosted by Kyle Duffin @ The Old Nick, 123 Danforth Ave.

8> Derek Mok; Crystal Duo; T.C. Folkpunk @ Linsmore Tavern, 1298 Danforth Ave. ~indie; 0$

*8-10> open mic with rotating hosts @ The Beach House, 1953 Queen St. E.

4> St. Stephen Day Session with Patrick Ourceau @ Dora Keogh ~all ages

*9:30> Peter Verity @ Black Swan, 154 Danforth Ave. ~Folk Roots

416 – TORONTO ETOBICOKE

3:30> Dan Williams & The Navies for St. Stephens Day Celebration @ The Galway Arms, 838 The Queensway ~Irish

416 – TORONTO WEST

8> What’s In The Box Music Festival open jam @ Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W.

8> Di Cru Band hosts “Stages” 2^nd anniversary with various artists @ Lula Lounge, 1585 Dundas St. E. ~indie; $10 (collecting n-p goods for foodbank)

9> open mic @ Ciros Restaurant, 1316 Bloor St. W.

9> Hamstrung Stringban @ The Local, 396 Roncesvalles Ave. ~Country/Roots-Rock/Rockabilly

8> Cameron Brown; Hair Brain; Transit Cops; Blankscreen @ Smiling Buddha Stage 1, 961 College St. ~indie; $

8> Glenny; Ferris @ Smiling Buddha Stage 2, 961 College St. ~indie; $5

9:30> The Expo Project @ Dakota Tavern, 249 Ossington Ave.

519

6> open mic @ Manhattan’s Guelph, 951 Gordon St., Guelph

*6-8:30> Ukulele jam & workshop @ Idea Exchange Galt, Queen’s Square at 1 North Square, Cambridge

6:30-8> Ukulele jam & workshop @ Idea Exchange Preston, 435 King St. E., Cambridge

*7-11> Waterloo Wellington Bluegrass Association holds Bluegrass jam @ Galt Legion RCL #121, 4 Veterans Way, Cambridge

*7-9> Juneyt @ Easy Pour Wine Bar, 1660 Blair Rd., Cambridge ~Flamenco guitarist

9> open mic jam @ Sip Club, 91 Wyndham St. N., Guelph

9-11:30> open jam with John McKinley Band @ Churchill Arms, 355 Erb St. W., Waterloo

10> Chalkline @ Duke of Wellington, 33 Erb St. W., Waterloo

705

7:30-12> Must Stash Hat @ Heartwood Concert Hall, 939 2^nd Ave. E., Owen Sound

10> Tarantula @ Red Dog Tavern, 189 Hunter St. W., Peterborough

905 EAST

*6:30-11> The Woodshed jam with Don Niblett & Frank Zochodne @ Simcoe Blues & Jazz, 926 Simcoe St. N., Oshawa

*8:30-12:30> open mic “Boxing Day Pajama Jam” with host Cheryl Stiles @ The Pearson Pub, 101 Mary St. W., Whitby

9> Elyse Saunders @ The Corral, 433 Simcoe St. S., Oshawa ~Country Rock

*9-1> open acoustic jam @ The General, 21 Celina St., Oshawa

9:30-1:30> Boxing Day Bash with 2PlusOne @ Gryphon Pub, 114 Dundas St. E., Whitby ~Rock/Top 40 covers

905 SOUTH

6> Rob Reed @ Radius, 151 James St. S., Hamilton

7> songwriters open stage with Dave Pomfret @ Lukaya Café, 592 Upper Wellington St., Hamilton

8> Chris Chambers @ Gallagher’s Bar, 69 Augusta St., Hamilton

*8> Chris Clause @ Thirsty Cactus, 2 King St. E., Dundas ~acoustic

9> No Orphans; Beach Bats; PPP; Poppsy Cole; more @ This Ain’t Hollywood, 345 James St. N., Hamilton ~indie; $

*9:30-1> Traditional Irish jam @ Corktown Pub, 175 Young St., Hamilton

10> jam night @ Lazy Flamingo, 19 Hess. St. S., Hamilton

905 WEST

*8> The Phil & John Show @ Shore Grill, 71 Lakeshore Rd. E., Port Credit ~acoustic Pop Rock

*8> open stage (signup at 7:30) with host Neil McNaughton @ Moonshine Café, 137 Kerr St., Oakville; $2

8-12> Lauren Knowles Trio @ Roc’n Doc’s, 105 Lakeshore Rd. E., Port Credit  ~Pop/Top 40 covers

9> The Lakeshore Boys @ The American House, 324 Dundas St. E., Waterdown ~Country/Roots-Rock/Rockabilly

9> open mic with Chuck Coles @ The Dickens, 423 Elizabeth St., Burlington

LISTINGS KEY

Listings are organized by area in which the shows occur and within each area field shows are listed chronologically.

Listings preceded by an asterisk (*) are repeating weekly events. (Double asterisk indicates repeating event with different hosts/guest/etc.). Events preceded by question mark (?) usually take place but have not been confirmed. Admission prices followed by a slash and minus (/-) after the amount indicates door charge with availability of cheaper rates for some purchases. /+ indicates stated price is minimum.

Copyright © 2017 by Gary “17” Webb-Proctor & TorontoMoon.ca All Rights Reserved