David Bowie
Happy New Year y’all! Here are some shows/events that might tickle your fancy for the month of January and beyond.
Ottawa up-and-comers The Balconies will be playing one of my favourite new places to see a show, The Supermarket in Kensington Market, this Wednesday. This show is pay-what-you-can and their set time is 10:30.
Burlington’s Sandman Viper Command will be playing the Casbah in Hamilton this Thursday. Details here.
Depending on your feelings for tribute acts (one of my very first concerts was an Eagles tribute band at the South Shore Exhibition – it was magical), then you might be interested in checking out the Tattoo Rock Parlour’s David Bowie Birthday Celebration, with Thin White Duke impersonator Clifton David Broadbridge. This Friday, celebrate the man who singlehandedly inspired legions of eyeliner-wearing male singers today and for decades to come.
I’ve taken a lot of chirping recently from people who weren’t aware that Little Girls is, in fact, THE NAME OF A BAND (I swear, if I hear one more joke about being a pedophile…). But I know better to listen to them, because the Toronto noise-mongers are awesome, and the band will be playing Sneaky Dee’s on January 15th with special guests. Facebook event details here.
The author of the new book, Treat Me Like Dirt: An Oral History Of Punk In Toronto And Beyond (1977-1981), Liz Worth, will be talking to Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham about the history of Toronto punk at the Gladstone Hotel on Jan. 18th. Doors open at 7p.m., admission is free with the purchase of the book ($5 otherwise), and there will be live DJing from Mark Pesci.
Love Music Volume 1 is a one-night-only event set to take place Jan. 23rd at the Sound Academy. This year’s lineup features Switch, The Martinez Brothers, Pat Mahoney (LCD Soundsystem), Hercules & Love Affair & more! This show is 19+ and tickets will set you back $29.50. More details here.
Toronto-based independent music label Out of this Spark will be celebrating their third anniversary at the Garrison on Jan. 22nd. Music will be provided by The D’Urbervilles, Forest City Lovers, Evening Hymns, and others. Tickets are $8 in advance from the usual suspects, or $10 at the door.
If you live in Halifax – or Nova Scotia for that matter – and you consider yourself a fan of good live music, than chances are you already know about the Paragon Theatre. This is for those of you that haven’t, or are planning to making a trip to Halifax in the near future. Reopened this year under the new name, in the building which used to host the iconic Marquee Club, the Paragon has quickly grown a reputation for drawing some of the biggest local, national, and international acts from indie rock to electro and every genre in between. But this January, it’s all about the hip-hop. Just some of the names set to appear this month: rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa, Scratch from The Roots, East Coast DJ Skratch Bastid, and Wu-Tang’s GZA. Get all the details on these shows and more on the Paragon’s Facebook page, Twitter, or website.
This show announcement might be a little premature, but I was excited to recently learn that one of my favourite new bands of last year (that feels weird to type) are coming to Toronto. West Palm Beach’s Surfer Blood will be playing with Nashville’s Turbo Fruits (containing former members from Be Your Own Pet) at Sneaky Dee’s on March 6th.
This year’s Canadian Music Week will be taking place March 10th to 14th, and is set to see over 700 artists play 45 venues in Toronto. Among the initial acts announced to play the festival are Our Lady Peace, The Trews, Joel Plaskett, Constantines, K-Os, The Rural Alberta Advantage and many, many more! Two acts that I’ve already put in my “must-see” column are The Mountains & The Trees, aka Newfoundland folk singer-songwriter Jon Janes, and American triple-threat (DJ/producer/musician) RJD2, whose work you may have heard recently on a little-known TV show.
Happy show-going!
