Three things lured me out of the house last night: two hyped female-fronted bands I hadn't seen live yet, and one of our city's newest rock venues I hadn't yet visited. So I left my house at 10pm, headed for to check out and .
After taking some time off to recouperate from , Call & Response is back just in time for one of the craziest weekends of the year for dance clubs. Some people have a four-day weekend and there are no less than ten solid events happening between Thursday and Monday. Whatever you do though, don't end up at the .
are and D.R.one - two amazing DJs from Montreal who have been lighting up dancefloors all around the world. A-list celebs invite them to spin at their private parties and they are starting to build a name for themselves in multiple genres thanks to tight mixing skills in the DJ booth and impressive production/remixing skills in the studio.
I spoke to D.R.one about The Habs, mintrels, and the party they're bringing to the massive event tomorrow night at the Guvernment complex.
Keep reading for the complete interview.
Writing and photos by John Hargraft.
The . Friday night. Lots of leather and tattoos. A serious hard rock show was about to happen. The shoe was pretty busy even at 9:30 and four bands where on the line up for the night.
Review contributed by Paul Lancaric. All photos by Tanja-Tiziana.
On a recent road trip spanning Toronto to California, I was introduced by friends to music. We listened to their infectious album for most of the trip, driving through the Midwest, the Rockies, and along the coast of California. The music became the soundtrack for an amazing trip - so imagine my excitement when I found out they were playing a show right here in one of my favourite Toronto concert venues, .
Fresh off their Juno nomination for for their second album, We Can All Be Free, (GMMF) is celebrating the release of their third album, Enter the Beat at The Opera House .
Formed in 1996, is a mash-up of funk, rap, rock and R&B. While their musical influences include Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Parliament Funkadelic, Marvin Gaye and Prince, they've got a vibe all their own.
Their energetic stage presence brings their music to life. This is music that's meant to be experienced live. It'll get you dancing. If you've never been to a GMMF show, you've never danced. Or, as put it, "If you can't dance to God Made Me Funky, you can't dance."
tonight and get your funk on. Tonight's show, presented by also features Jason Palma, D.O. Holder and J Swift at The Opera House (735 Queen Street East) tonight. Doors at 9 p.m. $10.
Photo by .
The Emerald Isle has given us many great bands - U2, the Pogues, Stiff Little Fingers, Planxty - but sadly, is not one of them. Although the band was enthusiastically received by the crowd at the el Mocambo last night for their first ever gig in Canada, their flat, paint-by-numbers performance killed any need I might have had to see them again.
For me, the highlight of the night was 's opening set, which he kicked off in fine form with "Go to Hell," the opening track from his most recent album Songs for the Road. The wandering Englishman utilized his box of toys to full effect on this tune, spontaneously recording one part, looping it, then overdubbing another until he had created a multi-layered mini-symphony to accompany his impassioned vocal delivery.
If you missed of their show, you'll have to live through these photos from the funked-up live show of Daft Punk Tribute last Saturday night at .
Fresh off seeing wrap up Canadian Music Week earlier in the evening, I headed upstairs at The El Mo around 11:30 p.m. In spite of the blistery winter weather, the place was already packed and rapidly heating up.
The trumpeter playing in a motorcycle helmet was a key visual centerpiece for the 11-piece band. Having a live horn section certainly helped bring life to the electronic music of .
These Humber College music performance students played almost nonstop until 2 a.m. The bar got livelier and the crowd got sweatier as the night went on. After an encore of One More Time the DJ took over, mixing in a little ripoff for good measure.
More photos in a mini photo slideshow after the jump....
I managed to see a bunch of great bands during Canadian Music Week 2008, which wrapped up on Sunday. Here's a review in pictures of my experiences at this year's festival.
For the last big night of Canadian Music Week, I hauled ass to the Royal York for the 8th Annual Independent Music Awards, a celebration of the spirit of independent music in Canada.
Yes, awards were handed out in every category from Favourite Metal Artist (3 Inches of Blood) to Favourite Children's Artist (The Smudge Fundaes), and there was lots of conjecture in the press pool about what it might sound like if those two acts collaborated on a few tunes.
But the real reason for me to be there was the performers, many of whom had played earlier in the week while I was taking in other artists.
I thought I'd celebrate the show with my own little ceremony: so here it is, in order of appearance, my Top Five Indie Awards Live Moments:
is a British singer/songwriter who approaches his craft with a refreshingly honest and easy going nature that really comes through in his writing. His latest record, Songs for the Road, is finally available in North America after being out for several months in the UK. I recently had a nice, long conversation with Ford about his music and the trials and tribulations of constantly being on the road.