The Weeknd posted the following message on Facebook:

The Weeknd is looking for a professional guitarist and bass player in or around the Toronto area to travel and perform live in concert. Those interested please send all information to:

theweekndband@gmail.com

Include: name, age, instrument, and a photograph if possible. Any additional youtube video footage, credentials, etc. of performer is welcome.

Serious inquiries only please.

Deadline is Sunday January 8, 2012

As Pitchfork points out, that means The Weeknd is planning a tour. Meanwhile, catch up and grab the third free mixtape.

Drake, SBTRKT & Sampha @ Wrongbar - 7/8/2011

As you might know, Drake remixed/rapped over the SBTRKT track "Wildfire" which otherwise features Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano on vocals. Last night (7/8), SBTRKT played a show at Wrongbar in Toronto. As we mentioned, a super special guest was expected in addition to SBTRKT vocalist Sampha. Guess who that was? Videos below.

SBTKRT plays PS1 Warm Up in NYC TODAY (7/8) and then DJs or plays at Coco66 afterwards. (SBTRKT DJ'd at Glasslands on Wednesday night).

Continue reading "Drake & Sampha played w/ SBTRKT in Toronto (video)"

photos by Natasha Ryan

Ty Segall on a boat

1.You can actually get kicked off the boat
Things got pretty rocking on the M for Montreal and Brooklyn Vegan Bruise Cruise Saturday afternoon [June 18th]. But we did find out a useful tidbit yesterday: you can actually get kicked off the boat. You'd think once you were in international waters, there wouldn't be a lot of law enforcement going on. But one dude came within an inch of getting booted off the boat for burning down one too many j's. Turns out security can actually call you a water taxi if you're being too naughty to escort you back to the dock. Or at least they can threaten do that. The guy threw his spliff over board before we got to see it actually happen.

2. Steve McDonald from Redd Kross/OFF is THE Steve
Midway through Ty Segall's set he started to call around for his friend "Steve" to come up and join him for a tune. Steve wasn't in the belly of boat though at the time, so every one started yelling "Steve" not really knowing who they were calling. Turns out it was Steve McDonald from the Redd Kross, who was in town with his band OFF! It was bit of a coincidence too because the last time I had seen him perform was with Redd Kross opening for the Lemonheads at the Opera House in 1993. I also got to see Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield this weekend. So it was like a double-blast from the past.

That's two of the five things that Scott from the National Post learned at our boat party in Toronto during NXNE. More pictures from the water born show (though none of Uncle Bad Touch unfortunately), below...

Continue reading "pics from the M For Montreal/BV NXNE 'Bruise Cruise'"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Sloan - Follow the Leader (MP3)

Sloan are on tour and in town this week, playing Bowery Ballroom on Wednesday (6/29) and Knitting Factory on Thursday (6/30). It's a big year for the veteran Canadian group, their 20th Anniversary and their new album The Double Cross is their 10th studio album. Despite the nostalgia that goes along with an anniversary like this, Sloan have delivered another solid bunch of powerpop with The Double Cross, garnering a Polaris Music Prize nomination (their first) and an 8.1 from Pitchfork.

It's business as usual for Sloan, though, who have a remarkably consistent catalog despite having all four members write and sing their own material. (Though it is perhaps a key to their success.) One of them, guitarist Jay Ferguson, took time out before the first of two hometown Toronto shows for Sloan to talk about the new record, the Polaris nomination, the difference between American and Canadian audiences and record shopping while on tour.

----

BrooklynVegan: So it's a hometown shows tonight and tomorrow.

Jay Ferguson: It's a little nerve-wrecking because you have family, friends, stuff like that have to be corralled and attended to. Then you're also like, "Do I really know how to play that song that I played a week ago?" There's a lot of that.

BV: But it must be nice to be able just to go back to your home instead of some hotel room.

JF: That's true. I live literally around the corner from the venue so it's easygoing for me. I mean it's always nice to play in Toronto for family and friends. Sometimes it's just stressful for some of the folks in the band who have large families coming down. You want to make sure everybody's comfortable and having a good time. But sometimes on tour it's a little easier, you can just space out and concentrate on the show. We've played The Mod Club many times before so it should be easy and fun -- fingers crossed.

BV: How long have you been touring the new record?

continued below...

Continue reading "an interview with Sloan (who are on tour now)"

photos by Natasha Ryan

Keith Morris of Off!

Like they will TONIGHT (6/23) at Terminal 5 in NYC, Off! and Fucked Up played a show together in Toronto on June 16th. The free show happened as part of NXNE, outside in Toronto's central Yonge & Dundas Square. It was headlined by the Descendents. Pics are in this post.

Tonight's NYC show will be headlined by Dinosaur Jr. who will be playing "Bug" in its entirety, and other songs too. And like in Northampton, brave Henry Rollins will do some spoken word and live interviewing on stage right in the middle of the otherwise heavy and musical show. Tickets are still available.

--
Fucked Up

Saturday June 25th is the day that "special guest" headline the show with JEFF the Brotherhood and Iceage AT 285 Kent. Tickets for the show are on sale at Record Grouch in Williamsburg. "CASH ONLY! NO ONLINE SALES/HOLDS! DRAG YER ARSE TO THE STORE IN PERSON TO GET 'EM!"

More NXNE pics and all Fucked Up dates below...

Continue reading "Fucked Up & Off! are here, played NXNE (pics) --- (and btw: 285 Kent tix on sale @ Record Grouch)"

photos by Natasha Ryan

The reunion continues. The mighty Descendents played Toronto's Yonge & Dundas Square for NXNE on June 16 with Fucked Up, Off!, Rusty, and Metz. Pictures of the Descendents from that show adorn this post. Anyone have the setlist?

When we last spoke the Descendents had a few key shows scheduled like Riot Fest in Chicago, and now there are even more! One day before they play Riot Fest in Philly, the Descendents will finally grace NYC again with songs about about things sucking, coffee, and general boredom at Roseland Ballroom on September 23. The reunited Suicide Machines play both the Philly and NYC show. H2O also opens in NYC. Tickets ($27.50 in Advance, $30 Day of Show) to the NYC show go on general sale on Friday (6/24) at 10 AM, but are on presale now (password = voice).

More pictures from NXNE, and a video too, below...

Continue reading "Descendents played NXNE (pics), playing Roseland Ballroom"

Evan Dando at The Bell House (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

Evan Dando & The Lemonheads have a few random upcoming dates scheduled. The Lemonheads will share a bill with The Canon Logic on April 28th at Maxwell's in Hoboken. Tickets are still available. You can also catch Josh Lattanzi of The Lemonheads at Bowery Ballroom on May 26 & 27 as part of the Bob Dylan tribute that will also include members of the Strokes, Hold Steady, etc, etc.

All other upcoming Evan Dando dates are in other countries at the moment, including a June 16th Evan & Juliana Hatfield show in Toronto for the NXNE festival which, like Brooklyn's own multi-venue festival Northside, recently expanded its lineup. Some of the other bands playing are in the title of this post. The rest are listed below.

All Dando-related dates and some videos below too...

Continue reading "Lemonheads playing shows, NXNE expands lineup (includes Descendents, Stars, Devo, OFF!, Juliana Hatfield, more)"

The Wall, Toronto - September 15th (arezoonia)

"Roger Waters treated Toronto fans to his first performance of The Wall in more than 20 years on Wednesday, mixing bits of vintage stagecraft with all-new flourishes in front of a sold-out Air Canada Centre crowd.

The former Pink Floyd co-frontman was performing the landmark concept record for the first time since 1990, with the only other performances of the 1979 record coming in four cities (London, Uniondale, N.Y., Los Angeles and Dortmund, Germany) during a tour in 1980-81." [Canadian Press]

Tickets are now on AmEx presale for a November 6th Roger Waters "The Wall Live" show happening at Madison Square Garden in NYC. The new show is two days after the previously announced NJ shows, and a month after the other two shows Roger is playing at MSG.

Check out some videos from the Canadian shows below...

Continue reading "Roger Waters now on tour, adds 3rd NYC show @ MSG"

photos by Andrew Frisicano

Les Savy Fav's new album "Root For Ruin" is out now, but only via iTunes (more about that from Tim Harrington in the video below). Want to listen before you buy? You can do that over at Spinner. On August 24th you can buy the MP3s at all other fine digital establishments, and the record's physical CD/LP release date is September 14th via Frenchkiss Records. Cover art above.

Six days before that, September 8th, the band will play an intimate release show at Mercury Lounge in NYC (Doors: 9:30). Tickets will cost you $15 (on sale on Ticketmaster Friday), but you can also get a free ticket if you pre-order "Root For Ruins" at Other Music (for a limited time and while tickets last). We also have two pair you can try to win.

Contest details, a set of pictures from NXNE where Les Savy Fav played a late-night Scion-sponsored show at Wrongbar with Best Coast, and more, below...

Continue reading "Les Savy Fav playing intimate NY release show (win tix, stream album, buy @ iTunes, check out some NXNE pics, more)"

Iggy Pop & the Stooges in Toronto for NXNE 2010

Iggy Pop and the Stooges played a free show in Toronto's Yonge-Dondas Square on Saturday June 19th, as part of the city's NXNE Festival. The show was controlled chaos in the middle of a very public section of the city that NXNE took over with a big outdoor stage for the duration of the festival. It would be like having a free, public Stooges show in the middle of Times Square, or Union Square, or at South Street Seaport even. The pictures here are from that crazy and amazing show (and are part of our slow drip of coverage from the fest...still more to come!).

The Stooges will be in the NYC-area for their Raw Power set at ATP NY over Labor Day weekend. They'll also be in Atlantic City on August 27th.

For the ATP NY show, Iggy and MVD Entertainment Group are running a contest for six winners to videotape the Stooges' set and interview Iggy at Kutscher's. To enter, you have to send in an HD-quality video with either questions for Iggy,or some kind of stunt as to why you should win. In addition to the ATP prize, the "fan shot footage, along with the contestant video submissions, will be crafted into a high definition longform program, which will be part concert film and part reality TV show about the journey of the fans." Part cool, part creepy. More details on the contest, and a video explaining it all featuring "Handsome" Dick Manitoba, are below.

In related news, Barney's New York will soon start selling Iggy Pop t-shirts that are part of the Archive 1887 collection...

"Archive 1887 t-shirts are made in Los Angeles from 100% cotton and feature artwork sourced from Sony Music's exclusive archives as well as the private collections of music's most important photographers. Each shirt comes with an online code that can be entered at www.archive1887.com to unlock a streaming playlist of the classic artists' music as well as background information on the images. Archive 1887 is sold at better department stores and specialty boutiques across North America as well Europe and Asia."

Iggy will help celebrate the t-shirt launch by making an appearance (a non-musical appearance) at Barneys Co-Op (236 West 18th Street Between 7th and 8th Ave) on Wednesday, July 28th. That said, I am not 100% sure if the event is open to the public (though the hours make it seem like it would be)... the event is private.

And in other related news, The Stooges have added three more songs to Rock Band (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii). As of July 20th you can get "1969", "I Wanna Be Your Dog", and "No Fun" so you can be Iggy Pop in the comfort of your living room.

More pictures, video and the setlist from the completely mobbed NXNE free show (where many lost their shoes), and more contest details, below...

Continue reading "Iggy Pop (and the Stooges) played NXNE (pics), going to Barney's, playing ATP (interview him there), in Rock Band..."

by Andrew Frisicano

Diamond Rings sporting peacock feathers @ Wrongbar in Toronto

At Wrongbar in Toronto on Friday, 6/18 (before Mudhoney played at Horseshoe Tavern), One Big Silence, the new label from Fucked Up's Mike Haliechuk, hosted an NXNE showcase heavy on synths with dark, atmospheric duo TRUST, dramatic singer Katie Stelmanis (who backed up Zola Jesus the night before), glammy Diamond Rings (whose new 12" is the first release by the label) and Big Freedia (whose pictures you already saw). Pictures of the costumed Diamond Rings, who played to a packed and dancing hometown crowd that night, are in this post.

Now NYC can get a taste. As mentioned a few times already, Diamond Rings play that show at Glasslands, tonight, July 16th with Caribou (DJ Set), Class Actress, Teengirl Fantasy and Idiot Glee (RSVP), and if you miss it, there's one more chance to catch the tall Canadian in town on Sunday...

====| SUNDAY 7/18 @ MONSTER ISLAND |====

:: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
:::: Janka Nabay & the Bubu Gang
:::::: Diamond Rings

| MONSTER ISLAND |
128 River St @ Metropolitan Ave | Williamsburg, Brooklyn
L-Bedford, G-Metropolitan, JM-Marcy | 8pm | all ages | $10

Sunday's show is yet another date for Janka, and part of a very short solo tour for Casiotone.

All DR dates, the new basket ball-themed (I told you he was tall) Diamond Rings video that features a cameo from Fucked Up's Damian Abraham, and more NXNE pictures below....

Continue reading "Diamond Rings is here - dates, video & some pics from NXNE"

All I have to say, as the guy in the above picture will definitely agree, is that Mudhoney were freakin' awesome at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto on Friday, June 18th when they played the Chunklet showcase at part of NXNE. Don't hesitate checking them out when they come to play Bowery Ballroom in NYC on Saturday, September 4th, especially if you miss them up at ATP NY one night earlier.

NYC show tickets are on sale at noon.

More pictures and the setlist from NXNE, below...

Continue reading "Mudhoney played NXNE (pics), playing Bowery Ballroom (tix) "

words by Andrew Frisicano

Big Freedia & friends @ Wrongbar in Toronto for NXNE - June 18, 2010

"So what the hell is Sissy Bounce? Sort of depends who you ask. Katey Red, arguably the creator of the genre, suggests it doesn't even exist and instead insists it's just sissies producing Bounce. Other artists such as Big Freedia fully embrace the term. Take some of the most hypersexual, bump and grind you can imagine, remove everything but the sexed up chorus, speed it up, and then remove the sexual identity of the artist performing it. What, what? That's right. Sissy Bounce artists are purposely androgynous, sometimes referred to as queer, sometimes transgendered, a very direct intent is to fuck with people's heads about sexuality. It's easy to relate, or be offended when you see one sex singing about the other. But with Sissy Bounce you have no idea. This makes the performances just as important as the music itself, which is perhaps why it's stayed locked down for so long." [Sean Bonner]

From the pictures above and below, maybe you can tell that Big Freedia's Friday night set at Toronto's Wrongbar (as part of NXNE) was a crowd pleaser. Big Freedia, DJ Rusty Lazer and a pair of dancers held a master class on ass-shaking dance moves and a good portion of the crowd was happy to oblige, especially for the infectious bounce of songs like "Azz Everywhere" and "Rock Around the Clock." Freedia went from a tender acapella verse about settling down to a song with the hook "I got that gin in my system, somebody's gonna be my victim." The spectacle was one thing, but it was ultimately the songs, rumbling party mantras, that made it a great set.

The next night Big Freedia brought her act to the city's Yonge-Dundas Square (a free, very public stage surrounded by stores and restaurants )- it looks like they played there with considerably more clothes on. Still, Damian Abraham tweeted: "Big Freedia's performance in Dundas Square today made the Stooges show (which was amazing) look like a Peter, Paul and Mary Concert." (btw, our pics from the Stooges show he's referring to are coming soon).

Big Freedia and crew (that includes Freedia's DJ Rusty Lazer) will be back in Brooklyn for a Thursday night set at CrushFest at Public Assembly. The lineup for the June 24th show, which is part of Northside, also includes Yes Giantess, Fang Island, Iran, MillionYoung, Dinosaur Feathers, Anton Glamb, LE1F, Jason Pants & Chaz Requina (Palms Out Sounds), Denny Le Nimh and No Surrender. Tickets are only $5.00 until 3pm today (6/22) - then the price goes back up to $15. You can also try to get in with your Northside Badge.

More pictures from Toronto, a flyer for the Public Assembly show and a video from a Big Freedia show at Glasslands are all below...

Continue reading "Big Freedia played NXNE (NSFW pics), playing Crush Fest in Brooklyn w/ Yes Giantess, Fang Island, others (tix on sale) "

by Andrew Frisicano

As the sun hid its face behind the island's ring of trees, Pavement took to a Toronto stage for the first time in a decade.

The crowd was a little diminished at this point. Presumably, Toronto didn't want to miss out on the other aging rockers, Iggy and the Stooges, who were playing a free gig at Yonge-Dundas Square starting at 9 p.m.

But Pavement, equipped with a dedicated cult following, delivered to the fans. The fans including both Kevin Drew and Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell, who joined Pavement for Kennel District. Both were clearly ecstatic by the honour. The epitome of '90s indie rock, the California band blasted their feel-good lo-fi rock. It was all well-received nostalgia with hits like, Fight This Generation, Father to a Sister of Thought and Shady Lane. It was one of those down-memory-lane-we-go moments for sure. [Blog.to]

Pavement followed Broken Social Scene at Saturday's June 19th show on Toronto Island. The hometown BSS set was clearly a tough act to follow, but Pavement seemed up to the task, with opener "Cut Your Hair" setting the tone. The reunion tour is clearly not about coyness, and the set that followed was a satisfying string of hits that marked the band's first Canadian show in more than 10 years.
It goes without saying that people were excited, and the band seemed happy to oblige with 26 songs.

Bob Nastanovich hopped around and traded lyrics with Stephen Malkmus, who was personable if a little awkward (Malkmus called the show "relatively successful," which seemed like a weird thing to point out to a sold-out 10,000+ crowd who traveled to an island for the show).

The island itself was spacious with lots of leafy trees, and room to spread out while still being in earshot of the show. The six-foot stage meant you could see the band clearly even from the back of the crowd (though the location of the perpetual beer line was a bit too far off).

Pavement will be in NYC for five shows in September. More dates HERE. More pictures from the Toronto show, videos and the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Pavement @ the Toronto Island Festival - pics, video, setlist"

"With a horn section behind the already several-member group, Broken Social Scene began with 'World Sick' off their new album Forgiveness Rock Record and then 'Stars And Sons,' the latter with fans clapping repeatedly on cue as six guitarists jammed out the conclusion.

However, from there things got bigger and better, with Metric's James Shaw and Pavement's Scott Kannberg helping out on the danceable 'Texico Bitches.' Then Feist made her way onstage for '7/4 (Shoreline),' dancing around the stage when not sharing vocal duties with Drew.

The only problem perhaps with the set - aside from Drew irked that his guitar pedals weren't working - was how it seemed to peak halfway through. Following the plodding, precious ballad 'Sweetest Kill,' both Feist and Metric's Emily Haines appeared for 'Sentimental X's,' which had the crowd onside from the start." [Toronto Sun]

Sebastien Grainger (DFA1979) and John McEntire (Tortoise/Sea and Cake) also joined BSS on stage on Saturday, June 19th, on Toronto's Olympic Island. The full lineup for the 2010 edition of the annual Toronto Island Concert, which wasn't officially part of NXNE (but which did let in 250 badges) looked like this:

1:15 PM Toronto Revue (The Beauties, Flash Lightnin', Zeus)
2:45PM Timber Timbre
4:00PM Beach House
5:15PM Band of Horses
6:45PM Broken Social Scene
9:00PM Pavement

I left my downtown hotel in a cab at 3pm, and though the ferry station was only a ten minute drive away, I didn't actually get to the stage area until around around 4:45. I heard Beach House as I walked up, but I never actually saw them. I wasn't worried about catching Timber Timbre because I saw them the night before in a club (more on that later), and I knew I wasn't getting there by 1:00 (after being out till 4am at NXNE shows the night before) so I didn't even try.

The weather on Saturday in Toronto was hot and beautiful and Band of Horses (who played Grand Central Station in NYC one night earlier) (and the Williamsburg Waterfront in NYC one night later) sounded great as they played out to the thousands of people who were either watching them... or waiting on line for something. Lines were definitely a problem on the island. You usually had to wait a long time for food, bathrooms and most frustratingly to many, beer.

Then came Broken Social Scene and they were in top form - it was my favorite time ever seeing them. In fact, though I've seen the band more times than I can remember over the past six years, I was never 100% comfortable with their live show before. That changed on the island. Maybe it was because they were in their hometown of Toronto with all their friends (though sadly no Jason Collett or Amy Milan who are both on tour). Feist and Emily Haines together on stage contributed strongly to the specialness (par for the course for Toronto), and Lisa Lobsinger no longer feels like the new girl.

Full setlist (and lots more pictures and some videos) below.

As painful as it was to leave while BSS was playing their last song (aka I didn't stay for Pavement), I made the decision that I was going to catch The Stooges who played a competing show at Young Dundas Square at 9:30. My trip off the island was much quicker than my trip on. I got a ferry immediately and then a cab immediately and I was 40 minutes early for Iggy. I even caught the last ten minutes of The Raveonettes who played before the Stooges on the outdoor stage which was in the middle of a Times Square-like area of town. It was a complete madhouse (a free show in the middle of town open to anyone... with Iggy Pop), but more on that later.

Andrew Frisicano was with me on the island. He missed Band of Horses but stayed for Pavement. His post on the headliner is coming later. More about BSS and Band of Horses, with a ton of pictures and some videos and both setlists, below...

Continue reading "Broken Social Scene (w/ Feist & Emily Haines) & Band of Horses opened for Pavement @ Toronto's Olympic Island - pics, video, setlists"

Damian Abraham & child @ NXNE - 6/17/2010

After working all day in a hotel room on Thursday, I headed out into for my first-ever taste of both NXNE and Toronto music clubs. I've been to the city once before, but that was a very long time ago.

Things were kicking off at 6pm on the outdoor stage set up at Young Dundas Square. Locals will tell you that its Toronto's Times Square, but after being there I'd say its more like Union Square (in shape and size anyway). That said, I don't know what it normally looks like there, but for NXNE they turned the whole paved center of the square into a festival site complete with sponsored booths (free sample of flavored water anyone? Would you like to learn more about Sirius XM radio?) and a huge stage that anyone is free to check out (Iggy Pop plays there on Saturday).

Entry to any other NXNE venue will cost you. A festival badge, which you could purchase in Young Dudas Square, costs $50 and gets you into everything capacity permitting (though we never had a problem once). It's like CMJ and SXSW - there are NXNE shows in all the Toronto clubs.

We got to Young Dudas in time for Free Energy's set, and for the speeches that came before them. The first was by the man himself, Damian "Pink Eyes" Abraham from Fucked Up, aka the mayor of Toronto (he was the first of three Fucked Up members I spotted over the course of the evening). He, and a lady friend whose name I didn't catch, introduced the band and Michael Chan, the Minister of Tourism & Culture, who gave a nice little speech before the bands began.

More pictures and commentary below...

Continue reading "NXNE 2010 in pics - part 1 (Free Energy, Young Galaxy, more)"

words by Andrew Frisicano

Zola Jesus @ Sneaky Dee's - June 17, 2010

Zola Jesus (singer Nika Roza Danilova & band) played an early evening set at Toronto's Sneaky Dee's on Thursday as part of NXNE. For some she was the first act of the festival (the official opening was only an hour before), and a moody introduction at that, with the setting sun flickering through the windows next to the stage. Accompanied by regular band member Alex DeGroot on synth and sampler, and guests Katie Stelmanis (keys) and Maya Postepski (drums), Zola, who occasionally walked into the audience, sang expressively over dark synths and heavy, throbbing percussion. She closed her 30+ minute set with one of her best, "Night" (video below). HEALTH and tour-mates played the same 2nd floor venue right afterward.

Zola plays again at NXNE on Friday (tonight), and has a bunch of New York City shows coming up, including Glasslands on Saturday, June 19th with Effi Briest, Nice Face and Amen Dunes. Tickets are still on sale. After that she joins Bear in Heaven at their free July 9th South Street Seaport show, and then tackles the halls of Terminal 5 at a July 13th show opening for Wolf Parade.

More NXNE pictures, her video for "Night" and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Zola Jesus played NXNE (pics), plays NYC on Saturday ------- 2010 tour dates & the "Night" video"

Best Coast @ Knitting Factory in April (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Greetings from Toronto. NXNE, the Toronto music/film/interactive fest is happening this week. It kicked off its music programming last night, Wednesday, June 16th, and runs through Sunday with shows at 50+ venues (here's a map of the spots). The festival also coincides with the now-affliated Broken Social Scene-helmed Toronto Island concert that features Pavement, Band of Horses, Beach House and others on Saturday, June 19th.

There weren't many Wednesday night shows. The official kick off party was just Eagles of Death Metal (sadly, without their normal bass player) at The Phoenix. And there was a gig or two with Canada's Hollerado (who have at least six shows at the fest lined up). One of them was up in the CN Tower.Still Life Still played the Mod Club with Denmark's The Blue Van.

One of the main hubs will be the free-to-anyone outdoor stage at Yonge-Dundas Square with headliners Thursday night X and Mudhoney, Friday night Sloan and k-os, Saturday night Iggy and the Stooges preceded by The Raveonettes, Wavves, Surfer Blood and others, and Sunday's De La Soul, Kid Sister, Phenomenal Handclap Band and NOLA rapper Big Freedia.

continued below...

Continue reading "NXNE is underway in Toronto -- a quick guide to the music "

The NXNE music festival (650 bands, 7 days, 40 films, 50 venues) happens in Toronto from June 14th-20th. The 2010 lineup for that fest so far includes Iggy & the Stooges, X, Les Savy Fav, Sloan, The Raveonettes, De La Soul, Man or Astroman, Thee Oh Sees and many more. The full list is posted below. Tickets are on sale.

Continue reading "NXNE 2010 - initial lineup, dates & tickets"

The Specials @ Coachella (more by Rachel Carr)

The SPECIALS first concert in Toronto in over 29 years originally scheduled for tomorrow (monday) has been POSTPONED until August 2010 due to an emergency medical ailment

The NYC shows are still on, and the Toronto show is already re-scheduled for the 4th week of August pending clearing dates/holds at the Sound Academy of which we hope to announce the re-scheduled date this Friday afternoon (4-23)

All original tickets will be honoured for the August 2010 date, and as usual full refunds will be available (starting Monday) at the original point of purchase until the end of June

Please don't e-mail any of us or call looking for more info as there is isn't any to give other than I'm personally emotionally heartbroken over the postponement, and so are all the Specials, who have been here since sat night ready to skank out - but since we've all been waiting 29 years for this re-birth, what's a couple of more months? and besides, anyone looking to hitch a ride with me to NYC Tue or Wed?

Rude Boy - Monkey Man
jc the collective

That message comes from Collective Concerts, the Canadian concert promoters (who I see also have a cancelled Chapterhouse date on May 1st). So many cancellations! They can't blame this one on the volcano. Hopefully everyone in the band is okay.

The Specials have so far played Jimmy Fallon and Coachella. Toronto and the NYC shows were all they had left on this short North American tour. As you can see above though, they will be back in August. That trip includes a NYC show too.

Videos from Coachella (where a rude boy from Yo Gabba Gabba was skanking on the side of the stage), below...

Continue reading "The Specials played Coachella (video), but cancelled Toronto"

DOOM? (NOW Toronto)

Hoping to curb the melodrama, Toronto promoters REMG offered Mos fans who didn't enter the Kool Haus refunds and sent patrons a message that they'd be checking Dumile's identification to ensure that the real DOOM would take the stage. How fucked up does all of this sound? Wait, it gets slightly more awesome...

...DOOM was scheduled to go on at 10 p.m. after an excellent selection of classic and new hip-hop joints by DJ duo, the Mixtape Massacre. Somewhere around ten, a camo-decked organizer informed the crowd that DOOM was at the airport and on his way to the Kool Haus after clearing customs and that he'd be onstage in 45 minutes. The crowd booed and shuffled off into different corners of the room.

An hour passed, another "It's actually DOOM and he's on his way" announcement was made, while an inordinate number of young thugs passed out or seized up on the ground, high on drugs, drink, and at least some restlessness. As the stage was peppered with beer cans and debris from an increasingly hostile, all-ages crowd, the DJs cleared the way, while Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linx... Part II blasted through the sound system. This might have been fine if the ignorant soundman wasn't playing it through a partially plugged-in iPod, creating some kind screeching, noise experiment of a record that further infuriated fans, particularly after he realized his mistake and jarringly plugged it in properly. Jesus Christ.

Some time around 12:15 a.m., a fake DOOM barged onstage to the sound of Madvillain's "Accordion," laughing through what was presumably a joke. Middle fingers and boos soon turned to cheers as another DOOM -- the real DOOM? -- followed behind and completed the song. After bantering with the suddenly forgiving crowd and playing older chestnuts and newer songs, DOOM seemed to have the show in control. Then a half hour in, a curious tech issue occurred, DJ Superstar Dave Dar left the stage, DOOM soon followed and everything ground to a halt -- except for many members of the audience who left the show. [Exclaim]

Tonight's DOOM / Mos Def show scheduled to take place at Nokia Theatre in NYC was cancelled (maybe DOOM just knew it was going to snow).

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Pavement - Gold Soundz (MP3)

Broken Social Scene @ Masonic Temple, Oct 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

Broken Social Scene will be releasing their new, as-yet-untitled album on May 4th, 2010 on Arts & Crafts. Co-produced by the band and Tortoise's John McEntire at Soma Studios in Chicago, with additional recording at Giant Studio and The Schvitz Studio in Toronto, the new album is the follow up to their acclaimed self-titled record, released in 2005.

It's hard to believe that the last BBS record came out more than four years ago. The new album's release will be accompanied by a short set of tour dates in North America and Europe. One of those will be "An Evening With Broken Social Scene" at NYC's Webster Hall on May 7th. Tickets to that are on Arts & Crafts presale now. (as are tickets for their L.A. and San Francisco shows). NYC tickets go on general sale Saturday, 2/16 at noon.

Tickets for BSS's Toronto Centre Island (Olympic Island) show on June 19th are also on sale. Toronto Island Concert will be a full-day festival with Band of Horses and co-headlined by Pavement. More acts are TBA.

Pavement, whose reunion shows are slowly creeping up, recently released the tracklist of their best-of comp, Quarantine The Past: Greatest Hits 1989-1999, coming out March 9th on Matador. Tracklist, album art and updated tour dates are below. A remastered version of "Gold Soundz" from the comp is posted above.

All BSS tour dates, the credits for the new BSS record (which included Feist and Pavement's Spiral Stairs) and more info are below...

Continue reading "Broken Social Scene - new album! & tour dates, Webster Hall & Toronto Island w/ Pavement (who has a 'Best Of' coming)"

"Rx are discussing options w/PJ now. Doesn't look like I'm gonna make it. They're not reinstating any of these flights..." Ted Leo, Aug 21 @ 2:06 PM

Eddie Vedder & The Pharmacists - Aug 21, 2009 in Toronto

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, who just got back from playing some West Coast dates, have scheduled a few new East Coast ones for December. One of those is December 6th at Bowery Ballroom in NYC and tickets just went on AmEx Presale. All currently known dates below.

The West Coast dates were supposed to happen right after Ted left Toronto. In Toronto Ted was scheduled to play in a charity soccer game and (again) open for Pearl Jam. Other celebrities playing the soccer game included Rivers Cuomo and Michael Cera. They actually played, but Ted never made it...

"Ted Leo, famed indie rock musician, was also originally scheduled to be at this event, but apparently he got stopped at border security and couldn't make it (or, in addition, open for Pearl Jam the night before!). Also, Rivers Cuomo was there with his Japanese wife and 2-year-old Japanese daughter!! Exciting, eh?" [Until we Eat Again]

Ted never made it to the Pearl Jam show either, so instead his band The Pharmacists played without him (and, much to the delight of the crowd, with Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready). A Little bit more about that, their setlist, videos from the show, and all Ted Leo dates, below....

Continue reading "Ted Leo tour dates (Bowery) w/ the Pharmacists who backed Eddie Vedder in Toronto when Ted got stuck in NY (video) "

Amy Millan is set to release her sophomore full-length, Masters Of The Burial, on September 8 through Arts and Crafts International. The follow up to her acclaimed 2006 debut, Honey From The Tombs, was recorded earlier this year with renowned producer/sound technician Martin Davis Kinack (Apostle of Hustle/Sarah Harmer/Broken Social Scene) in rural Ontario.

Following the release of that record, Amy will set out on a tour of Canada and the US. That trip brings her to NYC for a Thursday, November 5th show at the Mercury Lounge and a November 6th show at the Bell House. Tickets go on sale for the Mercury Lounge show Friday, August 7th at noon. Bell House tickets are on sale now.

This summer Amy has been playing in Broken Social Scene including at Rothbury and at the July 11th Toronto show that had her back on stage alongside fellow BSS-alums Feist and Emily Haines. She also performed a free solo show at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto on July 25th. The setlist of that show (below) included a cover of Death Cab For Cutie's "I Will Follow You into the Dark" which is a song that also happens to appear on her new album.

Video of that performance, with all tour dates, and the full new album tracklist, below..

Continue reading "Amy Millan (BSS) - new album, Death Cab cover & tour dates "

Explosions in the Sky @ Sasquatch 2009 (more by Chris Graham)

Explosions in the Sky, Constantines and Castanets are playing Central Park Summerstage on Tuesday, June 30th. Tickets for that, which is not one of the NYC park's free shows, are sold out.

Castanets also have a NYC show coming up at Cake Shop on July 10th - part of a much larger July tour. All dates below.

Later this summer, EITS will be opening several dates for the Flaming Lips. Billboard writes that, "Concertgoers who buy Flaming Lips tickets online will receive a digital EP with new songs "Convinced of the Hex," "The Impulse" and "Silver Trembling Hands" [from the Lip's forthcoming album Embyronic]," as well as "three digital B-side tracks" and a "digital download bootleg of the concert they attended."

Explosions in the Sky was also scheduled to play Broken Social Scene's Olympic Island Festival on July 11th. That show has been canceled because, among other reasons, the Molson Indy was scheduled for the same day nearby. BSS's Kevin Drew wrote, "For us to ask, Rattlesnake Choir, Apostle of Hustle and Beach House to play while the sounds of racecars roar across the lake is absolutely ridiculous and insulting."

Instead, there will be a free Broken Social Scene show the same day at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre. Rattlesnake Choir will open. The gig is one of a few July/August dates for BSS, who're recording their fourth full-length album in Chicago with John McEntire of Tortoise. The record will be their first without the production of David Newfeld.

Broken Social Scene recently played a surprise show at Arts & Crafts' NXNE showcase on June 17th. The performance included some new-album material and an appearance by Feist who is rarely a member of BSS these days, and who recently sang at a Grizzly Bear show in the same city. Videos, with the above-mentioned tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky (Tuesday), Flaming Lips (touring), Broken Social Scene (played w/ Feist) - all dates, other news"