A great throw back/nostalgic show this week. Peter Hook will be playing The Sound Academy on June 27th at 9pm.
Hook was a co-founder of the post-punk band Joy Division along with Bernard Sumner in the mid-1970s. Following the death of lead singer Ian Curtis, the band reformed as New Order, and Hook played bass with them throughout their career until his departure in 2007.
Hook has also recorded an album with Revenge (One True Passion) and two albums with Monaco (Music For Pleasure and Monaco) as bassist, keyboardist and lead vocalist.
There are some bands that simply resonate with a generation and Joy Division and New Order both fall into that elite category. Hook’s show at The Sound Academy will be full of long time (and loyal fans). If you were a fan of Joy Division or New Order, this is a must see show.
Let us know what you are most looking forward to about this show and please send in comments post-show.
I have always supported musicians with spending my money on their concerts - the ticket, often a t-shirt and occasionally an impulse buy of the album at the show. In this digital music age, I discover music online and for the music/bands that I really dig, I support them financially when they roll into town - often dragging friends with me.
Although CD’s now contain features that digital downloads do not (bonus tracks, video footage…etc), CD sales are still fading while touring and number of shows are up.
The renowned jazz event in Toronto and takes place in June and July. Unlike the Toronto Beaches Jazz Festival, most of the events are indoors and located throughout the downtown core. Formerly known as the DuMaurier Jazz Festival until the ban on tobacco advertising by the federal government forced the need for a new sponsor. Today, the festival is now sponsored by TD Canada Trust and has since dropped the word “Downtown” from its title.
The movement of online record sales has taken traditional retailers back to the drawing board in trying to figure out how to increase traffic and sales in stores.
HMV - Canada’s largest retailer - is introducing a range of new “entertainment” products that moves away from its traditional focus on music. Throughout HMV’s new ‘reinvented’ stores one will notice the new additions of books, cellphones, iPods and MP3 players.
Toronto’s Bloor Street West HMV store launched their new look store yesterday with live tunes from Sam Roberts and Billy Bragg.
There was much happening after last night’s MMVA’s…numerous after parties, flowing drinks and what was dubbed as an ‘Aftermath’ - a half-hour set that was streamed online at muchmusic.com and broadcast live on MuchMoreMusic. The set featured Bedouin Soundclash, K-OS, Sam Roberts, Jeremy Taggart, Alexisonfire, Saint Alvia Cartel, The Arkells, Zaki Ibrahim and more.
It was a loose, drunken jam session that included some cool cover tracks: The Beatles Yesterday, The Kinks Come Dancing (Sam Roberts), The Specials Pressure Drop, The Clash Should I Stay Or Should I Go, and and The English Beat’s Mirror In The Bathroom.
It was a very unique jam session with many highlights, but Jeremy Taggart smashing a beer can to bits with a tambourine was all too fitting for the evening.
Part Two of Saturday Night happenings at NXNE tonight…
The Worst Pop Band Ever - With influences ranging from Radiohead to Miles Davis, Bjork to Brad Mehldau, TWPBE is a Toronto-based group that tries to amicably reconcile their love of improvisational music with pop.
Rex @ 12AM
Revival Dear - As a roots rock band from Toronto, Revival Dear has found a way to pay homage to the past and herald in the future at the same time. Somewhere between the Band and Fleetwood Mac.
**This will be a great gig**
Cadillac Lounge @ 12 Midnight
Emily Weedon & Delta - Recommended if you love Dolly Parton. Emily Weedon & Delta have honed a sharp shit-kickin alt country show that is sure to get boots moving, asses out of seats and potentially even get you laid.Lead singer Emily Weedon works the pipes, guitar and piano while channeling the greats of girl country. Recently out of the studio with producer Moe Berg.
Black Bull @ 1AM
Ladyhawk evokes the devilish sounds of Goats Head Soup guitars and the honey-slides and howling of Neil Young in his darkest hours.
Horseshoe @ 2AM
Said The Whale is as much a product of Vancouver’s tremendous natural beauty as it is of the city’s budding independent music scene. Electronic indie rock that captures the essence of what it means to be young, free and heartbroken.
Rivoli @ 11PM
Run With The Kittens - Ripping some musical styles from the past, some from the future, this foursome is hell bent on showing people a good time with a repertoire ranging from darkly witty Dylan-esque tunes to stompers worthy of Motorhead.
Holy Joe’s @ 11PM
The Two Koreas - Like soggy cigarette butts in melting snow banks, Toronto’s preeminent practitioners of jangular electric beat muszik re-emerge from a winter of considerable discontent to release the new “Sessions EP.”
El Mocambo Down @ 11PM
The El Mocambo Tavern (462-464, Spadina Ave., Toronto ON M5T 2G8) (aka “The El Mo”) is a live music Toronto institution. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the bar played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since the 1940s. It is perhaps best known for hosting two Rolling Stones shows on March 4 and 5, 1977 that were recorded for release on the band’s Love You Live album.
Throughout NXNE, The El Mocambo will be one of the hottest venues of the Festival. Toronto Unplugged profiles the gigs shaking out both upstairs and downstairs on this Friday the 13th.
Tonight, the El Mocambo UP will feature:
Toronto’s Songs From a Room @ 9PM
Casey Baker and the Buffalo Sinners @ 10PM .Moneen. @ 11PM
Black Lungs @ midnight Bedouin Soundclash @ 1AM
