(Editors)

There is a heaping handful of great gigs in Toronto (GTA) that will round out January…

JAN 19 – THE SPOONS @ ROSE THEATRE (BRAMPTON)
JAN 21 – MARS VOLTA @ PHOENIX
JAN 22 – PETER, BJORN & JOHN @ PHOENIX
JAN 22 – THE EDITORS / HOT HOT HEAT KOOL @ HAUS (our pick)
JAN 25 – ALEXISONFIRE @ DOCKS
JAN 26 – TOKYO POLICE CLUB @ NATHAN PHILLIPS SQUARE (free)
JAN 27 -  THE TEENAGERS @ THE SOCIAL
JAN 29 -  DJ SHADOW & CUT CHEMIST @ PHOENIX
JAN 31 – WINTERSLEEP @ PHOENIX
JAN 31 – XAVIER RUDD @ DANFORTH MUSIC HALL (our pick)

(Xavier Rudd)

Post from: Toronto Unplugged

Radiohead’s

The cross-country trek is expected to make stops in the Northeast, including New York, Philadelphia, and Boston; while Southeastern cities include Washington, DC, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, and Tampa. The Midwest portion of the trek will include Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis, and St. Louis. Two shows will be staged in Texas, in Dallas and Houston; with West Coast appearances anticipated in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Seattle.

In addition, three Canadian locations are part of the lineup — Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.

The North American run will take part in two portions – one prior to and one after their UK and Europe summer trek.

Radiohead’s overseas dates begin in Ireland on June 6th.

So we know Radiohead is stopping in Toronto. Any bets on the venue? Leave a comment.

Post from: Toronto Unplugged

The Hives are coming back to Toronto.   The band will be joined by opening act The Donnas at the Kool Haus on March 3rd.

Tickets have just went on sale here at Ticket Master.

The Hives are a rock band from Fagersta, Sweden that first rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a leading group of the garage rock revival. Their breakthrough came with the release of the “best-of” compilation Your New Favourite Band, featuring their most commercially successful song “Hate to Say I Told You So“. The band produces punk-influenced garage rock songs and wear matching black and white suits.

Formed in 1993, The Donnas are an American all-female hard rock/punk rock band from Palo Alto, California.  They draw inspiration from The Ramones, AC/DC, and Kiss.

Post from: Toronto Unplugged

(Xavier Rudd)

Australian Xavier Rudd is practically an adopted Canadian – factoring in his extended Canadian tours, further extended stays recording new music and albums and lastly, his unexplained success. Rudd seems to like Canada. And as of yesterday, Toronto has been rewarded with a third show at The Danforth Music Hall.

Rudd’s first scheduled performance on Thursday January 31st sold out instantly. His second show on Friday February 1st just sold out. Just announced on Rudd’s website is a third show on Sunday February 10th. Tickets go on sale on January 11th here.

There might be no better place to see Xavier Rudd in the city than at the Music Hall. The sound quality, comfort and intimacy makes the Danforth a top tier venue in Toronto…and perhaps the best.

Quick intro to Xavier Rudd…

Xavier Rudd is a genuine singer, great folksy songwriter and talented multi-instrumentalist. Rudd’s fourth studio album titled White Moth was released on June 2, 2007.

2008 will hear international sounds and vibes coming further to the forefront of popular music. When this happens, Rudd will be praised as a modern pioneer. In this way, Rudd resembles Paul Simon in the experiment and influence he incorporated into his songwriting and recording.

On White Moth,

“The singer/songwriter utilizes guitar, harmonica, percussion instruments and, most famously, three didgeridoos (of different keys) to create a world of sounds in concert. When he wasn’t displaying his amazing circular-breathing ability… he showed a warm and soothing vocal style that strongly recalled David Gray, Jack Johnson and, most often, Paul Simon.” – LiveDaily.com – November 2007

Post from: Toronto Unplugged

These are some of my favorite nights. Got this text message at 10:21 pm on Thursday night,

Apostle of Hustle, Lee’s. Anytime now (10-15min). Come.

Already at the Press Club and not far from Lee’s, me and some mates jumped in a cab and darted to Lee’s Palace for the gig.

We walked in just as second opening act, Skin Tight, Outta Sight, was taking the stage. The Burlesque Revival show, led by dancers Gigi, Pussy and an apprehensive man of religion who eventually stripped down to an ass-less pair of stockings made me realize that the last-minute decision to check out this gig was indeed a great idea.

Apostle of Hustle is the brainchild of Andrew Whiteman – who is also lead guitarist for Broken Social Scene. Apostle of Hustle is a very cool experimental, latin-ish, poetic, innovative, electric side/main project.

As the story goes, during the Broken Social Scene sessions Whiteman enjoyed a two-month stint in Cuba. He learned to play the tres – a Cuban guitar – and the musical culture began influencing his playing and writing. Whiteman came back to Toronto to continue working with Broken Social Scene, but he couldn’t escape the Spanish flavours.
Eventually, Whiteman, Julian Brown and Daniel Stone formed what is now Apostle of Hustle.

On this night in the story, Apostle of Hustle took the stage at Lee’s Palace to set a mood and then entertained with spectacular talent, intimacy and passion within that mood. Their music is the show and they communicate it beautifully. They swung through tracks like Chances Are, My Sword Hand’s Anger, Kings Queens, Justine Beckoning

The live show is an interesting instrument combination from: two guitars (no bass)/drummer, one guitar/drummer/Andrew playing the bottom of of a plastic tub, guitar/bass/the playing of what looked like a marble slab. Again, definitely an innovative and experimental band.

Great band who put on a great show at a solid venue. The sound at Lee’s can be a bit off – a bit trebley – but the sight lines are some of the best in the city and it sure beats a big venue.

The next Broken Social Scene spin-off gig: Jason Collett Tuesday night at the Dakota. I ran into Kevin Drew at the AOH show and I asked if he’d be at the Dakota on Tuesday he replied, “you bet I will”. Check it out.

Post from: Toronto Unplugged