JUST ANNOUNCED
We’re thrilled to relay that multi-platinum, Grammy nominated UK band Snow Patrol will perform their first Toronto headline gig in over 3 years when they play at our very own Massey Hall on April 17. The band will be in town to support their new album Fallen Empires which is available from your favourite music retailer beginning today! Tickets for the concert go on sale Friday, January 13 at noon and to FriendsFirst members tomorrow at 10am. Special guest is the fantastic Ed Sheeran. If you haven’t yet heard him, watch “You Need Me, I Don’t Need You” or the Rupert Grint approved video for Sheeran’s song “Lego House” here.
WEB WATCH
Speaking of new albums, RollingStone.com recently posted that digital music sales have surpassed physical album sales for the first time in history, making up 50.3% of all music sales in 2011. With that in mind, here is a nice healthy list of new releases we can look forward to in 2012.
JUST ANNOUNCED
We have three exciting announcements for you this week in the Buzz! Deep Purple will pay a visit to the Grand Ol’ Lady of Shuter Street on February 12, 2012 as part of their Smoke on the Nation tour. Canoe.ca has the details of the full tour if you won’t be in Toronto, but if you are, tickets go on sale to FriendsFirst members this Thursday and to the public on Saturday.
And we’ve also just announced two shows coming up in March. On March 9 and 10, Jann Arden returns to Massey Hall with friends for two concerts coinciding with the release of her eleventh album, Uncover Me 2. Check out her recent feature chat on CBC Q here (just click on “listen” under the listing for November 18). Then on March 16 funny-man Danny Bhoy hits the Massey Hall stage in a show presented by experts on funny, Just for Laughs. To get yourself ready for the big show, you might check out Danny Bhoy’s DVD from his live show at the Athenaeum which includes his theory on accents in Adelaide or you could check out his full YouTube channel here (fair warning: much of the content is NSFW).
PERFORMANCES Feist (Thursday): The lovely Feist returns to Massey Hall this week in support of her new album Metals and everybody is talking about the special occasion, including the fact that the opening slot features one Bry Webb (former lead singer of indie darlings, Constantines): Chromewaves recently posted a stream of the Constantines/Feist cover of “Islands in the Stream” (alongside the classic Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton version), Exclaim! reports on the special musical relationship the pair have (as well check out the Exclaim TV clip of Bry Webb performing the song “Undertaker”, embedded above), and the National Post features an article about Leslie Feist’s involvement in the creative process with Webb. Looking for some Feist-specific material out there in advance of the gig? Vancouver’s Georgia Straight has a recent interview with Feist about Metals, and don’t forget about her special concert from October at Glenn Gould Studio, available for your listening pleasure at CBC Concerts on Demand.
Gordon Lightfoot (Wednesday – Saturday): It’s time for our annual visit from Mr. Gordon Lightfoot – he plays four shows this week at Massey Hall. Lightfoot has been performing at the Grand Ol’ Lady of Shuter Street for over 40 years now – very impressive indeed. Fun Fact: Lightfoot first played Massey Hall with his church choir at age 13 – that and more history on the legend is available over at the National Post’s Ampersand.
Ray Lamontagne & The Pariah Dogs(Monday): Ray Lamontagne and his band The Pariah Dogs return to Massey Hall to perform this Monday in support of their album God Willing & The Creek Don’t Rise. You probably know that Lamontagne and his band recently did a stint on the Letterman show but did you know he also performed a full 55 minute performance as part of their Live On Letterman web series? You can check out both performances on Consequence of Sound as well as this review of the group’s album.
JUST ANNOUNCED
Last week we announced that Daniel Tosh, comedian and host of Tosh.0 on Comedy Central will be paying a visit to Massey Hall on Saturday, July 30 for his Tour on Ice. New episodes of the show just started last week and Tosh continues to get up to his regular antics including stepping into the ring with world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao (youtube available here but I bet you can guess how well it goes for Mr. Tosh.)
Just yesterday we announced that David Gray returns to Massey Hall on Friday, February 25. Gray is touring in support of his latest release, Foundling. Not too long ago, Mr. Gray performed on Ellen – you can check that out here (and above). Tickets go on sale to FriendsFirst members on Wednesday and to the general public on Friday.
We are thrilled to let you know of one Gabriela Montero‘s triumphant return to Glenn Gould Studio. Montero last performed at the Gould in April 2009 and wowed all who attended each of the two stellar shows: The concert topped the list of our President & CEO Charlie Cutts’ favourite shows of 2009 and BlogTO poetically declared that it was “a treat to see Montero’s fingers dance across the piano like water striders on the lake at the cottage.” If you didn’t get a chance to see this pianist perform last time through, visit Glenn Gould Studio on January 28 to bear witness to her brilliant take on classical piano as well as her signature improvisational interpretations. Tickets go on sale later today – you’ll be able to find the event here.
Also just announced is an upcoming concert from Joe Bonamassa, touring his “as yet untitled album” which will be released in March. Bonamassa performs at Massey Hall on April 2. If you’re a FriendsFirst member, you can buy tickets for this show today (Tuesday), otherwise, tickets are available to the public starting Thursday. Until then, you can enjoy some of his music on his website.
AUDIO-FILE
Lots of good stuff for your listening pleasure on the world wide web today! You may recall that Chilly Gonzales played a most awesome show at the Glenn Gould Studio in September – NOW Magazine gave it 5 N’s calling Gonzo “unbelievably talented” and CONTINUE READING >
Chilly GonzalesPiano Talk Show (Tuesday): Any Chilly Gonzales show is bound to be something really quite special and tonight’s is no different. We’re particularly excited because today is the day Chilly’s new album Ivory Tower is released AND this particular event will also see singer-songwriter-producer extraordinaire Howie Beck join Gonzales on stage. Gonzales’ music is entirely likely to make you bop (“I AM EUROPE” or “Working together”) or chuckle (“Never Stop Rap,”) then in an instant have you thinking about what it is to be an artist (“overnight.”) Check out his myspace here and all the deets on the film he produced and stars in here. And if you didn’t see it the first time, here are just some of the reasons Why We Like Chilly Gonzales.
TIFF (Thursday to Next Saturday) – TIFF took over Toronto last week and that’s just fine with us! As you may recall from our coverage of “the festival of festivals” last fall, Roy Thomson Hall is a serious focal point of the fest. The opening of the Bell Lightbox is pretty exciting stuff but that doesn’t mean that the gala festivities here at Roy Thomson Hall get any less exciting. Starting with last week’s opening night screening of Score: A Hockey Musical (which we’ve been following since February when it was shooting here in Toronto) the Hall is filled with all sorts of ritz and glitz until the closing night at Roy Thomson Hall this Saturday, September 18. You can check out the schedule for all the films and all things TIFF over on the official website.
WEB WATCH
The LA Times recently featured an article about Jac Holzman (founder of Elektra Records). The article includes a video clip of Holzman discussing Bob Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival and the importance of letting musicians evolve, on their own terms. Dylan, you may recall from our Decade Panels played Massey Hall later that year and similar to his experience at Newport, his electric set at the grand ol’ lady of Shuter Street was also not met with a warm welcome, instead receiving “jeers.”
ACCOLADES
The Toronto Arts Council has announced the finalists for this years Toronto Arts Foundation Awards. The recipients will be recognized at the Mayor’s Arts Award Luncheon on Friday October 8. One of the awards that are handed out (bi-annually) is the Roy Thomson Hall Award of Recognition, which honours outstanding achievement in the development of the Arts in our community. The finalists for this years award are:
Lydia Adams, Artistic Director of Amadeus Choir and Elmer Iseler Singers Art of Time Ensemble Jose Ortega, Artistic Director of Lula Music and Arts Centre
Congratulations on all of your hard work and contributions and best of luck in October!
JUST ANNOUNCED
Japanese metal band X Japan, have sold an astounding 30 million albums over their almost 30 year career. After recently performing at this years Lollapalooza in Chicago, the group has announced their first ever North American tour which will stop in at our very own Massey Hall on October 7 . Their single “I.V.” was a featured track from the film SAW IV, which we think is cool because we are featured in the upcoming, SAW 3D!
Toronto guitar fans will certainly be excited to hear that it was announced Friday Joe Satriani will perform at Massey Hall on December 8. He’ll be supporting his forthcoming album, Black Swan and the Wormhole Wizards. If you pre-order the album from his website, you’ll also receive an autographed copy, (presumably in the form of a CD in the mail – and not with the digital version of the album!) But still, a pretty cool incentive for fans to buy a hard copy of his anticipated Full Length.
WEB WATCH
Speaking of incentives to buy music, check out U2s manager, Paul McGuinness and his recent editorial in the UK edition of GQ, discussing the future of the music business. No doubt it’s interesting and exciting times as the business continues to CONTINUE READING >
Yesterday we announced a performance at Glenn Gould Studio by Chilly Gonzales to take place on September 14. This is the very same day that his latest album Ivory Tower, drops as does the feature-length film of the same name (featuring Tiga and Peaches). It all makes you wish the “most wonderful time of year” Staples commercials were on and September was around the corner right? If you don’t know who Chilly Gonzales is, allow this performance to be your education. Prerequisite information required: Gonzales made waves in Paris last spring after earning the world record for the longest solo concert (no less than 27 hours, three minutes, and 44 seconds long). Also – check out Chess Cat vs The World over on the Chilly Gonzales website: possibly the most democratic board game you’ll ever play on a Canadian musician’s website.
Soundboard is the official community of musicians, music fans, and friends of Massey Hall and Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Canada. It’s your behind-the-scenes source for related music news, recommendations, and rewards.
