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Doug Paisley

Video Games Live, Amazing Kreskin, and Kellylee Evans in The Buzz: April 24-30

Posted by Stefania Paterak in  The Buzz  on  April 24, 2012

JUST ANNOUNCED
Video Games Live is returning to Massey Hall this October. Disclaimer: Video Games Live is not a live Lana Del Ray performance. Instead it’s a symphonic orchestral experience where the music of your favourite video games are brought to life. This year’s presentation is all new and includes tunes from a diverse array of games like Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Warcraft, Earthworm, and of course, Zelda. Tickets to our FriendsFirst members go on sale on Wednesday (tomorrow!) and to the public on Friday.

PERFORMANCES
The Amazing Kreskin (Tonight – Tuesday): As mentioned in last week’s Buzz post, we are fortunate to have not one, but two, presentations by The Amazing Kreskin with the second happening tonight (Tuesday) at Glenn Gould Studio. If you haven’t yet had a chance to see The Amazing Kreskin, now is your chance! As he is the World’s Foremost Mentalist – the performance promises to showcase some seriously impressive stuff.

Kellylee Evans (Friday): Kellylee Evans is the recipient of the 2011 JUNO Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for her album fittingly entitled Nina (fitting, as it’s a homage to the wonderful Nina Simone) and prior to that a nominee in the same category in 2007. Earlier this year Ms. Evans also announced the exciting news that she signed to Universal Music (which the CBC show All in a Day points out is the same label as Canadian cohorts Diana Krall, Shania Twain, and Justin Bieber.) So suffice it to say that she’s got some fans who know music – come check out what everyone else is talking about on Friday at Glenn Gould Studio.

John Pinette (Postponed): This event, originally scheduled for April 27, has been postponed.

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Snow Patrol, Frampton’s Guitar Comes Alive, and a Huge List of Audio-Files in The Buzz: Jan 10-16

Posted by Stephen McGrath in  The Buzz  on  January 10, 2012

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.

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What Do Liza Minnelli, Doug Paisley,
Tyler Duncan, & Jesse Peters All have in Common? The Buzz: Oct 25-31

Posted by Stefania Paterak in  The Buzz  on  October 25, 2011

It’s another busy week in The Buzz, friendly readers. See below for all the good stuff coming up this week.

PERFORMANCES
I Believe (Tonight – Tuesday): Last week, award-winning Canadian composer Zane Zalis posted on Soundboard about his experience composing the music and writing lyrics for this work in its Toronto Debut Performance tonight. The work, a “90-minute Holocaust oratorio for today’s generation, written in 12 movements” promises a “non-religious humanitarian story” that will compel us to reflect on both our history and our future.

Tyler Duncan (Thursday): Baritone Tyler Duncan performs with pianist Erika Switzer in the first edition of our new Canadian Voices vocal recitals series at Glenn Gould Studio. Duncan and Switzer recently visited the New Classical 96 FM Lobby Studio for a performance and interview. You can check it out on the Classical TV website (just click the Tyler Duncan option in the library at the bottom of the page) for a taste of what a treat we’re in for this Thursday.

Liza Minnelli (Friday): Liza Minnelli triumphantly returns to Roy Thomson Hall this week in what we’re sure will be an utterly fantastic performance. Minnelli has an impressive CV with both Oscar and Tony declaring her seriously talented not to mention accolades from the Golden Globes, the Emmy Awards, and the Grammy Awards. You can check out video on our event page (just click “video” under the photo) in preparation for the big night on Friday.

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Big Names in The Buzz: Sept 13-19
Noel Gallagher, Sting, Wilco, Feist, & more

Posted by Stefania Paterak in  The Buzz  on  September 13, 2011

JUST ANNOUNCED

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds will be hitting the Massey Hall stage on November 7 and 8 this year. The concert coincides with the release of Gallagher’s first solo album since the end of Oasis. Back in July, the National Post was reporting that Gallagher said the album “marked a departure” from his work with Oasis but that Gallagher noted, “People who are fans of what I do will hear echoes of what Oasis do in there.” Also, if you haven’t seen it yet you can read Noel Gallagher’s musings on the Oasis split in this Chuck Klosterman article on Grantland. Can’t wait for the concert? Can’t wait for the album? You may be in luck – there’s an app to tide you over filled with all sorts of good stuff and it’s free! You can check it out here.

We’re thrilled to relay that in celebration of his 25th anniversary as a solo artist, the one and only Sting will bring his Back to Bass Tour to Massey Hall on November 1, 2011. The tour promises all the hits, “stripped down” (including a selection of greatest hits from The Police!) Sting will be joined by his longtime guitarist Dominic Miller, Rufus Miller (guitar), Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Peter Tickell (electric fiddle), and Jo Lawry (vocals). Should be an incredible evening of music.

PERFORMANCES

Wilco (Friday and Saturday): Wilco return to Massey Hall this weekend in support of their latest recording The Whole Love. Everyone’s talking about Wilco these days so we’ve got some delightful things for you to check out. First and foremost, perhaps, is The Atlantic’s coverage on the writing of Wilco’s “Born Alone” and, of course, the new music video for the track.  The Montreal Gazette has a great feature interview with the band – Jeff Tweedy uses an analogy that sees the creation of soapstone “uni-whales,” you’ll have to read it for yourself to get to the bottom of that one. That Jeff Tweedy sure is one clever fellow. Just for fun, if you haven’t already, check out this TimeOut Chicago link  for Mr. Tweedy doing a rather brilliant performance of the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling.”

WEB WATCH

Al Gore, who is presenting Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis at Roy Thomson Hall this October 13, is coordinating, along with the Climate Reality Project (of which he is the Chairman), 24 Hours of Reality, in order to “show the world what can change in a day.” Of the special event, he says, “24 Hours of Reality will focus the world’s attention on the full truth, scope, scale and impact of the climate crisis. To remove the doubt. Reveal the deniers. And catalyze urgency around an issue that affects every one of us.”

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Whitehorse,TIFF, Wilco, Doug Paisley, and The Muppets are in The Buzz: August 30-Sept 5

Posted by Stefania Paterak in  The Buzz  on  August 30, 2011

WEB WATCH

Today, Whitehorse’s debut self-titled album is released for your listening pleasure. If you haven’t been paying attention, Whitehorse is the musical marriage of real life married couple Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet. The pair play an already sold out show at Glenn Gould Studio on September 21 but, lucky for you, you have another chance to catch the pair in their new incarnation on Friday, February 24, 2012 at the Winter Garden Theatre. In the meantime, Exclaim offers this interview and you can check out their first music video embedded above.

And be sure to also check out these videos of Doug Paisley’s in-store performance at Soundscapes last June. This was in advance of the Canadian release of his album Constant Companion which we presented at the Rivoli. This October you can catch Doug Paisley at the Glenn Gould Studio.

Folks are getting pretty stoked for Wilco’s latest album, The Whole Love (which Billboard is calling one of the top 25 most anticipated albums of the Fall), to land on brick-and-mortar and digital store shelves on September 27. Wilco, who hit Massey Hall’s stage September 16 & 17 , recently released a ‘behind-the-scenes video’ – you can check it out here and read the full article about the project on SPIN Magazine’s site. Fun fact: pre-ordering the album allows you the chance to win all sorts of good stuff like a 1955 single speed bicycle, a band-signed vinyl test pressing copy of the album, or perhaps most mysterious and therefore alluring, the “Surprise Grab Bag of Wilco Items.” Check out the weekly giveaway prize list here.

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Feist, William Shatner, Al Gore, and More
in The Buzz: Aug 16-22

Posted by Stefania Paterak in  The Buzz  on  August 16, 2011

JUST ANNOUNCED

Last week we announced our 2011-2012 Season and just yesterday tickets went on sale for the public – we’ve been busy bees around here but we’re looking forward to another great year! The National Post featured some highlights from the Season last week and included a rather smashing photo of Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet who, as you will have heard, are hitting the Winter Garden Theatre stage in February in the form of their new band, Whitehorse. You can check out new music and a video on their new webpage.

One of the very special events taking place this season at the Halls is Al Gore with his new presentation, Our Choice: A Plan to Stop the Climate Crisis. It’s almost back to school time (you can tell by the increased prevalence of Staples commercials and sales on ruled paper) so probably best you get to that summer reading list you had the best intentions of creating and then completing: Al Gore’s newest book (of the same title as the presentation) is also an (award-winning) interactive app.

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Tori Amos, Larry King, and a petition for “Gordon Lightfoot Day” in the Buzz: July 26 – Aug. 1

Posted by Stefania Paterak in  The Buzz  on  July 26, 2011

JUST ANNOUNCED

Tori Amos will be paying a visit to Massey Hall this year – she performs on December 8. L.A. Times reports that her next album, Night of Hunters, is set for release in September by Deutsche Grammophon. It also reports that the tour announcement describes the album as “a 21st century song cycle inspired by select classical pieces spanning the last 400 years.” Tickets for this one go on sale to FriendsFirst members tomorrow (Wednesday) and to the public on Saturday.

Larry King will also be hitting the Massey Hall stage this coming November where he’ll be sharing stories of his incredible experiences from his 50-year broadcasting career. The clever (and funny) promo for this tour promises you’ll see “Larry King like you’ve never seen him before. Standing up.” The Tickets for this very special event go on sale to FriendsFirst members today (Tuesday) and to the public on Wednesday. And if you’re simultaneously a Harry Potter fan and a Larry King fan, check out this video – When Harry Met Larry.

PERFORMANCES

Craig Ferguson (Friday): Craigyferg returns to Massey Hall for another hilarious night of his signature comedy this Friday. He’s been a busy fellow with his show taking a trip to Paris (the shows air next week) and the release of Winnie the Pooh, his latest voice-acting gig. In this new imagining of Winnie the Pooh, he voices wise ‘ol Owl– you can read an interview with Ferguson about the film and catch the charming trailer for the movie, here. Ferguson makes time for Toronto this Friday night at 7pm with an all-new show of stand-up comedy.

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Tunes, Tech, and TSO this week in
The Buzz: May 17-23

Posted by Stefania Paterak in  The Buzz  on  May 17, 2011

Happy Tuesday everyone! We thought we’d share this song from Doug Paisley, featuring Feist, right off the top of the Buzz this week. Lucky for us, Doug Paisley plays the Rivoli on Saturday, June 4 – we’re pretty excited about it. If you like what you hear, more info about the show is available here on the Massey Hall event page or on Facebook, here.

AUDIO FILE

From the bureau of musicology – NPR Music recently reported that the Library of Congress has launched a “National Jukebox.” The project about which “makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge” (via streaming) contains over 10,000 files for your listening pleasure. Also very cool: The interactive Victrola Book of the Opera which seems to be a 436-page Coles’ Notes on a variety of operas (spoiler alert!) with links to pertinent audio files in the Jukebox proper.

You can also listen to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with pianist Jean Yves Thibaudet, recorded live from Roy Thomson Hall (from March 30, 2011) over at CBC Concerts on Demand.

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Doug Paisley on Harvest Revisited

Posted by Doug Paisley in  The Scene  on  May 11, 2011

I was asked to pick a song from Neil Young‘s album Harvest for a tribute compilation in UK’s MOJO Magazine. In sound and feeling Harvest is so complete and cohesive that you can know and love the album just as well as you can know and love any one of its songs. Still, ‘Out on the Weekend’ stood out for me and I chose that song. It’s a sad and mysterious song. The singer seems quite young and fragile but also independent and brave enough to just pack up and move away. The song moved me before I had even heard of the singer, which is to say a long time ago. Just to come clean, I also chose it because it’s the first track on the album and I thought that’s not a bad place to appear on a compilation.

I recorded the song with Stew Crookes at the Rogue Studio in Toronto with Bazil Donovan from Blue Rodeo playing bass, Julie Penner from Do Make Say Think playing violin and Rob Drake from Zeus playing drums. I had done some recording with Garth Hudson for my most recent album, Constant Companion. CONTINUE READING >

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Massey Hall Presents Doug Paisley at The Rivoli
and More in The Buzz: April 26 – May 2

Posted by Stephen McGrath in  The Buzz  on  April 26, 2011

JUST ANNOUNCED

We have been working with Canada’s finest songwriters in rooms ranging from the Glenn Gould Studio all the way up to Massey Hall, and every now and then an artist comes along whose songcraft stops us in our tracks. Doug Paisley‘s music is attracting attention from the world’s most respected critics with the Torontonian’s album Constant Companion ranking as #10 on MOJO’s top 50 albums of 2010. We are thrilled to introduce him to you in a special Massey Hall presentation at The Rivoli on Queen St West on Saturday, June 4, 2011. The Rivoli is a landmark of Toronto’s music scene that has hosted Canadian icons such as Blue Rodeo, Feist, Sarah Harmer, and Ron Sexsmith. You can check him out here or in the above embedded video performing on CBC Radio Q. Let us know what you think in the comment section below! We may have a ticket or two to giveaway for doing so, if you’re in the Toronto area and interested in attending.

PERFORMANCES

James Blunt (Tuesday): After recently releasing his new album, Some Kind of Trouble, James Blunt performs tonight at Massey Hall. Special Guest on the bill is Christina Perri who’s forthcoming album lovestrong. releases on May 10. Don’t think you know Christina Perri? You might – her song ‘Jar of Hearts’ was featured on So You Think You Can Dance last year (which Rolling Stone reminds us was even before she had a record deal). You can check out performance video on the Rolling Stone site from when she was named as part of their Band of the Week.

Michael Kaeshammer (Saturday): Michael Kaeshammer hits the Massey Hall stage on Saturday with Special Guest, Jill Barber. Kaeshammer, who just released his new album Kaeshammer, was featured on Soundboard in a video where he spoke about how excited he was to be performing at Massey Hall – and we’re excited too! Jill Barber also just released her latest recording, Mischievous Moon. You can read all about her thoughts on the album and performing in this recent article from the Vancouver Sun as well, check out her latest Bond inspired music video here.

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