In anticipation of their headlining debut at Massey Hall this evening (March 2,) Whitehorse and Six Shooter Records released a new live album, ‘The Road To Massey Hall,’ a series of cover songs that you’ll see here in video form. In their words, ‘The Road To Massey Hall’ is “a celebration of the venue’s history and a tribute to those legends that have made the iconic stage their own.” In this video series Whitehorse honour the greats and premiere tracks off the live album.
Last in this series here on Soundboard is a song by the one and only, Neil Young – “Winterlong.”
JUST ANNOUNCED With Thanksgiving this weekend, here are some pretty sweet reasons to be thankful this week: we’ve just announced four big shows will be hitting Massey Hall in the next little while. Tuesday, October 23 will bring the return of The xx to Toronto and Massey Hall and Wednesday, December 5 will bring Band of Horses (with Jason Lytle aka Grandaddy) to the Grand Ol’ Lady of Shuter Street’s stage. Tickets for both these shows are now available. And the lovely Diana Krallwill be returning after a near four-year absence for two shows this February. Tickets for members of the FriendsFirst program are available for purchase starting today and are available to all starting on Friday.
And as promised, last week we announced a super cool thing – the Canadian Songbook Society. To become a member of the Society, all you have to do is purchase a transferable laminate, which grants you access to all seven of our Canadian Songbook at the Rivoli shows including CONTINUE READING >
Happy back-to-school everyone! I feel like every year I write a teensy love poem in the buzz to school supplies like coloured sharpies and Note Totes (do they make those anymore?) and here we are again! Lots and lots of good stuff in this week’s Buzz friends, so read on!
JUST ANNOUNCED Just yesterday we announced that the talented Jackie Evancho will be performing at Roy Thomson Hall on March 14, 2013. You may recall that Ms. Evancho took the world by storm after competing on America’s Got Talent. Her new album, Songs from the Silver Screen, becomes available October 2. Tickets for the concert at Roy Thomson Hall are available for purchase to FriendsFirst tomorrow (Thursday) and to the general public on Friday.
PERFORMANCES Back-to-school means one thing in particular around these parts – TIFF! The Toronto International Film Festival newly has a permanent home in our neighbourhood, but Roy Thomson Hall has long been a part of the epic celebration of cinema. Check out our event listings to learn what Gala screenings will be taking place here and, while I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding media coverage of the next two weeks here’s a good start: CBC has an interactive map on the geographical origins of this year’s films; The Toronto Star summarizes their 12th annual “Chasing the Buzz” poll; and BlogTO has an interview with the CONTINUE READING >
JUST ANNOUNCED
We are very excited to have just announced a presentation featuring the man behind This American Life, Mr. Ira Glass. The event, entitled Reinventing Radio: An Evening with Ira Glasswill take place at Massey Hall on Saturday, October 27 and tickets are on sale right now. The show will feature Ira Glass talking about how his program is put together and then through a process of combining stories from the show with pre-taped quotes and music, he’ll recreate the sound of This American Life in front of our Massey Hall audience. If you’re not familiar with Glass or This American Life you can (and should) get a good idea from this article (via AnnArbor.com). And be sure to check out the This American Life website which includes ways to listen to the show like streaming online and through the mobile app.
And Canada’s Walk of Fame announced yesterday three exciting concerts at Massey Hall as part of the Canada’s Walk of Fame Festival – on Thursday, September 20, Sarah McLachlan and K’Naan will perform; Saturday, September 22 features a return from Jann Arden; and Sunday, September 23 will showcase Johnny Reid in a feature performance at the Grand Ol’ Lady of Shuter Street. Tickets for the public are available starting tomorrow, Thursday, July 5 at 10am.
PERFORMANCES
Norah Jones (Thursday): The great Norah Jones returns to Massey Hall in support of her latest album Little Broken Hearts. You can read about the album and the various recent projects of Norah Jones in this recent article from CNN. CONTINUE READING >
JUST ANNOUNCED Didn’t get tickets to the sold out performance by Dala on Friday (or saw them and need to see them again)? Don’t you fret – we have just the thing for you! Just last week we announced that the lovely Dala will be returning to our stages with a performance at the Winter Garden Theatre. All the details are here and tickets are on sale now.
We also announced a performance from Grizzly Bear at Massey Hall this September on the heels of their forthcoming release (their first in three years). Paste magazine has all the details on the album and the tour, and tickets for this show are also on sale now.
PERFORMANCES
Kristin Chenoweth (Tuesday): Kristin Chenoweth hits the Massey Hall stage tonight with a set list that promises songs from her latest album, her Broadway career, and her previous recurring guest role on Glee. The National Post boasts that the show is one of the five things to do this week. If you’re biding your time until this evening, get ready by checking out some clips featuring Chenoweth as the feisty Carlene on her new show GCB.
Love Over and Over – The Songs of Kate McGarrigle (Friday): Presented by Luminato, this special concert at Massey Hall will celebrate the life of Kate McGarrigle featuring her friends, family, and admirers. The concert will feature appearances by the likes of fans Emmylou Harris, Bruce Cockburn, her sisters Anna and Jane, and children Rufus and Martha Wainwright. For more on both Kate & Anna McGarrigle, you can check out their site here.
The Good Lovelies (Saturday): The Good Lovelies arrive at Glenn Gould Studio this weekend with a performance that is sure to please. You can check out a substantial playlist on CBC Music featuring songs from a variety of their records including from latest Let the Rain Fall to their holiday album Under the Mistletoe. You can also review a number of delightful videos on their site. CONTINUE READING >
JUST ANNOUNCED If you missed it, last week we announced that Lewis Black will be performing at Massey Hall this September presented by Just for Laughs. Looking to do some preliminary research? Here’s his take on weather and meteorology (but head’s up: not entirely safe for work). Tickets are currently on sale!
PERFORMANCES
Dala (Friday): The duo that is Dala is made up of Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine and they’ll be hitting the Glenn Gould Studio stage this Friday in a highly anticipated concert with special guest Kevin Fox. Dala’s new album, Best Day, is available starting today – and you can check out a trailer for the record here (or embedded above). We’re giving away copies of Best Day on our Twitter and Facebook page – if you’re not already, follow us for your chance to win (and other good things, of course).
TSO – Late Night (Saturday): Once again this year, the TSO “stays up late” to deliver a very special concert starting at 10:30pm. This year’s program sees the performance of Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 “The Year 1905.” The evening’s entertainment doesn’t stop there, a post-performance party in the lobby features music from BADBADNOTGOOD (you can download their new album for free at their website). On the TSO’s site you can read more about the show, the symphony, and check out a video from Music Director Peter Oundjian about the excitement the night promises.
Welcome to this Wednesday edition of the Buzz – hope you had a lovely long weekend. Here’s the scoop for this week:
JUST ANNOUNCED Yesterday was a big day in the department of awesome show announcements. For starters, come October 12, the Doobie Brothers will be hitting the Massey Hall stage for a performance of their hits in celebration of their 40th anniversary.
But wait, there’s more! The very opinionated, hilarious, and insightful Fran Lebowitz will also be visiting Toronto for a performance at Massey Hall on Friday, November 2. This very special engagement will see Ms. Lebowitz in conversation with the audience and with host Jian Ghomeshi.
Still not satisfied? Well surely this will make your day – Loretta Lynn will be performing at Massey Hall this September 15 marking her 50th anniversary with her 1960 debut single, “I’m a Honky Tonk Girl.” That’s not the only announcement this legendary songstress has made recently; earlier this month Ms. Lynn announced that she has chosen Zooey Deschanel to play her on stage in a musical adaptation, set for Broadway, of Coal Miner’s Daughter.
And if that’s not enough, be sure to check out the return of The Lost Fingers to Glenn Gould Studio on Friday, November 23. Back by popular demand, The Lost Fingers bring their unique take on Django Reinhardt style jazz reinterpretations of music of the 80s. For a taste on their virtuosity and sheer cleverness, check out the embedded video above of their take on “Pump up the Jam.”
JUST ANNOUNCED
We’ve had lots of exciting new Massey Hall show announcements in the past week or so. Daughtry will be stopping in at Massey Hall with their Break the SpellTour on March 24. The band will be showcasing tunes from their latest album Break the Spell including “Crawling Back To You” and “Renegade.”
Then in April Death Cab for Cutie hits the Massey Hall stage on April 19. The concert should be pretty special as the band will be performing on stage with members of The Magik*Magik Orchestra. Magik*Magik Orchestra is, in fact, a modular orchestra who love collaboration and whose mission it is to “attract new listeners and participants to the orchestral experience.” As you can imagine, we think this is pretty cool – and obviously so does Death Cab For Cutie. You can get a feel for the kind of activities the Orchestra gets up to by checking out the “Watch and Listen” section of their webpage here.
We’ve just announced that City & Colour will be returning to Massey Hall this winter. By now you know that Dallas Green has officially left Alexisonfire to focus on all things City & Colour so we assume that this can only mean good things for the February 10 Massey Hall show. Tickets for the event go on sale to FriendsFirst members on Thursday and to the general public on Friday. For details on the full tour (as well as on limited edition tour merchandise), check out Exclaim. Above, you can watch a recent video of Dallas Green, of the group, performing an acoustic version of “Fragile Bird” at CFOX in Vancouver.
And great news for Sting fans – we’ve announced a second date of his Back to Bass tour at Massey Hall this November. For a really excellent profile and interview with Sting, check out this article from The Guardian.
PERFORMANCES
Canada’s Walk of Fame Festival (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday): Canada’s Walk of Fame Festival takes Massey Hall by storm this weekend with performances from Burton Cummings, Chantal Kreviazuk (with Symphony Orchestra and special guest Raine Maida), K’naan (with very special guest Bedouin Soundclash), and Comedy Night in Canada featuring Jessica Holmes, Carla Collins, Jon Dore and more. If that’s not enough to get your Canuck groove going, the Festival has a tonne of programming next door to our own Roy Thomson Hall in David Pecault Square including movies and music featuring a set from Lindi Ortega (who opened for Doug Paisley at the Rivoli in June). You can check out the full list of performances and events here. This year the Walk of Fame will welcome inductees Dr. Roberta Bondar, Burton Cummings, Daniel Nestor, Sandra Oh, Russell Peters, and Mordecai Richler.
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.
