Concert Reviews

PROPAGANDHI @ Spectrum

By Dallas Richter - Don't Mess With Dallas - 10/23/2006

The first thing you really notice when you go to a Propagandhi show is the lack of schools of young people sitting on the floor. I’m kinda sick of going to punk shows. I increasingly get the feeling that I’m out of angst.


BILLY BRAGG @ Club Soda

By Stephanie D - Twee Time - 09/22/2006

I recently remarked to a friend that many shows I've been assigned to review in the past always have an "Our Town" feeling to them. The stage sets are always simple, containing only an amp and maybe a turn able or a guitar stand. No more than one or two people perform on stage at any given time, and the lighting is always minimal or non-existent -- Sisters of Mercy, I'm looking at you -- props and smoke machines sometimes omitted. The show on September 22nd was no different -- or so it seemed at first. This was Billy Bragg: guitar, two amplifiers, and voice.


THE BLACK LIPS + CPC Gangbangs @ Main Hall

By Shaun Anderson - Losing My Edge - 09/26/2006

"Let me get this straight; we're not punk... When someone calls you a punk, it means you're nothin' but a bitch."


EMILY HAINES & THE SOFT SKELETON @ Le National

By Lisa Sookraj - Unsystem-Addict - 09/18/2006

There was no opening band for Emily Haines & the Soft Skeleton. Doors were at 8, I arrived at 9 and the show didn't start until 9:40. I didn't enjoy the sitting there by myself but they were playing a mix of David Bowie and Eliott Smith beforehand, which I can't complain about.


RATATAT @ Les Saints

By Susannah Hicks - Rock the Plank - 09/07/2006


LAMBCHOP @ Le National

By Alex Huynh - Losing My Edge - 09/23/2006

Music is not always about rock stars. It is easy to forget, attending many shows where your senses are directed towards the stage and ultimately, short of already having the band's music wired in your head, what you see factors in just as much as what you hear and feel. Start the show off right in front of the band, immersing yourself in a bubble and then mid-way, go to the back with all the cocktail chatters and your detached position lends a different perspective to the proceedings.


PHOENIX + La Rocca @ Club Soda

By Mikey B - The Lonesome Strangers - 09/10/2006

Arts & Crafts are really starting to clean up around here.

The Toronto-based label that boasts fine acts such as Broken Social Scene, Feist and Stars have acquired yet another stellar band for their growing stable of goodness, the Parisian foursome known as Phoenix.


CELTIC FROST + 1349 + Sahg @ Le Medley

By K-Man - 09/16/2006

OK first off, I have to admit that I thought this show would either be retardedly heavy or horribly bad. I am glad to report that it was like high doom at the OK Corral.


HERBERT @ Club Soda

By Trevor Kiernander - Ones and Zeroes - 08/24/2006

One thing is for certain, when you go to see Matthew Herbert perform, you can’t be sure what you are going to get. This definitely held up with his recent, not-so-sold-out performance at Club Soda.


RANCID + The Ripcordz @ Spectrum

By Lisa Sookraj - Unsystem-Addict - 08/29/2006

I had never seen Rancid live and was looking forward to it, especially after seeing NOFX a few months ago -- another band I'd wanted to see since I was 17. My buddy Drew accompanied me to see Rancid on the first of three nights they played in Montreal. Openers for the other two nights were the Slackers on the 30th and the Planet Smashers on the 31st. Other bands Rancid are playing with on the current tour include Sick Of It All, Avail, the Aquabats and H20.


GARY NUMAN + New Skin @ Le National

By Lisa S - Unsystem-Addict - 08/05/2006

Regarding the venue -- I'd never previously been to Le National and I must say this was one of the best things about the Gary Numan show for me. I like that the floor is on a slope, so you can see the stage well over the crowd anywhere you happen to stand. However, this feature was not necessarily necessary for the Numan show in particular, as there were far less people there than I had expected. That said, it was not packed at all and everyone had lots of room to themselves to move about as they pleased, though despite the room not many people were really dancing.


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