Pride, Tkaronto Music Festival and Jazz Festival are all on the way: here are some great live acts to watch
Thanks for reading Toronto Star’s Weekend Music Digest, a roundup of new music, concert listings and more. This week we’re highlighting local artists performing at festivals across the city this weekend.
So no Star Tracks this week, but you can listen to some new music on our Spotify playlist.
What to see this weekend
Festival season is in full swing and the streets of Toronto are packed with people, of course a smorgasbord of dining options and an endless variety of live music. As you probably know, Pride, the Toronto Jazz Festival and the Tkaronto Music Festival are all taking place this weekend. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, here’s a short list of free or affordable live shows you might want to consider.
Pride: Club Hunhouse, Saturday
Club Hunhuis – a Toronto collective for queer women and trans and non-binary people that emerged during the pandemic – marks Pride month with a dance that doubles as a fundraiser for Friends at Bad Times Theater, one of the longest running queer theaters and cabarets in the world. The event features sets from four local DJs, each with their own sound and style: no police, LL Cool Wei, Vaughan And Anna Luisa. Expect a wide range of genres from pop to hip-hop, from jersey club to techno.
Amina Mohamed, co-founder of Club Hunhouse and DJ who performs as No Cops, says the goal is to throw a party where everyone feels included. “This is an event that takes place in the village, but it exists outside of Pride’s sort of corporate atmosphere,” she said. “It feels more community-oriented and more in line with the ethos of what Pride is essentially about: resistance and celebrating differences.” Tickets: €15, available at the door
Do not miss it: Toronto neo-soul singer Witch Prophet at the Pride South Stage on Saturday afternoon.
Tkaronto Music Festival: TheRa11n, Saturday
The annual Tkaronto Music Festival, a free celebration of Indigenous entertainment and culture, concludes today at Stackt Marketplace in downtown Toronto. In addition to workshops and pop-up restaurants, the festival features performances from a wide variety of indigenous artists, including Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer and songwriter Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, indie rock supergroup OMBIIGIZI, Inuk singer Susan Aglukark and many more.
“It’s one of the biggest Indigenous music festivals out there,” he said DeRa11na two-spirit, Plains Cree rapper who will perform alongside electronica artist Classic Roots and 2oolman of the Halluci Nation tonight. Thera11n described its sound as hip house that contains elements of powwow step, urban sounds and even dance hall: “What makes (the festival) special is that we all fuse our culture with the music.”
I asked TheRa11n why she thinks residents or visitors should visit the Tkaronto Music Festival instead of the many other events taking place in the city. “We’re the first people from Toronto, right?” she said. “So if you really want to get the real Toronto or Tkaronto experience, coming out would be great. There will be traditional dancers and modern Toronto native culture that you can really immerse yourself in and feel like you are a part of it.
“It’s a big production and gives everyone a chance, Indigenous or not, to come out and support Indigenous artists,” she added.
Do not miss it: Lindy & Leslie’s Pow-Wow & Social Dance workshop on Saturday afternoon.
Toronto International Jazz Festival: Tanika Charles, Thursday
The 2023 Jazz Festival, which runs through July 2, features a stacked lineup of artists including jazz legend Herbie Hancock, R&B star Ashanti, Afro-Cuban fusionist Cimafunk, plus a host of great local acts like BADBADNOTGOOD and Jully Black.
“You just have to go for it and see as much music as possible,” Tanika Charles, a soul and R&B singer, says of her approach to experiencing the festival, which spans six outdoor venues and seven indoor venues. “Even if you’re someone who just likes rock, step outside those boxes and explore.”
Most of the festival’s outdoor programming is completely free. “If it is accessible to everyone, it will only make for a better environment,” says Charles, who performs next Thursday and whose recent single “Thinking about you” arrived earlier this week.
Do not miss it: Brampton rapper Haviah Mighty on Sunday afternoon.
New releases this week
- Apex twins returns! The English electronic wizard released “Blackbox Life Recorder 21f,” his first single in five years, earlier this week. Warning, like any Aphex Twin song, it can melt your brain.
- The smile — the English rock trio made up of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and drummer Tom Skinner — returned this week with a sprawling, eight-minute epic titled “Bending Hectic.” The song is the Smile’s first new music of 2023 and follows the band’s outstanding 2022 debut, “A Light for Attracting Attention”.
- Shoegaze Legends Slow dive this week shared their first new music since 2017. “Kisses” is the lead single from the upcoming studio album “Everything is Alive,” due out September 1. Catch them at the Queen Elizabeth Theater on September 23. Tickets are now available.
- Big Freedia releases “Central City” on Friday. It’s the New Orleans rapper and bounce music icon’s first studio album in nearly a decade.
Various from all over the music world
- Critic Stephen Hyden wrote in Uproxx this week an overview list of the top 30 albums of 2013, “a year where the 2010s really took off in a musical sense, as many of the trends that were popular in the previous decade fell away.” I decided to look back at my own personal favorites from that year, which was a great, if not groundbreaking, year (except for “Yeezus,” a surprisingly aggressive album that was a barometer of the tumultuous decade to come). Apologies for the blatant absence of women on this one, I was deep in my indie rock dude phase at the time.
5) Daft Punk, “Random Access Memories”
4) Deer Hunter, “Monomania”
3) Kurt Vile, “Wakin On A Pretty Daze”
2) The National, “Trouble Will Find Me”
1) Kanye West, “Yeezus”
- Honorable mention to the above list is the latest My Bloody Valentine album, “mb v.”
- We’ve all seen that bad (misinformed) tweet complaining about Broken Social Scene opening up to boygenius on the Budweiser Stage. As one of the few old guys in a sea of young people who attended the show, I’d simply like to point out that: a) Phoebe Bridgers says they hand-picked the Toronto collective as openers; and b) Lucy Dacus said they were the band that inspired her to play her own music. Respect your parents!
- Might as well include a reference to the Titanic submarine, for SEO purposes:
Newly announced concerts
- Kim Petraswhose new debut album “Feed the Beast” arrived Friday, plays October 16 at the Coca-Cola Coliseum. Tickets go on sale Monday.
- Big news, emos! Foxes and the Hotelier announced a co-headlining tour this fall, with a date at Lee’s Palace on November 10. Tickets on sale Friday.
Concert schedule Toronto: a selection of upcoming shows in the city
Friday June 23
The fast-rising indie/alt rock band from Asheville, North Carolina released their celebrated fifth studio album, “Rat Saw God,” in April. Check them out in a smaller venue like the Horsehoe while you still can!
The Canadian icon and Queen of Country Pop makes her much-anticipated return to Toronto this weekend with two shows at the Bud Stage. Twain’s latest album, Queen of Me, was released earlier this year. Lindsay Ell opens.
Saturday June 24
The Halifax-based singer-songwriter will perform songs from her new collaborative album “Champagne Problems” alongside a long roster of Canadian talent, including Aquakultre, Amy Millan, Hannah Georgas, Kim Harris, Kevin Drew and more.
The nostalgia for the early 2000s will reach its peak on Saturday, when thousands of fans will gather to see Nelly, Ne-Yo, Akon, TI, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Ja Rule, Chingy and Keri Hilson at Downsview Park.
