Let's stay together

La Securité, Reuben & Bullhorn Singers, Mike Tod, Yoo II + Toronto live music listings

This is, loosely, a Toronto newsletter. I’ve written three books about Canadian music, each accused, not entirely incorrectly, of being Toronto-centric, a sting that always hurts. Hating Toronto is a national pastime, and I always wonder if Canada does a better job at beating up its biggest city compared to, say, the U.S. or the U.K. or France.

A primary reason is the assumption that no one in Toronto knows or cares about “the rest of Canada” — or, if they do, they don’t care enough.

And so in advance of Canada Day, here’s new music from two provinces that, acknowledging current political winds, I sincerely hope stay in the union.

None of these four acts are remotely alike. On a bill together they’d make as much sense as Canada itself — which is to say, not at all, really. But I’m really happy we’re all here together.

Reuben and the Bullhorn Singers - s/t

(Red Music Rising)

Powwow singing meets atmospheric indie folk-rock — it sounds like something cooked up by the Downie Wenjack Foundation. Which, in part, it is: the group is an “artist ambassador” for the organization.

But what could be merely a well-intentioned yet awkward mash-up is instead a powerful piece of music, one that asks outright what’s possible “if pain is powerful.”

The music works in part because Reuben Bullock — the Victoria-via-Calgary singer/songwriter who fronts the long-running band Reuben and Dark — has always written late-period U2-esque anthems, often with a noir-ish bent, but the kind that leave a lot of space for singalongs. Or, in this case, Blackfoot powwow singing. The musical match makes perfect sense.

The project began after a spontaneous invitation on the mainstage of the Calgary Stampede in 2021. This six-song EP came out this time last year, after the project had already toured and landed a placement in Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.

Now they’re bringing it back to Ontario festivals: Reuben and the Bullhorn Singers play the Mariposa Festival in Orillia July 3-5, and the Four Winds Festival in Durham July 10-12.

Mike Tod – Four Wheeled Wagon; or, a Dark Day in the West

(independent)

Mike Tod is a Calgarian now living in Nashville, who made this record in Dublin. Why Nashville? Well, that’s obvious to any roots music fan. But why Dublin? Because that’s where Tod almost died in 2013, in an alcoholic stupor, before police placed him in a psych ward next door to the Guinness brewery.

“It was truly the darkest point of my life,” he told TNIT pal Jason Schneider, “and after I returned to Canada I went into recovery and have been sober ever since. Returning to Dublin with clear eyes was an intentional choice to exorcise my past, so these sessions became an artistic retracing of my journey into, and back out of, that hellish near-death experience thirteen years ago.”

In Dublin, Tod chose to work with John “Spud” Murphy, the sonic architect for the crushing and delightfully dark work of Lankum. Whereas Lankum mine traditional Irish music to droning, gloriously gothic ends, Tod wanted to use that same approach for North American roots music. Like, say, on his eight-minute take on “Oh, Death.”

“Some people say traditional music is a dying genre,” Tod tells Range magazine. “Ironically, I wanted to make an album about death that proves the opposite—that it’s still alive and evolving.”

Mission accomplished. Four Wheeled Wagon is a ghostly, haunted listen — but not in a faux old-timey sense. The acoustic instruments and traditional songs (“The Unquiet Grave,” “Lyke Wake Dirge”) are presented in vivid colour — the colours of autumn, of soil, of blood. I can guarantee you’ve never heard a creepier version of the lullaby “All the Pretty Horses.”

This is not music for a sunshine-y day at a folk festival. Or a CBC drive show. Or a Nashville open stage.

This is the dark stuff.

La Securité – Bingo!

(Mothland)

Not sure I can describe this Montreal new wave/post-punk band better than I did here, when their debut came out, and they followed it up with a white-hot set on a frigid January night at the Monarch.

It’s not remotely easy to replicate the debut album’s gloriously raw, slightly naive approach to new wave post-punk along the lines of ESG, Pylon and the Delta 5 — especially when you’ve spent the last two years touring Europe, and you’re obviously going to get more professional. Bingo! is only slightly more polished, and every bit as charming. It’s also an instant dance party where even francophobes can get down.

La Securité blew through town recently as part of Project Nowhere’s spring festival, and they’re unlikely to return to Toronto until 2027 — that’s just how busy they are. When they do come back, ideally it’ll be with the equally compelling Choses Sauvages on the bill — where La Securité bassist Félix Bélisle is the lead singer (reviewed here). Bélisle also co-produces here, alongside Emmanuel Éthier (Corridor, Population II).

Yoo II avec Nolan Potter – s/t

(Mothland)

This isn’t a supergroup, per se: it’s the collision of two full Montreal bands: Yoo Doo Right and Population II, both of whom have been central to the new generation of heavy, prog-psych-metal scene coming out of that province, this country (and others).

And it actually sounds like two full bands, notably because it’s one of those rare instances where there are two full drum kits in full effect the entire time — and at no point do you wonder, why the hell are there two drum kits? Throw in a wild alto sax player from Texas for good measure, and you’ve got a pummelling good time.

Yoo II with Nolan Potter play Lee’s Palace on July 9 at Lee’s Palace, with Colin Fisher.

All news no snooze

Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien has an excellent new solo album out (reviewed here). He talks to Range Magazine about the influence of Toronto guitarist Michael Brook, whose “infinite guitar” approach was adopted by Daniel Lanois and The Edge. Have Not Been the Same readers will also know that Brook helped nudge Mary Margaret O’Hara’s Miss America to completion (contentiously, on her part).

Hearts on Fire readers: K-os and K’naan both had a big fan in a young Zohran Mamdani.

Luscious Jackson’s Kate Schellenbach writes more about her days as a very early Beastie Boy.

New Toronto Substacker Spin Class Local thinks there’s middle ground to be found for the state of Sneaky Dee’s.

Last year, when Sarah McLachlan released a new album and a Lilith Fair documentary, she was asked repeatedly about the idea of Lilith happening again. Meanwhile, the All Things Go festival — headlined this year by Wet Leg, Lorde, the Beaches and more — was already running with the Lilith torch, and now every Gen X’ers favourite Gen Z star Olivia Rodrigo has stepped up with a one-off in California at the end of August called Daisy Chain Fields, featuring Chappell Roan, Doechii, Garbage, Mitski, Santigold, Die Spitz and the Breeders, with “special appearances” by Karen O, Stevie Nicks — and McLachlan herself. That about covers the spectrum, doesn’t it? O, and the chef’s kiss: Bikini Kill.

Exclaim! reports that the Great Hall (including Longboat Hall) is for sale, for about $17 million. Don’t tell Live Nation!

Why did every little thing have to be so political

Amid schadenfreude about the U.S. humiliation in Iran comes a reminder that the other theocracy just sentenced a popular singer to 74 lashes for performing without a hijab.

Jen Gerson at the Line borrows Chrystia Freeland’s “unreliable boyfriend” metaphor and runs truly wild with it, to describe the rom-com-gone-wrong that is the current state of U.S.–Canada relations:

All America had to do to get everything it wanted was simply to be polite and gentlemanly about the arrangement. In another 40 to 60 years, the relationship would have been all but official. Instead — no — they had to slip into the populist meth and threaten to beat us and now we’re out here trying to clear out the emergency cash we stashed in the extra underwear drawer before they wake up and notice.

Meanwhile, in Alberta: is Danielle Smith the unreliable girlfriend? She certainly ghosted TNIT pal Corb Lund, after he gathered 200,000 signatures to get his “water not coal” initiative on the coming referendum ballot — more than 20,000 over the minimum required — only to find out that there was a secret imaginary deadline that she didn’t tell him about when they met a mere two weeks earlier. Infuriating.

AI-eeee!

You don’t need to know what “tokenmaxxing” means to understand that the economics of AI are in serious peril, writes Ben Horne, due to the mirage of productivity:

Nobody wants to be the first person in the meeting to say the productivity isn’t worth the spend, because to a room full of middle managers drunk on AI LinkedIn hype-slop, that doesn’t read as “the tool isn’t working,” it reads as “I’m bad at using the tool.” So everybody just nods, posts the obligatory LinkedIn testimonial about how AI has been an “incredible productivity multiplier!” and keeps their actual lived experience to themselves. It’s like Stalinist Russia.

Brian Merchant at Blood in the Machine writes about what he’s calling the upcoming “Summer of Ludd”:

The real Luddites were not opposed to technology. They were opposed to the way technology was being used against them. That is, the Luddites objected to the industrialists who used machinery to depress wages, evade labor laws, and degrade the quality of products in order to profit at their expense.

It was, and remains, an eminently reasonable objection. The real Luddites were not know-nothing technophobes. In fact, many were technicians themselves, and understood better than most exactly how a technology would be used to exploit them.

Grace note

Fellow parents: The day before Father’s Day my jazz teen told me not to come to their first rock show, at a community centre open mic. A few days later I found this equally uncomfortable and beautiful piece by Eric Spitznagel about try-too-hard parenting and just letting go.

Fellow geezers: Are you over 50 and still married? How’s it going?

T.O. SHOWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

An entirely subjective and by no means comprehensive look at Toronto’s concert calendar, tailored to musically curious people who are probably (but not necessarily) over 40. My strong recommendations in bold. Suggestions welcome.

Don’t live in Toronto? Most of these artists are on tour, so check your local listings. Just kidding! There are no local listings anymore. Check the artists’ websites.

JUST ANNOUNCED (mark your calendars)

The Decline of Western Civilization: July 18 at Hot Docs Cinema 7 p.m. This is the first of the series, not the metal one but the 1981 L.A. punk chronicle, the one that rarely ever gets screened.

Live Loud (benefit for addiction and mental health services) featuring the Strumbellas, Aysanabee, Bif Naked, Fefe Dobson, Maestro Fresh Wes & Michie Mee, Menno Versteeg, Julian Taylor, members of Billy Talent, Sum 41, and the Offspring, more: Sept 10 at Massey Hall

Dead Letter Office performs Life’s Rich Pageant: Aug 28 at the Horseshoe. I don’t normally recommend tribute bands, but I had a blast when this Buffalo crew did my second-favourite R.E.M. album here a couple of years ago, and now they’re back with my fave.

Turnstile, Saya Gray, Yves Tumour: Sept 12 at Woodbine Park

Erykah Badu, the Alchemist, De La Soul: Sept 13 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Kensington Market Jazz Festival: Sept 18-20

Yard Act, the Armed: Sept 22 at the Opera House

Automatic: Sept 27 at Mod Club

The Jayhawks: Oct 16 at Danforth Music Hall. Celebrating 40 years.

Vince Staples: Nov 4 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Odd venue for rap show, no?

Ezra Collective: Nov 16 at Concert Hall

Roby Lakatos and Medusa Quartet with Turkwaz: Dec 2 at Koerner Hall

Mohsen Sharifian: Dec 4 at Koerner Hall

Amanda Marshall: Dec 5 at Massey Hall

Skydiggers: Dec 19 at Danforth Music Hall

Ibeyi: Feb 4 at the Mod Club

Kuné: Feb 20 at Koerner Hall

Schmaltz & Pepper: Feb 21 at Koerner Hall

Ladysmith Black Mambazo; March 4 at Koerner Hall

Crown Lands: March 12 at Mod Club

Salif Keita: May 7 at Koerner Hall

Tonight and ev-er-y night!:

The Tranzac, Drom Taberna, Cameron House and the Rex Hotel all have several great acts a night — just go! JazzInToronto.ca’s Instagram page has essential daily jazz listings at various venues. East-enders: always something on at Castro’s or Sauce on the Danforth or jazz at Hirut. Latin and Caribbean scene: Lula Lounge. Check out the eclectic lineup at the micro-intimate Sellers & Newel bookstore. The Whole Note lists classical events and more. Fans of experimental music, report to Earlobe. Hamiltonians need HamOntLive.

Coming this week:

Toronto Jazz Festival: until June 28 at various venues. Ticketed events are all listed below; full schedule, including free events, here.

Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World: June 25 at Hot Docs 6.30 p.m.

Reverend Horton Heat, the Surfrajettes: June 25 at the Horseshoe. Sold out.

A Hard Day’s Night: June 25 at the Revue 9.30 p.m.

The Ex, Not a Band, Andy Moor and Yannis Kyriakides: June 25 at Cafeteria Upstairs (1650 Dupont St. @ Osler). Presented by Tone Festival.

Paul Simon: June 25 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. As with his “final” tour last year, he’ll perform 2023’s Seven Psalms in its entirety, with a second set of favourites. Still lawn seats available for $70, and cheaper on StubHub.

Kokoroko: June 25 at the Phoenix. Toronto Jazz Festival.

Kittie: June 26 at Danforth Music Hall

Andy White: June 26 at Sellers & Newel

Ice Cube: June 26 at Casino Rama

The Ryan Driver Sextet: June 26 at Tranzac 9.30 p.m.

Dinner is Ruined: June 26 at Island Café (Ward’s Island) #HaveNotBeentheSame #NeverEndingPresent

Sook-Yin Lee, Kali Horse, Bridge of Sand, Karen Ng: June 26 at Baby G. Album release, with poetry, dance, DJs, more.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie: June 26 at Christie Pits, part of Toronto Outdoor Picture Show

Kassa Overall: June 26-27 at Rex Hotel (four shows). Toronto Jazz Festival. Reviewed last week.

Ibrahim Maalouf: June 27 at Danforth Music Hall. Toronto Jazz Festival. Reviewed last week.

Hiromi’s Sonicwonder: June 27 at Koerner Hall. Toronto Jazz Festival. Sold out.

Lori Yates and the Velvetinas: June 27 at the Cameron 6 p.m.

Big Smoke Brass, Ahmed Moneka, Orbital Ensemble: June 27 at Drom Taberna

Slim Jim Phantom Trio and the Midnight Cowgirls: June 27 at the Horseshoe. Featuring Stray Cats’ bassist.

Tamar Ilana & Ventanas: June 27 at Drom Taberna 8 p.m.

Sullivan Fortner: June 28 at Jazz Bistro (two shows). Toronto Jazz Festival.

John Cameron Mitchell: June 28 at Danforth Music Hall, celebrating 25 years of Hedwig and the Angry Inch (film). Screening, Q&A and acoustic set after the film.

Toronto Klezmer Society All-Stars: June 28 at Toronto Jazz Festival, Yorkville Park 5.45 p.m., 7.45 p.m.

Sympathetic String Band & Friends with Colin Fisher: June 28 at Tranzac 7.30 p.m.

Michael Occhipinti’s Sicilian Jazz Project: June 28 at Rex Hotel 8 p.m.

Ajde Aman (Balkan folk): June 28 at Drom Taberna 8 p.m.

Brain Candy: June 28 at Paradise Theatre, 6 p.m. Q&A with Mark McKinney and director Kelly Makin. Presented by West End Phoenix.

Madonna: Truth or Dare: June 29 (6.30 p.m.) and June 30 (9.30 p.m.) at Revue Cinema

Jack Johnson, Hermanos Gutiérrez: June 30 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

St. Vincent with orchestra: June 30 at Roy Thomson Hall

Etran de l’Aïr: June 30 at the Horseshoe

Widowspeak: July 1 at Sound Garage

Run with the Kittens: July 2 at the Cameron 10 p.m.

Dan Mangan, Joel Plaskett: July 2 at Royal Botanical Gardens, Burlington #HeartsOnFire

Kelly McMichael (full band), Sophie Noel: July 2 at the Cameron 9 p.m.

Key summer dates

Mariposa Folk Festival: July 3-5 at Tudhope Park, Orillia. Featuring Billy Bragg, Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, Father John Misty, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Steve Earle, Taj Mahal, Sarah Harmer, Dan Mangan, Foxwarren, the Barr Brothers, Ducks Ltd., Great Lake Swimmers, Reuben & the Bullhorn Singers, Kalisway, Kelly McMichael, Lemon Bucket Orchestra, Gwenifer Raymond, more. Ticket info here.

Tortoise, Basic (feat. Doug McCombs): July 3 at Concert Hall

Goat, Teke:Teke: July 6 at Concert Hall. Swedish psych band.

Four Winds Music Fest: July 10-12 in Durham, Ontario, featuring Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Bros. Landreth, Reuben and the Dark with Bullhorn Singers, Tom Wilson, more TBA.

Jack White, Angine de Poitrine: July 14 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Marcos Valle: July 14 at Lee’s Palace

Lucy Dacus: July 15 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Buddy Guy: July 15 at Massey Hall. No, really, the 90-year-old is packing it in on this farewell tour—which is what, his fourth? Fifth?

Hillside Festival: July 17-19 at Guelph Lake. Featuring Angine de Poitrine, Fulu Miziki, Cowboy Junkies, Donovan Woods, Stars, Matt Mays, Hollerado, Mae Martin, Mad Professor, Austra, Charlotte Cornfield, Gord Grdina’s Haram, Gwenifer Raymond, the Pairs, much more. Ticket info here.

Billy Talent, Death From Above 1979, Hollerado: July 18 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. Playing Billy Talent II for its 20th anniversary. #HeartsOnFire

Death Cab for Cutie, Japanese Breakfast: July 19 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre

Nick Lowe & Los Straitjackets: July 21 at Mod Club

Herbie Hancock: July 26 at Massey Hall

Metric, Broken Social Scene, Stars: Aug 7 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. #HeartsOnFire #HeartsOnFire #HeartsOnFire

Alexisonfire, Underoath: Aug 14-15 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre. Performing Crisis for its 20th anniversary. #HeartsOnFire

Summerfolk (Owen Sound): Aug 21-23. Featuring Dan Mangan, Jane Siberry, Tom Wilson, Empanadas Illegales, Julian Taylor, Good Lovelies, more. Details here.

Toronto Folk Festival: Aug 21-23 on Ward’s Island. Featuring Abigail Lapell, Ahmed Moneka, Bobby Dove, Burs, Kobo Town, Meredith Moon, Mia Kelly, Divka, Jadea Kelly, more.

Blue Rodeo, William Prince, Billiane: Aug 29 at Ontario Place Amphitheatre #HaveNotBeentheSame

More Toronto concert listings until May 2027 are here and updated weekly for paid subscribers.

Here come the regulars

Every Monday: Tranzac open stage, 6.30 p.m. (Sign up at 6 p.m.)

Every Monday: Sean McCarthy’s Taproom Gang (trad jazz) at Steadfast Brewing 7 p.m.

Mondays in June: Meredith Moon at the Horseshoe

Every Tuesday: Julian Fauth at Sauce on the Danforth 6.30 p.m.

Every Tuesday: swing night at Drom Taberna

Every Thursday: Strangetooth (bluegrass) at Tranzac 7 p.m.

Every Thursday: Good Enough Karaoke (live band) at Wheat Sheaf Tavern

Every Thursday: Corin Raymond at Cameron House, 6 p.m.

Every Saturday: The Happy Pals at Grossman’s, 3.30 p.m. 56 years strong!

Every Saturday: Michael Louis Johnson and the Red Rhythm at Communist’s Daughter 4 p.m.

Every Saturday: Robertson & Kerr at Cameron House 8.30 p.m.

Every Sunday: Eastern European Brunch at Drom Taberna 1-4 p.m.

Every Sunday: John Borra at Communist’s Daughter 5 p.m.

Every Sunday: Colonel Tom at Cameron House 6 p.m.

Every Sunday: Doghouse Orchestra at Cameron House, 10 p.m.

Are you over 40 and/or did you grow up with freeform radio?

If so, curated Toronto concert listings from now until May 2027—are here for paid subscribers, and updated weekly.

Be kind to each other.

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