\ PETERBOROUGH \ There aren’t many of his kind left —but then, they never made many of his kind to begin with. Joe Hall, who passed away on Friday at 71 years of age after battling liver cancer for some time, was an highly original titan of a songwriter and performer whose cheeky, bizarre and…
\ TO EAST \ With most bars being closed next Monday and of course the following Monday being New Year’s Eve, many of the regular weekly affairs that take place to kick off the musical week tonight will be holding either designated Christmas parties or will informally toast the season with regulars to round out…
\ TO EAST \ Two veterans from the “Toronto Sound” scene of “The Village” in TO’s Yorkville area from the 1960s are on the bill this afternoon along with a third icon from the time as SongTown’s latest Blues & Boogie Party show takes place at Black Swan Tavern. We’ve written before on a few…
\ TO EAST \ He’s never played a musical note on any instrument that I’m aware of, but James Ratch has been responsible for more people enjoying more live music than many of those who call themselves career musicians. As a promoter of Hard Rock and other acts, as security director at live shows and…
\ TO EAST \ Exactly one week prior to last night’s horrific shootings on Danforth Avenue that left two people dead, a child critically injured and 12 others hospitalized I had an encounter not far away from the scene of the assault with a fellow who claimed to own a gun and to be considering…
\ TO EAST \ I wonder if, before hosting his weekly open stage tonight at Black Swan Tavern, songwriter/iconoclast and Les Paul guitar enthusiast Sebastian Agnello will drop into the Canadian National Exhibition and maybe take in a bit of one of the several live music offerings there in order to reminisce about what life…
\ TO EAST \ Will today’s teens, when they become elders fifty years from now, remember 2017 as “The Summer of Hate”? Today’s latest concert tribute to “The Summer of Love” in 1967 —one of several that have been held over this rather raucous, peculiar summer season— makes one wonder how the events that have…
Steven Ambrose Honouring Our Own show Julian Fauth breaks arm on eve of western tour Seb Agnello gets fresh meat to chew on Gary 17’s Terri O’s open stage Doc Higgins hosts OpenFolk.net open stage Toronto Moon, 110503 - Tues. May 03, 2022
\ TO EAST \ I was disappointed this weekend to have not been feeling a little better in order to be able to attend what by all accounts (and the video evidence posted on Facebook) was a marvellous event marking the 50th anniversary of the “Summer of Love” and the halcyon days of Yorkville that…
\ BURLINGTON \ Some longtime readers may, like me, initially be a little confused when they hear that “SEBB is hosting a Blues-Rock jam tonight at Black Swan.” They may assume that the host of the Monday night open stage at the Danforth Ave. tavern in TO East, Sebastian Agnello (aka Seb to fans and…
Since today is “Easter Monday” throughout Canada and the U.K. (but nowhere else in the world apparently —and, significantly perhaps, “except Scotland” on the English isle) some venues cancel regular shows. As if having the Leafs in the playoffs wasn’t already all the “reason” they’d need! As far as I’m concerned Easter Monday is a…
\ TORONTO \ He was a teller of tall tales (many of them quite possibly actually true), a lugger of large loads, illuminator of illustrious talents and a car buff, avid polemicist and debater, teller of politically incorrect jokes, and animal lover and huge Beatles fan. Dave Bailey, soundman/lighting tech/roadie and friend to many of…
\ TO EAST \ With the holiday season fast approaching, the bar that hosts the Riverboat Mondays open stage with Julian Taylor and Tyler Ellis tends to get booked up for private parties and other special events. So tonight’s edition of the popular 9-12 event at Dora Keogh on Danforth Ave. near Broadview will be…
\ TO EAST \ As we told you most recently just last month, the Monday night open mic at Black Swan Tavern has become a local institution in east TO —and tonight it hits a milestone fitting for an event now so well established, celebrating five years. Host Sebastian Agnello is something of an institution…
\ TO EAST \ Today marks another birthday for the United States, which turns 240 years young, and south of the 49th parallel folks will be celebrating with their usual over-the-top ceremonies that make our commemoration of Canada Day look like a garden party by comparison. The U.S. ain’t always easy to love and if…
Click on gallery images to display \ TORONTO EAST \ We’ve told you many times now about how the three different regular musical events happening on Danforth Ave. near Broadview give the area the feel of a makeshift music festival on Monday nights —and even more so when, as tonight, The Danforth Music Hall is…
\ TO EAST \ As with any open stage, you never know whether, on any given Monday evening, there’s going to be a big lineup of artists or only a few taking part in the weekly event hosted by Sebastian Agnello at Black Swan Tavern at 154 Danforth Ave. But with a host as talented…
\ TO EAST \ An often stirringly inspiring and sometimes cleverly biting songwriter, Murray Powell has spent way too little time on stage over the past couple of years for our liking. I do know he’s been busy working on a new album, long overdue after his fine debut effort Remedials released way back in…
\ TO EAST \ I wrote not too long ago about Dan Dimock, an acoustic Pop performer I had only met a few weeks earlier who impressed me at the Monday night open stage hosted by Sebastian Agnello at Black Swan. As I wrote then, what particularly stayed with me was his willingness to take…
\ TORONTO EAST \ Summer long weekends are always a craps shoot when it comes to live entertainment in bars and other public venues. When the weather is nice it can lead people to head out of town to lake country or perhaps fire up the barbecue in the back yard and invite friends over…
New In-The-Round series gets songwriters journeying in more ways than one \ OSHAWA \ An interesting new series of first-Thursday monthly concerts being staged by Oshawa songwriter Boris Buhot kicks off tonight with a mix of three talented songwriters travelling beyond their beaten paths to explore new territories. While the three artists who will share…
Danforth Ave. rules as Monday nights’ destination zone \ TORONTO EAST \ There are plenty of fine open mics and other shows happening across the GTA on a Monday, but when it comes to variety and quality packed into a relatively close-knit area, it doesn’t get any better than Danforth Ave. in east Toronto. Furthest…
