Events

Business, Canada, Events, Perspective, Robbie Robertson, Rolling Stones, Toronto, Tourism April 15, 2020

All fixed up with no place to go: Toronto venues like the El Mocambo and Wheat Sheaf postpone grand reopenings

Nick Krewen Special to the Star April Fool’s Day may have played its cruelest joke on the El Mocambo’s Michael Wekerle. After spending five years investing a reported $30 million (in a follow-up e-mail, he’d only say it’s “extensive”) in renovating the legendary Spadina Avenue music club that has played host to everyone from The Rolling Stones to U2, the merchant banker and Dragon’s Den TV personality was finally set…

Business, Canada, Dan Bern, Events, Folk, Gordon Lightfoot, Toronto March 6, 2020

Hugh’s Room Live forced out at month’s end due to rent hike

Nick Krewen Special to the Star While Hugh’s Room Live is being forced to shutter its doors at the end of the month, the venue’s Board of Directors has vowed to find it a new home and continue operations. Considered by many to be Toronto’s premier music listening room, the club that has hosted such folk legends as Gordon Lightfoot, Pete Seeger, Tom Rush and Odetta will vacate its present…

Comedy, Concert reviews, Experimental, Hard Rock/Heavy Metal, Novelty, Pop, Rock, United States, Voice April 20, 2019

What is it with music and clowns?

Puddles Pity Party and Mac Sabbath brought very different musical clown acts to Toronto, suggesting the modern fear of clowns might be exaggerated Nick Krewen NOW Magazine, Nov 20, 2018 PUDDLES PITY PARTY at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, November 8. Rating: NNNN MAC SABBATH at Lee’s Palace, Thursday, November 15. Rating: NNN Our music scene delivers new trends all the time, but over the past few weeks Toronto has played host to a…

Alt. Rock, Americana, Bob Dylan, California, Canada, Country, Emmylou Harris, Engineer, Events, Los Angeles, Neil Young, Outlaw Country, Producer, Rock, The Tragically Hip, Toronto, United Kingdom, United States, Willie Nelson April 20, 2019

U2, Dylan, Hip Producer Talks Melanoma, Breakthrough Immunotherapy, and A-List Benefit

Aug 17, 2018 Nick Krewen Mark Howard, the Grammy-winning and Juno-nominated producer and engineer who has worked with everyone from Bob Dylan and U2 to The Tragically Hip and Willie Nelson, has organized a benefit concert featuring Sarah McLachlan, Randy Bachman, Sass Jordan, Sam Roberts and Ian Thornley, and more,  to be held at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall on Oct. 6. The Mark Howard & Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Grand…

Aubrey "Drake" Graham, Events, Grammy, Guns N' Roses, Perspective, R&B, Toronto, United States July 19, 2018

Commentary: An Open Letter to Lauryn Hill About Her Disrespectful Tardiness

Artists need to treat their audiences with respect. I’m not exactly sure when some of them felt they could abuse the privilege, but it seems that a few so-called superstars have decided that once their fans have paid an exorbitant amount of money for a ticket to see them in concert, then that tacitly gives them carte-blanche permission to dole out the abuse. They keep them waiting. And waiting. And…