New Wave

Robyn Hitchcock at the Drake Underground: interview

Hitchcock has collaborated with some of the world’s great rock stars, but still comes across as modestly his own guy Robyn Hitchcock plays the Drake Underground Sept. 3 and 4. Nick Krewen Music, Published on Sat Aug 31 2013 He’s the master of the tangent. In a profession where definitive statements can be taken with a grain of salt, it’s safe to say there’s no recording artist out there quite…


Thomas Dolby, past, present and especially future

Entertainment / Music Eighties pop star, tech entrepreneur, now game designer — and through it all, a science obsessive.   Musician Thomas Dolby in his travelling “time capsule.” By: Nick Krewen Special to the Star, Published on Sun Apr 01 2012 Ever the inventive sort, Thomas Dolby is bringing a special guest to Monday night’s gig at the Mod Club: his own time machine. “It’s a 1930s Teardrop trailer that looks like Jules Verne customized…


Concert review: Sting at 60 can still command the audience

Concert review: Sting at 60 can still command the audience | Toronto Star Sting’s adoring middle-aged fans were willingly taken on a sonic adventure but some classic hits were left off the list   Nick Krewen  Special to the Star,  Published on Tue Nov 01 2011 The busman’s holiday is officially over. After spending the greater part of 2010 fronting a behemoth of an orchestra for his global Symphonicities tour,…


The Cars: Idling no more

Entertainment / Music It was the last phone call keyboardist Greg Hawkes expected to get: an invite from singer and chief songwriter Ric Ocasek to restart The Cars.      Nick Krewen Special to the Star, Published on Thu May 19 2011 It was the last phone call keyboardist Greg Hawkes expected to get: an invite from singer and chief songwriter Ric Ocasek to restart The Cars. After all, it had been…


Numan Gets His Feet Back Down To Earth

  Nick Krewen, May 6, 1998, The Toronto Star After all these years, Gary Numan may be the one who is getting the last laugh. Ever since the self-proclaimed alien of electro-pop and his Tubeway Army blasted their way to the top of the British charts in 1979 with the robotic “Are `Friends’ Electric?,” accidentally launching post-punk’s new romantic era, music critics have never forgiven him. They’ve ridiculed his unearthly,…