Begonia at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Winnipeg‘s Begonia stopped by Toronto’s Great Hall on Friday night on her Powder Blue tour.  It just happened to be release day for Begonia’s new album Powder Blue. 

I love Begonia's singing, songwriting, storytelling and the positive vibe she spreads from centre stage. This was my fourth time catching a Begonia performance, but the first where she was headlining her own show. Pretty cool. 

Their set included tunes from across Powder Blue, Fear, and Lady In Mind. Begonia commented that this tour marks the first time she's had more music released than she can fit into the set. Nice problem to have; so many powerful and engaging songs that they can't all be played every night!

Personal highlights were the tunes I love from Fear and Lady In Mind, just because they're more familiar. "Hanging on a Line", "The Light", "Fear" got everyone vibing, and "Beats" with it's refrain of "it's not your birthday, baby" was great. Highlights from Powder Blue were "Marigold", which rocked and "Butterfly", a quiet song about realizing that you know nothing that garnered huge applause, plus the single "Married by Elvis". They closed the set with "Bleeding Heart" from Powder Blue. The encore tunes were from Lady In Mind; "Hot Dog Stand", which was an early standout tune that really got me into Begonia, and "Juniper". I'm sure more tunes from Powder Blue will become favourites as they seep into my consciousness. They sound awesome on the album and in the live show.

Begonia is a great storyteller and I love her stories; they give us a deeper insight into Begonia, her life, and her music. I highly recommend checking out her music and watch for her stopping by your city on tour.

Witch Prophet did a great job opening up the show. My photos of their performance are here.

I mentioned having captured three other Begonia performances. Click the links to check out my photos from her performance at Supercrawl in 2019, Riverfest Elora in 2019 and The Horseshoe Tavern for CMW 2018.

And here's some of her music:

"Married by Elvis" from Begonia's latest album, Powder Blue

"The Light" from Fear

Witch Prophet at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Witch Prophet took to The Great Hall stage on Friday evening. They were warming up the crowd for Begonia's Powder Blue album release show and they did a great job of doing just that. Their operatic soul / alternative R&B tunes were enthusiastically received and I'm sure there were many new Witch Prophet fans created Friday night.

The crowd warmed up quickly to Witch Prophet's engaging and emotional songs. We got several new tunes including "Bird's Eye View" and "Energy Vampire" that was released earlier this week, and some of their older material. 

My photos of Begonia's set are here.

I previously witnessed a Witch Prophet performance when I covered the Wolfe Island Winter Ball.

And here's some Witch Prophet music:

"Energy Vampire"

Broken Social Scene at History - Concert Photos

Broken Social Scene are legends of the Canadian indie music community. They're a supergroup that features musicians from a swath of Canadian bands including Stars and Metric, and many more.

It was twenty years ago that their landmark album You Forgot It In People was released. Many songs from that album have become set list favourites, like "KC Accidental", "Stars And Sons", "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" and "Cause = Time". This tour is a celebration of that album anniversary and over the night, we heard the whole album.

We also heard many other BSS favourites, like "7/4 Shoreline", "It's All Gonna Break" and "Ibi Dreams Of Pavement (A Better Day)". The whole setlist is listed out here.

Overall it was a fun, uplifting celebration of a concert. This was my first time getting to hang around and appreciate History. It's a really well designed venue with great sound, lighting and sight lines. 

Status/Non-Status opened up the show. My pics of their set are here.

We've covered BSS a couple of times in the past. Check out pics from Osheaga 2017 and Field Trip 2017. 

Take a listen to "Anthems For A Seventeen Year Old Girl" from You Forgot It In People

and one of my absolute fave BSS tunes "7/4 Shoreline" from their eponymous 2005 album

Status/Non-Status at History - Concert Photos

Status/Non-Status performed at History on Saturday night, warming up the crowd for Broken Social Scene. The band is focused on the musical work of Anishinaabe community worker Adam Sturgeon (Nme’) and his collaborators (fka Whoop-Szo).

They're a hard rocking band with solid tunes and multiple vocalists. Check out "Blown Tire" from Status/Non-Status' latest album Surely Travel below.

Status/Non-Status were opening up for Broken Social Scene. My pics of BSS' set are here.

The Trews at The Danforth Music Hall - Concert Photos

The Trews performed at The Danforth Music Hall on December 3. Their latest release, Wanderer, is out now.

Gord Sinclair and his band opened up the show. Photos of their set are here.

We captured The Trews back in 2016 at The Ex. Those photos are here.

Take a listen to "Enemy" from Wanderer.

Photos by Brad Goldstein