Speedy Ortiz at Rebel - Concert Photos

Sometimes the universe delivers exactly what you need. During Sunday night's concert at Rebel featuring Speedy Ortiz opening for Chvrches, singer/guitarist/songwriter Sadie Dupuis told us that it was going to be her birthday on Monday and that she wanted to come to one of her favourite cities, Toronto, to celebrate. Then they got the call to join Chvrches on this leg of the tour that brought them straight to, you've guessed it by now, Toronto.

Well, happy birthday, Sadie, and hope you had a great time playing for the crowd at Rebel.

This was my third time seeing Speedy Ortiz so I knew the songs well and knew I'd have a good time. I love their 90s-influenced alternative rock tunes. The band played tunes new and older in a fun set that I'm sure garnered them some new fans. They're celebrating not just Sadie's birthday, but also the release of their most recent album, Twerp Verse, which you can get right now.

Check out my photos from the last couple of times I saw them at The Horseshoe Tavern in 2018 and at The Horseshoe Tavern in 2015.

Check out my photos of Chvrches from this show right here.

Check out some tunes from Speedy Ortiz from their set:

"Lean In When I Suffer"

"Lucky 88"

"Raising the Skate"

"The Graduates"

"I'm Blessed"

"Villain"

"Swell Content"

Speedy Ortiz at The Horseshoe Tavern - Concert Photos

I've been a big fan of Speedy Ortiz and Sadie Dupuis' guitar playing, songwriting and live delivery since I first heard the music and saw them live. They're doing such cool things with guitar riffs and licks, time signatures, syncopation, melody and themes that are somehow reminiscent of elements of 90s alternative giants while being consistently innovative and unique, pushing the envelope while retaining an identifiable sonic signature. Their latest album is Twerp Verse, out now.

This tour also benefitted from the awesome opening set by Nnamdi Ogbonnaya. Check out my pics, thoughts and some tunes here.

And check out my pics from the last time Speedy Ortiz stopped by The Horseshoe Tavern in 2015 here.

Check out some highlights from their setlist:

"Lean In When I Suffer"

"Lucky 88"

"Raising the Skate"

"The Graduates"

"Plough"

"Villain"

"No Below"

Best of: My favourite albums of 2015

As I mentioned in my favourite songs of 2015 post, I somehow feel like I missed a lot of music in 2015. In spite of that, I was still able to pull together a pretty solid top 20 list for my favourite albums of the year.

All the best for 2016!

20. Northcote Hope is Made of Steel

19. Smallpools Lovetap!

18. El Vy Return to the Moon

17. Ivan & Alyosha It's All Just Pretend

16. Drenge Undertow

15. Screaming Females Rose Mountain

14. Wombats Glitterbug

13. Torres Sprinter

12. Grimes Art Angels

11. Dawes All Your Favourite Bands

10. Waxahatchee Ivy Tripp

9. The Maccabees Marks to Prove It

8. Surfer Blood 1000 Palms

7. Ron Hawkins and The Do Good Assassins Garden Songs

6. Wavves V

5. The Districts A Flourish and a Spoil

4. Speedy Ortiz Foil Deer

3. Frank Turner Positive Songs for Negative People

2. Chvrches Every Open Eye

1. Wolf Alice My Love Is Cool

Best of: My favourite songs of 2015

I feel like 2015 has flown by and I have missed a lot of the music it had to offer. I've seen a lot of shows by a lot of great bands. Not as many as in 2014 mind you, and I've purposely slowed down in the past month or so, but still a lot. There's so much great music that was produced this year, and there's so much that I've yet to discover. Every year, I bookmark the best of lists from other sites and I don't look at any of them until after my own list is up. Most years, I don't get through reading all the others, either.

Follow the links in the song titles below to listen to the tunes, and click the links in the artist name to get to my posts of concert coverage and pictures of the artists. In some cases, where I've seen a band multiple times and they've got multiple songs in the list, the links are distributed. In cases where I've seen a band more than once but they only have one song below, you'll see a second link. Please click away and have fun!

All the best to everyone for 2016. May there continue to be more great music that brings smiles to our faces, joy to our hearts and gets our bodies moving. And more great artists that indulge my desire to photograph them delivering that music. Happy 2016 everyone!

50. "I Want To Feel Alive" The Lighthouse and The Whaler

49. "Let It Burn" by Magic Giant

48. "Sprinter" by Torres and more

47. "Cataract" by Dirty Ghosts

46. "Pony" by Wavves

45. "Saturday Night" by Yukon Blonde

44. "So Down Low" by The Elwins

43. "Begin Again" by Purity Ring

42. "Young Blood" by The Districts

41. "Gold" by Clavvs

40. "Ripe" by Screaming Females

39. "Bury our Friends" Sleater-Kinney

38. "Marks to Prove It" by Maccabees

37. "Freazy" by Wolf Alice

36. "The Graduates" by Speedy Ortiz

35. "Poison" by Waxahatchee

34. "Moaning Lisa Smile" by Wolf Alice

33. "My Backyard" by Taylor Knox

32. "Swell Content" by Speedy Ortiz

31. "Dreaming" by Smallpools

30. "When You Were Mine" by Night Terrors of 1927 featuring Tegan & Sara

29. "Heard Good Things" by Julian Taylor Band and more

28. "Peaches" by The Districts

27. "Way Too Much" by Wavves

26. ​"Hope Is Made of Steel" by Northcote

25. "Fluffy" by Wolf Alice

24. "Stained Glass Heart" by Public Animal and more

23. "The Kids Are All Wrong" by Lowest of the Low

22. "Josephine" by Frank Turner

21. "Return to the Moon" by El Vy

20. "4th and Roebling" by The Districts

19. "Under a Rock" by Waxahatchee

18. "City on the Hill" by Desaparecidos

17. "Royal Jelly" by Deap Vally

16. "Raising the Skate" by Speedy Ortiz

15. "Heaven Sent" by Best Coast

14. "Cocoon" by Ash

13. "In the Blink of an Eye" by Lowest of the Low

12. "I Feel Love (Every Million Miles)" by The Dead Weather

11. "Never Ending Circles" by Chvrches

10. "Dangerous" by Big Data featuring Joywave

9. "You're A Germ" by Wolf Alice

8. "24 Frames" by Jason Isbell

7. "Things Happen" by Dawes

6. "Warrior" by Sate and more

5. "Giant Peach" by Wolf Alice

4. "Leave a Trace" by Chvrches

3. "Flesh without Blood" by Grimes

2. "Get Better" by Frank Turner

1. "Bros" by Wolf Alice

Speedy Ortiz release video for Swell Content

Wicked cool nineties reinvigorators and audience welfare advocates Speedy Ortiz have a new video for the song "Swell Content" from their Foil Deer album. Listen to the tune, check out the video of the band at summer camp and take a peek at my pics from their recent stop at The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern earlier this year.

Speedy Ortiz at The Horseshoe Tavern - Concert Pictures

I've posted about Speedy Ortiz quite a few times and, sadly, I missed them the last time they came through town. I was excited to go to The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern to catch the band on an early-summer Friday night, June 5.

The band hails from Massachusetts and have a great 90s alternative vibe, led by Sadie Dupuis and her cool, angular guitar playing, imagery-filled lyrics and direct vocals. The rest of the band keep things solid, while keeping just enough of that feeling that things just may fly apart at various times.

They obviously have a pretty dedicated fan base as the 'Shoe felt sold-out from where I was, up at the front by the stage. It was only when I moved back a bit after taking my pics that I noticed that the place wasn't actually sold out (come on, Toronto music fans, where were you?). Everyone who was there was jammed up at the front to be close to the amazing energy that was coming off the stage.

The band played a killer set, and these are some of my personal favourites.

Opening tune "Tiger Tank" from their 2013 début Major Arcana

"The Graduates" from their recently-released album Foil Deer

"Raising the Skate" from Foil Deer

"Plough" from Major Arcana

"American Horror" from the Real Hair EP

"Everything's Bigger" from the Real Hair EP

"Indoor Soccer" from the Sports EP

And thanks to the sound guy not starting up the music after their set, they came back for an encore of "Silver Spring"from the Sports EP