Dizzy at The Danforth Music Hall - Concert Photos

Oshawa, Ontario indie pop band Dizzy released their third album, the eponymously titled Dizzy, this past summer. I attended the Toronto stop on the tour promoting that album, and it took place at one of my favourite Toronto venues, The Danforth Music Hall. 

Dizzy has become one of my favourite bands ever since I first saw them at Hillside Festival in 2016. This show marks the eleventh time we’ve covered a live Dizzy show here at one in ten words. Links to all of our Dizzy show coverage are below.

Over the course of their set, they played every song on the new Dizzy album. They started their set with "Birthmark" and "Twist", "Roman Candles" and "The Magician". Later on, they shifted into the acoustic portion of the show including their "stupid happy love song" "Stupid 4 U". The set continued, with highlights including "Barking Dog", "Sunflower", "Open Up Wide" and show closer "Close". They only played one song from their debut album, Baby Teeth, the ever-popular “Joshua”. They don't do encores, which is fine with me and I'm sure most of the audience.

Dizzy did a great job performing on the larger stage, with platforms for guitarist, bassist and drummer, and the rest of the stage reserved for Katie to roam. Candles around the stage lent a warm vibe, and the light show brought excitement and drama as needed.

Dizzy are an amazing band with beautiful songs; a band that I will witness live any time I can. 

Ottawa's fanclubwallet opened the show. My pics from their set are right here.

Check out all our previous photos of Dizzy from Riverfest Elora, The Phoenix Concert Theatre, Bridgeworks, Royal Mountain Records BBQ, The Mod Club, Wolfe Island Winter Ball, Royal Mountain Records Festival, their Baby Teeth Release Party, Field Trip and Hillside.

Here’s a tune from Dizzy, “Open Up Wide”

fanclubwallet at The Danforth Music Hall - Concert Photos

Ottawa indie pop band fanclubwallet opened up for one of my favourite bands, Dizzy, at The Danforth Music Hall last week. 

fanclubwallet are a chill band with easy-going tunes, who seemed to have a great time playing their tunes for us. 

Check out "You Have Got To Be Kidding Me" from their album of the same name below. 

And check out my shots of Dizzy's set right here.

Steel Panther at History - Concert Photos

It was 1987 at Toronto’s history last week when Steel Panther came through town on their On the Prowl tour. 

The band is a consistent fan favourite and their fans took full advantage of the opportunity to don their favourite 80s metal gear and try to forget for a moment that its 2023 and we’re getting ever increasing amounts of gray hair.

If you’ve ever been to a Steel Panther show -- and there were many, many people in attendance who had been to multiple Steel Panther shows, and also many, many people out at their first Steel Panther show --then you know what you’re going to get: their own brand of 80s hair metal tunes that set the clock back a few decades, hilarious off-colour on-stage banter and interaction with the crowd, and a whole bunch of spandex, wild guitars and lots of hair, all from a band that executes the genre with faithfulness and irony from the clothes to the lyrics to those 80s print, Floyd Rose equipped Charvel guitars. They’re all fantastic musicians, and everyone leaves with a smile on their face. Check out the setlist here.

BRKN Love had the honour of warming up the crowd for Steel Panther. My pics of their set are here.

Check out my pics of Steel Panther from shows in 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014.

BRKN Love at History - Concert Photos

Los Angeles' hard rock band BRKN Love warmed up the crowd at History before headliners Steel Panther took to the stage. They're led by Toronto's own Justin Benlolo, and play big rock tunes with powerful vocals, heavy guitar riffs, and bass and drums that pound out the beat, bring the low end and drive your bangin' head.

They played a bunch of their tunes and threw in a cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" that featured a killer dual guitar solo. If you're a hard rock fan, check out BRKN Love's music. There's lots to love.

In case you missed them, my pics of Steel Panther's set are here.

Here's the song BRKN Love closed their set with, "Shot Down"

Spoons at The Ex - Concert Photos

Burlington, Ontario 80s new wave legends Spoons performed on the Bandshell stage at this 2023 edition of The Ex. I've covered the band a whole bunch, most recently at this year's Riverfest Elora.

It's always a treat to hear some of my favourite 80s Spoons classics like "Arias & Symphonies", "Old Emotions", "Nova Heart", "Romantic Traffic" and "Tell No Lies", plus some new tunes, like "First and Last Time". The band sounded great and put on a fun, crowd-pleasing performance.

If you like, check out my previous Spoons coverage, at Riverfest Elora 2023, at The Great Hall in 2019, The Ex in 2018, The Ex in 2016, and The Ex in 2014.

And here's the classic, "Romantic Traffic"