Thao at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Thao and her band (I'm honestly not sure, are they still Thao and The Get Down Stay Down or not?) were in Toronto on March 24 to play a gig that was in their calendar and mine for May of 2020. This tour is to celebrate their latest album Temple.

I've had Thao's music in my library since I heard "Bag of Hammers" and picked up We Brave Bee Stings and All. This marked my first time seeing her live and also my first show of 2022. 

It was so great to be back in a live music venue, and specifically one as wonderful as The Great Hall, and enjoying the magic of live music again. These were all fantastic acts to get me back into live music in 2022! My photos and thoughts on openers Becca Mancari and Why Bonnie can be found here and here.

Thao and her band have a fun energy and excited vibe. The musicianship is outstanding and their passion was exchanged and grew between band and audience. It's always a powerful thing to be a part of. 

A few highlights from the set: "Phenom" from Temple got a great response from the crowd, "Holy Roller" is one of my personal faves and I loved hearing it live, we got to hear a new unreleased song with a very cool hook/riff, the audience participation kicked into high gear for "Fool Forever", which included some of MIA's "Bad Girls". Nice touch! I loved the impassioned delivery and outstanding vocals on "Guts", and "Every Body" has such a great groove. After the main set, Thao returned to the stage for a solo electric encore of "Feet Asleep" and "Know Better Learn Faster", capping off an awesome night of music and fantastic performances by all the artists.

What a wonderful night out and a wonderful way to start the 2022 concert season for me.

Here are a couple of Thao's tunes:

"Phenom"

"Holy Roller"

Becca Mancari at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Becca Mancari is a singer songwriter from Nashville. 

I loved their performance of passionate, positive, uplifting and empowering music at Toronto's The Great Hall. I think the thing I liked the most was the happy vibes that emanated between the crowd and Mancari. It was wonderful to behold and I'll catch a Becca Mancari show again any time!

Becca Mancari and the band performed their set between Thao and Why Bonnie. Click here and here for my photos and thoughts on their sets.

Check out a couple of Becca Mancari's tunes:

"I'm Sorry"

"Hunter"

Why Bonnie at The Great Hall - Concert Photos

Why Bonnie are from Austin and they tell us that they love Toronto. That's always a nice thing to hear.

I really enjoyed the band's set. I bobbed my head and swayed and just generally vibed out, soaking up the great energy coming from the band's tunes and especially on the jam out sections of some tunes.

Why Bonnie were in town opening up the night with Thao and Becca Mancari. Click on through here and here for the photos and my thoughts on those sets.

Here are a couple of Why Bonnie tunes.

"Galveston"

"Athlete"

beabadoobee at The Danforth Music Hall - Concert Photos

On Thursday night I caught a super-fun performance by beabadoobee. It was a sold out all ages show at the Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. The fans came early to get as close to the front as they could. The crowd was thrilled; hands in the air, cell phones up and waving, singing along and cheering for the entire show. 

The set started off strong with "Sun More Often" and the band rocked out. Later, they shifted down to "Disappear", and that got the crowd swaying and the cell phones up in the air, the crowd singing along and basically having the best time. "Yoshimi, Forest, Magdalene" had the crowd bouncing. "He Gets Me So High" was soothing and they ended the main set with "Last Day On Earth". beabadoobee came back for a solo acoustic "Coffee" singalong before "Cologne" closed out the night. beabadoobee's set shifted dynamically from pure sweetness to pounding drums and screaming guitars. It was awesome! 

Christian Leave opened up the show. My shots of their set are here.

Here are a couple of beabadoobee tracks:

"Last Day on Earth"

"Cologne"

Christian Leave at The Danforth Music Hall - Concert Photos

After being carried out on a couch by his bandmates, Christian Leave launched into "Your Life Your Time". Their short and tight set showed off the band's songs; they're big on massive power chords, huge choruses and high energy. Who says rock is dead?

Christian Leave got a really big crowd reception from the moment they took to the stage and that love carried on throughout the set. The crowd got all their cell phones in the air for "Maybe". Christian Leave ended the set with "Beside You", a tune that started off slow and soothing and built to a pounding ending.

Christian Leave was opening for beabadoobee. My shots of their set are here.

Check out some of Christian Leave's music:

"Your Life Your Time"

"Days Like Lost Dogs"