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Thanks for reading the Toronto Star’s Weekend Music Digest, a roundup of new music, concert listings and more. This week, we’re highlighting local artists performing at festivals across the city this weekend.
So no Star Tracks this week, but you can check out some new music over at our Spotify playlist.
What to see this weekend
Festival season is in full swing, and the streets of Toronto are packed with people, a smorgasbord of food options, of course, and endless variety of live music. As you’re likely aware, Pride, the Toronto Jazz Festival and the Tkaronto Music Festival are all taking place this weekend. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, here is a short list of free or affordable live shows you might consider checking out.
Pride: Club Hunhouse, Saturday
Club Hunhouse — a Toronto collective for queer women, and trans and non-binary people that emerged during the pandemic — marks Pride month with a dance party that doubles as a fundraiser for Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, one of the longest-running queer theatres and cabarets in the world. The event will feature sets from four local DJs, each with their own sound and style: No Cops, LL Cool Wei, Vaughan and Ana Luisa. Expect a broad range of genres, from pop to hip hop, from jersey club to techno.
Amina Mohamed, a co-founder of Club Hunhouse and a DJ who performs as No Cops, says the goal is to throw a party where everyone feels included. “This is an event that occurs within the Village, but it exists outside of the sort of corporate sphere of Pride,” she said. “It feels more community-oriented and more in line with the ethos of what Pride is essentially about: resistance and celebrating difference.” Tickets: $15, available at the door
Don’t miss: Toronto neo-soul singer Witch Prophet on the Pride South Stage on Saturday afternoon.
Tkaronto Music Festival: TheRa11n, Saturday
The annual Tkaronto Music Festival, a free celebration of Indigenous entertainment and culture, wraps up today at Stackt Marketplace in downtown Toronto. In addition to workshops and pop-up restaurants, the festival features performances from a host of diverse Indigenous artists, including Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer and songwriter Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, indie rock supergroup OMBIIGIZI, Inuk singer Susan Aglukark and many more.
“It’s one of the biggest Indigenous music festivals out there,” said TheRa11n, a two-spirit, Plains Cree rapper who is set to perform alongside electronica artist Classic Roots and 2oolman of the Halluci Nation tonight. Thera11n described her sound as hip-house that incorporates elements of powwow step, urban sounds and even dance hall: “What makes (the festival) special is that we all fuse our culture with the music.”
I asked TheRa11n why she thinks residents or visitors should check out Tkaronto Music Festival over the multitude of other events happening across the city. “We’re the first people from Toronto, right?” she said. “So if you really want to get the true Toronto, or Tkaronto experience, it would be great to come out. There’s going to be traditional dancers and up-to-date Indigenous culture of Toronto, where you can really immerse yourself in that and feel like you’re part of it.
“It’s a big production and gives everyone the chance, whether you’re Indigenous or not, to come out and support Indigenous artists,” she added.
Don’t miss: Lindy & Leslie’s Pow-Wow & Social Dance workshop on Saturday afternoon.
Toronto International Jazz Festival: Tanika Charles, Thursday
The 2023 jazz fest, which runs until July 2, features a stacked lineup of performers, including jazz legend Herbie Hancock, R&B star Ashanti, Afro-Cuban fusionist Cimafunk, plus a host of stellar local acts like BADBADNOTGOOD and Jully Black.
“You have to just go for it and see as much music as you possibly can,” said Tanika Charles, a soul and R&B singer, about her approach to experiencing the festival, which spans six outdoor venues and seven indoor venues. “Even if you’re somebody that just likes rock, step outside of that box and explore.”
Most of the festival’s outdoor programming is completely free. “If it’s accessible to everyone, it just makes for a better environment,” said Charles, who performs next Thursday and whose recent single “Think of You” arrived earlier this week.
Don’t miss: Brampton rapper Haviah Mighty on Sunday afternoon.
New releases this week
- Aphex Twin returns! The English electronic wizard released “Blackbox Life Recorder 21f” earlier this week, his first single in five years. Warning, like any Aphex Twin song, it may melt your brain.
- The Smile — the English rock trio comprised of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, and drummer Tom Skinner — returned this week with a sprawling, eight-minute long epic titled “Bending Hectic.” The track is the Smile’s first new music of 2023 and follows the band’s excellent 2022 debut, “A Light for Attracting Attention.”
- Shoegaze legends Slowdive shared their first new music since 2017 this week. “kisses” is the lead single from the upcoming studio album “everything is alive,” out Sept. 1. Catch them at Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Sept 23. Tickets available now.
- Big Freedia releases “Central City” on Friday. It’s the New Orleans rapper and bounce music icon’s first studio album in close to a decade.
Miscellanea from around the music world
- Writing in Uproxx this week, critic Stephen Hyden offered a retrospective list of the top 30 albums of 2013, “a year when the 2010s really began in a musical sense, while a lot of the trends that were popular in the previous decade fell away.” I decided to look back at my own personal favourites from that year, which was a stellar, but not game-changing year (save for “Yeezus,” a startlingly aggressive album that was a bellwether for the tumultuous decade to come). Please excuse the glaring absence of women on this one, I was deep in my indie rock dude phase at the time.
5) Daft Punk, “Random Access Memories”
4) Deerhunter, “Monomania”
3) Kurt Vile, “Wakin On A Pretty Daze”
2) The National, “Trouble Will Find Me”
1) Kanye West, “Yeezus”
- Honourable mention for the above list is the last My Bloody Valentine album, “m b v.”
- We’ve all seen that bad (misinformed) tweet bemoaning the fact that Broken Social Scene opened up for boygenius at the Budweiser Stage. As one of the few old guys in a sea of young people who attended the show, I will simply point out that: a) Phoebe Bridgers says they hand picked the Toronto collective as openers; and b) Lucy Dacus said they were the band that inspired her to play her own music. Respect your elders!
- Aphex Twin spotting!
- Might as well include a reference to the Titanic submersible, for SEO purposes:
Newly announced concerts
- Kim Petras, whose new debut album “’Feed the Beast” arrived Friday, will play the Coca-Cola Coliseum on Oct. 16. Tickets go on sale on Monday.
- Big news, emos! Foxing and the Hotelier announced a co-headlining tour this fall, with a date at Lee’s Palace on Nov. 10. Tickets on sale Friday.
Toronto Concert Calendar: A selection of upcoming shows across the city
Friday, June 23
The rapidly rising indie/alt-rock band from Asheville, North Carolina, released their celebrated fifth studio album, “Rat Saw God,” in April. See them at a smaller venue like the Horsehoe while you still can!
The Canadian icon and Queen of Country Pop will make her highly anticipated return to Toronto with two shows at the Bud Stage this weekend. Twain’s latest album, “Queen of Me,” arrived earlier this year. Lindsay Ell is opening.
Saturday, June 24
The Halifax-based singer-songwriter will perform songs from her new collaborative album “Champagne Problems” alongside a long list of Canadian talent, including Aquakultre, Amy Millan, Hannah Georgas, Kim Harris, Kevin Drew and more.
Nostalgia for the early 2000s will hit its zenith on Saturday, as thousands of fans gather for a chance to see Nelly, Ne-Yo, Akon, T.I., Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Ja Rule, Chingy and Keri Hilson at Downsview Park.
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