Canadian Music Week takes over Toronto (Part 2 of 3)

Though Canadian Music Week festival has drawn to a close, you’re likely still remembering fondly some fabulous nights with some fantastic bands. The massive event, held in over 60 venues and featuring approximately 1000 artists, really hit the music loving spot. Get a glimpse of some of the showcases held mid-festival in our Part 2 of Canadian Music Week in pictures.

After an earlier gig in the evening, The Honest Heart Collective made an appearance at The Rivoli. Despite an injured ankle of the lead singer, they gave a give ‘er sort of show, simmered in spirit and pleasure in performing. And after that warming your palate, Australian Music Week, The AU Review & RockFellaz presented The Aussie Breakfast, a musical buffet that led into the wee hours of the morning from 11:30 PM to 4AM. Though the whole smorgasbord wasn’t sampled, the first 3 bands Heart Beach, Quivers, and Silver Love Club gave another reason to love Australia. Check out our review of Quivers done by our The Revue mate Hollie.

Elsewhere in the city, Darren started his night at the Horseshoe Tavern catching The Honest Heart Collective’s earlier show and evidence of the rolled ankle alluded to above. A short jaunt over to Lee’s Palace was made to catch Kasador, Wildlife, and Matt Mays. All three bands impressed as expected. At this point, a quick trip was made to check out Nuela Charles at The Painted Lady, another artist that The Revue previewed before the festival. The venue is a smaller, more intimate venue, and it suited Nuela’s impressive soul-tinged vocals perfectly. It was palpable among the crowd that we were experiencing something special. This is definitely an artist to watch. LOA closed out the night sharing her style of dark R&B.

On Friday, Lee’s Palace hosted the Dine Alone Showcase, featuring New Swears, Dune Rats, Dead Heavens, The Sadie , and The Dandy Warhols. The room was packed, the music was loud, and the energy was high for this late-addition to the festival show. All the bands seemed perfectly at home on stage and delivered some sumptuous sets, from kicking off the night with the musical acrobatics of New Swears, straight to the rolling grit and grind of The Dandy Warhols. Couldn’t ask for more at 1am on Bloor.

Meanwhile, Darren’s first stop was the iHeartRadio fest at Rebel, which featured performances by nine artists although he had to leave before the final act. He took in the performances by Michelle Treacy, Alyssa Reid, Mia Martina, Scott Helman, James Arthur, Massari, The Strumbellas, and Magic! before moving on to his final destinations which will be covered in Part 3.

Words and Photos by: Darren Boucher & Dina MacLeod