Illustration by Dorothy Leung
Last month, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster for tacitly co-ordinating with ticket brokers and allowing them to illegally acquire concert seats, allegedly costing consumers billions of dollars in inflated prices and additional fees.
Live Nation Entertainment CEO and president Michael Rapino, meanwhile, says concerts are “underpriced,” and that “music has been underappreciated.”
Ticket prices are certainly not cheap for the much-appreciated Paul McCartney, who plays Montreal’s Bell Centre (Nov. 17 and 18) and Hamilton’s newly renovated TD Coliseum (Nov. 21). In 1976, Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels famously offered the Beatles US$3,000 to reunite on the show. It cost a touch more for the operators of TD Coliseum to bring in the former Beatle for the building’s grand reopening.
Paul McCartney will be performing at Montreal's Bell Centre and Hamilton's newly renovated TD Coliseum in November as part of his Got Back tour.Joel C Ryan/The Canadian Press
McCartney’s current Got Back tour may or may not be his last. We know for a fact, however, that roots duo Madison Violet is calling it a day after 25 years of fiddled folk music and sweet harmonies. On their farewell jaunt, Brenley MacEachern and Lisa MacIsaac will hit such venues as Bluenose Lodge in Lunenburg, N.S. (Oct. 6); Vancouver’s Rogue Folk Club (Nov. 2); Calgary’s Rocky Mountain Listening Room (Nov. 9) and more.
This month sees the release of A Rupture A Canyon A Birth, the latest dance-pop proposition from Toronto’s talented Carlyn Bezic, under the name Jane Inc. The record was written in the aftermath of a car accident, a diagnosis of vocal cord cancer and a romantic breakup. A scheduled album launch was pushed back to Dec. 12 at Toronto’s Baby G after another surgery on her voice.
American blues phenom Christone (Kingfish) Ingram breathes vibrant new life to the genre. The guitarist celebrates his latest album, Hard Road, at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall on Oct. 4.
Anyone who caught one of David Byrne’s American Utopia shows in 2018 likely hasn’t forgotten it. The former Talking Heads visionary now has a theatrical, melodically pleasing new album out, Who Is The Sky?. Expect precision choreography and Broadway-level pizzazz at the lone Canadian stop to support the release at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Oct. 21, 22 and 23.
David Byrne of Talking Heads fame will be at Toronto's Massey Hall in October during a lone Canadian stop promoting his latest album.ANGELA WEISS/AFP/Getty Images
On Oct. 16, the relaunched El Mocambo in Toronto attempts to rise once again from financial ashes when it presents Loverboy, the eighties heroes who work for the weekend, but not for free. Entry costs $200 to $300, with a portion of the ticket sales going to SickKids Foundation. A few doors away on Oct. 26, Seattle’s Coral Grief brings the fab dream pop of its debut full-length LP Air Between Us to Dina’s Tavern, the long-awaited revival of a basement venue on the site of the former Silver Dollar Room.
If asked about the best indie-rock album of the year, I’d name Wednesday’s Bleeds every day of the week and twice on Sunday. The slack, noisy Southerners are led by Karly Hartzman, whose former companion, MJ Lenderman, is still in the band but no longer tours with them. Wednesday plays Montreal’s Club Soda (Nov. 14) and Toronto’s Concert Hall (Nov. 15), with a Vancouver show on April 24, at Vogue Theatre.
The latest album from the multifarious Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon is a warning against technology. Songs on 2024’s Rollercoaster include My Computer, Blue Screen and Bots. He performs and informs at Toronto’s Garrison (Nov. 20), Montreal’s Bar le Ritz (Nov. 21) and Ottawa’s National Arts Centre (Nov. 22).
Cadence Weapon, left, and Cameron Kennedy announce the SOCAN Polaris Song Prize winner at Massey Hall in Toronto on Sept. 16, 2025. The rapper will be performing in Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa in November.Laura Proctor/The Canadian Press
And while the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet continues to criss-cross the country in celebration of what would have been the great pianist’s 100th birthday (with concerts including a date with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra on Nov. 30), another group of all-star jazzers congregate for Peterson tributes at Toronto’s Koerner Hall on Oct. 24 and 25 (and free masterclasses, talks and student performances on Oct. 23).
Twenty-five more for the road:
- Broken Social Scene, Cicada Music & Arts Festival, Oct. 4, Henley Island, St. Catharines, Ont.
- Colter Wall, Oct. 6, Burton Cummings Theatre, Winnipeg
- Wolf Alice, Oct. 7, Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver
- Bryan Adams, Oct. 7, Peterborough Memorial Centre, Peterborough, Ont.
- Lennie Gallant, Oct. 10, Stompin’ Tom Centre, Skinners Pond, PEI.
- Geese, Oct. 11, Opera House, Toronto
- Honens International Piano Competition, Oct. 15 to 24, multiple venues, Calgary
- Joan Shelley, Oct. 16, Monarch Tavern, Toronto
- Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Legends Induction, Oct. 17, Meridian Hall, Toronto
- Allison Russell, Oct. 25, Art of Song at Base 31, Picton, Ont.
- The Music of My Life: An All-Star Tribute to Anne Murray, Oct. 27, Grand Ole Opry, Nash.
- Vybz Kartel, Oct. 26 and 27, Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
- Ron Sexsmith, Oct. 29, Capitol Music Club, Saskatoon
- Thundercat, Nov. 1, Massey Hall, Toronto
- Lola Young, Nov. 1 and 2, History, Toronto
- Cindy Lee, Nov. 6, Massey Hall, Toronto
- Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, Nov. 8, Lunenburg Opera House, Lunenburg, N.S.
- Robert Plant, Nov. 10, Massey Hall, Toronto
- Lightfoot Days Festival, Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, Orillia, Ont.
- Old Man Luedecke, Nov. 15, Hugh’s Room Live, Toronto
- Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Legends Induction, Nov. 17, Theatre St-Denis, Montreal
- Jane Siberry, Nov. 22, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Victoria
- claire rousay, Dec. 3, Toscadura, Montreal
- Mac DeMarco, Dec. 4, Tide & Boar, Moncton
- Dijon, Nov. 3, Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver