I hope you all had a great Halloween and over indulged on too much chocolate. October was a tough month as we lost legendary singer/song writer and The Hip frontman Gord Downie as he meant a lot to me and I imagine to a lot of readers too. November things seem to be metaphorically heating up as there are plenty of fire shows this month in both big and small venues. I didn’t even include Arcade Fire, that’s how great of a month it is!
Macklemore @ Rebel
November 8th, 2017
$96.60-$199.50 | All Ages
People often forget that the artist behind Thrift Shop wasn’t just one guy, but actually a duo with producer Ryan Lewis making up the second half of the group. Ben Haggarty aka Macklemore has once again put out a solo record, Gemini, his first since 2005. Even though he is a near headliner with his partner, he is playing a much smaller and intimate venue in Rebel. Should be a wicked fun show if you don’t get stuck up about your pop music.
Rich Chigga @ The Opera House
November 9th, 2017
$29.50 | All Ages
Indonesian comedian/rapper Rich Chigga first made a name for himself with his video for Dat $tick but got a lot more popular when Ghostface Killah and other rappers made a reaction video that really propelled him to the mainstream. While most of his videos make him seem like a meme rapper, he seems to be wanting to make his career have more longevity.
Syd @ Phoenix
November 9th, 2017
$29.50 | All Ages
The frontwoman for the alternative soul and hip-hop group The Internet also has a funky solo project. A sometimes member of Odd Future, Syd released Fin earlier this year to much acclaim and an EP in September.
All Them Witches @ Lee’s Palace
November 11th, 2017
$17.50 | 19+
The hard rockers from Nashville mix blues with heavy metal for a unique sound that would have sandwiched them between Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath in the 70’s. The band just dropped their fourth record, Sleeping Through the War, and even though they aren’t exactly mainstream they are steadily amassing a cult like following. If you like to head bang to some sweet blues, this is your show.
John Carpenter @ Danforth Music Hall
November 12th, 2017
$160.00 | All Ages
Last LiL Coverage
Wait; is that John Carpenter the film director? Yup, horror and thriller maestro behind movies like The Thing, Escape from New York, Halloween and much more also scored the music behind all his iconic films. So the theme from Halloween that still causes you to be terrified is going to play it live, even if the holiday Halloween has already passed. This is going to be as fascinating as Hans Zimmer’s show earlier this year.
Bleachers with Bishop Briggs @ Phoenix
November 14th, 2017
$32.50-$50.00 | 19+
Your favourite female popstar’s go to song writer is Jack Antonoff who has his own band Bleachers after fun. disbanded a few years back and it is capital-F FUN to see live. He will be joined on tour by the next big thing in Bishop Briggs who already has a slew of hits under her name too.
Lisa LeBlanc @ Horseshoe Tavern
November 16th, 2017
$15.50 | 19+
The New Brunswick folk trash singer is fresh off a Polaris Prize Nomination where she made her mark on the Canadian industry. She sings in both English and French and is a rocking good time, it might be high time you see her in a small venue like this before she becomes the next Canadian icon.
Kamasi Washington @ Danforth Music Hall
November 16th, 2017
Sold Out | 19+
Washington has made a name for himself in recent years along with Thundercat as being the artists who made jazz as cool as it was in its prime. His sax playing can be heard on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly album and his debut The Epic was had an epically long run time of being over three hours but it still made almost every year end best of list. He’s just that good.
Jay-Z @ ACC
November 22nd, 2017
$15.00 | All Ages
After the very disappointing Magna Carta… Holy Grail from 4 years ago that was uploaded onto every Samsung phone (how come people don’t complain about this as much as the U2 incident?) I thought Jay-Z was done being relevant. Instead he basically put out his side of his wife’s Lemonade project with 4:44, his most personal album since The Black Album almost 15 years ago. He’s got the great up and coming rapper Vic Mensa opening, which will be a great old school meets new school show.
JUNGLE @ The Mod Club
November 7th, 2017
$26.50 | 19+
If you aren’t obsessed with JUNGLE yet then you haven’t heard them. They create the most infectious RnB/Soul/Funk music this side of Nile Rodgers. They are cryptic and mysterious and don’t give many interviews, nor do they use promotional pictures of themselves, but the British duo rather just let their music speak, sorry dance, for itself. Hopefully this means a new album is imminent because I’m craving more JUNGLE.
