Sevendust with Crobot and Red Tide Rising – Opera House, Toronto – August 17, 2016
All Photos by Andrew Hartl
All Photos by Andrew Hartl
By Robyn Crosby
Photos by Andrew Hartl
www.drakeofficial.com / www.freebandz.com
This past Sunday, at Drake’s 7th Annual OVOFest, the crowd was more than amped for Drake and Future as part of the Summer Sixteen Tour. Drake opened the show and proceeded to attack a huge set list of approximately 50 songs, including his smash hits and songs from this year’s release, Views.
Drake promised special guest appearances and he delivered. He brought out, or rather up from the trap door in the stage floor… Rihanna.
She performed “Needed Me” and “Bitch Better Have My Money” before Drake came back and joined her to perform, for the first time ever together, “Too Good”. They also delivered “Work”. Like in other performances the pair wined together; they even shared a cute little moment when Rihanna appeared to mess up a part of a song. “That’s how you know it’s real,” Drake joked. The Barbadian also shared that she was usually in her native home this particular weekend for Carnival, alluding to how special it was that she was in Toronto and not adorning her usual beaded and barely there, Carnival costume.
Firecracker bombs, fireworks and smoke kept the crowd exhilarated during both Drizzy and Future’s sets. Drake had many visual treats as well. During the song “9”, the backdrop featured Toronto’s CN Tower. And at one point, lights from the ceiling came down to create a 6. He also took a tour around the Air Canada Centre on a floating-stage-plexi-glass-gondola.
The decked-out-in-Drake-apparel-crowd (there were regular merch booths as well as Drake’s OVO Store to shop at) was asked if they wanted the short or the long show, and were warned no one should be sitting down or looking tired. Loud shouts and screams ensured the long show was the only show the audience wanted. At about 11:35 Drake joked, “They want me off the stage, but I own the building,” as he teased about his many Raptors and ACC connections.
During Future’s set, Future and his DJ undeniably hyped the crowd. Songs included “Stick Talk” and “Fuck Up Some Commas” and he didn’t hold back when it came to more of the thunderous fireworks. Four dancers also brought heat to the ATL rappers trap music. Later, Drake returned to perform “Big Rings” and “Jumpman” alongside Future. However, absent from the collab was “Where Ya At”. But the autotune rapper did perform “Low Life”, a song recorded with Toronto’s own, The Weeknd.
After, Drake took back the baton to round out the night. Before launching into “Energy”, the Toronto native, took a second to genuinely take it all in. Throughout the night Drizzy had gone on about how much his city meant to him and the pride he felt. “I love you for real,” he said. The show ended with the song “Legend”.
With the exchange of love and appreciation from both the adoring crowd and Drake, he bestowed a message, “Use the hours of the day to protect the ones you love, we don’t want to lose any.” “Get home safe,” he said.
Earlier in the evening, Roy Woods opened the show.
Watch for video documentation to show up somewhere, as there were many cameras throughout the venue, including many shots of the crowd!
By Natalie Paterson
Photos by Andrew Hartl
The Molson Canadian Amphitheatre was unsurprisingly packed for an iconic Canadian artist on Tuesday night. It’s hard to believe one man can keep an audience on their feet and singing for nearly 3 hours, but Bryan Adams manages to do this consistently, and tonight was no exception. He was the first musical act to perform at the Amphitheatre on May 18, 1995, and just over 21 years later he’s back. Seeing him so comfortable on that stage adds another layer of awesomeness to his entire performance.
Promoting his 13th album, Get Up, the show featured tracks from his new album including “Do What Ya Gotta Do” and “Go Down Rockin’”. But it wouldn’t be a Bryan Adams concert without the classics, including “Run to You”, “Heaven”, and the ever appropriate “Summer of ’69”.
This isn’t the first time I’ve seen him in concert, so I knew what to expect. But seeing the range of fans that come out to his shows, young and old, for me always cements what a wonderful performer he is. Bryan Adams is a truly iconic Canadian artist, and just going to one of his shows is explanation enough for his popularity.
The Get Up Tour continues on July 27th in Quebec City at the Videotron Centre and continues across North America, Europe, and the UK through 2017.
Bryan Adams Setlist
Do What Ya Gotta Do
Can’t Stop This Thing We Started
Don’t Even Try
Run to You
Go Down Rockin’
Heaven
Kids Wanna Rock
It’s Only Love
This Time
You Belong to Me
Summer of ’69
When You’re Gone
(Everything I Do) I Do It for You
On a Day Like Today
If Ya Wanna Be Bad Ya Gotta Be Good
Back to You
We Did It All
Somebody
I’ll Always Be Right There
Please Forgive Me
Cuts Like a Knife
18 til I Die
The Only Thing that Looks Good on Me Is You
Encore
Brand New Day
C’mon Everybody (Eddie Cochrane cover)
All Shook Up (Elvis Presley cover)
She Knows Me
Straight From The Heart
All For Love (Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting cover)
Review by Samantha Wu
Photos by Andrew Hartl
Never in all my years of attending concerts at the Molson Ampitheatre in Toronto have I seen it as busy and as crowded as it was when Dave Matthews Band played there earlier this week. Though I showed up at the venue at precisely the right time, the crowd outside the gates was massive as was the line for the box office and will call. As I moved to join the line, I soon realized that it stretched past the Molson Ampitheatre entrance, across the pedestrian bridge and well into the parking lot for the BMO Field across the highway. Needless to say, I knew I would be stuck in this monstrosity of a line for the next foreseeable future and I’d certainly be missing the beginning of the show.
On one hand, it shows the impact Dave Matthews Band has on the rock music industry and on fans proving that the 90s will never truly go away. The people in the crowd ranged all age groups — children, teens, and millennials to baby boomers. From those who remember fondly albums like Crash and Before These Crowded Streets when they were released and had them playing on repeat way back when, to those who are now schooling a younger generation on just how great this music was and still is, everyone was in the audience for this show. If only everyone could just get to their seats on time.
It’s hard to say what caused this amount of chaos and confusion in the first place but from what I heard through the grapevine, it was that this show wasn’t using electronic tickets and all tickets had to be in printed form. The security team was thankfully sympathetic towards the discomfort and concerns of the crowd.
By the time I reached the end of the line and had my ticket in hand, it was already 9:30 pm, an hour had past since Dave Matthews Band had taken the stage and I had officially missed the first half of the show. For that reason, I can’t actually say if the show had started well though a few people in line at the concession stand said Dave Matthews and company played an outstanding set.
Taking a look at their set list, I’m sad that some of my favourite songs including “When the World Ends” and “Break Free” were played at the beginning of the show and therefore I had completely missed them. What I did catch, including “What Would You Say” and “You & Me”, was a lot of fun to watch. The crowd danced and sang along; it was a delight to behold. The joy of a Dave Matthews Band show is how communal the experience is, Dave Matthews himself is a warm and welcoming individual who invites the crowd to relax into the music and put their feet up. Each song performed starts the way everyone remembers on the album and then evolved into an organic jam session where everyone on stage simply let loose and had fun allowing their instruments to speak for themselves.
The crowd loved it and they grooved with it and I wish I could have been able to let go and enjoy myself more. Unfortunately waiting over an hour on my feet standing in the chilly evening air had taken up my reserves and I found myself too cold and enduring much pain and exhaustion to enjoy the rest of the show as much as I could have.
It’s alarming that this kind of situation had to happen that forced hundreds of people to miss a good chunk of the show, despite arriving at the appropriate time.
Set List
One Sweet World
When the World Ends
Seven
The Idea of You
#41
Death on the High Seas
Squirm
You Might Die Trying
Break Free
Lie in Our Graves
So Much to Say
Bob Law
What Would You Say
Samurai Cop
You & Me
Why I Am
Jimi Thing
Sexy M.F. (Prince cover)
Encore
Sister
Pantala Naga Pampa
Rapunzel
By: Kat Harlton
Photos: Andrew Hartl
Ellie Goulding brought her Delirium Tour to the Air Canada Centre Sunday night in a shroud of mystery and anticipation. Backed by beautiful kaleidoscopic images, a band, backup singers and a group of dancers, Goulding gyrated, danced, and jumped her way through a set that lasted over an hour.
Being only generally aware of her work, I was surprised and impressed by how fiercely independent both her and her music came across. Performing tracks from throughout her discography, it was Goodness Gracious from Halcyon that really started to fuel the crowd and provide the energy she sought. However, it was follow-up numbers Something In The Way You Move, and Outside (her collaboration with Calvin Harris) that sent the mostly teen crowd into a frenzy. Bringing the energy back down, Goulding then brought out her guitar and gave an acoustic performance of Devotion.
A highlight of the night for me was her performance of Army. A tribute to her best friend, she sang in front of large video backdrops featuring snapshots of them together, which then switched to display the ACC audience and their friends. I thought it was a really great way of incorporating her fans and giving them a moment to remember.
Goulding ended the night in a Raptors/OVO jacket while performing Anything Could Happen and Love Me Like You Do (from the Fifty Shades Of Grey soundtrack) in front of video screens displaying rainbow colored hands shaped in the form of a heart, as confetti rained down from the ceiling.
Goulding brought nothing but love for her craft and for her fans this past Sunday night, and it was just what Toronto needed.
By Natalie Paterson
Photos by Andrew Hartl
http://www.carrieunderwoodofficial.com/
The Air Canada Centre was packed with loud, dancing country fans as Carrie Underwood took over for her Storyteller Tour on Saturday night. And I have to say, it was an incredible show.
Starting the night off with The Swon Brothers, these Oklahoma brothers brought the crowd to their feet with loud, rocking country music. I’ve been watching them since their debut on The Voice and they bring all the excitement to the stage you might expect. They even signed a guitar and gave it away to a young girl in the crowd. Talk about walking away with a souvenir!
Next up was Easton Corbin. His was a more traditional brand of country, featuring fiddles and banjos on stage while he tickled the crowd’s ears. He was able to maintain the same amount of energy that The Swon Brothers started, and kept it going for the main attraction: Carrie Underwood.
Put simply, she is incredible. She knows how to take command of a stage and a crowd, and knows how to keep that crowd on their feet and dancing. When she sang some of her most beloved songs, I got chills. She even did a touching rendition of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You”, along with a loving tribute to her son and husband, after telling the crowd she met him in Toronto eight years prior during another of her earlier concerts.
Carrie Underwood’s The Storyteller Tour continues until August 31st. See her on this tour if you can!
Carrie Underwood Setlist
Encore
Review by Samantha Wu
Photos by Andrew Hartl
http://www.rickymartinmusic.com
The name Ricky Martin is often seen paired in print with the words “Latin heartthrob”. The Puerto Rican singer has made many a fan, regardless of gender, weak in the knees throughout his lifelong career — from his prepubescent years as a member of the all-boy pop group Menudo to “Livin La Vida Loca” in 1999. This week, Martin made a stop at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto during his One World tour playing to a packed house of fans.
Kicking off the night’s performance was fellow Puerto Rican, reggaeton artist Wisin, whose brand of sensual dance floor destined tracks, fueled with Latin and Caribbean beats, did a great job of hyping the crowd. It was a rather impressive stage show that combined projections, sexy dancers and a simply infectious vibe. Wisin’s music is akin to the artist Pitbull, neither of which is the kind of music I’d normally gravitate to, but even I found myself grooving in my seat.
When Martin took the stage, he did fine work in entertaining both the native Spanish speaking fans — with songs like “Vuelve” and “Adiós” — who had followed his career from early on, and the English speaking fans who may have heard of Martin’s music in the past but didn’t have an English album to call their own until 1999 when he released his self-titled one. At least, that was my introduction to his music. And though it’s been just over 15 years since that release, it was a lot of fun to see those songs performed live, including “Shake Your Bon Bon” and an unexpected down tempo version of “She Bangs” paired with some sexy cabaret and burlesque influenced dance moves from a few of his female backing dancers.
Unfortunately, there were a few moments that struck an off chord with me — in particular the way Martin kicked off his performance of ” Livin La Vida Loca” with a direct nod to Ford Mustang. The audience was inundated with a sleek on-screen car ad for the convertible before Martin launched into the song with the aforementioned car as the main set piece utilizing the vehicle in a “Greased Lightning”-esque manner. During the performance, the overhead screens were emblazoned with the convertible’s grill and the classic Mustang logo. It was an interesting corporate nod to have such blatant product placement during his most iconic song.
There was another moment when Martin promoted his charity, the Ricky Martin Foundation, to help children’s aid in third world nation, which is highly commendable and not the first time an artist has used a concert as a platform to promote charitable work. However, Martin approached this plug by first showing a World Vision-like ad to vaguely explain the charity’s efforts, and later flashed his website link on the screens. It is my opinion that Martin is right there armed with a microphone and, rather than overtly advertising his foundation to the crowd, he could have taken a few moments to talk about it and address the audience candidly regarding the foundation’s efforts… but I digress.
On a more positive note, the moment the show truly came to life for me was during Martin’s finale where he performed a number of mash-ups that worked in a few of my favorites like “María,” which featured a solo from one gorgeous salsa dancer. At this point, Martin began to truly engage the audience rather than coming off as somewhat disconnected. He snapped photos of the audience, encouraged a cheer-off from the crowd, acknowledged the various flags in the crowd (mostly from South American countries) and commented on the power of music to bring nations together. Most importantly, he encouraged the crowd to throw their cares and worries aside and dance freely.
As the final song of his encore, Martin continued to bring the house down with what has to be his most celebratory track, “La Copa de la Vida” (“The Cup of Life”) which served as the anthem for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. It was the best way to cap off the show — by having the crowd wish it wasn’t over. Alas, it was and the crowd departed with Martin’s video for “La Mordidita” playing in the background.
The show ended rather early and it was clear the departing crowd wasn’t done with their evening. Taking Martin’s advice to dance without a care in the world, people took to the streets to dance into the night accompanied by a busker drumming along to classic rock songs on his iPod. A truly poetic end to the night.
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