Like most people, I try to eat well, but real life doesn’t always cooperate. That’s why I started looking for small ways to support my nutrition. Even the healthiest diet needs help. Without trying to evaluate what the best diet may be, being intentional with what we eat is often considered the best approach. As much as I’d love to live on ripple chips and dip, I know better. We all do. And yet, ensuring that all my meals are balanced is a struggle. If there’s a singular nutrition buzzword that seems immortal, it’s protein. Protein has reached peak everywhereism.…
Author: Aron Harris
The Manchester band celebrates their 35th year together with a new album and a North American tour. elbow have been somewhat of an enigmatic band since coming into public awareness. They’ve lacked a hit, yet they have a rabid fanbase. They have a number of various awards and nominations but only in their home country. elbow is one of those band you just discover, usually by word of mouth. I had never heard of the band prior to 2001, when they were in the support slot for Doves, playing at the Palais Royale. I checked them out to see if they…
Elvis Costello’s long career has spanned 33 studio albums, 6 live albums, 17 compilations, 6 tribute albums and 4 box sets. ‘Prolific’ is one of many descriptors of an artist who has held many job titles. Among them, Declan MacManus is or has been a singer/songwriter, record producer, author, actor, TV host, mainframe computer operator, and Officer of the Order of the British Empire. But on the recording artist side, between the years of 1977 and 1986, Costello released 11 albums. Some say these were the strongest of his overall output, which is a sentiment Costello may share based on…
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY MICHELLE BEATTY On July 25, 2025, The Barenaked Ladies made their hometown stop at Budweiser Stage in Toronto, Ontario, on their Last Summer On Earth tour, which featured the support of other 90’s heavy hitters Fastball and Sugar Ray. Fastball kicked off the show and set the mood with their cover of Tush by ZZ Top. While Sugar Ray really brought the heat with their very high-energy set; as their lead singer, Mark McGrath, made his way back and forth across the stage, making the crowd go crazy with his antics. He really knows how to…
Words and Photos by Mason Marreiros On June 24, 2025, BANKS took over Toronto’s HISTORY, owning the stage like no other. From opening with Guillotine, to closing with I Hate Your Ex-Girlfriend, BANKS commanded the stage, harnessing the audience’s love in every lyric. She engaged with the crowd of nearly 2500 on a personal level, stopping multiple times to interact with fans, before bursting into the next anthem. Between glistening vocals, electric dance moves, and stunning backing visuals, BANKS’ performance is one that will last in the heads of lifelong fans just as much as those discovering her through this show. BANKS is rounding off…
LA Indie Rocker Levels Up Making her Toronto debut back in January 2023, Sabrina Teitelbaum as Blondshell found a room full of new fans opening for Suki Waterhouse at the (then) Axis Club. Returning later that year to the Garrison, Blondshell since had to be upgraded from the (now) Mod Club to the Phoenix on June 16. The house was packed on the night, clearly demonstrating a new northern homebase on Teitelbaum’s tour to support her second full-length release, If You Asked For A Picture (released on May 2, 2025, via Partisan Records). Coming out swinging with 23’s A Baby,…
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY ANDREW WU Math-core rock band Dance Gavin Dance made their return to Canadian soil at HISTORY on May 29th in Toronto. The 4-piece band are underway in their North American Tour with an exciting lineup of rock bands: Dwellings, Belmont, and The Home Team. Aaron Marshall of Intervals made an appearance during The Home Team’s set to perform their collaboration track, Love & Co. All three bands showcased their entertaining brand of rock bangers, which got the crowd warmed up for the arrival of Dance Gavin Dance. The band members came out onstage with two inflatables of the mascots featured in their album…
On Saturday, May 25, Samia brought her Bloodless tour to The Opera House in Toronto as part of their North American tour. The historic Queen Street venue hosted a capacity crowd for the evening, which began with a stunning set from Raffaella. The NYC-based singer/songwriter showcased the songs Blonde, Buick and Grown Up from her two EPs, LIVE, RAFF, LOVE (Acts 1 and 3), as well as a handful of unreleased tracks. Raffaella charmed the crowd with her quirky, upbeat indie-pop tunes and between-song banter. The night marked Samia’s return to Toronto following her 2023 headline show at the same…
Words and Photos by Darryll Magboo Isabel LaRosa made her Danforth Music Hall debut on May 4th – never repeating venues for every visit, this would also be her 4th time performing in Toronto. The city’s edition of her Psychopomp Tour opened with a moody guitar set from her brother and longtime collaborator Thomas LaRosa, followed by a fun yet intimate set from Mercer Henderson. By the time the stage fell into darkness and Thomas with drummer Rhys Hastings took their places, the room was jolted into sudden cheers. Isabel stepped out in the same dark and elegant outfit she wore in her Burning music…
Dreamy-indie-rock-pop band makes a two-night Toronto stand. In support of the band’s fourth album, For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women), released on March 21, 2025, Japanese Breakfast does the double on May 5 and 6 at Toronto’s Massey Hall. Fronted by vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Michelle Zauner, the night opened with the first three songs from the latest album, which featured heavily. Californian indie-soul trio, Ginger Root is opening on the tour. Japanese Breakfast spends the next several months on tour, finishing the East Coast before shows in Asia and Europe, before finishing a West Coast leg in the…
Words and Photos By Darryll Magboo The Velvet Underground was buzzing with anticipation on April 22 as L.S. Dunes prepared to take the stage. After killer opening sets from From Indian Lakes and Night Sins, the crowd was fired up and ready. The noise only got louder when the band’s silhouettes appeared—and when Anthony Green hopped on last, the place practically exploded. The audience was more than ready for Violet. Green wasted no time, climbing over the pit to connect with the crowd before launching into Like Magick, a fitting start, being the first track on the album. His haunting vocals…
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY DARRYLL MAGBOO Beth Gibbons stepped onto the foggy, dimly lit stage at Massey Hall on April 6th to a wave of gracious applause—a fitting welcome for a legend long absent from the stage. Performing in support of her long-awaited solo debut Lives Outgrown, the show opened with the album’s first three tracks, slightly reordered but instantly recognizable to those who already immersed themselves in its spiritual, slow-burning world. Tell Me Who You Are Today set the tone with a ghostly calm, and from that moment forward, Gibbons became our guide through a set that felt more like…
THE Ultimate Rock Band from Canada Celebrates a Half-Century Rush was the first band I truly became a fan of. For music lovers who never crossed over into deep fan territory, let me explain what that feels like. When a fanatic hears the band that defines an unidentified sector of their soul, something is released. Call it passion or obsession, but when it hits you, your next actions are determined. You’ll find a way, through toil or moxy, to obtain every album you can. You plan around one or all of the band’s concerts. The intensity may waver, but decades…
Words and photos by Nicholas Vallee-Tourangeau. Neal Francis played The Axis Club on March 22 and showed exactly why he is considered one of the greatest live performances in the modern era of rock. Playing in front of a sold-out crowd, he and his band converted the room into a whirlpool of rhythm, soul, and psychedelic energies—half old and half new. From the first notes, Francis found his groove, his signature keyboard guiding the evening like a much-loved record playing live in the moment. The setlist spanned across his entire catalog, with Alameda Apartments and Can’t Stop the Rain, as…