A few years ago, Toronto had music festivals which offered music fans the chance to see a variety of bands from the comfort of their local bars and music venues. Well, guess what? Canadian Music Week‘s Music Festival is bringing that novel idea back. This is great news for live music lovers in our hood: get a wristband for $75 for access to all the clubs (except the Concert Lottery Shows – hey, we didn’t say this was the good old days), or just buy a ticket to a 1-night showcase at a venue (those seem to range from $10-$20).
We won’t go into a rant about the byzantine rules these festivals make up to keep wristband holders out of premium shows and get more money in the pockets, but there still are some good options here. CMW covers 10 days, including shows on 2 weekends, and several local venues are included on the schedule. Those local spots are The Painted Lady, The Garrison, The Dakota Tavern and The Great Hall.
As some examples of some of the great music in the neighbourhood, on Tuesday night you can find some of the best female musicians in Toronto. The Garrison is presenting a Toronto Women in Music showcase with this great set-list:
| Megan Bonnell | 9:00PM |
| The WAYO | 9:45PM |
| PROGRAMM | 10:30PM |
| Dirty Frigs | 11:15PM |
| Maya Postepski (of Austra) | 12:00AM |
| DJ Bambii | 1:00AM |
Just around the corner at the Painted Lady, you’ll find an aBabe Music showcase:
| Jesse Parent | 8:00PM |
| Bride & Groom | 9:00PM |
| Lobu | 10:00PM |
| Big Dad And The Pool Girls | 11:00PM |
| Big Name Actors | 12:00AM |
Read the entire schedule here and stop by some of the venues. Canadian Music Week runs May 1-10.
It’s May! Welcome to festival season in Toronto! Now get out there and do something!
