•  2006-10-05:
  Beirut with Saffron Effect
   Location: Horseshow Tavern, Toronto, ON
   ... What kind of live performance could such a band provide? As it turned out, a surprisingly powerful one. ...
  
  

July

•  2006-07-31:
  The Hold Steady with Horsey Craze
   Location: Lee's Palace, Toronto, ON
   ...For Finn, the show was just another killer party where he was the host/main attraction. . It was his job to ensure that everyone in attendance felt eternally seventeen. And for the hour and a half set, everyone did. ...
  
  

•  2006-07-29:
  Waking Eyes and The Weakerthans
   Location: Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, ON
   ...With a flourish (and a promise of an album in October), the Weakerthans disappeared backstage, leaving the rest of us to bask in the satisfying afterglow of still-echoing guitar reverberation...
  
  

•  2006-07-26:
  Sunset Rubdown with Wil
   Location: Lee's Palace, Toronto, ON
   ...Sunset Rubdown provided some brilliant music that, although quite faithful to recordings, remained engaging and never suffered from "Loud CD Listening" syndrome...
  
  

•  2006-06-26:
  Raising the Fawn, J.Mascis, Feist, Bloc Party, Broken Social Scene
   Location: Guelph Lake Conservation Area, Guelph, ON
   ...The Grateful Dead having long been gratefully dead, it’s high time that Broken Social Scene be crowned the new kings (and queens) of the live performance...
  

•  2006-06-17:
  The Tragically Hip with Buck 65 and The Weakerthans
   Location: Guelph Lake Conservation Area, Guelph, ON
   ...the Tragically Hip are a great Canadian band, deserving of the name, steadfastly performing quality music with a heart and fervor that other bands could only dream of retaining. ....
  
  

•  2006-05-11:
  Moneen with the Junction and The Meligrove Band
   Location: Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON
   ...It strikes me as odd that a band would continually rewrite the same song over and over again, but it seems to work for them. ....
  

•  2006-05-10:
  Thursday with mewithoutYou, We.re All Broken and Minus the Bear
   Location: Saint Andrew's Hall, Detroit, MI
   ...If you aren’t a fan of the band or the overall genre, at least applaud Thursday for taking a new direction, and setting themselves apart from the rest of the Jersey emo-scene pack. ...
  

April

March

•  2006-03-08:
  Of Montreal with Pyramid Culture
   Location: The Mod Club, Toronto, ON
   ...but when OM weren't busy inventing
  zoological doomsday scenarios, or
  busting out into sudden covers of
  Europe's "The Final Countdown", they
  were inciting their own brand of mass
  panic...
  

February

•  2006-02-24:
  The New Pornographers
   Location: Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto,ON
   ...Live, the New Pornographers were a five-man, one-lady musical crowbar to the head: nothing flashy; incredibly solid; gets the job done; packs a hell of a wallop. ...
  

•  2006-02-22:
  Coldplay with Fiona Apple
   Location: The Palace, Detroit, MI
   ...Have you ever listened to a Coldplay album really loud, in the presence of others? If yes, then you didn’t miss anything...
  

•  2006-02-18:
  The Constantines with Jon-Rae and the River
   Location: Starlight Social Club, Waterloo, ON
   ...but the show failed to leave you with that definitive feeling of seeing a truly first-rate show; the kind that makes you want to run home and re-listen to all the band’s albums...
  

•  2006-02-13:
  Luke Doucet with the Machines
   Location: Starlight Social Club, Waterloo,ON
   ...Every nuance of Luke's voice can be heard, bringing a depth to his songs which no studio recording has yet been able to satisfactorily capture....
  

January

December

•  2005-12-13:
  Against Me! with Fifth Hour Heroes and The Swellers  Location: Call the Office, London, Ont.
   ...All in all, Against Me! left a lasting impression on the crowd, and in our hearts earned the exclamation mark they’re always throwing at the end of their name....
  

November

•  2005-11-18: Alexisonfire with Idiot Pilot, A Wilhelm Scream, and Receiving End of Sirens
   Location: Saint Andrews Hall, Detroit, MI
   ...when you combine onstage magic tricks, a bassist with innovative dance moves, and ridiculously short cut-off jeans, the show is well worth the price of admission...
  

•  2005-11-05: Belvedere with 30 Nights of Violence and The Fullblast
   Location: Call The Office, London, ON
   They proved themselves to be worth their hype, and hopefully the members will continue to put out quality music as they go their separate ways. Rest in peace, Belvedere...
  

•  2005-10-27: Broken Social Scene with Feist
   Location: The Majestic, Detroit, MI
   No matter what burden of work or school might have awaited you the following day, you couldn’t help but grin with giddiness at the incredibly display of camaraderie on stage, and be glad you were you part of it...
  

October

•  2005-10-22: Wolf Parade with Dante DeCaro and The Organ
   Location: The Magic Stick, Detroit, MI
   Wolf Parade’s set was an insane fusion of musical elements typically kept separate in tamer music. No instrument was left on autopilot: the guitar, keyboards, drums all fought to be at the fore...
  

•  2005-10-18: Coheed and Cambria with mewithoutYou, Dredg, and the Blood Brothers
   Location: The State Theatre, Detroit, MI
   The “CO-HEED” chants were plentiful until the opening lick of Welcome Home, the album’s Zeppelin-esque first single, lifted off Claudio’s guitar and into the souls of hundreds of musical miscreants. After that first riff, things got hectic...
  

•  2005-10-13: The Decemberists with Cass McCombs
   Location: The Phoenix, Toronto, ON
   ...overall, they put on a show akin to a rave-up thrown by a band of wandering minstrels on board the politest pirate ship ever to skim the salty seas. Truly, the Decemberists were meant for the stage...
  

September

•  2005-09-28:Metric with Jason Collett and The Lovely Feathers
   Location: The Wave, University of Western Ontario, London, ON
   The crowd began moshing immediately and did not stop till the finale. The opening song was a bit disappointing. Nothing exciting musically, but it got the crowd going pretty well (thanks at least in part to Ms. Haines shaking madly every time she sang “Shake your head, it’s empty!”)...
  

•  2005-09-25: Interpol with Boop Bip
   Location: Michigan Theatre, Ann Arbor, MI
   The music was brilliant, but the lighting’s role in making it a great show cannot be overlooked either. It added another dynamic element to the atmosphere that complimented the music perfectly. Turn on the bright lights indeed...
  

•  2005-09-21: The Organ with Gentleman Reg
   Location: The Avalon Front, Windsor, ON
   It could have been the Despair Heard ‘Round the World. Instead, it was very much your run of the mill start-up-band performance, as given by your run of the mill, Smiths-loving start-up, unversed in the ways of the Jedi Samurai seasoned headliner...