Slash's blues festival among Toronto's new summer live music offerings
There will be a record 80 shows at Budweiser Stage this summer alone
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Toronto’s outdoor live music season kicks off Monday night when Canadian rocker Neil Young and Crazy Horse open the Budweiser Stage’s outdoor amphitheatre before returning to the same venue on July 8.
But that’s just one of a record 80 shows at Budweiser Stage, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
“When (Neil Young) came up it was one of those things that just felt perfect,” Live Nation Canada’s President of Music Erik Hoffman said.
“It’s very appropriate to have one of the most legendary artists of all time (open the season). It’s a hot ticket so it’s great he was able to come back (in July).”
Hoffman said nothing will be physically different inside the 16,000-seat capacity Budweiser Stage, but with construction going on the Ontario Place site there will be no parking on the Lakeshore side and likely more traffic (due to the narrowing of the Gardiner Expressway), so he encourages concert-goers to use both public transportation and bicycles.
Parking will still be available on the CNE side and over at Liberty Village.
“It’s the toughest on traffic probably in the summer for Toronto in a long time, but it’s the biggest concert year that we will ever have had there,” said Hoffman.
“It’s going to be about 80 shows this year. Last year was 66. So it’s very significant. It’s definitely cemented us as the number one large amphitheatre in North America. ”
Of those, Hoffman said 35 are brand new Budweiser Stage headliners, including Canadian acts like Tate McCrae on July 27 and The Beaches on Aug. 22.
“Almost half the season will be new acts headlining for the first time, which is to me how you stay as relevant as ever,” said Hoffman.
Among the fast-selling shows of this summer across all venues are many two-night stands including 21 Savage’s May 25 and 27 at Budweiser Stage, One Direction’s Niall Horan, June 28-29 at Scotiabank Arena, Alanis Morissette, July 13-14 at Budweiser Stage, Jennifer Lopez, Aug. 2-3 at Scotiabank Arena, Imagine Dragons, Aug. 8-9 at Budweiser Stage, Avril Lavigne on Aug. 12 at Scotiabank Arena and Aug. 16 at Budweiser Stage, New Kids On The Block, Aug. 17-18 at Budweiser Stage, and finally Sting with a whopping five nights at Massey Hall on Sept. 20-22 and 24-25.
“I just think people’s relationship with live music has changed,” Hoffman said. “You could say because of social media and seeing these things online. And like the FOMO (fear of missing out) effect. People are taking in more shows than ever.”
There’s also the annual summer music festivals returning, like Canadian Music Week (June 1-8), Luminato (June 5-16), NXNE (June 12-16), TD Toronto Jazz Fest ( June 21-30), Born and Raised Festival in Montebello Park, St. Catharines, Ont. (July 5-6), Veld Music Festival at Downsview Park (Aug. 2-4) and Boots and Hearts ( Aug. 8-11) at Burl’s Creek in Oro-Medonte, Ont., the latter in its 12th year.
“I think the experience has a lot to do with (the longevity),” said Brooke Dunford, the talent buyer for Republic Live, owner of Burl’s Creek, which can accommodate up to 70,000 people.
“They come and camp for four days and we’ve seen our day tickets grow. It’s just about embracing what we call Boots Life of the country scene and it’s just a unique experience that we’re able to offer fans. Each year, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”
Otherwise, All Your Friends Fest is a new pop-punk festival including camping with headliners Billy Talent on Aug. 23 and Fall Out Boy on Aug. 23-24, also at Burl’s Creek.
“Similar to Boots, we really love celebrating a community of fans,” Dunford said.
“So based on artist availability and what fans are listening to right now, I think there’s just a need in the market. And we were excited to have enough bands come together to really celebrate that nostalgic era and they’re doing it in the U.S. and we’re seeing successful festivals run with this genre so it was just something that was the right time, the right place.”
Closer to home at Budweiser Stage, there’s Slash’s brand new blues-oriented S.E.R.P.E.N.T festival on July 28.
S.E.R P.E.N.T. stands for Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Peace, Equality N’ Tolerance and will feature the GNR guitarist playing with an all-star blues lineup including Keb’ ‘Mo, and Robert Randolph.
“It’s a cool concept because he’s obviously a guitar hero and it’s kind of a crazy list of names,” Hoffman said. “It’s not who you might think.”
And what about Drake’s OVO fest that’s often a staple over the August long weekend at Budweiser Stage?
So far, his OVO label artist PartyNextDoor has been announced for Aug. 2 at the venue, so who knows?
“I don’t ever know about OVO until I know,” Hoffman said. “We love Drake more than anything. He’s delivered the gift of OVO so many times and I have no idea.”
There’s also a brand new outdoor venue this summer with Barenaked Ladies, Sam Roberts and KT Tunstall on June 27 opening the 9,000-capacity The Bowl at Sobey’s Stadium at York University, which is a partnership between The Feldman Agency and Tennis Canada.
Following that, Shaggy performs there on June 29 and The Tea Party, Headstones, I Mother Earth, Treble Charger and Bif Naked on July 6.
“Located near major highways and the subway, accessing the venue is hassle-free, with thousands of parking spaces available,” the initial news release stated of the new open air venue.
Indoor highlights this summer include Snoop Dogg on June 12 at Scotiabank Arena, Roger Daltrey on June 14 at the OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino, and Rogers Centre shows such as Def Leppard with Journey and Heart on Aug. 2 and Blink 182 with Alexisonfire on Aug. 15.
“This summer’s going to be quite something,” said Hoffman.
Here’s Jane’s Picks below of 20 concerts to see over the next few months:
Neil Young and Crazy Horse, May 20 AND July 8, Budweiser Stage
Echo and the Bunnymen, May 23, History
Pixies and Modest Mouse with Cat Power, June 8, Budweiser Stage
Keith Urban, June 22, OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
Santana and Counting Crows, June 26, Budweiser Stage
Andre 3000, June 28, Massey Hall
Wilco, July 2-3, Massey Hall
Daryl Hall and Elvis Costello and the Imposters with Charlie Sexton, July 4, Budweiser Stage
Red Hot Chili Peppers, July 15 AND 17, Budweiser Stage
Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani, Jason Bonham with Loveryboy, July 31, Budweiser Stage
Green Day with Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid and The Linda Lindas, Aug. 1, Rogers Centre
Pink with Sheryl Crow, Aug. 14, Rogers Centre
Missy Elliott with Busta Rhymes, Ciara, and Timbaland, Aug. 19-20, Scotiabank Arena
Crowded House, Sept. 8, OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino
Jeff Lynne’s ELO (final Toronto show), Sept. 9, Scotiabank Arena
Pulp, Sept. 10-11, History
The Killers, Sept. 10-11, Budweiser Stage
Paul Weller, Sept. 13, History
The National and the War on Drugs, Sept. 20, Budweiser Stage
Ringo Starr and the All Starr Band, Sept. 22, Fallsview Casino, OLG Stage
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