We hope you enjoyed our list of our favourite albums of the past year. This year we decided to also include a list of our favourite shows as well.

Pierce

• Arkells w/ Sam Cash & The Romantic Dogs, Adelaide Hall, Jan. 30th
• Arcade Fire, Air Canada Centre, March 13th
• Toronto Urban Roots Festival (TURF), Fort York, July 4-6th
• Indie88 Birthday Party w/ Lowell, The Darcys, and Dan Mangan & Blacksmith, The Opera House, Sept 13th
• The Wooden Sky, Lee’s Palace and the Bike Tour, Oct. 17-18th

Andrew (2chainz)

This is in no particular order, asking me to choose the best concert is like asking to choose between Cheetos (The Crunchy kind if it ain’t crunchy I don’t wanna talk) or Doritos (mmmm Doritos). So I’m not ranking these shows they were all just so amazing!

• SonReal at Adelaide Music Hall:
  SonReal played to a packed crowd of devoted fans who knew almost every lyric. I had seen him perform once before when he opened up for Down With Webster in London. He was full of energy once he hit the stage and captivated the crowd with every song.
• D-Pryde at Adelaide Music Hall:
  Adelaide Music hall has quickly become one of my favorite concert halls in the city. D-Pryde played the Adelaide Music Hall with Crystaline for Canadian Music Week. He put on an incredible show playing songs like “Proud” and his cover of John Legends “All Of Me”. His performance of “All of Me” left me with chills from his incredible performance. He even had fans come on stage with him to help perform one of his songs.
• Shad at The Danforth Music Hall:
  This was my first time seeing Shad live before and I was not disappointed. It was also my first time at the Danforth I was not expecting how cool the concert hall was. We were standing at the back and we still had a great view of the performance. If you don’t know the Danforth slopes downward toward the stage giving everyone a great view. Shad came out and tore down the stage with his performance. He even spit a crazy freestyle where he had one of the sickest lines I’ve ever heard. “I’m a Benz in a city of Fords”.
• The Hill Top Hoods at The Hoxton:
  The Australian Hip Hop group was ready to take over the city of Toronto even for one night. I went to see there show after I had the chance to interview them. They are some of the nicest and coolest people I have ever met. I was actually put on to their music by one of my best friends. (Shouts out to Jacob!) Even though I didn’t know every song they performed they had me jumping up and down singing the lyrics. The packed crowd was partying and enjoying every song not knowing when they will be back.
• KYLE at the Danforth Music Hall:
  If you read my post about his concert then you might already know this was one of the best performances I have ever seen. His electric energy flowed through the crowd making everyone have a great time before Watsky came on. If people didn’t know who he was I guarantee after that performance people went home and googled him to listen to more music.

So there were so many other concerts that I saw this year that were just as fantastic. Like Brother Ali, School Boy Q, Portugal the Man, Travis $cott, Down With Webster, Honey Cocaine, Juicy J and if I missed any others I’M SORRY!

David

1. Phish – MGM Grand Garden Arena
2. Snarky Puppy – Ottawa Jazz Festival
3. Neutral Milk Hotel – Ottawa Folk Festival
4. Timber Timbre – National Arts Centre
5. After Funk w/ BlakDenim – The Rainbow Bistro

Marc

• Dwayne Gretzky’s “Fridays in February” Residency Series, February 7th (Ed Sullivan Presents: The Beatles) – The Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON
  • I think this may have been the first time I ever saw the legendary Dwayne Gretzky perform, and I was so incredibly blown away. Factor in the fact that it coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Beatles playing on Ed Sullivan, and the fact that Anthony Carone from Arkells made a special guest appearance, this was certainly a night to remember.
• Fast Romantic w/ Wildlife, March 21st – Call The Office, London, ON
  • Two amazing bands played a tiny little venue in London, Ontario, and the tickets cost very little. Bonus for me was that the place was mostly empty, so I had pretty much a private show, and plenty of room to rock out.
• Purple Finale ft. Wintersleep, July Talk and Special Guest Gentlemen Husbands, April 3rd – Mustang Lounge, London, ON
  • I almost missed this show because Western University doesn’t publicize their shows very much. 5$ got me in the door to see three amazing bands. July Talk was handing out free Jameson, crowd surfed, and then let Wintersleep bring it home.
• The Indie Blender’s 1 Year Anniversary Bash ft. Union Duke, The Treasures & Blue Sky Miners, August 13th – The Dakota Tavern, Toronto, ON
  • Okay, you caught me being bias. Still, this was one of the best nights of the year for me, so I couldn’t not include it.
• Bahamas, November 5th, Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ON
  • I don’t think I had ever seen Bahamas before. I have also never sat in DMH before. It was a pretty mind blowing and spectacular night.
• Honourable Mention (Major label):
  Arkells, November 29th – Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ON
  • I’ve seen Arkells probably 15 times in my life. This was their best show that I’ve seen. ‘Nuff said.

What shows did you enjoy this year? How did they change your life? Let us know in the comments section!