Jennifer Finch performs live at The Opera House in Toronto, Canada in 2022. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick - The Ace of Cups, formed in 1967, were one of the pioneering all-female hard rock acts, sharing stages with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Jefferson Airplane. Admittedly, I'm not familiar with the band. Perhaps you are... perhaps you aren't. But I'll bet my bottom dollar that you're familiar with The Runaways, featuring Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie

Holywatr perform live at The Mod Club in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - It had been a long time since I last walked through the doors of Toronto's Mod Club. Long enough that I immediately noticed how much the venue's media protocols had changed since my previous visit. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, just different. Even getting through the doors felt like a new experience. Photographers were now required to check their bags

Mike D 5 D perform live at History in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Every Gen-X'er knows the Beastie Boys. And I'll go one step deeper and state that any Gen-X'er loves at least one track from the New York City Hip-Hop group. Regardless of your musical genre of choice, these guys were a staple on your boombox, Walkman, or at the neighbourhood party when the parents weren't home. I mean, at the end of the day, you had to 'Fight fo

AFI perform live at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Ashley Depaz By: Ashley Depaz Toronto, Canada - There are concerts you attend, and then there are concerts that take you straight back to a version of yourself you haven't visited in years. AFI's sold-out performance at Toronto's Danforth Music Hall was very much the latter: an exhilarating collision of nostalgia, catharsis, and the unmistakable feeling of remembering exactly why a band once meant, and stil

The Lemon Pistols perform live at the Rivoli in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Ontario - The traffic in this city gets worse every damn week. What should’ve been a simple drive turned into almost two hours of crawling toward Queen Street, thanks to a fire in Toronto's east end and the DVP closure that’s going to haunt the northbound commute for days. By the time I finally rolled up to The Rivoli, a venue I haven’t stepped foot in since ca

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats perform live at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats seem to always have carried an aura of mystery. An English psychedelic doom outfit formed in Cambridge in 2009 by Kevin (K.R.) Starrs, the band, originally went under the moniker of The Sharon Tate Experience before adopting the name inspired by Rusty Day, the American singer of the band Cactus. Uncle Aci

The Washboard Union and Guests perform live during Live Loud at Massey Hall in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall doesn’t host ordinary nights... and this one wasn’t meant to be! LIVE LOUD, in partnership with Matthew Perry House and Make Music Matter, brought together an almost impossibly stacked lineup of Canadian icons, rock heavyweights, hip‑hop pioneers, and rising voices. The mission: use music and storytelling to break sti

Breaking Benjamin perform live at RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Justin Michael Carriere By: Justin Michael Carriere Toronto, Canada - Wednesday September 9th marked one week since a huge storm tore through TO and surrounding areas leading to power outages, downed trees and many a cancelled show (RIP AC/DC at Rogers Stadium). So, it was understandable that there was some palpable tension as the early crowd filed into the RBC Amphitheatre under cloudy skies and

Faceless perform live at Tranzac Club in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Ontario - The future of music lies in the classic rock of yesterday as evident in the seven song set by Toronto’s very own Faceless. Consisting of high school friends (and full disclosure, a couple of former students of mine) Faceless performed at the Tranzac Club on Brunswick Street to help launch Project Metamorphosis. According to their website, “The Creative

Rob Zombie performs live at RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - As we were becoming men in the late 1980s, early 1990s, we spent a lot of time in our buddy Carey, or Jon's basements. Amongst the rituals was alcohol, watching comedy TV like In Living Color and Get a Life and of course, our fill of MuchMusic's Power Hour, an hour of heavy metal videos. As the 90s took hold, the Power Hour started featuring bands like

Vile Decree perform live at The Spot in Newmarket, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Newmarket, Ontario - The Spot in Newmarket continues to deliver loud, aggressive, one of a kind shows, and the lineup on Friday August 21st of Vile Decree, Hellseer and AAWKS was no exception. In fact, with this lineup everything was actually a little louder and definitely more aggressive. AAWKS AAWKS perform live at The Spot. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh Based out of Ba

Anciients perform live at The Garrison in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Ontario - A three‑band bill at The Garrison always feels like a rite of passage... sweaty, loud, intimate, and absolutely unforgiving! And Anciients’ August 20, 2026 headlining show turned that little Dundas West room into a furnace of riffs, screams, and full‑body energy, as is typically the case when Inertia Entertainment brings a show to the venue. Dawn of Ourobor

Deep Purple perform live at RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Canada - Three legendary bands, Jefferson Starship, Kansas, and Deep Purple, took to the stage on August 18th, 2026 and delivered sets full of 70s nostalgia sprinkled with a few new tunes that fit right into the groove of the night. Sure, one could argue that the bands on stage are not in fact “legendary” as members of each band have changed over the years

Dimmu Borgir perform live at History in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - History has become another favourite Toronto Live Music Venue of mine. Wait... who am I kidding? At this point, I can honestly say there isn’t a single Toronto venue I dislike. But History seems to bring a vibe all its own. It's an amazing space, plenty wide for us photographers to move around, even when there are 16 of us. The sound is superb, and the lighting

Killswitch Engage perform live at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Justin Michael Carriere By: Justin Michael Carriere Toronto, Canada - I think I’m love… with metal shows. I know what you’re going to say… “But Justin, you barely know metal shows, don’t you want to take your time before you really commit to anything…?” Nope! Metal shows give me the warm and fuzzy stomach obliterating, spine tingling butterflies and I can’t get enough! And this night was n

Foo Fighters perform live at Rogers Stadium in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Justin Michael Carriere By: Justin Michael Carriere Toronto, Canada - Foo. Fucking. Fighters. To be honest it’s hard to know where to start on this one… Dave Grohl, the original Foo Fighter, has been a pioneer in rock and roll for over 30 years and his list of accomplishments is absolutely immeasurable. But I will say one thing definitively… the man is a Bonafide ROCK STAR!! I can’t even begin to compre

Train perform live at RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - RBC Amphitheatre again... man, I love this venue! And while Foo Fighters are tearing up Rogers Stadium 34 kilometres away (JMC is there), I’m here for Train and the 25th anniversary of their hit album Drops of Jupiter. What a perfect day. The sun is shining, it’s very warm but not stinking hot, and there’s zero humidity. That outdoor summertime concert buzz i

Nicole Haber performs live at Kempenfest in Barrie, Ontario. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Barrie, Ontario - For those of you living in Southern Ontario and traveling north to cottage country on the long weekends, there is a good chance you are familiar with Kempenfest, Barrie Ontario’s signature festival event, now in its 54th year. Running through the Civic August long weekend, Kempenfest attracts over 100,000 people each year, so getting an opportunity to

Styx perform live at RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - A co-headlining night like this doesn’t come around often. A time machine that could take me back to the 1970s and 1980s would probably be the greatest trip ever. Unfortunately, science has yet to figure this one out, so the next best thing would be a Styx and Chicago tour, rightfully called “The Windy Cities Tour”. On July 28th, 2026, RBC Amphitheatre hosted

311 perform live at RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Justin Michael Carriere By: Justin Michael Carriere Toronto, Canada - The year was 1996. A young Justin and his friends had their rollerblades strapped on and were aggressively hurling themselves down staircases and onto hand railings. Getting themselves kicked off of properties and yelled at for all kinds of shenanigans, the one constant was the soundtrack on the boombox (yup, we had one), and a mainstay on t