Sonata Arctica perform live at The Mod Club in Toronto, Canada. Photo by: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Toronto was glowing with summertime vibes on a late September evening. City dwellers in shorts and tank tops strolled down College Street, as Heavy Metal fans lined up outside the Mod Club , buzzing with anticipation. The Mod Club, Axis Club to some, Mod Club to the nostalgic, is probably the most cumbersome venue for me to get to, but despite the logis

By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Canada - I was a little bummed that I didn't receive my meda accreditation for the Judas Priest / Alice Cooper show on September 29th here in Toronto at Budweiser Stage . However, I was fortunate enough to be offered tickets from a very good friend and for the first time in a very long time I attended a major concert not as a representative of LoudTO but as a fan along with my buddies A.J. and Mitch. The last time I was at Budweiser Stage was b

Chris Holmes performs live at The Rockpile in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Canada By: Michael Drukarsh - Once again The Rockpile became a portal in time as it brought the packed house on Saturday September 27th back to the 80s with a lineup of incredible hard rock bands that culminated with headliner Chris Holmes . Gypsy Brydge Gypsy Brydge perform live at The Rockpile. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh Warm up act Gypsy Brydge , out of Caledon Ontario, br

Narrative, and all photos by: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Canada - On July 5th, 2025, 50 thousand fans gathered for the Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne farewell concert in Auston, Birmingham. Another 4 million plus streamed it live around the world. Then on July 22, 2025, a mere 17 days later, the entire world gathered to mourn the passing of the legendary Ozzy Osbourne . Since the 22nd of July, bands around the world have been paying tribute to the Prince of Darkness. From stadi

Zero Tolerance perform live at The Atria in Oshawa, ON. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Oshawa, ON - The Atria in Oshawa, known for its relentless dedication to live music seven nights a week, was the battleground for the Zero Tolerance Death by Thrash Tour , and it did not disappoint. Presented by Toronto's live music promoter Neurotic Entertainment , and despite a modest turnout, the energy inside was volcanic, with three bands delivering a full-throttle metal

We Came As Romans perform live at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto. Photo By: Josh Friesen Introduction By: Jay Broderick Narrative and Photos By: Josh Friesen Toronto, Canada - 20 years ago, in 2005, Troy, Michigan gave birth to metalcore band We Came As Romans . Having released 6 albums to date, WCAR is gearing up to release their 7th full length ALL IS BEAUTIFUL... BECAUSE WE'RE DOOMED on August 22, 2025. On May 8th this year, the band released the single "bad luck", and s

Warmachine perform live at Monarch Tavern in Toronto. Photo By: Jojo Taylor Courtesy of Jojo Taylor from Blast Toronto Toronto, Ontario - There was plenty of stuff happening at the Monarch Tavern recently. Metal enthusiast and interviewer Belgian Jasper organized the second annual Golden Horn Awards. There were four bands playing on the bill, a short awards ceremony celebrating Canadian Metal and a raffle near the end of the evening. To get your raffle tickets, you had to d

By: Michael Drukarsh - You can't kill rock and roll and that was more than evident during the Back to the Beginning concert in Birmingham England honoring Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne. Part appreciation, part goodbye, the Back to the Beginning festival featured an eclectic array of bands paying tribute to the gods of heavy metal, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne. Taking place in their home town of Aston, the one day extravaganza showcased just how

Paradise Lost perform live at Lee's Palace in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jojo Taylor By: Jojo Taylor Toronto, Canada - Over the May long weekend (the unofficial start of Canadian summer), Toronto stuck around for a real treat. The UK Goth Metal Band Paradise Lost made a stop over at Lee’s Palace Sunday night. It was one of two Canadian dates on this tour and Canadian fans came from all over to see this band. I met one guy from Barrie Ontario, and another who flew in from E

Pierce the Veil perform live at Budweiser Stage in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - You ever get caught in a crowd where your "life experience" seems vastly superior? As I watched the crowd entering the main gates at Budweiser Stage for the "I Can't Hear You" Tour, featuring Pierce the Veil , I felt like John Oldman from The Man From Earth. Man, this crowd looked so young! And to exacerbate the situation, the photographers who star

Steel Panther perform live at Pickering Casino resort in Pickering, ON. Photo By: Jay Broderick WARNING: the following article contains vulgar language, and deals with adult subject matter. And even some adults will find this offensive. You have been warned! By: Jay Broderick Pickering, ON - The Pickering Casino Resort ... it's my first time at Durham Region's newest entertainment facility. Of course, I'm here to cover a concert at The Arena. It's The Northern Exposure Tour

Trivium close the night at Great Canadian Casino Resort in Toronto. Photo By: Felix Foxtail By: Felix Foxtail Toronto, Canada - The fusion of heavy metal and casino vibes made for a curious backdrop at The Great Canadian Casino Resort on Sunday night as fans lined up at the theatre to see this powerhouse lineup of Trivium, Bullet For My Valentine, August Burns Red and Bleed From Within. For the co-headliners, these two metal heavy hitters last saw Canada in October of 2022

Wednesday 13 perform live at Lee's Palace in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Spring time in Canada. It's unpredictable at the best of times, but 2025 has been downright freezing cold. As I stood outside Lee's Palace for the Wednesday 13 show at the Bloor Street concert venue, snow flurries are actually falling. What in the sweet name??? It's the middle of April for crying out loud!! I remember snow once or twice at Easter when I was a k

Warbringer perform live at The Garrison in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - Man, what a winter. The weather in Toronto has been brutal. The excitement of spring gives us hope as we yearn for warmer weather. Perhaps our expectations are too grand, but by now, I expect it to be in the high single digits (Celsius), but as I line up outside The Garrison for Warbringer's The Vortex of Violence Tour, the only vortex I'm feeling is the p

Heavy Trip perform live at Bovine Sex Club in Toronto. Photo By: Joe Taylor By: Joe Taylor (special guest contributor from Blast Toronto ) Toronto, ON - Black Throne Productions is famous for putting together amazing shows for people who love fuzzy and buzzy bands, if you know what I mean. On this night Ryan of Black Throne was able to showcase a band from Whistler B.C. called Heavy Trip and this was their premiere performance in the Big Smoke. Before I get to that story,

Chris Holmes performs live at Rockpile in Toronto. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Canada - Friday March 21 was the first of two shows at Toronto’s infamous Rockpile for the lineup of Skeleton Lake, Twisted Sista and headliner Chris Holmes making his triumphant return to the Canadian stage. Skeleton Lake Skeleton Lake perform live at Rockpile. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh Taking the stage first, Skeleton Lake , a stoner, doom metal band out of Oshawa,

Dream Theater performs live at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, Canada - It’s not often a photographer gets to be involved in the show, unless of course you're with Alice Cooper and that never ends well. Last night, yours truly had the honor and privilege of handing back the mic to Dream Theater ’s lead singer James LaBrie after it accidentally flew from the mic stand and smacked front row fan Davor square in the forehe

Korpiklaani performs live at The Concert Hall in Toronto. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderik (see what I did there?) Toronto, Canada - 888 Yonge Street. The corner of Yonge and Davenport near the heart of the city. The building that sits on this corner is known around these parts as The Concert Hall . Man, do I have a ton of stories about this venue. Like the story of when I almost died when I saw my first thrash show, Megadeth, at this very venue. Well, IT'S BACK! I

Apocalyptica perform live at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh By: Michael Drukarsh Toronto, ON - For the first time last night at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto, I witnessed a phenomenon that truly blew my mind! A heavy metal concert where 80% of the music played had no lead singer! Nita Strauss Nita Strauss performs live at Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Photo By: Michael Drukarsh Storming the stage with a blazing guitar, opening act Nita S

NAKEDBURN perform live at The Atria in Oshawa. Photo Credit: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Oshawa, Ontario - In 2023, a new band emerged on the emo scene here in Toronto. With an intention to fuse emo, alternative and hardcore sounds, it didn't take long for the members to click, and shit started rolling! With a handful of music videos under their belt, the band released their latest track "jaded" in November . Now as we are a month into the new year, NAKEDBURN is getting