This Friday night, Allie Hughes has a concert at the El Mocambo. You might not have heard of this homegrown singer-songwriter yet, but maybe you will sometime soon. Hughes has a dynamite voice that she can effortlessly shift from a gentle coo to an operatic cry while she sits at her keyboard, presiding over her rockin' little band. Her songs bridge an adorable gap between sassy and poignant, and the general vibe is along......

Aaaand, we're back! Live Baby Live had a false start a few weeks ago, but we're officially back in action now and have changed things up a bit. The listings will now appear on the site mid-week and run from Thursday to Wednesday. We're starting to sound like a broken record, but once again, there is definitely no shortage of recently announced shows this week. Good to see Brit 'it girls' The Pipettes returning......

On the way to the sold-out Bunch Family Salon at The Arts and Letters Club last Saturday, my eight year old son looks into the window of our subway car and sees an alternate universe; it's just us, but backwards. After he asks me to call him by his inverse reality name, "ttenraG," he ponders how my name would sound. Turns out that even in other worlds, my name is "moM." The Bunch Salon......

There's a breeze in the air, and a million things to do before winter wraps its claws around you. Get out there! - Shock and awk at the El Mo tonight, as unfunnyfunnyman Neil Hamburger takes the stage. 9pm and ten bucks. - South African hip hop phenom Tumi and the Volume make a double stop in Toronto. They poetry slam tonight, and play Harbourfront's Culture Shock fest for free on the morrow. They say:......

None of these things is just like the other, but here you go anyway: - My Parent's House, the new HGTV design show that sends twentysomethings back to live with their parents, and spar about area rugs accordingly, debuts tonight. Oh, and according to the promo copy, they also throw 'two hot, young designers into the mix,' for good measure. What's more, "the two work together with adult siblings to create high “wow factor”, city-style......

Forget what all those bleeding hearts tell you about the evils and soullessness of rampant capitalism. What capitalism really gives you is the freedom to choose. Take this weekend's music offerings. Tonight you can choose to see the Inbreds play a reunion show at Santa Cruz. You probably remember listening to them while you were smoking outside the school in grade 9. If reliving some of those high school memories might be too traumatic check......