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Musicologist: March 24–30
This week’s listings are definitely some of the most exciting in months! Obvious recommendations include Why? who play at the Silver Dollar on March 27; Basia Bulat, who plays Lee’s Palace on March 29; Owen, who plays El Mocambo on March 27; and The Roots, who play the Kool Haus on March 30. But those are shows that you probably already have tickets for. What you may not be so prepared for this week is the Pitter Patter Music Festival.
Occupying The Boat, Teranga, the Drake, Tiger Bar, Savannah Room, The Central, and Sneaky Dee’s (among a pile of other venues outside of Toronto in Peterborough, Lindsay, London, and Belleville) are over 100 bands, handfuls of volunteers, and the diligence of the Pitter Patter series father, Keith Hamilton. This is the second annual festival for the Pitter Patter series, and as Hamilton proudly states: “This year’s festival has expanded the radius of last year’s, growing from 9 venues to 17 without sacrificing the quality of the festival itself.”
With over 100 bands participating in the festival, Hamilton sighs at the question of which ones he would attend if he had free reign as an attendee. He does, however, list about 10 shows he is excited for, including an Anagram and The Mark Inside show at Sneaky Dee’s on March 27, The Rural Alberta Advantage and Great Bloomers at the Drake on March 27, Bocce and Beth in Battle Mode at Teranga on March 28, Hush Money and Terror Lake at the Central on March 29, and one with Two Minute Miracles, Proof of Ghosts, and Hamilton Trading Company (of which he is principle songwriter/performer) at the Boat on Sunday, March 30. His father-like love for the festival’s lengthy list of performers is not blind—the festival reeks of quality, making decisions for which shows to attend difficult to make.
Hamilton also comments on how the festival has successfully solidified the ethics of the series: “The festival operates without any sponsorship and is very artist-friendly.” What he doesn’t mention, however, is how participant-friendly the festival is—all shows are $5 and there is also a matinee all-ages event on March 28 at the Supermarket. The festival’s website includes intricate details of the 17-venue schedule, but don’t get overwhelmed! Truly, you can’t go wrong with any of the shows in the festival!
Full listings after the jump.
This Week
Monday, March 24
Raine Maida and Billy The Kid @ Phoenix, $30
Tuesday, March 25
Run With The Kittens and Sky Shark @ Cameron House
Idlers, Cancel Winter, and Years of Silence @ Horseshoe, FREE
Dave Borins @ Tattoo Rock Parlour, $7
Wednesday, March 26
Sons and Daughters and Bodies of Water @ Lee’s Palace, $13.50
Pacifika @ Lula Lounge, $15
Adele @ Rivoli, SOLD OUT
Richard Julian @ Courthouse, $10
Thursday, March 27
The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Great Bloomers, Sister Suvi, and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea (Classic Indie Albums Live) @ Drake, $5
Anagram, The Mark Inside, Lunchmeat, and The Salarymen @ Sneaky Dee’s, $5
The Vibrosonics, Still Life Still, and Boxes & Bags @ Rancho Relaxo, $5
Mantler, Maylee Todd, and Blinde Mule @ The Central, $5
Lupe Fiasco @ Circa, $22.50
Mr. Scruff @ Wrongbar, $20
The Arkestra Chamber and Gruvoria @ Lula Lounge, $25
The Speaking Tongues, Mariposa, and Obviously 5 Believers @ Tiger Bar, $5
Owen @ El Mocambo, $10.50
Roz Bell and Low Level Flight @ Revival, $12
Why?, Cryptacize, and Chocolate Robots @ Silver Dollar, $9
Foxfire, Fire Hydrant, Bass Lions, and Ruben O’Dell Barkow @ The Boat, $5
Clothes Make The Man, The Winter Gloves, The Champion Heartache, and Horses @ Teranga, $5
Malcolm Bauld, Ben Somer, Silver Speakers, and Zesty @ The Embassy, $5
The Liras, Fjord Rowboat, and The Craft Economy @ Supermarket, $5
In Support of Living and Rangi @ The Savannah Room, $5
Friday, March 28
Knock Knock Ginger, Sports: The Band, and Sean MacDonald @ The Central, $5
Beach House, The Paper Cuts, and Sing Leaf @ El Mocambo, $8.50
Kalimba Summit feat. Kahil El’Zabir, Laura Barrett, Njacko Backo, and Matt Smith @ Tranzac, $12
Crystal Castles @ Circa, $12
Paul Kelly and Patrick Park @ Lee’s Palace, $18
Acid Mothers Temple @ Horseshoe, $15
Ten Kens and Young Revival @ Drake, $5
Tin Bangs, Music For Animals, and The Hots @ Rancho Relaxo, $7
Bocce, Beth in Battle Mode, Sleeping Kings of Iona, and TMDP @ Teranga, $5
Pants & Tie, Fire Flower Revue, Evening Hymns @ Embassy, $5
Songs From A Room, Burrows, and Acres @ The Savannah Room, $5
Marienbad, Rabbit Season, Great Lenin’s Ghost, and Pink Dead Whale @ Tiger Bar, $5
Eliana Cuevas and La Plancha @ Lula Lounge, $20
We Are Wolves @ Sneaky Dee’s, $7
Saturday, March 29
Dukes of Archipelago, Ruby Coast, and Gavin Gardiner @ Drake, $5
Sights and Sounds and Dinosaur Bones @ Sneaky Dee’s, $5
Boo Hoo, Touch Me Airborne Plague, Radius & Helena @ Savannah Room, $5
The Love Machine, Arrows, and Camaromance @ Tiger Bar, $5
The Guests, The Racoon Wedding, Shotgun Jimmie, and Boo Hoo @ Supermarket (1 p.m.), $5
Basia Bulat, Katie Stelmanis, and Amos The Transparent @ Lee’s Palace, $10
Dala & Mark Weinstock @ St. Nicholas Anglican Church, $15
Holoscene, For A Minor Reflection, Now Yr Taken, Riderless @ The Boat, $5
Sailboats Are White, For The Mathematics, Finer Motor Control, and 68 Porno Mags @ Teranga, $5
Luke Doucet @ Horseshoe, $10
Idle Tigers, Inside A Mind, The Kettle Black, and Roman Pilates @ Embassy, $5
Love Kills @ Neutral, $5
OK Cobra, Hush Money, and Terror Lake @ The Central, $5
Sunday, March 30
The Roots @ Kool Haus, $36.50
Sunset Rubdown @ Lee’s Palace, SOLD OUT
Friendlyness & The Human Rights, Gordie Haley’s Everytime Band, and Waleed Kush @ Sneaky Dee’s, PWYC
Gary Louris and Vetiver @ Mod Club, $20
Emily Haines and The Soft Skeleton and Lyra Brown @ Phoenix, $24.50
Morcheeba @ Opera House, $32.50
Epilepsy Toronto Benefit feat. Jim Armstrong and The Sonic Deli Band and The Schomberg Fair @ C’est What, $10
Two Minute Miracles, Minotaur, Proof of Ghosts, and Hamilton Trading Company @ The Boat, $5
Barons and Lengthy, Thousand Dollar Wedding, Tropics, and Les Parallelions @ Teranga, $5
Thee Diet Pills, The Hoa Hoas, and Weird Weather @ Embassy, $5
Sing Leaf and Tom McCammon @ The Bread and Circus, $5
The Frequency, Cedar, and The DGB @ Savannah Room, $5
C-mon and Kypski, Slow Hand Motem, and Tacoma Hellfarm Tragedy @ The Central, $5
Nexux Percussion, Midori Koga, and Lydia Wong @ Music Gallery, $5-$20
Just Announced
April 12: Estelle @ Mod Club, $22
April 12: Grand Theft Bus @ El Mocambo, $10.50
April 14: T-Pain and Family @ Phoenix, $31.50
April 20: Soulja Boy @ Kool Haus, $32.50
May 23: Uh Huh Her @ Mod Club, $20
May 28: Rilo Kiley @ Phoenix, $26.50
April 7: Jens Lekman and Katie Stelmanis @ Music Gallery, $20
April 8: Jens Lekman and Final Fantasy @ Music Gallery, SOLD OUT (very few tickets will be available at the door, however)
April 10: Rock Plaza Central @ Sneaky Dee’s, $10
Anni Spadafora is a volunteer for the Pitter Patter Music Festival.
Photo of Amy Cole of The Rural Alberta Advantage by Nick Wellington.