The Spoons at Sunrise Records

80’s band the Spoons were rocking at Sunrise Records at 336 Yonge Street on the weekend with a free concert in the store. The band is listed by Wikipedia as a Canadian New Wave Romantic Synth Pop Music group started in 1979. I think that they were eating in a KFC store in the late 70’s and decided to form a group named the Sporks but after careful consideration and sober second thought they decided to go with the more straight forward name, the Spoons.

Gord Deppe

Sandy Horne

They had a number of hit songs including Romantic Traffic, Old Emotions and Tell No Lies. Vocalist and bassist Sandy Horne and lead vocalist Gord Deppe were joined by Casey MQ on keyboards and Chris McNeill on Drums.

There were joined by Lemon Bucket Orkestra during the event, including this guy with heart sunglasses and a squeeze box.

Posted by Joe Hamilton.

V is for INXS

Canadian singer J.D. Fortune rejoins rock group INXS as they begin the Original Sin tour starting in Toronto on March 2, 2011. In the illustration above J.D. (right) is joined by sax-guitarist Kirk Bengilly who I think looks remarkably like the V is for Vendetta guy. It looks like he is ready to protest right now so I added his hat.

From Facebook "Toronto! INXS will be playing a show in Toronto at the Sound Academy on March 2, 2011. It’s their first show in Canada in over three years! INXS and JD Fortune will be playing songs from the new album ‘Original Sin’. Pre-sale tickets are available now and you better hurry because this is an event you do not want to miss! Pre-order your tickets here: http://bit.ly/fIM5yT".

Much Music: New Music Live

My daughter, Erin Hamilton, went to Much Music for the Feb 16, 2011 edition of New Music Live where she watched the punk rocker band Cancer Bats (pictured above) perform.

Erin also saw Ben Mulroney and later the American Civic Rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. walking through the control room (pictured above, walking away on the right side of the photo). The Reverend was in Canada as part of We Day celebrations in Kitchener. These are all Erin's pictures, seen below in stripes.

This post is supported by .... Concerts in Toronto.

2010 Cavalcade of Lights

The annual celebration of cold stuff and the interesting building that is the "new" City Hall provides plenty of sparkling lights and fireworks, although due to the proximity of all those windows and buildings the fireworks aren't like the big, exploding starbursts - more like giant streamers of fire.

Fireworks signal the lighting of the Christmas Tree.

Starting way back in 1967 this, the 44th annual event, is squeezed into the areas that are still in one piece around all the construction in Nathan Phillips Square. The stage is set up right in front of the entrance to City Hall.

They got the skating rink ready for the nights party.

Jam packed Nathan Phillips Square.

Debbie Travis poses for pictures with fans.

Debbie Travis will start off the night from 5:30 to 7:00pm, then the lighting the Christmas Tree, followed by concerts, fireworks and finally the skating party. Debbie Travis was sponsored by Canadian Tire who gave out free hats and scarves while Debbie posed for photos with fans (the pictures were printed and given to the fans). Musical guests are Shawn Desman, Divine Brown and Sarah Slean. There was also a really cool trampoline performance by Haut-Vol see my YouTube video here.

You can see more pictures of the night's fun after the jump.

The Fire Guy does a great show after the concert and fireworks.

The Toronto Star was giving out free newspapers - most of which ended up scattered on the ground.

You can see my pictures of the 2009 celebration here.

MLS Champ Show - Matthew Good

Matthew Good was a major part of the Major League Soccer (MLS) Championship free pre-game show held down at BMO Field.

We were also glad to see that the Toronto Sun had a number of Sunshine Girls - especially the beautiful Bud Girl.

Brian Melo in the Eaton Centre

Singer, Songwriter Brian Melo (http://www.brianmelo.com/) gets into the holiday spirit as he performs in Toronto’s Eaton Centre during the Swarovski Crystal (http://www.swarovski.com) Christmas Tree unveiling on Thursday, November 18, 2010. The former 2007 Canadian Idol winner went gold with his first album “Livin’ It” and he just released his second album called “The Truth”. Today they drop the curtain to reveal the extremely large and sparkling Wish Tree while a number of recording artists help to celebrate the event; from the Eaton Centre’s website:

THE SWAROVSKI

CRYSTAL WISH TREE

UNVEILING NOV 18TH 

HOSTED BY

Dina Pugliese and Kevin Frankish
from Citytv’s Breakfast Television

LIVE ENTERTAINMENT BY:

Brian Melo ~ 12:30 pm
Meaghan Smith ~ 2:00 pm
Andy Maize ~ 4:00 pm
Suzie McNeil ~ 6:00 pm

DON'T MISS
an exclusive Canadian-first
during the event unveiling!
6:00 – 7:00 pm

Photo Vault - Elton and Billy

I have fond memories of the 2009 Elton John and Billy Joel concert held in Toronto's Air Canada Centre and I wish Billy would come back again. I thought I would check out some of the pictures that I took and when I look at the crowds I am amazed by how many fans can fit into the ACC.

Here is Elton at the end of the show with some happy fans.

Canada's Walk of Fame Festival

I was waiting for my call to the 13th annual Walk of Fame but I must have missed the ringing phone. To honour some of Canada's true celebrities and others that excel in entertainment, sport and science we have the Walk of Fame event which includes a Tribute Ball, a free festival at Yonge-Dundas Square, concerts featuring the inductees, and the unveiling of the sidewalk stars around Roy Thomson Hall.

The 2010 inductees are David Clayton-Thomas, Nelly Furtado, Doug Henning, Clara Hughes, Eric McCormack, Farley Mowat and Sarah Polley. The Walk was started in 1998 and now has 131 inductees.

The free festival has started in the square and will continue to the 17th and will feature concerts by emerging talent from 12 noon to 11pm each night and a films at 9pm. I caught JRDN doing a few numbers at lunch time (pictured at top) followed by Jacynthe.

See photo's of Jim Carrey's star on the Canada Walk of Fame after the jump

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Hedley at Face Off

Hedley (http://www.hedleyonline.com/), one of my favourite bands, and certainly my daughter’s favourite band, was at Yonge-Dundas Square doing their sound check for Face Off. The area was just starting to get packed with people, including a lot of young girls waiting for the bands to play. I think Hedley will be back tonite at 6:45pm to 7:00pm for the start of the season opener hockey game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens.

From the Yonge-Dundas Square website: “NHL Face-Off is the NHL's annual season-opening event.  This year, the celebration comes to Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto on October 7, 2010.  From noon until the conclusion of the Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs game at Air Canada Centre, the NHL® will treat fans at Yonge-Dundas Square in Toronto to live musical performances with Hedley, Down With Webster, and Hey Rosetta!; interactive attractions that test hockey skills; prizing and giveaways, including a trip to the 2011 NHL Heritage Classic™; special guest appearances, including former NHL players; food, beverage and merchandise tents; and live CBC and VERSUS game broadcasts on giant screens, including the Yonge-Dundas Square video boards.  CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, Versus and the NHL Network™ will broadcast live from the event throughout the day, including portions of the CBC's pre-game show, Scotiabank Hockey Tonight, beginning nationally at 6:30 p.m. ET.”

Yonge Street is closed for the event with beer gardens and the main stage extending onto the road. Beautiful Bud Light girls were walking around posing with the crowd and there are plenty of contests and giveaways going on. Don’t forget, the festival and concerts are free.

Here is the lead singer Tim Baker with guitarist Josh Ward from the group Hey Rosetta playing on the Face Off stage later in the afternoon.

See more photos of the event after the jump.