ZIMMERMAN’S COMING TO TOWN
Dylan’s gig just one of many huge concerts,
The big Toronto arena venue to which all big pop stars must inevitably ascend, has some very big shows bearing down on it this fall.
Rush: Oct. 14 and 16, $137.50-$157.50. Suburban Toronto’s enduring gift to total, worldwide rock ’n’ roll domination hit harder, heavier and more immediately than it has in years on this spring’s Clockwork Angels, a fanciful steampunk odyssey, which, unbelievably enough, was actually the first full-length “concept album” Rush has committed to tape in its 38-year career. These two hometown shows will be bonkers.
Bob Dylan: Nov. 14, $86-$114. The 71year-old Dylan sounds like one of those terrifying spectres who lurches out of a darkened doorway portending doom in horror films on the new Tempest. So, hey, caveat emptor! It won’t be light.
Metric and Stars: Nov. 24, $49.50$64.50. Metric has achieved the most unassailably credible underground-to-mainstream crossover in CanCon history, and the band’s widescreen Synthetica is built for the cheap seats. This hometown show will also be bonkers.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse with Los Lobos and the Sadies: Nov. 20, $108.25$273.25. Neil and Crazy Horse are about to release a double-LP called Psychedelic Pill. What more do you need to know?
Leonard Cohen: Dec. 4-5, $88.75$270.25. All hail the septuagenarians! Cohen’s last tour was magical. The ACC isn’t quite the Sony Centre, but he’s a class act, this year’s Old Ideas was a stubbornly strong source of new material, and, at 78, he will still unfailingly charm your pants off. — Ben Rayner