MUSIC PREVIEW: 4/5 of Fleetwood Mac better than no Fleetwood Mac at all
Fleetwood Mac rolls into Rogers Place on Saturday night – on the band’s first tour without Lindsey Buckingham since 1995.
He allegedly wanted to delay the tour, while the others wanted to go ahead – well into next year. We can be thankful the latter crew won, because even though Buckingham won’t be on stage, four of the band’s legends will be – Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie.
The result is an insane itinerary featuring over 54 dates. Also part of the tour are Mike Campbell, longtime guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and vocalist-guitarist Neil Finn, who from 1977 through 1996 was a key piece of first Split Enz, then Crowded House. He also recorded a number of solo albums over the years since, and formed the Finn Brothers with his brother Tim. And then of course there was the Crowded House reunion in 2006, including two new albums. The man is a force by himself. Combined with Campbell and the rest of the Fleetwood Mac crew, and this will be a show for the memory books.
The show starts at 8 pm, tickets are $89 and up (BUY).
Thursday 8
Odonis Odonis – This industrial-punk band out of Toronto has had a number of critically-acclaimed releases, including their latest, No Pop. Their lack of fear for experimentation and pushing the boundaries of a genre they’ve basically created from scratch finds their songs mysterious and brooding, yet infinitely relatable. With Dead Fibres. Aviary, 7:30 pm, $10. BUY
The Sadies – This Toronto band, with their heady blend of rock and country, has released an uncountable number of albums from their founding in 1994, their first official release in 1998 (Precious Moments), to their most recent effort, 2017’s Northern Passages. When they’re not touring on their own material, they’ve performed as the backup band for Neko Case, and collaborated with other luminaries like Neil Young, Gord Downie, and Jon Spencer. They’re a bit ubiquitous, but then that’s no surprise given their musical expertise. Station on Jasper, 8 pm, $22. BUY
George Canyon – This Canadian country star was the runner up on television’s Nashville Star in 2004, and he used that as a springboard to launch seven full length albums since, and garner himself a whole host of Juno and Canadian Country Music Awards. Casino Yellowhead, 8 pm (Thursday and Friday), $66 and up. BUY (Thursday) BUY (Friday)
Friday 9
Classified – This Canadian rapper is no stranger to Juno awards himself. Tomorrow Could Be the Day Things Change, which was released just last month, is his 16th album overall. It included the track Legal Marijuana, his homage to the legalization of recreational cannabis – there’s a video for it, too. Union Hall, 8 pm, $46. BUY
Saturday 10
Glorious Sons – This Kingston heavy rock band have a pair of full-lengths, including last October’s Young Beauties And Fools. Even in this short burst of a career so far, they’ve seen nine songs reach the top ten of the Canadian rock and alternative charts, including 2015’s No. 1, The Contender. Shaw Conference Centre, 8 pm, $38.50, BUY
Sunday 11
We Are the City/Close Talker – These two bands are closing out a joint Western Canadian tour; the former is a Kelowna band founded in 2008, in the midst of releasing a pair of albums (the emotive and raw RIP, which will be released sometime in 2019, and the buzzy, scrappy, seat-of-the-pants At Night, which came out in October); the latter is a Saskatoon band with a pair of full-lengths. Temple at Starlite, 7 pm, $15, BUY
