From The Ticket Stub Vault: The Who

October 9, 1982 (Exhibition Stadium Toronto) This was the second time I saw The Who, the first being two years earlier at The Montreal Forum. This 1982 tour was supposedly the farewell tour, but we all know that didn’t last. In fact, The Who returned to Toronto just two months later to play Maple Leaf [...]

From The Ticket Stub Vault: Barenaked Ladies

February 16, 2007 (Air Canada Centre, Toronto) Ah, those were the good ol’ days. I considered myself a long-time fan of the band but this was the first time I had a chance to see them live. Touring behind the companion discs of Barenaked Ladies Are Me and Barenaked Ladies Are Men, the (then) five-piece [...]

From The Ticket Stub Vault: Tears For Fears

June 3, 1985–Ottawa Civic Centre For me, the summer of 1985 is one I’d like to forget mostly because I spent the bulk of it unemployed, but not for lack of trying. The job offers weren’t coming my way; just plenty of rejection letters. While watching Live-Aid was certainly a highlight, the rest of the [...]

Steely Dan: November 25, 2009–Massey Hall, Toronto

If it was up to the capacity crowd last night, Steely Dan’s performance would have lasted well-beyond the just over two hours that partners in crime Walter Becker and Donald Fagen and their 11-piece band performed. It was that good. As advertised, it was Aja night, with set one being a performance of the classic [...]

From The Ticket Stub Vault: Paul McCartney

October 10, 2005–Air Canada Centre, Toronto In stores today, Good Evening New York City, is a cd/dvd chronicle of McCartney’s July 2009 performance at Citi Field in NYC. The release of this album got me thinking back to a night just over four years ago when Mrs. B and I saw McCartney live in T.O [...]

From the Ticket Stub Vault: Elton John

Elton John–November 4th, 2006 (Air Canada Centre, Toronto) Third time seeing Reg, and it far outshined the previous two occasions. The first time was in 1980 with opener Judy Tzuke (who you ask? Exactly. Actually, she was signed to Elton’s Rocket Records label at the time. Guess Elton was hoping to give her career a [...]

KISS: October 2, 2009 Air Canada Centre, Toronto

Thirty-two years. That’s how long it’s been since I last witnessed the spectacle that is a KISS concert. Back in the late 70s, I was totally into this band. I liked the music (and it’s still a guilty pleasure) and while I didn’t buy the dolls or the makeup kits I did have my fair [...]

From The Ticket Stub Vault: Garland Jeffreys

February 28, 1987 (Club Soda, Montreal) New Yorker Garland Jeffreys is one of a long line of performers who, despite being a favourite of critics, just never made it big commercially. With a distinctive voice and songs that combine elements of rock, reggae, jazz and other influences, his music has never fit snuggly into one [...]

From The Ticket Stub Vault: Van Halen (or is it Van Hagar?)

August 20, 1986 (Montreal Forum) Following the much publicized departure of David Lee Roth from Van Halen in 1985, the band was soon joined on the frontlines by singer and guitarist Sammy Hagar. Hagar had enjoyed moderate success both as a member of Montrose and as a solo artist (“I Can’t Drive 55“) The first [...]

From The Ticket Stub Vault: The Graceland Tour

June 25, 1987 (Montreal Forum) In August of 1986, Paul Simon released what was to become his most popular album (and one of the best albums of the decade, period), “Graceland“. It was a huge international hit, spawning a number of hit singles and winning Grammys for Album of the Year and Record of the [...]