March 16, 2022
Pigs - Canada's Pink Floyd Tribute
The Pink Floyd tribute band Pigs - Canada's Pink Floyd Tribute, will be in Montreal on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at the Rialto Theatre (5723 Park Ave, Montreal) to present their COMING BACK TO LIFE TOUR 2022.
Formed in 2008 in Victoria, British Columbia, Pigs have been amazing audiences ever since with their dynamic re-creation of one of the world’s favourite rock groups.
Pigs’ claim to fame is their authenticity, which means looking, sounding and feeling like the real Pink Floyd in their hey-day: the ’70s. Audiences can expect long, pyschedelic jams to such songs as ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ and ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun’ as well as impassioned performances of emotional material like ‘Comfortably Numb’ and ‘Us and Them’.
This concert was originally scheduled for 2020 and postponed to Saturday, April 2, 2022, but will now be taking place on Saturday, May 7, 2022. You do not need to exchange your ticket, as it will be valid for the new date.
Show at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $54 to $61, available through Ticketpro. Presented by Ghostfingerproductions.com.
April 18, 2022
Pineapple Thief in Montreal!
British prog rock band The Pineapple Thief featuring Gavin Harrison, will be at L'Astral (305 Ste-Cathrrine West, Montreal) on Sunday, May 8, 2022, to present the music of their 2020 album Versions of the Truth, with opening band Karcius ! :D
Check-out the Versions of the Truth video clip from the album of the same name.
Doors at 7:00 PM, show begins at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available through evenko. The Pineapple Thief will also be on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City and Wednesday, May 11, 2022 at the Bronson Center in Ottawa.
April 9, 2022
Time for Pink Floyd in St-Eustache
Don't miss the brillant Pink Floyd tribute show Time For Pink Floyd on Saturday, May 7, 2022 at Billard Le Patriote, 215 St-Laurent (Saint-Eustache).
Doors at 7:00 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $37, available through LePointDeVente.
February 25,2022
Martin Levac back in concert!
Martin Levac announces a series of shows this spring!
"We're back on the road! 2 years ago, our lives shifted into unknown territories. We stayed in touch as best we could with Facebook live shows, with videos, and with messages on social medias.
After these two long years, I hope from the bottom of my heart that you are up to see live music again and that you will be there so that we can finally share our music onstage! The venues are ready to welcome you and I am ready to take you on a trip to the land of nostalgia!
It will be an awesome spring!"
Martin will be performing at:
Hector-Charland Theater in L'Assomption
Symphonic Rock show
Sunday April 24, 2022 at 2:00 p.m.
https://hector-charland.com/programmation-spectacles/show-rock-symphonique/
Salle André-Mathieu in Laval
Phil Collins & Genesis show
Friday, April 29, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.
https://www.co-motion.ca/spectacles/martin-levac-phil-collins-et-genesis/
December 15, 2021
Riverside at the Corona Theatre
Legendary polish proggers Riverside will be at the Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame Street West, Montreal) on Saturday, April 23, 2022 with very special guest Randy McStine.
Doors at 7:00 PM, show at 8:00 PM, tickets available through evenko.
June 14, 2021
Apocalyptica with Lacuna Coil
Finnish band Apocalyptica will be at the Mtelus Metropolis (59, rue Catherine est, Montreal) on Wednesday May 4, 2022, as part of their "Cell-O" tour with the Italian group Lacuna Coil as the opening act.
The show initially scheduled for May 23, 2020 at Mtelus, then postponed to September 7, 2021 at Mtelus, will be postponed again to May 4, 2022 and tickets already issued will be accepted for the new date.
Tickets available through evenko/Ticketmaster.
April 18, 2022
Behemoth & Arch Enemy at the MTelus Metropolis
A great evening of heavy metal with Behemoth & Arch Enemy at the MTelus Metropolis (59 Ste-Catherine Steet East, Montreal) on Tuesday, April 26, 2022, with opening bands Napalm Death & Unto Others.
Show begins at 6:30 PM. Tickets are $61, available through Ticketmaster.
March 8, 2022
Judas Priest at Place Bell in Laval -
new date and new special guest
The Judas Priest that was supposed to take at Place Bell in Laval on Thursday, November 4, 2021 has now been rescheduled to Monday, April 11, 2022 with none other than Queensrÿche as the opening act!
One of heavy metal’s all-time greats, Judas Priest, will finally get the opportunity to celebrate their 50th anniversary this year with the launch of a North American tour this fall. The 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour will also feature Sabaton as openers and is being fueled by the highest charting album of Priest’s career, Firepower, which peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200.
Few rock or metal acts remain as much of a must-see live attraction as Judas Priest. Having been forced off the road for over a year, Priest will soon make a most-welcomed return to metalheads, with the 50 Heavy Metal Years Tour.
Doors at 6:30 PM, show at 7:30 PM, tickets available through evenko.
March 8, 2022
Stick Men in Montreal
Instrumental power prog trio Stick Men will be in Montreal on Tuesday April 12, 2022 at the Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent Blvd).
Tony Levin, Markus Reuter, Pat Mastelotto will play fan favorites as well as new music from their upcoming studio album.
Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets available through LePointDeVente.
December 15, 2021
Brit Floyd at Place des Arts
Don't miss "The World's Greatest Pink Floyd show, Brit Floyd" at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
Brit Floyd presents their brand new production, Echoes 2020. Including material from The Wall, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Division Bell, as well as a sensational 23 minute “note for note” performance from the iconic song Echoes, composed 50 years ago and taken from the Pink Floyd Meddle album.
Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Brit Floyd's show which was scheduled to take place on April 14, 2021 has been rescheduled on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Ticket holders are requested to keep their original tickets as they will be honored.
Doors at 7:15 PM, show at 8 PM, tickets available through evenko.
November 28, 2021
The Musical Box presents
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - Contest winner
A new date has been added for Montreal's legendary Genesis Tribute band The Musical Box, who will present their show "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place des Arts, on Friday, April 8, 2022 and now also on Saturday, April 9, 2022.
The contest for a pair of tickets to the new April 9 show has ended and we have a winner!
Congratulations to Wade Williams of Pointe Claire !
Thanks to all who have participated and a big thanks to evenko for the great prize!
It is Here! It Is Now! Don't miss the original 1974-75 show, recreated in every detail, licenced by Genesis and Peter Gabriel.
Doors at 7:15 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets for the added Saturday, April 9, 2022 show are available through evenko.
January 1st, 2022
Saucerful of Secrets with Nick Mason - postponed
The concert with Nick Mason, drummer and founding member of Pink Floyd, with his Saucerful of Secrets band on their North American "The Echoes” Tour at Théâtre St-Denis (1594 Saint Denis Street) on Wednesday, January 19, 2022 has been postponed to a later date to be announced shortly. Keep your tickets as they will be honored for the new date.
They will be performing the music of early Pink Floyd, including material from Meddle.
“We enjoyed our 2019 tour in America so much,” Mason says in a statement. “We’re happy to be back at it and playing Pink Floyd music fans may have never had the chance to experience live.”
The group was formed in 2018 by Mason, Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, former Pink Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, guitarist Lee Harris, and keyboardist Dom Beken. The plan from the very beginning was to play only songs Pink Floyd recorded before Dark Side of the Moon turned the band into superstars.
September 19, 2021
Tramp Of The Century
presents the Breakfast in America tour
In 1979, Breakfast in America was one of the most popular albums on the planet, with over 20 million copies sold. Sales in Canada were equally strong with over a million copies sold, including more than 400,000 in Quebec. The same year, Supertramp organized a huge tour in Europe and North America. It was during this tour that the album "Live in Paris" was recorded. It was the same year that Montreal welcomed the British group to Parc Jarry for two grandiose shows, featuring Jean-Luc Ponty as the opening act, which still mark the imaginations of fans today who were fortunate enough to attend.
The Supertramp tribute group Tramp of the Century wants to allow its fans to relive this period when, both on record and on stage, the members of Supertramp were at their peak. With great attention to detail in interpreting this magnificent music with authenticity and energy, Tramp of the Century invites you to a brand new show paying homage to those wonderful nights under the stars, The Breakfast In America tour of 1979.
Tramp of the Century will be performing:
at Club Dix-30 in Brossard
Saturday, March 26, 2022
February 20, 2022
An Evening with Bruce Dickinson
Metal legend and lead singer of Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson will be at the MTelus Metropolis (59 Ste-Catherine East, Montreal) on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, to present his spoken word and Q&A tour on the road.
Split into two parts, the first section of the show sees Bruce taking a humorous and often satirical look at the world from his own very personal perspective, treating the audience to private insights into his drive and ambition, peppered with plenty of Maiden anecdotes, and a myriad of other experiences encompassing not just the giddy heights but also the extreme lows, told first-hand in his inimitable anarchic style, punctuated with photographs and sometimes even erupting into song a-capella, to illustrate a point.
The final section of the evening is devoted entirely to a Q&A session, with the opportunity to pose questions on any subject whatsoever. As Bruce’s answers will all be completely improvised – the more left-field and quirky the question, the more interesting and compelling the response is likely to be!
Doors at 6:30 PM, show begins at 8:00 PM. Tickets are available through evenko.
February 5, 2021
Time for Pink Floyd in St-Lazare
The Pink Floyd tribute band Time For Pink Floyd will be at Bar Chez Maurice (1897 Chemin Ste-Angélique, Saint-Lazare) on Saturday March 12, 2022.
Doors at 8:00 PM. show at 9:00 PM. Tickets are $35, available through the Bar Chez Maurice box office.
February 5, 2022
Karcius in Repentigny
To celebrate the launch of their new album Gray White Silver Yellow & Gold, Karcius will present a show at the Théâtre Alphonse-Desjardins in Repentigny on Friday March 18, 2022 - Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $15, available through the Théâtre Alphonse-Desjardins box office.
November 23, 2021
Dream Theater in Laval: New date
A new date has been confirmed for the Dream Theater concert at Place Bell in Laval originally scheduled for November 17, 2021, is rescheduled to Tuesday, March 1, 2022 as part of their Top of the World Tour with opening band Arch Echo. Original tickets are still valid for this new date.
Dream Theater will release their latest album entitled A View from the Top of the World on October 22, 2021. The band, comprised of James LaBrie, John Petrucci, Jordan Rudess, John Myung and Mike Mangini ‚was in the middle of a sold-out world tour in support of their last release Distance Over Time and the 20th anniversary of Scenes From A Memory when the Global COVID19 Pandemic brought the world to a stop. The musicians found themselves at home with LaBrie in Canada and the rest of the group in the States. As fate would have it, they had just finished construction on a combination live recording studio, rehearsal space, control room, equipment storage, and creative hive. With LaBrie in Canada, he initially wrote with the band via ZOOM on a monitor. In March 2021, he flew down to New York, quarantined, and recorded his vocals face-to-face with Petrucci. The album ultimately threaded together lean and uncompromising hooks with tried-and-true technical proficiency.
August 6, 2021
Liquid Tension Experiment - A review
Here's a quick review of Liquid Tension Experiment 3:
Fans of Liquid Tension Experiment have always hoped for a reunion after the band's two stellar releases in 1998 and 1999, but as the decades passed, It seemed more and more unlikely.
But late last year, to the surprise of all, Mike Portnoy announced that the group had gathered again – in the Dream Theater studios no less – to record the third opus of the mighty LTE. They had confined themselves in order to work together in the studio. LTE3 was released in mid-April this year.
This third new album captures the spontaneity, energy and originality of their first one, and I must admit, is far better than their second one. The quartet as always, puts the accent on impressive instrumentation and blistering virtuosity throughout the album, which is composed of a solid selection of fiery, energetic numbers, ballads and improvisations. Some of the compositions have riffs directly lifted from Petrucci's Dream Theater library of melodies! It was no surprise that their famed interpretation of "Rhapsody In Blue" by Gershwin was featured on this album, as they had introduced it during their US tour in 2008 much to their fan's delight!
The group also released promo videos for the songs The Passage of Time, Beating the Odds and Hypersonic. The regular edition of LTE3 contains eight tracks; the special edition with bonus disc comes with almost one hour of improvisations. It was released in digital, CD, LP and Blu-ray formats, including a limited 2CD+Blu-ray artbook edition and a limited deluxe box set.
August 5, 2021
PAKT - A review
Here's a new energetic jazz fusion band with a super cool lineup! PAKT !
PAKT is made up of fretless bass guitar icon Percy Jones (Brian Eno, Brand X), guitarists Alex Skolnick (Savatage, TSO) and Tim Motzer, and drummer Kenny Grohowski.
Elaborate instrumental proggy jazz fusion, with a superb level of virtuosity, the PAKT project is fluid and improvised yet highly organized. This album was released in July 2021, from a recording made of a live stream at the height of the pandemic lockdown, on August 15, 2020 in Brooklyn, NY. The intimate setting/live atmosphere of the ShapeShifter Lab Studios made for a splendid collaboration and instant chemistry between the musicians, something that would probably not have been possible if this project had been made in a home studio with the musicians sending their individual music tracks through email.
Alex Skolnick says: "When we play together it is non-categorizable, although one could probably apply terms like jazz-rock, ambient, experimental etc. It is entirely in the moment. The closest thing I've done to this was a project called Attention Deficit (with Michael Manring), although that was pure studio, never live. Fans of Attention Deficit will love PAKT, which can be seen live, and in fact, is all live, all the time."
Mixed and mastered by Benjamin Schäfer and Markus Reuter and produced by PAKT and Leonardo Pavkovic, this album is now available in CD format (2CD) on the Moonjune Records label, as well as on Bandcamp.
October 17, 2021
Ice Nine Kills at Théâtre Corona!
American metal band Ice Nine Kills will be at the Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame Street West, Montreal, Montreal) on Friday, December 3, 2021, as part of the Hip To Be Scared Severed Leg 2 tour, accompanied by Bad Omens, Currents and Fame on Fire.
Ice Nine Kills is an American heavy metal band from Boston, MA, best known for its horror-inspired lyrics, Ice Nine Kills formed in its earliest incarnation in 2000 by high school friends Spencer Charnas and Jeremy Schwartz. Charnas is currently the only remaining founding member.
To date, Ice Nine Kills has released three EPs along with six full-length studio albums: Last Chance to Make Amends, Safe Is Just a Shadow, The Predator Becomes the Prey, their most successful albums to date; Every Trick in the Book, which peaked at number 122 on the US Billboard 200; The Silver Scream, which peaked at number 29 and their latest, The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood. Their band name is derived from the fictional substance ice-nine from the novel Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
Check-out their very energetic video Funeral Derangement on YouTube.
Doors at 6:00 PM, show begins at 7:00 PM. Tickets are available through evenko. Vaccinal passport required.
September 6, 2021
Martin Levac: A brand new show!
Martin Levac will be at the Théâtre Desjardins of CEGEP André-Laurendeau (1111, rue Lapierre, LaSalle) on Saturday January 15, 2022 to present his brand new show entitled Martin Levac, Phil Collins & Genesis.
What are the great songs that have accompanied the most precious moments of your life?
After 20 years as Phil Collins, Martin Levac drops the personification in a brand new, more personal show.
From the intimate to the universal, he takes us into the soundtrack of his life, which is also ours ... It's a real journey through time, from the beginnings of Genesis to the great popular hits of Phil Collins.
Surrounded by his loyal Dance Into The Light musicians, he shows us how this music has marked and transformed his life and career.
Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are available through the Desjardins theater box office and cost $47. Vaccination passport required.
April 30, 2021
Pete Townshend and The Iron Man
The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, was released in 1989, almost 20 years before Robert Downey Jr. took on the role of Tony Stark. It's a musical adaptation of the original novel by Ted Hughes (1968). An album quite out of the ordinary where we find Roger Daltrey, John Lee Hooker, and Nina Simone on vocals!
Here is the original album on the Atlantic label with the 16 page program! It includes a cover of the song Fire by Arthur Brown, as well as the song Dig, both performed by the 3 remaining members of Who! In 1993 a stage version of the album was mounted in London. In 1999, Warner Bros. released the movie "The Iron Giant", loosely based on Townshend's adaptation.
April 25, 2021
Miles Davis - Amandla
Here's a brief review of Miles Davis "Amandla".
An album from 1989 by jazz legend Miles Davis, Amandla is one of his last relevant albums before he passed in 1991. Produced by Marcus Miller, who also worked on Tutu and Music from Siesta, it was deep deep in his funk/fusion era, with a sound incorporating African themes, Antillean dance, jazz fusion and energetic funk. A short release at 43 minutes, with a total of 8 tracks.
It has quite a variety of beats and rhythms, a bit all over the place as they say, while still retaining a very consistent "Miles sound" throughout. Of course, at this stage in his life, he was surrounded by an impressive lineup of eager top musicians, almost 20 of them, which made for a variety of melodies and harmonies, but also made for a lack of audacity and fearless exploration compared to his Columbia era period from the mid 50s to the mid 70s, and even some of his early 80's albums.
But still, even an ordinary Miles Davis album is a pretty good jazz album by any standards. Miles dedicated this recording to his long-time partner in crime, Gil Evans, who passed just a year before.
March 13, 2021
The Future Bites
from Steven Wilson
This is my review of Steven Wilson's latest album, The Future Bites.
Steven Wilson is one of those brilliant artists that truly reinvents himself from one album to another, his musical imagination seems to be boundless. The Future Bites was released in early February, the COVID pandemic complicating the production side of the album, which had been scheduled to be released back in the summer of 2020. Quite a departure from the general musical styles and arrangements from his earlier albums Raven, Grace for Drowning and Insurgentes, but still very much in Steven's trademark sound and song structure.
The theme of the album is familiar to Steven Wilson fans, dealing with identity, technology and mass consumerism, offering at times a dark, dystopian view of our world. Those themes were explored in some way on Porcupine Tree's Fear of a Blank Planet and are recurrent in some of his later work. Steven's press release described it as "The Future Bites picks apart our 21st century utopia, while also allowing for moments of personal growth and optimism".
The album begins with Unself, a short, eerie intro, and then on to one of the singles of the album, Self, which has a bit of a techno vibe, a catchy tune. King Ghost is a ethereal soundscape, reminiscent of "Index" at times, one caveat though, the tinny synth drums can be grating at times. 12 things I forgot is a great, catchy pop ballad with lovely melodies and harmonies, very much radio-ready, a genre that Steven explored on To the Bone with "Permanating". Eminent Sleaze is a groovy, rhythmic track, where the usage of female back vocals is a bit reminiscent of Roger Waters and Pink Floyd, some great Chapman stick riffs from Sir Nick Beggs. Man of the People is a quiet, spacy interlude, which sounds like the material from the Grace For Drowning era, one of my favorites tracks. Then on to the "epic", and primary single of the album, Personal Shopper, clocking at almost 10 minutes, an energetic, highly rhythmic, slightly sinister techno rave track, and although I am not really a fan of this style, the track is quite catchy and is definitely good road music! Then on to Follower, an energetic track with a driving rhythm and a bit of distorted guitar work, the earworm "Ooh oh Follow me follow me" will stay stuck in your head! Count of Unease is a soft, melodic, fading conclusion to the album with a structure reminiscent of "Happy Returns" from Hand Cannot Erase.
A short main album at 42 minutes, I was tempted by the deluxe box set which features nearly 90 minutes of bonus material but for the casual fan, the regular edition is quite satisfactory.
A few music videos were released for the songs Eminent Sleaze, Personal Shopper and Self, all highly original, at times bizarre, with slick production and top notch effects.
I must salute Steven for this highly audacious and out-of-the-box album, definitely far from his comfort zone, which features good melodies, catchy pop themes and thoughtful lyrics. Some of Wilson's more rabid fans have often voiced their discontent at his current pop phase, and are not happy with his new musical direction. And it is indeed jarring at times, but give it a chance, give it a spin, it'll grow on you.
I will admit that even though I definitely enjoy this one a lot, The Future Bites is not my favorite from his discography. I give it 3.9 out of 5 stars!
February 6, 2021
A Sky Full of Ghosts
from Sonus Umbra
Today, I'll be reviewing A Sky Full of Ghosts, the latest album from Sonus Umbra, a prog rock band based in Chicago, but originating from Mexico. Sonus Umbra have produced 6 studio albums over the last quarter century, and their brilliant mix of electric and acoustic material is what I affectionately label the "Chicago sound" that is common with brilliant artists of that area like Phideaux Xavier and Matthew Parmenter.
The production quality and mastering on this album is splendid, one of their most elaborate and mature productions, Sonus Umbra in its current incarnation is composed of highly talented multi-instrumentalists:
Luis Nasser / bass
Roey Ben-Yoseph / lead & backing vocals, percussion
Rich Poston / electric guitar, keyboards, vocals
Steve Royce / flute, keyboards, vocals, holophonics
Tim McCaskey / guitar, vocals
Andy Tillotson / drums, guitar, vocals
Bill Harrison / drums, percussion
A Sky Full of Ghosts features 9 compositions, clocking at 64 minutes, and begins with Antidentity, a great instrumental with a few elegant Jethro Tull-inspired passages, thanks to the masterful work of Steve Royce on the flute, a stylish and energetic rhythm section, and some pretty dazzling and ornate guitar work.
Bleary-Eyed People features a catchy guitar and flute intro with a beautiful melody, followed by a more hefty rhythm and complex time signatures, great vocals from Roey Ben-Yoseph, elegantly accompanied by a cello background and the ever present whimsical flute work from Steve Royce.
Desolation Dreams is an elegant interlude where the cello and the flute discourse with enthusiasm.
Any prog album worthy of its name must have its mighty epic masterpiece and Hidden in the Light fits that definition! This 20-minute composition has everything to please, with joyfully disconcerting temporal changes and a few tasty solos, eerie special effects and solemn, melancholic piano intervals, building up to a majestic crescendo of layered vocals, cello, acoustic guitar and piano, a wonderful track!
After this magnum opus, the piece Losing My Insanity is a tasteful, melancholic break with a bit of the old Hammond organ thrown in for good measure!
The Last Menagerie features an energetic mid-section with juicy counterpoints, where Luis Nasser's bass work shines brightly.
Time Is Running Out has a bit of a sweet, spirited Beatles vibe with a beautiful, catchy melody and vocal harmonies.
The Waves Will Devour the Sea is a playful instrumental track with a bit of an avant-garde vibe, with an intro reminiscent of Miriodor, it truly highlights the talent of these splendid musicians.
Apogee is a delicate and melancholic conclusion to this album, ending with ethereal, narrated vocals reminiscent of Anathema.
So there you have it, a splendid variety of sounds and styles, but very consistent and coherent as a whole. The depth and quality of these compositions is highly satisfying, an album best appreciated in its entirety.
Check this band out on their Bandcamp page at:
https://gotsonus.bandcamp.com/album/a-sky-full-of-ghosts
Sonus Umbra - A Sky Full of Ghosts • Released on December 22, 2020 • UPC code: 700261484990
February 3, 2021
While we wait for live music to come back...
Well, the World Health Organization was right, this thing may last for 18 to 24 months... The COVID-19 pandemic robbed us of many of the things we have taken for granted, from an evening at the pub with friends, to a outing with the family at your favorite restaurant, but the entertainment industry and live music have taken a particularly hard hit, effectively being completely shut down since March 2020.
So for ProgMontreal, a site dedicated to live music and upcoming concerts, the pandemic rendered it pretty much obsolete and useless. But I haven't thrown in the towel just yet. While we wait for the live music industry to slowly come back as the pandemic nears its end, permit me use this site to talk about life, the universe, and everything... 42
So for now, ProgMontreal will mirror the contents of my personal blog on Facebook! Check it out below!
February 3, 2021
Vinyl Finds: Tears Roll Down
A hard-to-find 45 single from Tears For Fears from 1989. Side A is "Sowing the Seeds of Love" and side B is the original version of "Tears Roll Down" that's different from the one on their greatest hits album from 1992 "Tears Roll Down - Greatest Hits 82–92". That song was not originally included on the 1989 album "Seeds of Love".
The single below is the Canadian version, the US version had a inverted black label with white text and a big codebar on the right.
There was an even more elusive single version on 12" 45 vinyl with the complete version of "Sowing the Seeds of Love" with the outtro, "Tears Roll Down" and a remixed version of "Shout".
February 3, 2021
Return to Forever - Return to the 7th Galaxy
Here is a review of a splendid "greatest hits" of one of the finest fusion bands of the 70's.
Return to the 7th Galaxy (1996) highlights the music of 4 albums of Return To Forever, during their most creative era between 1972 and 1975. Various incarnations of the band during that period featured spectacular musicians like Lenny White, Bill Connors, Al Di Meola and Joe Farrell, but all of these 4 albums had in common Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke as the core team.
The first disk concentrates on the latino jazz formation in 1972-73. The second disk delves into the later jazz rock fusion era of the band, with probably their most classic lineup lineup of Corea, Clarke, Di Meola and White. Four of the songs on this compilation are live recordings that capture the pure energy of this band onstage, even though these recordings are a bit harsh at times, but include a blistering 14 minute version of Spain, it's worth getting that compilation just for that track.
Essential tracks are part of this anthology, including Celebration Suite, Majestic Dance, Cosmic Rain, Hymn of the 7th Galaxy, No Mystery, Vulcan Worlds and 500 miles high, rounded off by a well-balanced selection of other renowned tracks. It's a very good musical portrait of Return to Forever if you're looking to explore the music of this legendary band.
February 3, 2021
Apple & programmed obsolescence...
Today i'll be talking about Apple products and their longevity. In the early days, Apple had a business model where their products were very well engineered, well built, easily upgradable and their operating system was superior in many ways to their PC world counterparts (but that is a debate for another time!). Their crowning achievement was the longevity of their gear, many computers, devices and equipments far outlasted other brands, before failing or becoming truly obsolete. But there was a cost to that: Apple gear was damn expensive.
So for Apple, they compensated having to manufacture a bit less gear by selling it at a price that made your eyes water...
But with the years, many companies caught up with Apple as far as ease of use, flexibility and upgradability. When Steven Jobs passed away, I noticed a subtle change in Apple products. I don't know, maybe a shift in accessibility and flexibility, a compromise in quality, that did not benefit the consumers, and made their gear very hard to repair or update. This prompted a movement called the Electronics right to repair (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronics_right_to_repair). In essence, it's a "bill of rights" of sorts stating that no company can forbid users from tinkering with their own gear and prevent them from repairing or upgrading it, especially if it is out of warranty.
In particular, Apple in the mid 2010s had started making phones, tablets and computers much more difficult to repair or upgrade, or simply disassemble without potentially destroying them, they went as far as to introduce code in their OS that purposely slowed down older devices, in an effort to make consumers throw away what doesn't work anymore and replacing it with brand new gear... Sneaky buggers!!!
In 2005, replacing a Lithium Ion Battery on a PowerBook involved purchasing from Apple a new battery module, and pop off the old battery by turning a penny on a slot in the back... Nowadays, you have to bring it to an Apple authorized dealer because they have made the battery so inaccessible that you run the risk of breaking your computer if you attempt to replace the battery yourself, unless you are an expert at microsurgery.
And I have also noticed that the quality of their gear has suffered too. phones and computers do not seem to last nearly as long as their earlier components. For the sake of extreme miniaturization and high efficiency, they sometimes cut corners and make poor engineering decisions. Remember the G5 era and the bad caps? Between 2002 and 2007, Apple manufactured many G5 computers that had faulty capacitors that performed flawlessly for 2 or 3 years, then failed because the faulty capacitors started overheating or exploding, releasing stinky magic smoke before giving up the ghost, of course all of these machines had just ended their extended warranty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague). Also the unfortunate iPhone 6 that would literally bend out of shape and crack if you left it in your back pocket while sitting. More recently, a friend of mine bought a high end PowerBook a few years back (2017 model if I recall), and its screen broke down and was replaced twice, before Apple decided to replace the whole mac with a new unit the third time... the replacement unit had its motherboard crapping out a year later. Unlucky? Maybe, but it goes to show that Apple had "eras" where their stuff was not as reliable. More often than not, they will declare the original device dead, and if it's out of warranty, well, you're out of luck and you'll need to buy another one. Some would say it was an attempt by Apple to make some of their products affordable for the average joe, but still their gear was pretty expensive and now failed much faster than in previous years.
The best example of good and bad eras would be the years 2010 and 2011. Seems this was an excellent era for Apple products. My laptop dates back from 2010. My iMac 27" also. And even my iPhone 4S dates back from that era. I have never had the slightest problem with any of those and I use them daily. And all of them are relatively easy to access for repairs or updates.
Let me describe a recent event that illustrate this:
My iPhone 4S, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, was starting to show signs of wear, the battery could no longer hold a charge and was pretty much dead after one or two calls. Hey, 10 years on the original battery ain't bad. So I decided to look up on the 'net for a new battery. At local electronics stores, it was a bit expensive, and I'm not even talking about an authentic Apple replacement battery, which was a hefty $50, so I ordered a new battery kit on AliExpress for around $10, and it even includes a special little "pentalobe" screwdriver for the custom screws used on the iPhones outer shell.
The kit includes the battery, screwdrivers, and spudgers
Using the pentalobe screwdriver, you remove the two screws on each side of the power/data connector
You can then slide off the cover upwards a bit and it will come right off
The opened iPhone, two little philipps screws hold the 4-pin connector in place. After removing them, the connector can be pryed off (do not force it, just rock it up and down gently) and the last thing to do is to carefully pry-off the battery, held in place by strong adhesive
So I proceeded to open the iPhone, two little screws on each side of the power connector hold the back cover to the phone. Once unscrewed, you simply slide down the back cover about 3 mm and it just pops off, as seen in the images accompanying this article. From that point on, you simply remove the two screws holding the connector, then pry off the battery (stuck in place with a pretty strong adhesive) and swap the battery.
That new battery kit, which includes the two tiny screwdrivers, cost about $10, and brought back the phone to life for another few years. It still takes great pictures, holds plenty of music, I can text and talk... I need nothing more from it! This repair job was done 3 days ago and prompted me to write this article.
Attempting a repair job like this on more recent iPhones would have been awfully hard, but oddly, for their most recent iPhone 12, they brought back the easy-to-open back cover held by two screws! I must admit that if I am going to plunk down nearly $2000 on a phone, I sure as hell want the option of changing the damn battery myself in a few years and I expect to get a solid 10 years out of it at least!
Another example of pure throwaway consumerism is the Apple AirPods... they are rather expensive ($175 to $250) and most consumers will use them for about 12 to 18 months before they can't hold a charge anymore and become useless. No way to replace the internal batteries, the units are completely sealed in epoxy! I would be pissed to throw away headphones a year after I bought them because they don't work anymore. I have a set of wired Apple earbuds that I have been using regularly for nearly 10 years and they work like new and they sound awesome! What can I say, wires don't bother me! That's why I have an Apple Smartmouse WIFI that I have never used and probably never will (Apple has never in their entire existence, made a good mouse, they're just bad at it).
I love technology but there's a firm line in the sand that I will not cross. Wifi everything isn't my thing. Call me the Analog Kid or the techno-caveman, it's alright!
Apple has always been notorious for their unilateral decisions to abandon technologies by purposely rendering them obsolete and leaving consumers and manufacturers shaking their heads in disbelief. Remember Firewire? A lot of musicians and video engineers have invested in insanely expensive gear that they can't use anymore on newer macs because they abandoned this technology for the proprietary Thunderbolt technology, now superceded by USB3 and USB4/TB4, it's hard to follow especially when some of those aren't even backwards compatible. Then there was their unbelievable arrogant decision to do away with audio jacks on their more recent phones and computers... but you can buy a USB to audio adapter for ten bucks. Some even accuse them of abandoning mass market in general to concentrate on high end, luxury products that the average consumer no longer can afford.
But it's not all doom and gloom, they have been pioneers in audio-visual technology and graphic arts, their iMacs and PowerBooks are extremely popular among artists of all kinds despite their high prices. The macbook air was the thinnest computer available when it was released. Apple TV is a cool little piece of technology and many companies include equivalents in their smart TVs, the latest Apple TV 4K is almost unequaled by any other technology nowadays. The Apple watch, although a bit bulky, is the closest thing to the futuristic Dick Tracy watch of the 1940's! And the iPhone is a highly reliable phone and people still stand in line to get the latest version when it hits the stores, it introduced technologies like the multitouch screens, high-resolution cameras, Siri, and the sturdy gorilla glass. And mac OS, despite all its flaws and multiple updates, is still a reference of stabiliy and security among operating systems.
Many may agree or disagree with all of the above but as I said, it's just a platform for discussions and suggestions, most of my gear is mac-based and am more comfortable with mac computers than PCs but I still use both regularly. I refuse Apple's obsolescence! As long as I can tinker with my Apple gear, I will support it, otherwise, I am out!
February 3, 2021
Marillion's final album featuring Fish:
Clutching at Straws
Today, I want to talk about Marillion's Clutching at Straws.
Released in 1987, Clutching at Straws is the fourth and final Marillion studio album featuring lead singer Fish. It featured some of the most memorable tracks of Marillion, including Warm Wet Circles, Incommunicado and Sugar Mice. One of Marillion's most underrated albums.
Personally, I feel it is one of the strongest Marillion albums musically, and it was sort of an introduction to the melodies and harmonies of the Hogarth era. The best of both worlds for me. Clutching at Straws is that bridge between the two lead singers of the band.
Like many moderately popular bands on big labels, Capitol Records put enormous pressure on the band to be highly successful or be dropped by the label. Fish quit the band not long after that even though they had recorded some material for an upcoming fifth album. It would take two years before Marillion released Season's End featuring Steve Hogarth, Marillion's lead singer for the past 32 years.
Clutching at Straws was Fish's most inspired and passionate work with Marillion, seconded only by Misplaced Childhood. Steve Rothery shined like never before on that disk. A stunningly beautiful end to the first chapter of Marillion's 38 year history.
February 3, 2021
Fringe, the TV series
I've always been a big science fiction fan, ever since my youth when I was watching Star Trek, Lost in Space, U.F.O. and Captain Scarlett on the black and white TV (yes, I'm that old ) while doing my homework. With the years, my love for SF only grew, and I was spoiled by the quantity of great shows to choose from, Stargate SG-1, Babylon 5, Heroes, Farscape, Quantum Leap, Firefly, the revival of Doctor Who, Gotham, Red Dwarf, Battlestar Galactica and of course all of the numerous Star Trek series, from TNG to DS9 to Enterprise.
But one series stood out among all of these for me... Fringe.
Fringe was a TV series created by J. J. Abrams on the Fox Network, between 2008 and 2013. The whole story revolves around the Fringe division of the FBI, a task force led by FBI agent Olivia Dunham that investigates strange and unexplained cases that cannot be resolved by conventional science, and for a particularly disturbing case, they call upon Walter Bishop, a LSD driven mad scientist and gentle soul, and his estranged son, Peter Bishop.
Many have described Fringe a some sort of X-Files meets Twilight Zone on steroids! It features stories about strange creatures and people with superpowers (but not in the DC comics genre), scary parallel universes, time travel and mysterious observers from the future, and a dystopic world where the very fabric of the universe is threatened. Of the five seasons, the first two feature a variety of events (apparently unrelated) the 3rd concentrates on the numerous incursions of parallel universe characters (think of the mirror universe episodes in Star Trek). Season 4 begins in an alternate timeline where Peter Bishop has never existed and that precipitates catastrophic events in both universes until the link to these to universes is finally severed, it also links all the events that ever happened in the fist two seasons back to Peter's very existence. The final and fifth season is quite jarring, taking place in 2036 in a dystopic (and rather horrific) universe where travelers from the future have wiped out most of humanity, ruined the planet and are subjecting survivors to their control, I must admit that it has nothing in common with the 4 previous seasons, and is much darker and sinister.
The series features as the main protagonists australian actress Anna Torv (recently seen in the excellent Netflix series Mindhunter), in the role of FBI agent Olivia Dunham, Canadian actor Joshua Jackson (who played in Dawson's Creek) as the FBI consultant Peter Bishop, and the most excellent John Noble (who is best known in the role of Denethor II, Stewart of Gondor in Lord of The Rings Return of the King), who plays the humourous, slightly deranged Walter Bishop, a brilliant scientist who unfortunately has precipitated the potential end of the world with his parallel universe experiments.
Among the stars that have participated in this series (cameos or recurring roles), you have Christopher Lloyd, Joan Chen, Lance Reddick, Chadwick Boseman, Brad Dourif, Peter Weller, Bill Sadler, Eve Harlow, Kirk Acevedo, even the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, and Leonard Nimoy, who played in several episodes as William Bell, founder of the mysterious Massive Dynamics company and Walter's old science partner.
It was truly one of those series where I anticipated each episode with much enthusiasm, a good brew and some popcorn! It is truly great to revisit this series on DVD, where you connect with the characters once again and understand some of the interactions and character plots that you might have not understood initially. Fringe is available on iTunes and Amazon Prime Video, and of course, on Blu-Ray and on DVD. It used to be on Netflix but they yanked it a few years ago.
February 2, 2021
Loreena McKennitt - Nights from The Alhambra...
This morning I am revisiting a Loreena McKennitt live album from 2007, Nights from The Alhambra.
Recorded in September 2006 in the courtyard of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, this great box set is composed of 2 CDs and one DVD. This recording captures a splendid outdoors performance from her Ancient Muse tour. Impeccable production quality, and a beautifully recorded, mystical, ethereal performance by Loreena and the 11 musicians that accompany her. The sound is in glorious 5.1 digital and 2.0 PCM!
Fans of LM and of her live concerts will seek this album, as it is a perfect portrait of this wonderful Canadian composer. With 10 studio albums and 6 live albums, she is a prolific artist, her latest album Live At The Royal Albert Hall, was released in 2019.
Here's an excerpt from the Alhambra concert, her "anthem" song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz3lqVv0vCEe
February 2, 2021
Spotify...
Is it good or bad?
Streaming services are utterly convenient for many people and have taken off in a big way with our current level of computer technology and connectivity, but the concept at the very source, is mortally flawed for the creators of its content. If your music is on Spotify, you're paid mere peanut shells for your work. Not even a whole peanut. There are other services like Pandora, Tidal, Apple Music, that have similar business models and revenue brackets but Spotify, at 0.4 ¢ per stream is pretty much the most popular and least generous of them all.
You could say "all musicians should unite and boycott Spotify" but it's not that easy, the genie is out of the bottle, and the tens if not hundreds of millions of users are not gonna vanish in a puff of smoke any time soon. They are used to the simple access, anywhere, anytime on any device, of whatever playlist they create on the fly.
I am an adept of physical media myself, but nowadays, with our easy digital technology, physical media sales have decreased dramatically, and I can only imagine that the pandemic will have exacerbated this decrease. Even vinyl LP sales have overtaken actual CD sales in recent months.
As in politics, there will be two camps with vastly different ideologies. On one side, you have the Spotify generation that might never even have bought a CD in their lives, and consider music the same way they consider TV, something that's there to entertain, or background noise. You can't just ask them to support the artists, buy their music instead of getting it for free, it's an essential consumable commodity to them, like air or water.
On the other side, you have the older generation, who know what's involved to make music, make an album, they have CD collections, they go to shows, they buy their music, either on disk, in download format, or even on good ol' vinyl LPs. They support the artists actively. Again with the pandemic, their numbers are on a steady decline, since there have been no live shows for nearly a year now, some are losing interest in music, loin des yeux, loin du coeur as they say in French.
Yes I agree that there are older people who have gone full digital, and there are young folks who are avid collectors of CDs, LPs and audio cassettes. They are not a majority however, but whatever their age, the two ideologies are far apart and can be summed up this way; they either support musicians and their work, or they don't. And yes also, i know that there are people who actively buy music and support musicians, but have their whole collection on Spotify. I commend them and praise their support, but this article IS NOT about them.
Two different ideologies, but unfortunately, one of them is getting new followers daily, and the other is shrinking rapidly. This is a losing battle for the music industry, and only the big corporate names on major labels can still make a living of their art.
Thankfully, there's Bandcamp, a digital content provider whose business model actually benefits musicians, that will be discussed in another blog at a later time
Here's the perspective from Benn Jordan, a musician who's been actually fortunate enough to barely scrape a living out of streaming services, he discusses about the positive side of Spotify, but mostly the numerous negative points about that service and its impact on the music world: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXudOLStaXA
February 2, 2021
Memories of the days of Arena Rock:
Journey's Greatest Hits on DVD
Last month, I decided to finally check out this DVD that I bought at a thrift store years ago and never watched: Journey - Greatest Hits DVD - 1978 - 1997
Some observations:
1) The DVD was manufactured in 2003 so I didn't expect much. For starters, it's in 4:3 screen ratio, back in the days when CRT TVs were still king. And from what it appears, some of the clips were literally in VHS quality.
2) It's a hosh-posh collection of videos, and live clips of varied quality. Later live material from the 1986 Raised On Radio era looks good and sounds good, but some of the 1979-1981 material sounds and looks truly awful.
3) Many of the music videos on that compilation are truly cringeworthy... And I mean bad, bad, baaad! Hard to imagine when a band with such a unlimited budget could make such terrible music videos, when other artists of that era (Peter Gabriel, A-Ha, Billy Idol, Tom Petty, Duran Duran to name a few) were making legendary videos that are still brilliant and relevant 40 years later... There are one or two that weren't too bad but still, ugh .
4) Criminally bad overdubbing of studio tracks over live performances, even the tracking and lipsyncing is off. And they pass this for a "music video" ... Really? Dreadful.
5) I remember the little yellow leopard print tank top Steve Perry was wearing when I saw Journey at the Montreal Forum, and the Afghan puppy haircut he had, quite a trademark look!
6) Journey in the 80's was a sublime, tight band and their live shows were worth every penny. The energy of that band is best captured on this compilation with the 1986 Raised On Radio tour clips.
7) Damn that Steve Perry had a unbelievable, unique voice! It became a bit more gravely and deeper over the years, but it was just magical and unique!
8) Even though this was a pretty lame compilation, it was still enjoyable to see.
February 1st, 2021
John Jowitt & Andy Edwards (IQ)
present their new band: Rain
Singularity by the newly created band Rain features Andy Edwards on drums, Rob Groucutt on vocals keys and guitars, Mirron Webb on vocals and guitars, and John Jowitt on bass.
Pure, highly refined progressive rock with catchy, captivating, refreshing melodies and harmonies, a badass rhythm section that just sounds enormous, two seasoned musicians contributing at times a sound or a style they are renowned for (IQ, Frost, Arena etc) accompanied by two immensely talented newcomers. Elegant guitar work, precise, delicate, layered, rich harmonies and in the words of JJ himself, "nothing but epics!"... Thoroughly enjoyable! The band is currently working on their second release and hopes that they can book a few live dates in 2021.
Listen to this wonderful interview by fellow progger Pete Pardo with Andy Edwards and John Jowitt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MIrC4vyUPI
You can find Singularity on bandcamp at: https://rainprogband.bandcamp.com/album/singularity
May 15, 2021
Genesis at the Bell Center - Show added
Finally the return of live music to Montreal! To relaunch indoor shows in town, what better than a big name! Dare we dream that this event will take place? Let's hope so!
The legendary pop prog group Genesis will be back on the road after a long 14-year hiatus in late fall 2021 and, will stop at the Bell Center in Montreal on Monday, November 22, 2021, and now with another show added on Tuesday, November 23, 2021. Doors at 7:00 pm, shows beginning at 8:00 pm.
The lineup will include Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Phil Collins, despite his precarious health, complemented by Phil's son, Nic Collins on drums, and the excellent Daryl Stuermer on guitar.
Tickets now on sale through evenko.
March 23, 2020
COVID-19 Show cancellations: update
As the COVID-19 pandemic gets more and more serious throughout the world, it is safe to predict that all shows in March, April, May and even June, are officially cancelled. Hopefully many will eventually be rescheduled when things get back somewhat to normal, but for now, please consider that all shows and tickets contests on this list are postponed/cancelled until further notice.
First confirmed cancellation is the Flower Kings show at the Plaza on Saturday, April 4, from the Royal Gardener himself, Roine Stolt. Many more shows will be cancelled or postponed, but promoters are waiting for tentative rescheduling dates and venue availability to make announcements.
Stay tuned, we will update the info on this site as soon as we get confirmations.
February 17, 2020
Opeth in Montreal - Canceled
The Opeth show that was to be held on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at the Metropolis MTelus (59 Ste-Catherine Street East, Montreal) as part of the In Cauda Venenum North American Tour, has been canceled, Mikael Åkerfeldt has developed an acute laryngitis and had to cancel the entire Canadian tour.
Tickets will be reimbursed at point of purchase, but the band has commited to reschedule the shows as soon as possible!
January 29, 2020
The Camera Eye - Tribute to Rush
The group The Camera Eye - Tribute to Rush will present a show at Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent, Montreal) on Sunday February 23, 2020 at 8 PM, with opening act Space Farm (tribute to Primus).
Since 2009, this Tribute to Rush has been touring throughout the province. Faithful to the original formation with a Bassist/keyboardist/singer, a guitarist and a drummer. The Camera Eye recreates the illusion of a show by the Canadian group RUSH. Gigantic drums, double-neck guitars, video projections… EVERYTHING is there to create the illusion.Take the musical elements of these two shows, add the biggest hits of RUSH and you have an overview of your evening menu with The Camera Eye.
Tickets on sale through Lepointdevente.com
November 23, 2019
Devin Townsend at the Corona - New added show
Canadian Metal hero Devin Townsend will be at the Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame Street West) on Friday, February 28, 2020, accompanied by british prog band Haken and american prog metal band The Contortionist.
Update: The Friday show is sold out, and due to popular demand, a second show has been added on Wednesday, February 26, 2020. Tickets available through evenko!
Devin will present new music from his latest album Empath, as well as many of his classic tracks and fan favorites.
Doors at 6:00 PM, Show at 7:00 PM. General admission tickets are $49, available through evenko.
December 8, 2019
RIO band Present working on a new album
Great news from the folks of the band Present, but they will need your help to make it happen!
The Belgian progressive rock band Present will be working on the production of its 10th album over the course of 2020. Collective rehearsals and studio recording sessions will take place in Brussels in February 2020. The studio mixing work will then be performed in Tel Aviv by Udi Koomran, sound engineer of the group, over a period of about 2 months.
The album will be released and distributed worldwide by the label Cuneiform Records (USA) during November 2020.
Present is a progressive Belgian music group founded in 1979 by composer / guitarist Roger Trigaux. Roger was one of the founding members of Univers Zero and was a significant contributor to the band's first two albums. After Heresie (1979), he left Univers Zero to fully dedicate himself to his own musical vision and to form Present. Cultivating dark and hypnotic atmospheres (see the mythical Promenade Au Fond d'un Canal), at the crossroads of chamber rock and Crimsonian progressive, Present has experienced since his reactivation a second Golden Age, made concrete by the current line-up enriched with brass and strings, and which features in its ranks American drummer Dave Kerman, a true legend of the international avant-prog.
Here is the lineup of the upcoming Present project:
Roger Trigaux | composition, keyboards, vocal
François Mignot | guitars
Dave Kerman | drums
Pierre Chevalier | piano, keyboards, composition
Keith Macksoud | bass
Kurt Budé | clarinet, saxophone
Liesbeth Lambrecht | violin
Udi Koomran | sound recording, mix
The crowdfunding aims at covering a third of the total project cost, which is estimated at 12,000 euros. The production and the distribution of the album will be done by the label.
The crowdfunding will allow the band to organize the musicians' travels to Belgium (from USA, ISRAEL, SWITZERLAND, FRANCE) and their accommodation on location and to finance the 12 days of recording in Brussels in February 2020. If the initial goal is exceeded, the extra funds will be allocated to the 2 months of mixing work that will take place during the spring of 2020 in Tel Aviv. They could also cover the possible participation of guest musicians to the album.
A series of concerts, currently under negotiation, will take place in Europe (Belgium, France, Germany) to present this new work of the band, and who know, maybe this side of the pond also!
February 4, 2020
Jérôme Langlois in Concert
Jérôme Langlois will present a show at the Resonance Café (5175A Park Avenue, Montréal) on Friday, February 7, 2020, at 6:00 PM.
Jérôme Langlois invites you to the launching of his new digital album Moon Melodies. He will play this new opus plus a selection of his compositions ranging from his time with Maneige to his new series "Sources".
Co-founder of Maneige (an elaborate, rock-fusion group of the ‘70s, that seduced a large public across Canada, with it’s strong musical creativity), Jérôme Langlois has since composed and arranged for a wide variety of highly popular, national and international film and television productions.
January 27, 2020
Sons of Apollo back at the Corona
The prog supergroup The Sons of Apollo will be back at the Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal) on Monday, February 3, 2020 at 7:30 PM with their very special guest TonyMacAlpine.
In early 2017, rumors began circulating about a new secret project including former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian. Finally, on August 1st, the duo revealed the details to the rest of the world, introducing their new band, SONS OF APOLLO. Reuniting to form SONS OF APOLLO, Portnoy and Sherinian join forces with guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), bassist Billy Sheehan (Niacin, The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force). Their debut album, Psychotic Symphony, was released in October 2018 via InsideOutMusic/Sony Music. The band is working on their 2nd album, to be released early next year.
Psychotic Symphony was produced by the dynamic production duo of Portnoy and Sherinian, also affectionately known as “The Del Fuvio Brothers,” the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in Dream Theater.
SONS OF APOLLO formed very organically, its seeds planted with a predecessor group, as Portnoy explains: “Derek and I reunited shortly after I left Dream Theater in 2010 and we put together an all-instrumental touring band with Billy Sheehan and Tony MacAlpine. That was my first time working with Derek since the ‘90s when he was in Dream Theater, and it was just great to be working with him again. Ever since that tour, which was really just a one-off live thing, he has been nudging me to start a real, original, full-time band. The timing just had never been right, because I had too many other things on my plate. Long story short, the time was finally right to take the bait and put together a band.”
Tickets are $48, available through evenko and at the Corona boxoffice. General Admission. A Heavy Montréal production.
January 2, 2020
Musical Box back at Place des Arts
Contest Winner!
The Musical Box announces their brand new Genesis Extravaganza tour, Volume 2, and will be at the Théâtre Maisonneuve of the Place des Arts, on Saturday, January 4, 2020. Just announced, a new show has been added at Place Des Arts on Sunday, January 5, 2020! Tickets for that show now available.
The Contest for the pair of tickets has ended and we have a winner:
Congrats to Normand Furoy of Laval who wins the pair of tickets to the Sunday, Jan. 5 show!
Thanks to evenko for the great prize and a big thanks to all who have participated!
In a sequel to their worldwide acclaimed A Genesis Extravaganza, The Musical Box comes back with Volume 2 to offer even more of its live visual signature stunts, a museum-worthy array of vintage instruments and a dizzying pace of iconic tracks and stage rarities. The ultimate journey into the mythic world of Genesis, from 1970 to 1978.
From its unique perspective as only the band ever licenced and supported by Genesis and Peter Gabriel, The Musical Box presents a new, never performed show featuring the music of Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England, Trick of the Tail, Wind & Wuthering, And Then There were Three.
Doors at 6:30 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $56 to $86, available through the Place des Arts website.
December 12, 2019
Lazarus Heart at the Casino de Montréal
The Sting/The Police tribute band Lazarus Heart will present a show on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at the Casino de Montréal.
The quintet led by Sylvain Auclair is composed of Vincent Duhaime-Perreault, Guillaume Larouche, Sébastien Cloutier and Sébastien Fauville.
Tickets available through the Casino de Montréal box office.
October 8, 2019
Heilung at the Olympia
Heavy Montreal presents Heilung on Sunday, January 26, 2020 at the Olympia de Montréal (1004 Ste-Catherine East, Montreal).
The Danish experimental metal folk group is made up of members from Denmark, Norway and Germany. Their music is based on texts from artifacts of the Iron Age originated by the Northern European peoples of the Celtic and Viking Age. They describe their music as "amplified history from early medieval northern Europe".
Doors at 6:00 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets on sale on Oct. 10 via evenko.
October 8, 2019
Epica in Montréal
Heavy Montreal presents the Danish symphonic metal band Epica on Friday, January 3, 2020 at Théâtre Corona (2490 Notre-Dame West, Montreal) with special guests The Agonist and Blackguard.
Epica will present music from their classic album Design Your Universe as part of the album's 10th anniversary tour.
Doors at 7:00 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $48, available through evenko.
December 3, 2019
Huis at Petit Campus - Contest winner!
Don't miss Huis at the Petit Campus (57 Prince-Arthur East, Montreal) on Sunday, December 8, 2019 at 8 PM.
The contest for the pair of tickets for the show at the Petit Campus has ended and we have a winner!
Congrats to Richard Dubé of Ste-Julie!
Thanks to Huis for the great prize and a big thanks to all who have participated!
Montreal progressive rock band Huis is back at the Petit Campus in Montreal to present their latest album, Abandoned, as well as other pieces from their repertoire.
Tickets are $22.25, available through LePointdeVente.com
March 29, 2019
The Pineapple Thief with Gavin Harrison,
at the Corona Theatre
British progressive rock band Pineapple Thief is coming to America and will be joined by famed drummer Gavin Harrison (Porcupine Tree), the band will be at the Corona Theatre (2490 Notre-Dame West). This show has been moved from L'astral, all tickets will be honored) on Wednesday, November 27, 2019.
Bruce Soord, Jon Sykes and Steve Kitch will present music from their new album, Dissolution, to be released in late August. Gavin Harrison returns on drums, this time taking a more active role in the songwriting, and accompanying the band on tour.
Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets on sale through evenko.
October 8, 2019
High on Fire & Power trip in Montréal
Extensive Enterprise and Blue Skies Turn Black present High On Fire and Power Trip with Devil Master and Creeping Death, on Sunday, November 24, 2019 at the Club Soda (1225 boul. St-Laurent, Montreal).
Doors at 6:00 PM, show at 8:00 PM. General admission tickets are $29.75 à $37.50, available through ClubSoda.ca.
October 8, 2019
Pink Floyd Celebration: Space
Vikings and Ruben Fogel present Space: The Best of Pink Floyd Show on Friday, December 6, 2019 at the Montreal Olympia (1004 Ste-Catherine East, Montreal)
The Wall Live Experience are back with Pink Floyd Celebration: SPACE. This time, the Montreal production will present you the most renowned Pink Floyd classics, including the complete album Dark Side Of the Moon.
Doors at 19h, show at 20h. Tickets cost $ 49.50 to $ 64.50, available at the Olympia Box Office.
October 15, 2019
Canada's Pink Floyd - In The Flesh at Rialto
Do not miss PIGS: Canada's Pink Floyd - In The Flesh Tour 2019, Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at Théâtre Rialto (5723 Park Avenue, Montreal).
Celebrate Pink Floyd's long and rich history with PIGS by reliving the 1970s Floyd live experience, bringing their majestic music and legendary gigs to life. Immerse yourself in the sound of Pink Floyd under the lasers, impeccably performed with authentic instrumentation and incredible live sound.
Doors at 19h, show 19h30. Tickets available and cost $48.50 to $55, available at the Rialto Box Office.
April 12, 2019
Kansas plays Point of Know Return
Legendary American progressive rock band, Kansas, will be at the Théâtre St-Denis (1594 St-Denis, Montreal) on Saturday, November 2, 2019.
Kansas will be touring select cities in the US and Canada in during the fall and winter, on the third leg of their popular Point of Know Return Anniversary Tour. Launched as a celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the massive hit album Point of Know Return, the band will be performing the album in its entirety. The tour showcases more than two hours of classic Kansas music including hit songs, deep cuts, and fan favorites. Tickets and Kansas VIP Packages available through evenko.
Kansas is currently comprised of original drummer Phil Ehart, bassist/vocalist Billy Greer, vocalist/keyboardist Ronnie Platt, violinist/guitarist David Ragsdale, keyboardist Tom Brislin, guitarist Zak Rizvi, and original guitarist Richard Williams. The band has released 15 studio albums, including its most recent release The Prelude Implicit (2016), and plans to release of another new studio album in 2020.
November 19, 2018
Steve Hackett at Place des Arts - show added
The irrepressible former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett announces his 2019 European Tour and will be in Montreal on Saturday, September 21, 2019 and just added, Sunday, September 22, 2019 at Théâtre Maisonneuve de la Place des Arts.
For the first time ever, Steve will perform the seminal Genesis album Selling England By The Pound in its entirety. Released in 1973, the album went to No. 3 in the UK charts, has been described as 'the definitive Genesis album.' It includes firm favourites such as Dancing with the Moonlit Knight, Firth of Fifth, Cinema Show and, of course, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe). Other favourite classic Genesis tracks will also feature in the show.
2019 also marks the 40th anniversary of one of Steve's most popular solo albums Spectral Mornings and Steve will rightly celebrate this milestone by performing some of the masterpieces from the album.
Fans will also be treated to highlights from Steve's new album, entitled At The Edge Of Light, to be released in January 2019.
Steve explains, "I'm thrilled to be performing the whole of my favourite Genesis album, Selling England By The Pound, which caught the attention of John Lennon in 1973. I felt that I was now playing guitar in the world's best band, and everything was opening up for us... Also I look forward to playing all the favourite songs from Spectral Mornings, marking its anniversary, plus new album tasters, as well as additional Genesis gems in a terrific grand slam!."
Tickets now on sale through the Place des Arts boxoffice.
September 18, 2019
The Australian Pink Floyd Show at Centre Bell
Do not miss The Australian Pink Floyd Show on Friday, October 11, 2019, at the Centre Bell in Montreal, as part of their All That You Love 2019 tour.
The All That You Love show features classic tracks from Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall and more!
Having sold over four million tickets to concerts that have taken place in 35 countries, The Australian Pink Floyd Show is rightfully hailed as one of the most in demand touring entities currently operating.
Doors at 6:30 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $46 to $89.75, VIPs at $175 and $283, available through evenko.
September 1st, 2019
Goblin at the Théâtre Fairmount
Claudio Simonetti's incarnation of the legendary italian band Goblin, will be in Montreal at the Théâtre Fairmount (5240 Parc Avenue, Montreal) on Thursday, October 17, 2019.
Claudio will present the music of Deep Red/Profondo Rosso in addition to classics from the band's discography.
Show at 8pm, tickets are $35, available through Tunestub.
August 4, 2019
Brand X at La Tulipe
The legendary jazz fusion band Brand X will be in Montreal on Friday, October 25, 2019 at La Tulipe (4530 Papineau, Montreal)
Brand X began in 1975. They were a prominent jazz fusion band in the '70s and '80s. Phil Collins was the drummer for this band from 1975 to 1979. Brand X is composed of Percy Jones (bass), John Goodsall (Guitar), Chris Clark (keyboards), Kenny Grohowski (drums) and Scott Weinberger (drums).
Show at 7:30 pm, Tickets are $45, available through Vendini. General admission, sitting configuration.
September 23, 2019
Rick Wakeman and his
Grumpy Old Rock Star Tour!
Contest winner!
Keyboard wizard Rick Wakeman embarks on its first solo U.S. tour in 13 years and will be at the Théâtre Olympia (1004 Ste-Catherine East, Montreal) on Saturday, September 28, 2019.
The contest for the pair of tickets for the show at the Olympia has ended and we have a winner!
Congrats to Marylene Poudrier in Beloeil!
Thanks to Ruben Fogel Productions for the great prize and a big thanks to all who have participated!
Wakeman’s The Grumpy Old Rock Star Tour will combine spellbinding piano music with sidesplitting jokes and revealing insights into his 50-plus-year career. Expect an evening of superb musicianship, featuring music from Yes, Rick’s own solo epics and early Bowie hits, plus fantastic arrangements of Beatles’ tunes, and much, much more, interspersed with knockabout (and sometimes bawdy!) typically British humor. Professional musician, keyboard player, songwriter, broadcaster and raconteur, Wakeman’s career started as a much-in-demand session player, who performed on recordings by David Bowie, Elton John, Lou Reed, Al Stewart and hundreds more artists. His big break came in 1971 when he joined Yes, who went on to become the most successful prog rock band in the world, but Wakeman has also always gone his own way outside the framework of that group.
In the Seventies, he achieved chart-topping success with solo albums such as Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, The Six Wives of Henry VIII and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, which cumulatively sold over 10,000,000 copies in North America alone. He has written several film scores, amongst them two for director Ken Russell (Lisztomania and Crimes of Passion) and two ‘Harry Palmer’ movies starring Michael Caine (Bullet To Beijing and Midnight in St. Petersburg), and in the UK, has built up an impressive reputation as a witty guest and host on shows like Grumpy Old Men, Countdown, Watchdog and the comedy cabaret show Live at Jongleurs. His wickedly irreverent acceptance speech when Yes was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 nearly brought the house down!
Tickets are $90.00 / $75.00 / $60.00 (Taxes included / service charge extra) available online through L'Olympia boxoffice. VIP packages available.
June 9, 2019
Kamelot with Sonata Arctica and Battle Beast!
Extensive Enterprise presents Kamelot at the Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent Blvd) on Sunday, September 15, 2019, with special guests Sonata Arctica and Battle Beast.
What was originally announced as a one off performance has now become a full blown North American tour! KAMELOT are pleased to announce the second North American Leg of The Shadow Tour. "We’re very excited to announce we’re bringing “The Shadow Tour” back to North America again for another round. On the previous tour we missed some of our favorite cities due to logistics, we demanded to return to North America as soon as possible and visit these great cities, adds Guitarist Thomas Youngblood. Completing this this amazing lineup is the addition of Finland's Sonata Arctica and Battle Beast. Don't miss this amazing package and once in a decade lineup!"
The band’s latest music video for the song MindFall Remedy chronicles live footage taken from KAMELOT's 2018 North American tour and offers a glimpse of what you can expect when the band takes the stage. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/PNGkmH57GnU
Doors at 6:00 PM, show at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $47.25 to $54.25, VIP: $119.25, available through the Club Soda boxoffice.
September 1st, 2019
Thom Yorke at the Place Bell in Laval
Thom Yorke, the legendary Radiohead singer, will be at Place Bell (1950 Claude-Gagné Street, Laval) on Thursday, September 26, 2019.
Thom will present the music from his most recent album Anima. Show at 8 pm, tickets are priced from $61 to $93, available through evenko.
September 1st, 2019
Kataklysm at the Corona
Heavy Montréal Presents Kataklysm at the Théâtre Corona (2490 Notre-Dame Street West, Montreal) on Saturday, September 28, 2019.
The legendary death metal band from Montreal will present the music from their latest album Meditations.
Show at 7 pm, tickets are $35.50, available through evenko. General admission standing.
June 9, 2019
Scripted - Tribute to Marillion at Club Dix30
Scripted - Tribute to Marillion will be playing at the Club Dix30 (9200 Leduc Blvd, Brossard) on Thursday, September 5, 2019 at 8:00 PM.
Scripted makes you relive Marillion's Fish years. A wonderful venue, top-notch sound and lighting, and a band that can't wait to freak out with you for two hours. Don't miss it!
Tickets are $23.75, available through Ticketmaster. General admission.
March 21, 2019
Threshold in Montreal
The progressive metal band Threshold will be in Montreal on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, at Foufounes Électriques (87 rue Ste-Catherine Est).
This will be Threshold's second visit to Quebec. Their latest album Legends of the Shires received a very enthusiastic welcome from the music press.
Threshold's music is characterized by the classic attributes of heavy metal with very energetic guitars, fast drums and catchy choruses but also structural aspects specific to the complexity of progressive rock from which they were influenced.
The group was formed by guitarist Karl Groom in Surrey, England at the end of the 80s. Their arrival on the Nuclear Blast record label propelled them to the forefront of the progressive metal scene. The other members of Threshold are: Richard West (keyboards), Glynn Morgan (vocals-guitar), Johanne James (drums), Steve Anderson (Bass).
Threshold will fly to Prog Power USA right after the Montreal gig.
Show at 8pm. Tickets are $35, available through lepointdevente.com.
January 19, 2019
King Crimson back at Théâtre St-Denis
King Crimson will return to Montreal on Tuesday, September 17, 2019 at 8:00 pm at the Théâtre St-Denis (1594 St-Denis Street).
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, King Crimson's 2019 tour will feature special concerts on three continents, including festivals and headlining shows.
The group's three-hour concerts regularly feature material from twelve of their thirteen albums, including many songs from the groundbreaking 1969 album, In The Court of the Crimson King, which Pete Townshend describes as a "unequaled masterpiece". The new ensemble of eight musicians plays several historical compositions never performed in concert by King Crimson, as well as new arrangements of some of their classics; "Music is new every time it is written". Not to mention new instrumental pieces and songs, as well as compositions from the three drummers, Pat Mastelotto, Gavin Harrison and Jeremy Stacey, who are always a strong point of their performances. The formation also includes Robert Fripp, Tony Levin, Mel Collins, Bill Rieflin and Jakko Jakzyk. A unique show, where eight of the best musicians in the world play music without distraction or embellishment. "King Crimson are renowned for their ability to offer concerts that combine moments of unbridled improvisation with highly structured songs and even extremely melodious songs ... In short, the King is not dead, long live the King! " - REJEAN BEAUCAGE, Voir.ca
Tickets are $65 to $140 (taxes included / service charge not included), available at the box office of Théâtre St-Denis, at (514) 790-1111 and theatrestdenis.com. * A limited amount of VIP seating is available at $200 (taxes included / service charge not included). A Rubin Fogel Productions presentation.
September 1st, 2019
New World Men at l'Astral
Don't miss the excellent tribute band to Rush, New World Men on Friday, September 13, 2019 at l'Astral (305 Sainte-Catherine Street West, Montreal).
Marc Girard, a world-class sound engineer and accomplished bassist, has realized his dream of creating a tribute to Rush, for no other reason than to have a great time playing great music. New World Men was born from the subsequent jam sessions in early summer 2014 with Frank Larouche and Mathieu Groulx, and the technical and technological limits have been constantly pushed back since then to offer their audience an incredible multimedia experience.
Show at 8pm. Tickets are $32.50, available via ticketmaster.
November 15, 2018
Iron Maiden at the Bell Centre
Heavy metal band Iron Maiden will be at the Bell Center on Monday, August 5, 2019 with The Raven Age as the opening act.
Bruce Dickinson comments, “We’re immensely proud of this show and we’ve had great reactions from the many fans who came to see us in Europe earlier this year. The production is based on our mobile game THE LEGACY OF THE BEAST which basically takes various incarnations of Eddie into many different Maiden Worlds. This inspired us to put together a stage show to take our fans through different Worlds and experiences set to appropriate songs. It is not that easy designing different Worlds on stage and we put a huge amount of work into this to make it work and the end result we feel is our most spectacular and certainly the most complex show to date. We’ve got all kinds of crazy things going on, including a replica Spitfire plane dominating the stage during Aces High, tons of pyro, a giant Icarus, muskets, claymores and some truly marvellous flame-throwers which I have a hell of a lot of fun with, as you will see! And of course we have Eddie, as you’ve never seen him before, and absolutely loads of other surprises. I’ve had the time of my life playing with all these magnificent props on stage, it’s been fantastic, we can’t wait to bring this show to you!”
Steve Harris adds, “We gave a lot of thought to the set list for this Tour as the songs needed to follow the narrative of the changing worlds of the stage show. We feel we ended up with a very strong and well balanced set mixing songs we haven’t played in many years like Flight Of Icarus, Sign Of The Cross and The Clansman with songs we know the fans want to hear like The Trooper, 2 Minutes To Midnight, The Number Of The Beast, Fear Of The Dark, Run To The Hills, Hallowed Be Thy Name and others, reflecting the journey through the different themes of the show. The whole band is really enjoying this tour and we are really looking forward to seeing everybody again!”
For the 2019 shows, the band will, in conjunction with the Promoters, be implementing a digital ticketing system in as many venues as possible, to assist in our battle against secondary ticketing. As always, we urge fans to only purchase tickets from approved outlets. Fans In the US & Canada will once again be able to enjoy a Trooper VIP upgrade package – full details here.
Show at 19:30. Tickets are $64.25 to $151.25, available exclusively through evenko. Tickets will not be available at the box office. The ticket limit is 4, and any order above the limit of 4 tickets will be canceled. Tickets will only be delivered as mobile tickets on your mobile device. You will need to present your mobile tickets on your mobile device to enter. Paper tickets will not be accepted. Tickets are strictly non-resellable and evenko reserves the right to cancel tickets listed for resale (or resale) at their discretion.
November 3, 2018
An Evening With Mark Knopfler at Place des Arts
Mark Knopfler, the legendary guitarist of Dire Straits, announces his 2019 tour in support of his forthcoming ninth studio album, Down the Road Wherever, and will be at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place Des Art on Saturday, August 24, 2019.
Knopfler’s ninth solo studio album, Down the Road Wherever, will be released November 16 on Blue Note. The album features 14 new songs inspired by a wide range of subjects, including Knopfler’s early days in Deptford with Dire Straits, a stray soccer fan lost in a strange town, the compulsion of a musician hitching home through the snow and a man out of time in his local greasy spoon diner. In celebration of the new album, Knopfler is premiering the track ‘Good On You Son.’
This tour includes some very special offers for fans. North American ticket buyers will receive an offer for a copy of Mark’s new album with every ticket purchase. And all MarkKnopfler.com ticket presale customers will receive a complimentary live recording from the forthcoming tour. Expect more details on both these programs to be communicated over the coming weeks and months.
Show at 8:00PM. Tickets available through the Place des Arts boxoffice.
February 10, 2019
Heavy Montreal 2019
Montreal's giant metal fest, Heavy Montreal, is back with a fantastic lineup that includes Slayer, Ghost, Godsmack, Quiet Riot, Anthrax, Kataklysm, Despised Icon and many many more! The event will be held at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Saturday, July 27 and Sunday, July 28, 2019.
Tickets are available right now: Gold Pass: $320 - General Admission: $175, through the Heavy Montreal boxoffice.
July 28, 2019
Time for Pink Floyd with Hamadryad
Don't miss Hamadryad and Time For Pink Floyd in a splendid double bill on Saturday, August 24, 2019 at Centre d'Art La Petite Église (275, rue Saint-Eustache, Saint-Eustache)
Double Concert:
The TIME FOR PINK FLOYD tribute band stands out by its vocal and musical fidelity, offering you a show worthy of the famous British band. With 7 musicians on stage, TFPF will perform the best classics of this rock legend.
HAMADRYAD will open the evening with an original music show (+/- 45 mins)
After a short break it will be the turn of the great classics of Pink Floyd played by the TFPF tribute band.
(Doors open at 7pm)
Tickets are $28.50, now available at: (450) 974-2787
Centre d'Art La Petite Église
(275, rue Saint-Eustache, Saint-Eustache, Qc J7R 2L9)
https://tprosainteustache.ticketpro.ca/
April 11, 2019
Heart at Centre Bell
One of rock's most revered bands, Heart, will be in Montreal at the Centre Bell on Tuesday, July 16, 2019 for its Love Alive Tour, with opening acts Sheryl Crow and Elle King.
Doors at 6:00 PM, show at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $59 to $124, available through evenko.
March 29, 2019
The Def Leppard Hits Canada Tour
Don't miss Def Leppard's show at the Centre Bell in Montreal on Wednesday, July 17, 2019 accompanied by Tesla.
Def Leppard will present the music from their latest compilation The Story So Far, and celebrate their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Tesla will present the music from their brand new album Shock.
As part of their Canadian tour, Def Leppard will also be on Friday, July 12, 2019 at the Scotiabank Center in Halifax and Saturday, July 13, 2019 at the Moncton Future Center.
Tickets are $74 to $155, available through evenko.
April 29, 2019
Alan Parsons back in Montreal
Alan Parsons will be in Montreal on Thursday, July 4, 2019 at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place des Arts as part of the Montreal Jazz Fest.
The legendary composer, performer, and producer Alan Parsons – who started as a sound engineer on the Beatles' Let It Be and Abbey Road albums and on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon – will be in Montreal to present The Secret, his latest album. It is an honor to welcome this exceptional musician who has sold more than 45 million albums and was nominated 11 times for the Grammy Awards.
Show at 7:30 PM, tickets are $66.10 to $91.50, available through the Montreal Jazz Fest website and at the PDA boxoffice.
April 12, 2019
Bryan Adams in Montreal
The Montreal Jazz Festival presents legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams at the Centre Bell in Montreal on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, as part of his Shine A Light Tour.
Shine a Light is the fourteenth studio album by Bryan Adams, released on March 1, 2019, and debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart.
Doors at 6:30 PM, Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $85 to $157, available through evenko.
EACH ONLINE TICKET PURCHASE INCLUDES A COPY OF BRYAN ADAMS' FORTHCOMING ALBUM!
Customers will receive an additional email with instructions on how to redeem the album.
March 29, 2019
Marbin back at Petit Campus
Fusion band Marbin will be back at Petit Campus on Monday, June 17, 2019.
Marbin is a progressive jazz-rock band based in Chicago, IL, with a unique story that stands out in today's music world. With a do-it-yourself approach, Marbin started touring extensively in 2011, bringing their original instrumental music to every part of the United States. Through word of mouth, Marbin has gained the attention of thousands of devoted fans all over the world, and has sold tens of thousands of albums. Marbin has released seven albums: Marbin (2009), Breaking the Cycle (2011), Last Chapter of Dreaming (2013), The Third Set (2014), Aggressive Hippies (2015), Goatman and the House of the Dead (2016) and Israeli Jazz (2018). Marbin regularly plays in clubs all over the US and in jam and jazz festivals around the world.
To see Marbin playing live, check out:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marbinmusic/videos
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLriEoR1sz7_ltEWAVF7oRnLiyNVVqg7oH
Doors at 7:30 PM, show at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $17.25, available through LePointDeVente.com. 18+
April 29, 2019
Thank You Scientist & Bent Knee in Montreal
American proggers Thank You Scientist will be at Bar Le Ritz PDB (179 Jean-Talon St. West, Montreal) on Friday, June 7, 2019, to present the music of their album Terraformer, accompanied by Bent Knee.
Check-out TYS's video clip Mr. Invisible.
Doors at 6:30 PM, show begins at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $24, available through Greenland.ca or at the Ritz PDB boxoffice.
March 14, 2019
Tribute to Pink Floyd at Club Dix30:
Welcome to the Machine by Brain Damage
Montreal's Pink Floyd tribute band Brain Damage will be at Club Dix30 in Brossard on Saturday, June 8, 2019 to present its new show WELCOME TO THE MACHINE, even more visual, more interactive.
Brain Damage is a team of 9 talented and passionate musicians who reproduce the musical work of Pink Floyd, offering a colorful show that revives the energy and magic of the music of the famous British band. During their shows, they perform songs selected from 7 of the band's most popular albums from Meddle to Division Bell, covering nearly 25 years of their history.
Show at 8pm. Tickets are $33.50, available through the Club Dix30 box office.
May 12, 2019
The Musical Box presents
A Genesis Extravaganza: Contest winner!
The Musical Box will be at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place des Arts on Saturday, May 18, 2019 to present their latest 3-part Genesis Extravaganza.
The contest has now ended and we have a winner!
Congratulations to Glen Ellement of Dollard-des-Ormeaux who wins the pair of tickets to the Montreal show
Thanks to evenko for the great prize and a big thanks to all who have participated!
In an all-out performance of live visual signature stunts, a museum-worthy array of vintage instruments and a dizzying pace of iconic tracks and stage rarities, The Musical Box indulges for the first time in its 25 years of existence, in an intense 3-act voyage into the world of early Genesis music.
Act 1 - The Wind's Tail features music from Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering
Act 2 - Broadway Melodies features music from The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
Act 3 - Before the Ordeal features music from Trespass, Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound
Tickets are $53.75 to $66.75, available through evenko.
April 29, 2019
Marillion Weekend 2019 in Montreal
The Montreal edition of Marillion Weekend is just a few days away, from the 17th to the 19th of May, 2019 at L'Olympia, Montréal, Canada
Here are all the details:
Friday, May 17 to Sunday, May 19, 2019
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm
Configuration: General admission standing. Tickets (tax included, service fees to be added) are $206.95 Regular.
The Marillion Weekend 2019 – Montreal will take place over 3 nights at L’Olympia, Montreal. The concerts will feature a different show every night. Friday & Saturday Nights are surprise nights! As in previous conventions the set-list will be revealed on the night and is sure to delight… Sunday Night Is Album Night and will feature the Happiness Is The Road album. See you there!
April 29, 2019
Kings at Brutopia
The long-awaited Marillion Weekend is coming up fast and there are plenty of activities surrounding this event, including a cool Marillion tribute show (Hogarth-era) with Kings on Friday, May 17, 2019 from 1 PM to 3:30 PM at the official Marillion headquarters, Brutopia Brew Pub (1219 Crescent Street, Montreal).
Dont miss that show! Free admission, first come!
April 20, 2019
District 97, Karcius and Hamadryad at Petit Campus
A formidable evening of progressive rock fusion in perspective as American group District 97 and the Montreal bands Karcius and Hamadryad will be at the Petit Campus (57 Prince-Arthur, Montreal) on Thursday, May 16, 2019.
District 97, from Chicago, is composed of Leslie Hunt (2007 American Idol top ten finalist), Jim Tashjian, Andrew Lawrence, Tim Seisser and Jonathan Schang. Their creative and imaginative style of progressive rock has been acclaimed by critics.
Show at 8 pm, tickets are $27.50, available through LePointdeVente.com.
April 20, 2019
AraPacis at Bistro de Paris
Great heavy rock double bill with AraPacis on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at Bistro de Paris (4536 St-Denis Street, Montreal) with opening act Room 1742.
AraPacis will play music from their album Déja Doom as well as fan favorites. Room 1742 will present music from their latest album Full Moon rise. Admission is $5.
October 14, 2018
Terra Incognita 2019 in Quebec City
Back at the La Chapelle Art Center in Quebec City, do not miss the 15th edition of the Terra Incognita from May 17 to 19, 2019. A festival whose popularity is well established, tickets sell out quickly!
The latest band announcement is Airbag, from Norway, and among the groups announced so far: Finisterre (Italy), Izz (USA), Innerspace (Québec), ISProject (Italy), Bjørn Riis (Noway), Phideaux (USA), Basta! (Italy). There will be more band announcements soon, including headliners. Be on the lookout, tickets will go on sale very soon.
March 22, 2019
So - projet Gabriel on tour
The tribute band So – projet Gabriel will present a show on Friday, May 17, 2019 at Club Dix30 in Brossard.
So - projet Gabriel offers viewers a unique opportunity to dive into the musical world of Peter Gabriel. With a constant attention to detail and with the greatest respect for the work of the British singer, Marc Léveillé (The Musical Box, Turn It On Again) and five experienced musicians share their passion for the music of the former Genesis member. Their repertoire, consisting mainly of music from the Peter Gabriel III, Security, So and Us albums, will undoubtedly please the most demanding fan. A festive show, high in rhythms and emotions, where world music, rock and pop rub shoulders: that is what So - projet Gabriel invites you to do!
January 29, 2019
Anvil in Montreal
Fans of nostalgia metal, don't miss the mighty Anvil, at the Petit Campus (57 Prince-Arthur, Montreal) on Thursday, May 9, 2019 at 8:00 PM.
Tickets are $25, available through Greenland.ca.
January 27, 2019
New music
Cool new music from all around the world, here are some recent (and future) releases of interest:
Mangeur de Rêves - Histoires à l'envers : Mangeur de Rêves is a French-language music group founded in Montreal in 2016. The quintet offers a captivating alloy mixing rock, folk, prog and pop. The band, which launched its first album on January 15, 2019 entitled Histoires à l'envers, offers a musicality and a lyricism at once atmospheric and poetic.
Mangeur de Rêves is composed of Alex Cégé: voice, acoustic guitar, Jici LG: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, voice, JPhil Major: bass, voice, acoustic guitar, Raphael Liberge-Simard: percussion, Florent Schmitt: electric piano.
Launched on January 15, 2019, Histoires à l'envers is the first opus of Mangeur de Rêves. The album was recorded and mixed at Breakglass Studio by James Benjamin (Purity Ring, Stars, Plants & Animals and Barr Brothers) and mastered by David Lizotte (Hillward, Caravane and Prog Story).
The album is available on all digital platforms (Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, TIDAL, YouTube, Bandcamp, Baby CD, Amazon, Google Play, Pandora, Deezer, Napster, etc.). A physical format (CD) is coming soon.
tracklist:
1. Hier 0:38
2. Dernier hiver 4:30
3. Ainsi parlait Pinel - 7:01
4. Fille de Lune - 4:52
5. Ballade en haute mer - 5:55
6. Refuge - 3:23
7. Enfants de coeur - 6:15
Click here to purchase the digital version of the album, on Bandcamp.
April 11, 2019
Atlas : Empire at Brasserie Beaubien
Glascow's finest proggers, Atlas : Empire, will be in Montreal at Brasserie Beaubien (73 Beaubien East, Montreal) on Friday, April 19, 2019.
Weaving their way between the multitudes of different genres that influence them, the trio visits the worlds of heavy progressive rock and expansive ambient shoegaze. Crossing the Atlantic to North America, the proggers will be visiting Canada for their third time since their performances in Ontario in 2017, which included showcasing at Indie Week in Toronto.
To date the band has released 3 EPs, To The Astronaut... (2012); Somnus (2013) and For the Satellites (2015) with The Stratosphere Beneath Our Feet as their 2018 debut full length.
Show at 8:00 PM. Admission is $10 at the door.
December 2, 2018
Riverside in Montreal
Polish prog metal band Riverside will be at the Club Soda on Wednesday, May 15, 2019.
Riverside are back with their 7th studio album Wasteland, recorded as a trio with Mariusz Duda on vocals, guitar and bass, Piotr Kozieradzki on drums and Michal Lapaj on keyboards and Hammond organ.
"I remember the moment when we officially announced that we would continue as a trio,” says Mariusz Duda, the vocalist and main composer in the band. “We were doing a photoshoot at the Polish seaside. I said to the guys, Let’s remember that this is just the beginning. Many of our fans can’t imagine an album without Piotr Grudzień and for some of them the band ceased to exist when he died. We have to prove that we are able to survive not only by playing concerts but, most of all, by recording a new album.”
"Eye of the Soundscape’ is a compilation of old and new things,” says Duda, “but it’s not a successor to ‘Love, Fear and the Time Machine’. It is not yet a new music chapter. The new chapter begins now, this year.”
"Wasteland is undoubtedly one of the musically heavier and more emotional albums in our discography," says Michal Lapaj, the band's keyboardist. "On one hand, it goes back to our beginnings, there are many guitar riffs, dark and spacey elements. This is combined with a new, raw style that we did not have before and that gives the album a pretty explosive sound. We literally went through a "second life syndrome", and during the recording, we also consciously incorporated some elements of our second album (second life syndrome), making "Wasteland" somehow a "second life syndrome", part two."
Doors at 7:00 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $49, through LePointDeVente.com..
October 8, 2018
New music
Cool new music from all around the world, here are some recent (and future) releases of interest:
Glass Hammer - Chronomonaut : One of the most enduring prog rock bands from the US of A, Glass Hammer will release their 17th studio album on October 12, entitled Chronomonaut.
Bassist Steve Babb says the new concept album tells the story of “the ultimate prog fan.” Chronomonaut is a stand-alone album but also acts as a Part Two for the highly successful 2000 release Chronometree. Babb elaborates, “Our album deals with time travel, nostalgia and the love of prog-rock. Chronomonaut’s protagonist, Tom, starts his own band and then makes the attempt to go back to the seventies in hopes of becoming a prog-god. It’s all in fun and is really a very tongue-in-cheek look at how our favorite music can take us back in time.”
Steve Babb is joined by Susie Bogdanowicz, Aaron Raulston, and Fred Schendel. Guest appearances include Discipline’s Matthew Parmenter and Chris Herin.
“Immaculate storytelling, soaring and varied musical passages, an uncanny number of musical styles, and Bogdanowicz’s angelic voice combine to make Chronomonaut Glass Hammer’s most majestic album yet.” Brad Birzer – Progarchy
Check out Glass Hammer's Melancholy Holiday video from the new album Chronomonaut.
Here is the tracklist of Chronomonaut:
1. The Land Of Lost Content 1:54
2. Roll For Initiative 7:43
3. Twilight Of The Godz 8:13
4. The Past Is Past 9:56
5. 1980 Something 5:51
6. A Hole In The Sky 4:49
7. Clockwork 2:17
8. Melancholy Holiday 4:27
9. It Always Burns Sideways 5:49
10. Blinding Light 6:01
11. Tangerine Meme 3:05
12. Fade Away 10:27
The seventy-minute long Chronomonaut releases on October 12th, but fans can pre-order autographed copies of the album and limited edition t-shirts at the band’s website. http://glasshammer.com/official-store/
Available at all good independent record stores including Freeson Rock.
April 12, 2019
Rebels Cross Live
Montreal band Rebels Cross will be at Théâtre Plaza (6505 Saint-Hubert Street, Montréal) on Friday, April 26, 2019, to present the music of their upcoming third album entitled Fortune Teller.
"Rebels Cross is a hybrid between hard rock and art rock, with sharp guitars riffs like a finely honed blade. Rebels Cross combines the sound qualities of Dream Theater with the melodic penchant of Queensryche". - Arena Rock Magazine
Tickets are $25 to $35, available online or at the Théâtre Plaza boxoffice. Rebels Cross will also be at Foufounes Électriques (87 Ste-Catherine St. East, Montreal) on Friday, August 2, 2019.
March 14, 2019
New World Men in Brossard
Do not miss the excellent tribute to Rush, New World Men on Saturday, April 27, 2019 at the club Dix30 in Brossard.
Marc Girard, a world-class sound engineer and accomplished bassist, has realized his dream of creating a tribute to Rush, for no other reason than to have a great time playing great music. New World Men, as you know it, was born from the subsequent jam sessions in early summer 2014 with Frank Larouche and Mathieu Groulx, and the technical and technological limits have been constantly pushed back since then to offer their audience an incredible multimedia experience.
Show at 8pm. Tickets are $34.50, available through the Club Dix30 box office.
March 14 2019
Tribute to Pink Floyd at Club Soda: Echoes
LThe Pink Floyd tribute band Echoes will be at Club Soda (1225 St. Laurent Blvd, Montreal) on Saturday, April 20, 2019, with opening bands Bourbon and Our Home In Space.
Echoes, a tribute to Pink Floyd, has been on the Quebec scene since 2005. The group performs shows across the province. Echoes is a full-length seven-piece band with video projections that will immerse you in the Pink Floyd universe. In addition, Echoes stands out for its energy on stage and the quality of reproduction of Pink Floyd's work. Echoes is the tribute to Pink Floyd to see and see again.
Show at 8pm. free tickets in advance, $12.25 at the door. 18+
April 7, 2019
Saga returns to Montreal
Toronto proggers Saga will return to Montreal this spring. The event will be held on Friday, April 12, 2019 at the Club Soda (1225 St. Laurent Blvd.).
With twenty-one studio albums, Saga members have produced hits such as On The Loose, The Flyer and Scratching The Surface. They have sold more than eight million albums worldwide.
Formed in 1977, Saga has earned many followers around the world its unique musical style, defined by Ian Crichton's guitar staccatos backed up by synthesizers and intricate arrangements that often combine three musicians.
Quebec has always been the Saga stronghold in America, where they gave many performances including some unforgettable passages at the Montreal Forum.
Tickets are $50, available through the Club Soda box office.
December 8, 2018
The Tea Party at the MTelus Metropolis
The Tea Party will be at the MTelus Metropolis (59 St-Catherine East, Montreal) on Friday, April 12, 2019.
The famous canadian indie/prog band will present new music as part of their Canadian Black River Tour.
Doors at 6:30 PM, Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $47.75, available through evenko and at the MTelus Metropolis boxoffice.
November 3, 2018
Pink Floyd's Nick Mason in Montreal
Nick Mason, Pink Floyd's celebrated drummer will present his show "A saucerful of secrets" on Monday, April 15, 2019 at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place des Arts.
Nick Mason is planning to perform some classic Floyd songs, but don’t expect “Comfortably Numb” or “Another Brick in the Wall.” Mason instead will be digging deep into the Pink Floyd archives to offer tunes not heard live in America for a long time, if ever. Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets will be jamming to pre-“Dark Side of the Moon” material.
“I really wanted to find something different and a bit quirky,” Mason told The Associated Press by phone from London. “I think, for me, what’s most interesting is to revisit the thinking behind some of these pieces.”
The band — which includes Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, longtime Pink Floyd touring bassist Guy Pratt, guitarist Lee Harris and keyboardist Dom Beken — formed this year in the United Kingdom after bandmates nudged Mason to make music again.
The tour will mark Mason’s first performances in North America since Pink Floyd played Giants Stadium in New Jersey in 1994 as part of the Division Bell Tour. The 74-year-old musician said he’s having more fun behind the drum kit that he initially expected.
Doors at 6:45 PM, show at 7:30 PM. Tickets on sale Nov. 5 at 10 AM through evenko or at the Place des Arts boxoffice.
November 15, 2018
Brit Floyd at the Place des Arts
Tribute band Brit Floyd will be at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place des Arts on Saturday, April 6, 2019.
The band is pleased to announce the first of a run of shows in USA and Canada, the 2019 tour entitled The World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Show BRIT FLOYD Another Brick in the Wall 2019 Celebrating 40 years of The Wall, plus much more. Brit Floyd, the world’s greatest Pink Floyd tribute show, returns to the stage in 2019 with its most ambitious and best production yet, a very special 40th Anniversary retrospective of Pink Floyd’s iconic rock opera, ‘The Wall’. Released in November 1979, a semi-autobiographical concept album from the mind of Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters, The Wall remains one of the biggest selling albums of all time, and an important moment in Rock music history. As well as performing a host of musical highlights from The Wall, Brit Floyd will perform classic gems from The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Division Bell plus lots more.
Doors at 7:15 PM, Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are available through evenko.
January 29, 2019
Baroness & Deafheaven at the Corona
Heavy Montréal presents Baroness and Deafheaven at the Théâtre Corona (2490 Notre-Dame Steet West, Montreal) on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, accompanied by Zeal & Ardor.
Doors at 6:30 PM, show at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $34.50 - $38.50, available through Greenland.ca and at the Corona boxoffice.
November 15, 2018
Muse at the Bell Centre
The British group Muse will be in Montreal on Saturday, March 30, 2019 at the Bell Center, as part of their Simulation Theory tour.
Their new studio album, Simulation Theory, was released on November 9 through Warner Music. The eleven-track record was produced by the band, along with producers Rich Costey, Mike Elizondo, Shellback and Timbaland. Each of the album’s songs will be accompanied by a video.
When you purchase an online ticket for the Muse show, you will have the choice of receiving the CD or digital copy of the new Simulation Theory album. You will receive an email telling you how to get your album after buying your ticket.
Doors at 18:30, Show at 20:00. Tickets are available through evenko.
November 8, 2018
Dream Theater at Place des Arts
evenko presents Dream Theater on Friday, April 5, 2019 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place des Arts, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their seminal album Metropolis Pt. 2 Scenes from a Memory.
Two-time Grammy-nominated and millions-selling progressive music titans Dream Theater announce the forthcoming worldwide release of their 14th studio album, Distance Over Time on February 22, 2019, followed by a North-American Tour. Distance Over Time showcases a newfound creativity for Dream Theater while maintaining the elements that have garnered them devoted fans around the globe. The band will be also celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album Metropolis Pt. 2 Scenes from a Memory, and will be playing in its entirety.
Progressive metal pioneers Dream Theater — James LaBrie (Vocals), John Petrucci (Guitars), Jordan Rudess (Keyboards), John Myung (Bass), and Mike Mangini (Drums) — share a unique bond with one of the most passionate fan bases around the globe as evidenced by their two Grammy Award nominations and 15 million records sold worldwide.
Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets available through evenko and at the Place des Arts boxoffice.
September 15, 2018
New music
Cool new music from all around the world, here are some recent (and future) releases of interest:
Roine Stolt's The Flower King - Manifesto Of An Alchemist : Roine Stolt, known as the guitarist, singer, writer and at times band leader of the groups The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Agents of Mercy, Kaipa DC, as well as from his work with prog icon Jon Anderson and the new super-group The Sea Within, is releasing a new album on the 23rd November 2018. Under the moniker ROINE STOLT’S THE FLOWER KING, Manifesto Of An Alchemist offers 10 songs and almost 70 minutes of playing time celebrating the style Roine is most revered for: progressive rock, richly orchestrated with all the trademark elements from four decades of the genre.
Roine comments: “Unlike many later albums, where recordings have continued over months, this new album has been a fairly quick and effective affair - we started tracking in Holland at the beginning of July and mix was done by mid-August! The songs are written in a very ‘unorthodox’ way - some melodic content and some riffs are ideas that have been circulating for years - some may even be from before the first TFK album - they just hadn’t found a home in any of the bands/albums I did in the last 15 years yet.”
Manifesto Of An Alchemist is a celebration of all the styles that have been part of the colourful, daring and dynamic songwriting and arrangements that Roine masters like no other, yet also offers a more immediate, more hands on approach. “Like that first TFK album, I’m the main lead vocalist here again - it works as these lyrics are important to me and resonate with my view of the world. A lot of the guitar work is actually my spontaneous ‘demo’ guitars and that goes for much of the synth work, too. I didn’t want to ‘process’ ideas too much as there is much power in the initial creation - I wanted to keep it that way.”
The album features a host of other musicians, including long-time collaborators Jonas Reingold, Hasse Froberg & Michael Stolt, as well as fellow The Sea Within member Marco Minnemann, Max Lorentz, Zach Kamins, Rob Townsend & Nad Sylvan.
‘Manifesto Of An Alchemist’ features stunning artwork from Shaun Beyond (https://www.instagram.com/shaunbeyond/), and will arrive as a limited edition CD digipak, Gatefold 180g 2LP + CD & as digital download. You can find the full track-listing below:
1. Rainsong
2. Lost America
3. Ze Pawns
4. High Road
5. Rio Grande
6. Next To A Hurricane
7. The Alchemist
8. Baby Angels
9. Six Thirty Wake-Up
10. The Spell Of Money
Available at all good independent record stores including Freeson Rock.
March 21, 2019
Frost* and Mystery in Montreal tonight!
British band Frost* and Montreal's Mystery will be at Salle Jean-Paul Tardif for a long-awaited double-bill for Progressive Rock fans. The event will take place on Friday, March 22, 2019. The Frost*/Mystery duo will also be in Montreal on Thursday, March 21, 2019 at La Tulipe (4530 Papineau).
Frost* is a British supergroup formed in 2004 by keyboardist Jem Godfrey. Their sound is very modern and dynamic. In 2017, their album Falling Satellites was in the top 10 of several critics of the music press.
The band also features Craig Bundell on drums (Steven Wilson), John Mitchell on guitar (Arena, It Bites), Nathan King on bass (Level 42, It Bites).
The evening will begin with the performance of the excellent Montreal band Mystery. They will present brand new material from their latest album Lies and Butterflies as well as highlights from previous albums.
Mystery is composed of: Michel St-Père (guitar), François Fournier (bass), Jean-Sébastien Goyette (drums), Antoine Michaud (keyboards), Jean Pageau (vocals and flute) and Sylvain Moineau (guitar).
Mystery is one of the most respected progressive rock bands in the country. Very popular in Europe, they will begin in April, a tour that will take them to Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Tickets for the Quebec City show available through the Salle Jean-Paul Tardif box office.
Tickets for the Montreal show available through Admission.
February 10, 2019
Lazarus Heart in Pointe Claire
Sylvain Auclair's amazing Police/Sting tribute show Lazarus Heart will be at the Calistoga Grill (235, Boul. St-Jean, Pointe-Claire) on Saturday, March 16, 2019.
Check-out the Lazarus Heart video clip at the Calistoga Grill.
Show begins at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $17.39, available at the Calistoga Grill boxoffice
December 21, 2018
Prog Story back in Montreal
The incredible musical revue Prog Story will be back in Montreal on Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 8:00 pm at the Club Soda (1225 St. Laurent Blvd.).
Prog Story presents an original concept tracing the best moments of British progressive rock from the 70s in music and images. Featuring the music of Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, ELP, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd and Gentle Giant as part of the setlist.
The producer gathered a talented team of eight musicians and singers selected from the Quebec elite. The band is composed of Francis Grégoire (keyboards and musical direction), Antoine Baril (drums), Christian Pacaud (bass), Gabriel Cyr (guitar), Jean-Philippe Major (vocals), Gabriel-Antoine Vallée (vocals and guitar), Alex Donati (vocals and guitar) and Mathieu Pilote (vocals, flute, saxophone).
Prog Story is a unique event that chronicles the story of progressive rock while offering you high-level musicianship with images and exclusive interviews from important musicians of that era.
Tickets are $45, available through the Club Soda box office.
January 29, 2019
Disturbed & Three Days Grace in Laval
Heavy Montréal presents American heavy metal band Disturbed, at Place Bell (1950 Claude-Gagné Street, Laval) on Friday, March 1st, 2019 as part of their Evolution world tour, accompanied by Three Days Grace.
Doors at 6:30 pm, show at 7:30 pm. Tickets available through evenko and at the Place Bell boxoffice.
January 29, 2019
A Bowie Celebration:
The David Bowie Alumni tour
Don't miss A Bowie Celebration, The David Bowie Alumni Tour, at the Metropolis MTelus (59 Ste-Catherine Street East, Montreal) on Saturday, March 2, 2019.
Join key alumni musicians of David Bowie's bands from across the decades, anchored by his longest standing member Mike Garson along with other amazing Bowie band alumni including Earl Slick, Gerry Leonard, Carmine Rojas and Mark Plati. We're gearing up to head back on the road with A BOWIE CELEBRATION: The David Bowie Alumni Tour featuring an unforgettable and critically acclaimed evening of Bowie songs with world-class vocalists and an ever rotating mix of hits and deep cuts.
Doors at 6:30 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $59 - $198, available through Greenland.ca and at the Metropolis boxoffice.
December 19, 2018
Within Temptation at the Olympia
Heavy Montreal Presents Within Temptation with In Flames at the Olympia de Montréal (1004 St-Catherine St East) on Tuesday, March 5, 2019, with opening band Smash into Pieces.
The Dutch symphonic metal band will present new material from their latest album Resist.
Doors at 5:00 PM, show at 7:00 PM. Tickets are $60 to $155, available through evenko and at the Olympia boxoffice.
November 27, 2018
Mick Pointer presents Script Revisited at Club Soda
The Mick Pointer Band will be at Club Soda on Friday, February 22, 2019 to present his show Script Revisited.
Mick Pointer's show is inspired by Marillion's first world tour. For this, he surrounded himself with an all-star team including Nick Barrett (Pendragon) on guitar, Mike Varty (Landmarq) on keyboards, Ian Salmon on bass (ex-Arena) and the excellent singer Brian Cummins (Carpet Crawlers).
Mick Pointer, Marillion's original drummer, had the idea of presenting Script Revisited in 2013 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the tour. Since then, the band has played in several European countries.
Fans of the Marillion Fish era will have their highest expectations filled with the Script Revisited show. It will be the first visit to America for the Mick Pointer Band.
Doors at 7:00 PM, show at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $49, available via LePointdeVente.com. General admission. All ages.
October 14, 2018
Roine Stolt and The Flower Kings in Montreal
The legendary guitarist of Swedish progressive rock band The Flower Kings, Roine Stolt, will be in Montreal on Thursday, February 28, 2019 at the Club Soda (1225 St. Laurent Blvd, Montreal) and in Quebec City on Friday March 1, 2019, at Salle Jean-Paul Tardif. He will present the music of his new album Roine Stolt 's The Flower King "Manifesto of an Alchemist" which will be available in November.
The Flower Kings was formed in 1994 and was one of the leading bands in the progressive rock renaissance of the 1990s. They have twelve studio albums to their credit.
Roine Stolt is one of the most prolific musicians in today's progressive rock movement. Alongside The Flower Kings, he has been seen in such bands as Transatlantic, Agents of Mercy, The Tangent, Kaipa and more recently The Sea Within. He has also worked with Steve Hackett and Jon Anderson.
Roine Stolt will be accompanied by Hasse Froberg (vocals, guitar), Jonas Reingold (bass), Zach Kamins (keyboards) and Mirko Demaio (drums).
Doors at 19h, show at 20h. Tickets for the Montreal show are $54, available through the Club Soda box office and www.lepointdevente.com. General admission seated places.
November 5, 2018
Alan Parsons at Place des Arts
evenko presents Legendary composer, performer and producer Alan Parsons, at the Théâtre Maisonneuve of the Place des Arts in Montreal on Sunday, February 24, 2019.
Parsons continues his world tour of the Alan Parsons Live project that began in 2014 and will play his greatest hits including Time, Don't Answer Me, Eye In The Sky, Lucifer, I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You and Games People Play. He will be accompanied by six musicians and a singer.
Alan Parsons began his career as an assistant sound engineer in the prestigious Abbey Road studios. At the age of 18, he worked on the the legendary Beatles albums Abbey Road and Let it be. And then he was the sound engineer for Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon. This album revolutionized studio recording techniques worldwide. More recently, Parsons was the sound engineer for Steven Wilson's album The Raven That Refused To Sing, released in 2013.
After creating The Alan Parsons Project with Eric Woolfson, the artist has recorded ten studio albums from 1976. The British musician has sold over 45 million albums in addition to being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards.
Show at 8:00 PM. Tickets on sale November 9 at 10 am and are available through evenko and at the Place Des Arts boxoffice.
October 21, 2018
Neal Morse at Club Soda
The prolific singer and multi-instrumentalist Neal Morse will perform in Montreal on Monday, February 18, 2019 at Club Soda (1225 St-Laurent, Montreal).
The Neal Morse band will be promoting a new album, The Great Adventure, to be released on January 25th.
Neal Morse is also a dominant figure in two other musical groups. In 2000, he set up the Transatlantic rock-progressive super-band with Pete Trewavas (Marillion), Roine Stolt (The Flower Kings) and Mike Portnoy (ex-Dream Theater). Neal Morse is also part of the group Flying Colors whose first album was released in 2012.
In 1992 Neal Morse founded, with his brother Alan, the band Spock's Beard. The latter quickly became one of the most respected band of modern rock-progressive movement thanks to their first album: The Light. He left Spock’s Beard in 2002 to begin his solo career.
Neal Morse's music is known for being eclectic, energetic and rich in vocal harmonies. During his concerts, he surrounds himself always virtuoso musicians.
The Neal Morse band is composed of Randy George (bass), Eric Gillette (keyboards, guitar, vocals), Bill Hubauer (keyboards, violin, saxophone and vocals), and popular drummer Mike Portnoy.
Show at 8:00 PM, tickets are $54, available through LePointDeVente.com.
May 2, 2018
The Musical Box at Place des Arts
The Musical Box presents A Genesis Extravaganza at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of the Place des Arts on Saturday, February 9, 2019.
In an all-out performance of live visual signature stunts, a museum-worthy array of vintage instruments and a dizzying pace of iconic tracks and stage rarities, The Musical Box indulges for the 1st time in 25 years an intense 3-act voyage into the world of early Genesis. Act 1 is The Wind’s Tail, Act 2 is Broadway Melodies and act 3 is Before the Ordeal.
Doors at 7:15 PM - Show at at 8:00 PM. Tickets are $53.70 to $85.20, available through www.evenko.ca.
November 19, 2018
Dance Into The Light in Montreal
Martin Levac will present his tribute show to Phil Collins Dance Into the Light on Saturday, January 19, 2019 at Théâtre Desjardins (1111, rue Lapierre, Monréal).
Acclaimed by the public and recognized by Phil Collins, Martin Levac, accompanied by his seven musicians, will make you go through a range of emotions by interpreting in a more than perfect way the hits of this great musical icon.
Show at 8pm. Tickets are $50, available through the Théâtre Desjardins box office.
December 8, 2018
Fractal Cypher and Friends at Foufounes
Don't miss an evening of prog metal fun as Fractal Cypher will launch their latest mini-album Prelude To An Impending Outcome, at Foufounes Électriques (87, Ste Catherine East, Montreal) on Friday, January 11, 2019, accompanied by Dark Aeon, who will launch their latest album Shattered Monolith, also accompanied by Unbeing, Unveil and Moth, who will begin the evening.
Check Fractal Cypher's music Video "From The Above And To The Stars" - https://buff.ly/2Uo2p8Y
Tickets are $12, available through the Foufounes boxoffice and at the door on the day of the show. General Admission. 18+.
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