Tag Archives: music

Concerts and shows of 2024.

This was another year where I was lucky enough to see some amazing shows and performers. There were a few acts that I’d never seen before and was so grateful to get to see them in person.

LCD Soundsystem is the main band I was so happy to finally see live, and they did not disappoint, putting on a stellar show.

I’d also been wanting to see IDLES live for years, and their show walked a fine line between being super aggressive musically and keeping it all tight and sounding great. I don’t know how they do that, it was spectacular. And we finally got to see the great St. Vincent who put on an epic show.

Being in the presence of both Kamasi Washington and André 3000 and listening to their music live was a very special treat. Hans Zimmer may have been the biggest surprise. We almost didn’t go, and it was an amazing show with upwards of 40 truly great musicians performing on stage.

And we love Mike Birbiglia and James Acaster and they were perfectly hysterical.

  • Jan 19 – Mike Birbiglia
  • Feb 16 – Aparna Nancherla
  • Mar 6 – James Acaster
  • May 3 – IDLES
  • May 14 – The Postal Service & Death Cab for Cutie
  • May 19 – LCD Soundsystem 
  • May 30 – Kamasi Washington 
  • Jun 10 – Nick Lowe & Ron Sexsmith
  • Jun 23 – Iron & Wine
  • Aug 11 – St. Vincent 
  • Sep 3 – Frank Turner
  • Sep 20 – James & Johnny Marr
  • Sep 29 – Gary Gulman
  • Oct 2 – War on Drugs & The National
  • Oct 6 – Hans Zimmer
  • Oct 11 – André 3000
  • Oct 12 – Brittany Howard & Michael Kiwanuka
  • Nov 4 – The The 

Here’s to a great 2025, we already have tickets to some great shows that I’m looking forward to, including a tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of American Football’s LP1.

I also saw lots of great films and read many good books in 2024.

Concerts and shows in 2023.

Going to concerts is a major activity for my family. We’re lucky to get to see so many great live acts. We saw a bunch of comedians this year, which was great fun.

Musically, we started and ended the year seeing the great local singer-songwriter Dan Mangan. Seeing him is always a tremendous treat. We got to see The Cure, The National, and Elvis Costello all in a single week, which was fantastic. Seeing Crowded House was incredible as they were my son Ivan’s first favourite band when he was three years old and we love Neil Finn so much.

We already have tickets to five shows in 2024 so we’re looking forward to next year.

  • Jan 15 – Jim Gaffigan
  • Feb 3 – Dan Mangan
  • Feb 18 – Ryan Hamilton
  • Feb 25 – Patton Oswalt
  • Mar 4 – David Cross
  • May 2 – Crowded House
  • May 11 – Ivan Decker
  • May 18 – Yves Tumor
  • Jun 2 – The Cure
  • Jun 5 – The National
  • Jun 7 – Elvis Costello 
  • Jul 26 – Andrew Bird
  • Aug 3 – Big Thief & Lucinda Williams
  • Aug 12 – Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra
  • Aug 23 – Flaming Lips
  • Sep 2 – Tom Papa
  • Sep 23 – Arctic Monkeys
  • Oct 7 – Peter Gabriel
  • Nov 9 – Destroyer 
  • Nov 24 – Depeche Mode 
  • Dec 9 – Dan Mangan

What did you see this year that stood out for you?

Concerts in 2022

Before the pandemic, my family and I used to go to a lot of concerts. It was one of our favourite things to do as a family. I think I went to like 18 shows in 2019. My son Ivan, in particular is a huge music fan and musician, and so concerts have always been a big family activity. One of the most difficult restrictions for us over the last couple of years was the loss of seeing live music.

As I reflect on 2022, I thought I’d publish a list of concerts we saw this year. Almost all were really excellent. A few stand out. Godspeed You! Black Emperor was great mostly because it was the first live show we’d seen since Thundercat in February of 2020. That was special.

Midnight Oil was perhaps the very last band that I loved as a teenager who are still making music and touring to see live with my teenaged son — having seen Elvis Costello, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Bauhaus, David Byrne and Johnny Marr (and Morrissey, although I wish I hadn’t) with him over the last few years. It was a truly great show, and a privilege to see them again.

Seeing Dan Mangan is always such a treat! This show was rescheduled several times, and it felt complete to see him play live again.

Destroyer lives just down the street from us, and I got really into him during the pandemic without realizing he was a neighbour. Seeing him was very special because on one hand he’s just this guy I see around Strathcona, and on the other I have loved his music over the last couple of years. He put on a fantastic show.

CHVRCHES was stellar from start to finish, a really incredible show. Kraftwerk were a delight to see, sounded great and the 3D visuals were amazing.

But in the end, The Smile was hands down the best show I saw this year, and it was so fun to make a road trip down to Seattle with my son to check them out (they didn’t play Vancouver). An absolutely great last show to cap the year!

Here’s the full list of 2022 shows listed chronologically:

  • Godspeed You! Black Emperor
  • Alt-J 
  • Beach House
  • Destroyer
  • Dan Mangan
  • Midnight Oil
  • Kraftwerk
  • Animal Collective 
  • Wilco
  • CHVRCHES
  • Stewart Copeland and VSO
  • King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
  • The Smile