British musician Sam Smith, along with opener George Ezra, will perform at the Air Canada Centre.Kevin Kane/Getty Images
The big music news late in 2014 was the report that a multi-day camping festival in the style of Tennessee's Bonnaroo would happen this summer, possibly at the Burl's Creek parkland site outside of Barrie, Ont. The event may or may not happen, but it is for certain that Toronto concertgoers won't need to wait that long for top-notch shows. Here's a roundup of the best in upcoming pop, rock, jazz and roots music, with a few comedy gigs thrown in, just for laughs.
JANUARY
Make way for the youthful second-wave British invasion, spearheaded by the emotive neo-soulster Sam Smith and the handsome singer-songwriter George Ezra. The latter (who comes back on his own to the Danforth Music Hall on March 27) opens the show for the best-selling former at the Air Canada Centre (Jan. 20). Speaking of phenoms, the Montreal pop-jazz ingénue Nikki Yanofsky came of age in 2014 with the release of the big, classy album Little Secret, made with help from mentor Quincy Jones. She scats, pops and croons at Hamilton Place Theatre (Jan. 23) and Massey Hall (Jan. 24). Then comes the veteran Bob Seger, a gruff-voiced ramblin', gamblin' man who perhaps makes his last local appearance, at the ACC (Jan. 24). Closing out the month, the baroque-pop wunderkind Owen Pallett gives a matinee show and an evening one too at Lee's Palace (Jan. 31).
FEBRUARY
The Steinway B at The Jazz Bistro will be tested by Bill Charlap, the elegant jazzer who pops up from New York for a one-off (Feb. 3). On the same night, Fleetwood Mac reprises its 2014 visit here for another concert at the ACC. The attraction is the repatriated Christine MacVie, the band's hiatus-taking singer-keyboardist who apparently never stopped thinking about tomorrow. Renovations will continue at Massey Hall in 2015, but that won't stop the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis from playing the distinguished room, with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in tow (Feb. 11). The smashing double-bill of pop-rock indie icons Stars and passionate openers Hey Rosetta! graces the Danforth Music Hall for two nights of upbeat euphoria (Feb 12-14). And something unexpected happens at the ACC, where The Tragically Hip celebrates the box-set reissue of its superbly intense 1992 album Fully Completely (Feb. 19). The band's singer-lyricist Gord Downie is not a farmer who takes to looking back upon his plowed fields, but he thankfully makes an exception here.
MARCH
His earnest and anthemic 2013 hit Take Me to Church was controversial, but Ireland's Andrew Hozier-Byrne (who works mononymously as Hozier) preaches to the choir at Massey Hall (March 2). The same night sees the reunion of the indie-rock trio Sleater-Kinney, a hipster-exciting moment at Sound Academy. No doubt some of the Sleater-Kinney crowd will make it up to the Danforth Music Hall, where the whip-smart singer-guitarist St. Vincent showcases her winning 2014 self-titled album over two nights (March 3 and 4). With a Letterman appearance and the release of its dazzling sophomore album Sleeping Operator, the Montreal folk-rock specialists The Barr Brothers had a big year in 2014. Which makes the choice of a relatively small venue (Lee's Palace) a surprise booking (March 12). Incidentally, the owners of Lee's might want to make sure their building insurance is up to date, as the robust Benjamin Booker and his shotgun rock-blues shenanigans just might tear the place down later in the month (March 31).
APRIL
Song sung blue – everybody's got one, but some more than others. The Brill Building believer Neil Diamond stays busy, with the release of 2014's warmly received Melody Road and a spring tour that hits five Canadian cities, including a show at the ACC (April 2). Another veteran, the Brazilian Gilberto Gil, comes next. The legendary bossa nova man and activist-turned-Brazilian minister serves the samba at Koerner Hall (April 7). Damien Rice sold out Danforth Music Hall in 2014, but it turns out the melancholic Irish emoter was just warming up for a bigger gig in 2015, at Massey Hall (April 11). Also at Massey, jazz icons Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock compare keyboard notions and Grammy trophies with a duo concert (April 14). Last but not least, the bright banjo songster Old Man Luedecke gives an early show at the Dakota Tavern, where in a cozy setting the talents of one of this country's finest songwriters will be showcased (April 23).
COMEDY HIGHLIGHTS
Rebel Without a Cosmos To Jan. 31, Second City
Graham Kay Jan. 14 to 18, Yuk Yuk's
Jerry Seinfeld Jan. 22, General Motors Centre, Oshawa, Ont.
Norm Macdonald Jan. 30, Queen Elizabeth Theatre; Jan. 31, Hamilton Place Theatre
Eddie Pepitone Jan. 31, Comedy Bar
Darrin Rose Feb. 7, Winter Garden Theatre
Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids Feb. 9, The Garrison
Sketchfest March 5 to 15, Comedy Bar
Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience March 4 to 22, Sony Centre's O'Keefe Lounge
Bo Burnham March 25 and 26, Danforth Music Hall
Bill Maher April 11, Roy Thomson Hall
Ron James April 23, Massey Hall
Jay Leno April 30, Massey Hall
Brad Wheeler