Stuart Derdeyn's 10 shows you have to see in 2020
Credit to Author: Stuart Derdeyn| Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2019 19:00:17 +0000
It’s a new year — and a new decade.
In music, the past few years were marked with final farewells from monsters of rock and money-grabbing “tribute tours” from bands featuring so few original members that they were little more than shell companies to pour revenues into.
But the lookahead for 2020 is a different view, entirely.
From debut appearances from rising stars, to rare concert tours by living legends — and no shortage of love it-or-leave it underground grit — the first half of the year promises a wide variety of choice musical experiences. And this is only working from the list of what has been announced so far.
Ranked in order from one to 10, here are the shows you really want to get tickets to see in early 2020. And get them soon. It will be surprising if every one of these gigs doesn’t sell out months in advance. At least one already has.
When: Feb. 18, 8 p.m.
Where: Venue, 881 Granville St.
Tickets and info: $20 at Red Cat Records outlets and ticketweb.ca
Yola is a Bristol, U.K., country and soul singer-songwriter whose most recent album, Walk Thorough Fire, received four nominations at the 62nd Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist. By 18, she was lending back-ups on tracks by everyone from Massive Attack to Katy Perry and others. She only started playing her own brand of sounds in the past few years. The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach produced her latest album, and her local debut is going to be one not to miss.
When: Jan. 28, 2020
Where: Commodore Ballroom, 868 Granville
Tickets and info: $32.50 at livenation.com
Hailing out of the same Muswell Hill, London, neighbourhood that gave the world Ray and Dave Davies of the Kinks, singer Michael Kiwanuka is deeply influenced by such luminaries as Bill Withers, Richie Havens and Wham! His music blends genres with ease and his self-titled third album has been praised as one of the best records of the 2010s. You might know his song Cold Little Heart from being used as the theme to the HBO miniseries Big Little Lies. Now it’s time to know all the other songs, too.
When: April 11, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rogers Arena, 800 Griffiths Way
Tickets and info: Sold out at ticketmaster.ca. Plenty available at ticket resellers.
Fans lucky enough to catch this exciting new talent at the PNE amphitheatre last June caught a preview of the large-scale production that Eilish will be taking into arenas all over the world on this tour. With her debut album, When We Fall Asleep Where Do We Go? still racking up sales, chances are there won’t be much in the way of new material in this set. But, perhaps a few new numbers will get road tested with arena audiences.
When: Jan. 16, 8 p.m.
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St.
Tickets and info: From $42.50 at ticketmaster.ca
Proclaimed by Them. magazine’s Jill Gutowitz as “… a Genderqueer Pop Icon for the Next Generation of Queer Youth,” Brooklynite Mikaela Straus is blowing up with the Make My Bed EP on Mark Ronson’s new Zelig Recordings label. The debut single 1950 and accompanying video where Straus sports a perfect 1930s pencil-thin mustache and holds hands with a girl caught the attention of former One Direction member Harry Styles, who tweeted out the song’s lyrics. That started a social media storm that the killer, neo-disco tracks such as Hit the Back just keep on building on.
When: April 25, 7 p.m.
Where: Rogers Arena, 800 Griffiths Way
Tickets and info: From $46.50 at ticketmaster.ca
Does anyone even recall that this award-winning, chart-topping twang titan finished third place in the 2003 run-off of Nashville Star? Through both her platinum solo work, as well as the celebrated female trio Pistol Annies that sees her perform alonside Ashley Lauren Monroe and Angaleena Presley, the Longview, Texas, resident has become a fixture on the country music scene. Her latest albums, Wildcard, features the hook-filled It All Comes Out in the Wash, as well as the charming Bluebird.
When: Feb. 28, 7 p.m.
Where: Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville
Tickets and info: $34.99 at eventbrite.ca
This Los Angeles-based bassist has laid down impossibly funky and memorable riffs on albums by artists ranging from Travis Scott and Kali Uchis, to Childish Gambino and Grammy-winner Kendrick Lamar. His third studio release on the Afro-Futurist trendsetting label Brainfeeder was titled Drunk (2017). The music contained on the record was anything but woozy or boozy. It was wildly inventive prog rock/mutant R&B, and his live show will touch on it all.
When: May 4, 7 p.m.
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 601 Smithe St.
Tickets and info: From $39.50 at livenation.com
Melbourne’s Dead Can Dance formed in 1981 when musicians Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, with a rotating cast of assorted musicians, set about to make gothically-tinged “world music.” Incorporating everything from Celtic reels and aires with Middle Eastern jams, soaring Medieval chanting vocals, droning chants and even Barry Manilow-style balladry, the band released numerous well-received albums before disbanding in 1998. Back together in 2011, the duo released a new album, titled Dionysus, in 2018 and have been touring it since. The incredible Agnes Obel opens.
When: April 17, 18, 7 p.m.
Where: Rogers Arena, 800 Griffiths Way
Tickets and info: From $225.44 at ticketmaster.ca
One of the top-selling singers of in the world, the superstar from Charlemagne, Quebec, hasn’t headed out on a world tour in a number of years. If you wanted to see her perform, you needed to go to Las Vegas. But with the release of Courage, her 12th English-language album, Dion had her first number one Billboard 200 album in 17 years and top 10 chart entries in many other markets. Reviews of shows on the tour to date all keep using the term “consummate performer” to describe her energy and skills.
When: March 19, 8 p.m.
Where: Fortune Sound Club, 147 E. Pender St.
Tickets and info: $34.85 at ticketweb.ca
Vladimir Putin’s favourite punk band is coming to rage a local Vancouver stage. Russian feminist protest noise band Pussy Riot may not be the best thing to happen musically, well, ever. But the members have proven time and again that they are astute readers of contemporary far-right conservative politics — and are willing to fight back against that ever-rising tide. From beatings to being imprisoned, the group is that rarest of things: They are a political punk band that is more than just talk.
When: March 7, 7 p.m.
Where: The Fox Cabaret, 2321 Main
Tickets and info: $17.50 at ticketweb.ca
Mixing surf, garage psychedelia and classic girl-group hooks, the quintet Habibi takes its name from the Arabic word for “my love.” Iranian-American lead singer Rahill Jamalifard and fellow Detroit resident Lenaya Lynch (guitar, vocals) put together the group with Brooklyn-based Erin Campbell (bass) and Iyla Vander (drums) in 2011.The band has been building a steady following since then, getting plenty of buzz for its bouncy live sets.