Year in Review: The Best Concerts of 2017

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Joanna Glevakos
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Artist: Third Eye Blind
Venue: Echo Beach
City: Toronto
Date: June 28

Third Eye Blind headed out on their 20th anniversary tour for their self-titled album this year. An album that was one of the reasons I started listening to indie music so to have them play one of my favourite records from start to finish brought back such amazing memories.

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Artist: Enter Shikari
Venue: Hard Luck Bar
City: Toronto
Date: Oct. 3

They sell out stadiums in the UK but we were lucky to see them in a small venue in Toronto. It was the sweatiest, rowdiest crowd I’ve ever been in. No photo pit so we were being pushed onto the stage, it was such a fun night.

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Artist: Sleeping with Sirens, Palaye Royale and The White Noise
Venue: The Opera House
City: Toronto
Date: Oct. 3

This was a great show from start to finish. One of my favourite things about going to shows is seeing openers you’ve never heard of and falling in love with their music on the spot. That was the case with Palaye Royale, I really enjoyed all the bands but something about their music and energy on stage that had me hooked.

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Artist: Ariel Pink
Venue: Velvet Underground
City: Toronto
Date: Oct. 30

I wasn’t expecting to put this on my list but it was a really great show. I hadn’t heard much from Ariel Pink before but I was pleasantly surprised, and I really loved the music and he puts on a spectacular performance. Small venues are perfect for an intimate show, Ariel was singing to each person in the front row (including a man with a werewolf mask) and even laying on them to sing, trust me they didn’t mind.

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Artist: The Flaming Lips
Venue: Rebel
City: Toronto
Date: March 13

This show was such an amazing experience, from the endless streams of confetti, huge, inflatables from balloons to teddy bears and robots, appearing in the crowd riding a unicorn and spelling out “FUCK YEAH TORONTO” in bubble letters. The show was incredibly immersive and for a while let me forget about everything else.