Words can’t adequately capture all of the horrors of what happened in Manchester last week, but any concert-goer can at least understand the euphoria of what preceded it. Watching live music is about so much more than just hearing nice songs — rather, the best concerts are the ones that feel like an experience.
Sure, you can listen to a song you like anytime on Spotify, but when you see the artist behind the song perform it live for a community of fans (which you, as a ticket holder, are a part of), the music and the visuals on stage take on a grandiosity that overwhelms you with its energy. From there on, it’s not just about the music — it’s about dancing, cheering, possibly rough-housing and sharing the night with strangers as you all witness the spectacle on stage. Simply put, it’s an experience.
And to think that an experience like this was immediately followed by such a disturbing act of violence adds a very uncomfortable weight to that night’s events.
It gets harder to swallow when you see the demographics of the victims. Many of those killed and injured were young women and girls, many of whom were possibly seeing their first concert ever. Research has shown that we hold a special attachment to the music we hear and adore as teenagers — our youth is a period of development in which we’re trying to figure life out despite our inexperience, and as we grow we tend to remain attached to the music that helped guide us through that time.
Though she’s far removed from her days at Nickelodeon, Ariana Grande’s music reflects the experiences of being young — in particular, she sings about being a young woman handling the complex emotions of infatuation, lust and heartbreak that we experience for the first time as teenagers leaving childhood behind. What makes Grande notable, however, is that she tackles those emotions with an assured sense of confidence and prowess that can be inspiring to her young fans caught in that period of life when they don’t always feel confident.
According to the script, that night was simply supposed to be a show where they would come together to embrace they music they love and envelop themselves in a concert experience. It could have been a night to cherish for a long time, but for those who survived it’s now a traumatic memory.
Growing up in Vancouver, some of the best nights of my life were spent at concerts. I’ve crowd-surfed at a late-night Lil B show at Fortune Sound Club, gazed in awe as Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield performed a solo rendition of “Swan Dive,” held up a drag queen who dived into the crowd on a board at a Growlers concert and laughed along as Chance the Rapper brought out an assortment of talking puppets at his recent set at UBC’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Last week’s events were tragic, but I still believe in live music’s ability to create a memorable experience and I’d love to see more people embrace it.
So without further ado, here are 58 concerts this summer that you might consider to be worthy of your time.
JUNE
June 1: John Legend at Rogers Arena.
June 2: DJ Premier and the Badder Band at Venue.
June 2: Midnight Oil at Malkin Bowl.
June 6: Def Leppard and Poison at Rogers Arena.
On one hand, an arena show featuring two aging hair-metal bands in 2017 might reek of an uncomfortable nostalgia for the uglier parts of 1980’s culture. On the other hand, both of these bands (but more so Def Leppard) have a number of undeniable jams in their catalogue, and their over-the-top theatrics could make for a pretty thrilling show. If it’s the kind of thing you’re into, feel free to indulge.
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June 8: Mount Kimbie at the Imperial.
June 9: Future (with Migos, Tory Lanez and A$AP Ferg) at Rogers Arena.
Now this is a stacked night. Future is one of the most popular and acclaimed rappers to have blown up in recent years, while Migos are having a breakthrough year with a best-selling album and a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. For rap fans, this should be a promising night.
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June 13: Akon at Harbour Event Centre.
Can we all convene for a second around the inconceivable fact that, holy shit, Akon’s still around? He recently made headlines for his humanitarian work in bringing solar electricity to rural communities in Africa, but other than that he’s pretty much vanished from the public’s consciousness in recent years. Does he still have that high syrupy voice? Would he dare perform new music from his long-delayed upcoming five-disc concept album? Would attending an Akon concert in 2017 be a worthwhile experience of 2000’s nostalgia despite the fact that most of his music has aged terribly? For the answer to those questions, you’ll need to see him for yourself.
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June 15: Hurray for the Riff Raff at the Imperial.
June 15: Tool at Rogers Arena.
June 15 and 16: Blitzen Trapper at Biltmore Cabaret.
June 17: Low + Mono at the Imperial.
June 17: Cut Copy at Red Truck Brewing’s Truck Stop Concert Series.
June 19: Bonnie Raitt at Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
June 20: Amy Shark at Biltmore Cabaret.
June 21: (Sandy) Alex G at the Cobalt.
Alex G made waves in indie-rock circles with his breakthrough 2014 record DSU, but his profile rose sharply after it was revealed that he collaborated with R&B critical darling Frank Ocean on his 2016 records Blonde and Endless. After then changing his name to (Sandy) Alex G for some reason, he’s releasing a new record titled Rocket, which sees the 24-year-old musician flirting with country and western influences. Judging by the pre-released tracks, it’s going to be a doozy.
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June 22: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
June 23 and 24: Jurassic 5 at the Commodore Ballroom.
June 25: Omar Souleyman at the Imperial.
June 26: Ziggy Marley at Vogue.
June 27: !!! (Chk Chk Chk) at Fox Cabaret.
June 27: Ryan Adams at the Orpheum.
July
July 2: Queen and Adam Lambert at Rogers Arena.
July 4: B.o.B. at The Alexander.
July 5: Daniel Lanois at the Commodore Ballroom.
July 7: Sublime with Rome and The Offspring at Abbotsford Centre.
July 8: Shawn Mendes at Rogers Arena.
July 10: Beach Fossils at Biltmore Cabaret.
July 11: Nite Jewel with Geneva Jacuzzi at Fox Cabaret.
July 14: Melvins at Venue.
July 16: Perfume Genius at the Imperial.
July 18: The Drums at Venue.
July 18: J Cole at Rogers Arena.
Baby: j-jj…j-j…j
— Bobby (@SullivanBobby) May 25, 2016
Me: he’s about to say his 1st word!
Baby: J. Cole went platinum with no features
July 23: Jack Johnson at Deer Lake Park.
July 24: Neil Diamond at Rogers Arena.
July 25: Waxahatchee at the Imperial.
July 25: Bob Dylan & His Band at Rogers Arena.
July 26 and 27: Bruno Mars at Rogers Arena.
July 28: Ed Sheeran at Rogers Arena.
AUGUST
August 1: Lady Gaga at Rogers Arena.
August 2: Kendrick Lamar with Travis Scott and D.R.A.M. at Rogers Arena.
August 2: Pinegrove at Biltmore Cabaret.
Ah jeez, this is cruel. Kendrick Lamar has risen to the point where the world has pretty much unanimously accepted that he’s the Best Rapper Alive, and his new record DAMN. is packed with the kind of heavy-hitting bangers that could make a front-row crowd at a concert go absolutely nuts. If there’s one concert on this whole list that you need to attend, it’s this one. But the same night also features a show from Pinegrove, one of the most interesting and promising bands to come along in recent memory. Their fusion of alt-country, emo and indie rock makes for music that is not only original but also oddly emotionally moving. Either way, you can’t go wrong with either of these shows.
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August 3: Echo and the Bunnymen and Violent Femmes at the PNE Amphitheatre.
August 5: Rodriguez at the Orpheum Theatre.
August 7: Betty Who at the Imperial.
August 8: Royal Blood at the Commodore Ballroom.
August 8: The Decemberists at the Orpheum.
August 11: Margaret Glassy at Biltmore Cabaret.
August 13: Bryan Ferry at the Orpheum.
I’m not exactly sure what watching a Bryan Ferry concert in 2017 would be like, but I can’t fully trust anyone who doesn’t agree that songs like “More than This,” “Love is the Drug” and “Avalon” are anything other than masterful pieces of art.
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August 15: Sylvan Esso at the Commodore Ballroom.
August 16 and 17: k.d. lang at the Orpheum.
August 15: Rancid and Dropkick Murphys at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
August 17: Tom Petty at Rogers Arena.
August 18: Mew at Rickshaw Theatre.
August 18: Zac Brown Band at Rogers Arena.
August 21: One Republic at Rogers Arena.
August 24: Frankie Cosmos at the Cobalt.
August 24 and 25: Descendents at the Commodore Ballroom.
August 27: Die Antwoord at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre.
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