By: Jay Broderick Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto Growing up with an absent father and stumbling into trouble during my early teenage years taught me firsthand how crucial an adult role model can be. The statistics don’t lie... young people from single‑parent or fractured homes face steeper challenges than peers raised in more stable family environments. And in a massive city like Toronto, temptation and trouble lurk around every corner. That’s where Big Brothers Big Sis

Ted Axe performs live during Indie Night in Canada in 2023. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick - Toronto’s music scene has always had its share of characters like Nash the Slash and Robbie Rox, but few carry the kind of rock‑and‑roll mythology that surrounds Ted Axe . Frontman, punk instigator, glam‑rock disciple, horror‑movie obsessive... Axe has worn many identities over the decades, and somehow they all converge into the shadow‑drenched sound he’s making today. I f

By: Jay Broderick - Sweden has never been short on ferocious punk outfits like Anti Cimex, and Raised Fist, but Dödsbringaren (translated to English as Bringer of Death ) arrives with a level of anticipation usually reserved for legacy acts making a triumphant return. The name might suggest a black‑metal onslaught, yet Bödel ’s debut is something far more volatile. It's a pure hardcore detonation. It’s political. It’s furious! It’s delivered with the conviction!! Front and

By: Jay Broderick - On August 29, 1981, my MUCH older cousin (sorry Jim, wink, wink), took my sister and I to the CNE Grandstand in downtown Toronto to see a rock concert. It was my first ever live music experience. I was 10 years old. The band? April Wine ! I remember 2 distinct things that night... the funny smell of the smoke that filled the air, and the drum solo in which the drummer's sticks glowed different colours. It was pretty damned cool!!!! 27 years later (almost

Kayo Dot perform live at The Cave in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Canada - There are hidden rooms in Toronto’s music scene, and then there’s The Cave . Well, ok, maybe it's not "hidden", but I certainly had never been aware of the upstairs venue at Lee’s Palace. How it has eluded me all these years, I cannot say. How I’ve been going to shows in this city for 4 decades without knowing this grungy little sanctum existed is beyond me. But

The Maysides perform live at The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Ontario. Photo By: Jay Broderick Toronto, Ontario By: Jay Broderick - Toronto's music scene didn’t exactly come roaring into 2026, but Hamilton region punks The Maysides did everything in their power to change that. For fifteen bucks at the good ol’ Horseshoe Tavern , the city had the chance to kick off the year with a stacked bill of punk, alt‑rock, ska‑leaning chaos, and one of the most charming acoustic sets y

Paulie Boy Blues performs live at Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Canada. Photo By: Zoobia Ilyas By: Jay Broderick - Toronto’s Horseshoe Tavern has hosted legends for decades... The Rolling Stones, Roy Buchanan, the Blues Brothers, and a long list of artists who shaped the DNA of modern rock and blues. On November 4, 2025, rising American blues guitarist Paulie Boy Blues added his name to that lineage with his first-ever Canadian performance. Unfortunately, it was not a show

By: Michael Drukarsh - As we enter into 2026, the world is in need of more music. To answer the call, Ryder has put out a live recording, Live From The Dark . This 9 track release, slated for February 13th, puts the listener face to face with the band out of Queens, New York. The first thing one notices about the quality is that it sounds live, like kick you in the teeth live! This, as the band proudly brags, is because there are “no overdubs, corrections, or post-performan

Winners of the February 2025 Toronto Edition of Canada's Teen Jam. Photo By: Jay Broderick By: Jay Broderick - In February 2023, I took my general interest photography website and created LoudTO. We had some small growth in 2024 as far as number of monthly readers, but in 2025, our number of readers doubled. ASTONISHING for this little thing we got going on here, and we are so grateful to you, our readers! With that, I thought it would be great to revisit LoudTO's Most Read