Events in toronto: This Week in Music: Drake's tour postponed, Pet Shop Boys come to town, Tom Odell at the Great Hall

Monday, September 23, 2013

This Week in Music: Drake's tour postponed, Pet Shop Boys come to town, Tom Odell at the Great Hall

Pet shop boys This Week in Music rounds up the latest news, releases and concerts coming to Toronto.

IN THE NEWS

Drake forced to postpone "Would You Like A Tour?"

I've gotten flack for calling Drake "Toronto's favourite son" before (seriously, you guys can't tell a joke when you see one?). But you absolutely can't deny that the man is one of the biggest stars in the world of hip-hop, and the fact that he hails from our fair city is pretty significant. This week is a pretty big one for Drizzy, as his latest album, Nothing Was the Same, drops on Tuesday, and it promises to be one of the biggest releases of the year. Unfortunately, the coinciding North American tour, which was set to begin on Wednesday in Portland, has been forced to reschedule several dates and outright cancel the lone date in Winnipeg.

The reason for this is that the technical aspects of the show apparently need some additional tweaking before going on the road. But don't worry, Toronto fans - he's still good to go for his originally scheduled Oct. 24 stop at the Air Canada Centre. Head on over to Drake's official site for a list of updated tour dates.

THIS WEEK'S HOT TICKETS

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 / PET SHOP BOYS / SONY CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS / 1 FRONT STREET E / $63.35 - $116.10 / ALL AGES

Whenever someone asks me about the best concert I've ever seen, my answer often comes as a surprise. It was V-Fest 2009 at the Molson Amphitheatre. The headliner that day was Nine Inch Nails, but it was the Pet Shop Boys, who came on second to last, that stole the show. Their performance is essentially an elaborate stage show, and even if you're not familiar with their music (at the time, I really wasn't), it'll completely blow your mind. And they did a mean cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" - whenever you have NIN fans singing along to a Coldplay tune, you know you're doing something right. This show isn't cheap, but I promise you, it'll be worth every penny.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 25 / TOM ODELL / THE GREAT HALL / 1087 QUEEN W / $16.50 / 19+'

If you don't feel like paying the expensive ticket price for the Pet Shop Boys on Wednesday, this is a much more affordable show. And believe me when I say that it'll be absolutely fantastic - I saw Tom Odell at The Rivoli back in January, and I was very impressed. He plays the piano with a confidence and maturity that goes beyond his young age, and his music (particularly his standout track, "Can't Pretend"), is very solid. For such a low ticket price, this one's a no-brainer.