12 must-see concerts in Toronto this September

The top concerts in Toronto this September alleviate the sadness of summer’s end (and the cancellation of Bieber’s tour) with a ton of highly anticipated comebacks, from local darlings to international stars.

Aside from the below, look forward to the return of Afghan Whigs, Wire, Rainer Maria and the Pixies, plus old-school faves like Deep Purple with Alice Cooper, Scorpions with Megadeth, and Thundercat. There’s also Night Owl Festival, and just a GO ride away is Hamilton’s Supercrawl.

Here are my picks for must-see concerts in Toronto this month.

Events you might want to check out:

Depeche Mode (September 3 @ Air Canada Centre)
The synth kings spent the first half of 2017 releasing a politically tinged record and owning white-supremacist fanboys. The back half of their year is all about this tour though, which brings them to Toronto for the first time in four years.
Lady Gaga (September 7 @ Air Canada Centre)
The Joanne World Tour finally kicked off at the start of August, and no surprise, the pop icon has been garnering heaps of praise for the massive show as she crosses the continent to reach us for a two-night stint (plus a TIFF showing).
Julie & The Wrong Guys (September 7 @ Horseshoe Tavern)
Julie Doiron linked with Eamon McGrath and members of Cancer Bats a few years ago for this project, but they’re only now putting out their first full-length. Hear what the singer-songwriter sounds like with a heavier, amps-to-11 backing at the ‘Shoe.
Queens of the Stone Age (September 9 @ Budweiser Stage)
The swaggering hard rockers are ready to show off their uptempo, Mark Ronson-produced makeover with new album Villains and a tour across North America. English duo Royal Blood opens.
The Weeknd (September 9 @ Air Canada Centre)
If you’re like “wait, I feel like he was just here,” you’re right! After headlining in May, then popping up at OVO, the clearly homesick Starboy is back for yet another night at the ACC.
Lauryn Hill and Nas (September 10 @ Budweiser Stage)
The last time these hip hop legends toured together in 2012 was rocky (hours-long waits between sets was one of the running themes), but hopefully they can make it up to us with undeniable talent and less shenanigans this time around.
Conor Oberst (September 13 @ The Danforth Music Hall)
If you felt that last year’s Ruminations was a little too sullen (even by Oberst standards), take heart that he’s revamped most of those tracks with a full band for this year’s Salutations, and is bringing that band on tour.
King Woman (September 13 @ pin Hide Map Coalition: T.O)
Metalheads in search of a new favourite band need to get their black T-shirted selves over to Coalition for this lineup. Fresh San-Fran doom group King Woman is supported by Toronto’s Völur, Godstopper and a local “mystery project” making its live debut.
The Hotelier (September 13 @ Hard Luck Bar)
Christian Holden’s band is one of a handful popping up to make emo great again, and last year’s Goodness was a perfect example of their knack for heartfelt, life-affirming rock-outs.
Ted Leo (September 19 @ Lee's Palace)
The grandpappy of power pop has been fairly quiet the past few years, but thanks to a Kickstarter campaign, he’s back with a new LP (sans the Pharmacists, though they may rejoin him again for this tour).
Feist (September 24 @ Massey Hall)
If you missed her at Field Trip, here’s another chance to catch hometown girl Leslie in the flesh and on the heels of yet another brilliant LP, Pleasure.
METZ (September 29 @ Lee's Palace)
Our boys really made it - upcoming LP Strange Peace is produced by none other than Steve Albini, which should pretty much cement them in the upper echelons of noise. Catch them at Lee’s about a week after it’s officially released.

by Shazia Khan via blogTO