{"id":768,"date":"2024-12-16T23:26:56","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T04:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/?p=768"},"modified":"2025-01-10T10:40:26","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:40:26","slug":"the-2023-2024-alt-eras-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/2024\/12\/16\/the-2023-2024-alt-eras-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2023-2024 alt-Eras tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, it’s been about a week since the end of Taylor Swift’s monumental Eras Tour<\/a>. Millions attended, and I’d presume that millions more, like me, never even got half a sniff at a ticket. I confess I didn’t exactly engage in battle with the ridiculous Ticketmaster queues, impossible lottery statistics, or even a near-complete failure of the entire sales system<\/a>. Nor did I create multiple email accounts to game the allocation system, take days off work to phone in to radio show contests, or any similar extreme measures. Perhaps I’m just not a dedicated enough fan. But as an alternative, I did end up seeing a lot of good live music anyway.<\/p>\n

A little cross-referencing of the 149 Eras shows during most of 2023 and nearly all of 2024 against my folders of live music photos<\/a> reveals that I was watching, listening to, and photographing musicians on 12 separate Eras tour dates. Many of these were independent artists that I like, some were acts that I wish I’d seen decades earlier, and others were completely new to me.<\/p>\n

So, here, I present to you: Richard’s 2023-2024 alt-Eras tour.<\/p>\n

2023<\/strong><\/span>
\nApril 1.<\/strong> Taylor Swift is in Arlington, Texas<\/strong>. Richard, on the other hand, is at the Cameron House<\/a> in Toronto. On stage: pop powerhouse Liam Benayon<\/a>, hosting a party for the release of his single entitled, ironically enough, “Don’t Call Me At A Party”. With support from Jack Dean<\/a> playing his first solo show, and DJ Zellers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Liam<\/a>
\nLiam and fans. It’s possible that the room was slightly over capacity.<\/em><\/p>\n

As a bonus, I also caught folk duo Robertson Meadows in the Cameron’s cozy front room, before Liam went on in the much starker and more rock-n-roll back room.<\/p>\n

\"Robertson<\/a>
\nRobertson Meadows: mandolin, guitar, and a couple of great voices.<\/em><\/p>\n

June 9-10.<\/strong> Taylor’s in Detroit, Michigan<\/strong>. Not so very far away in Simcoe, Ontario, is the Norfolk County Fairgrounds<\/a> Festival, where over two days we had local singer Felicia McMinn<\/a> (who I missed due to backstage meet-n-greet photo duties, but have seen on other occasions), and a great line-up of pop and rock acts: Dizzy<\/a>, The Beaches<\/a>, Bif Naked<\/a>, Sloan<\/a>, and Finger Eleven<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
\nThe Beaches, just before their song “Blame Brett” blew up.<\/em><\/p>\n

August 27. Mexico City.<\/strong> Today, Richard was at the Orillia Opera House<\/a> in Ontario, to see the Canadian Musicians Co-Op<\/a> showcase. As usual, a great show featuring a couple of dozen independent artists that are well worth your attention.<\/p>\n

\"Canadian<\/a>
\nFeura<\/a>, maybe my favourite act to photograph, with guitarist Jules McCools<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2024<\/strong><\/span>
\nMarch 7. Singapore.<\/strong> Today, I’m at See-Scape<\/a> in Toronto, watching a favourite electro-pop outfit, My Own Money<\/a>, along with solo act Friends From Church<\/a> and headliners Javi Goodnite<\/a> (tagline: “Spaghetti Western Surf Cowboy Rock”).<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>
\nMy Own Money, upstairs at “Toronto’s Original Sci-Fi Bar and Cafe”.<\/em><\/p>\n

May 18. Stockholm.<\/strong> I find myself at Toronto’s legendary Horseshoe Tavern<\/a> to see the wildly eclectic mix of The Petras<\/a> (pop-punk), The Lookout Service<\/a> (melodic hard rock, very loud), Delyn Grey<\/a> (blues-rock), and The Lemon Pistols<\/a> (defies explanation, think ska-punk with a massive sense of humour).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
\nThe Petras, chilling backstage.<\/em><\/p>\n

June 14-15. Liverpool<\/strong>, and I’m back at the Norfolk County Fairgrounds Festival again, this time for a hard rocking mix of By Divine Right<\/a>, 54*40<\/a>, Sam Roberts Band<\/a>, The Wild High<\/a>, Saint Asonia<\/a>, and Theory of a Deadman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/a>
\nSam Roberts Band, one of those acts that seems to always be on the road.<\/em><\/p>\n

July 6. Amsterdam.<\/strong> Or Big Shiny Saturday<\/a> at The Bowl at Sobey’s Stadium<\/a>, Toronto. Someone had the idea of putting a bunch of 90’s guitar bands on stage and I was all for it. I saw warm-up act DJ Human Kebab<\/a>, opener Bif Naked (who was even better than in Norfolk last year), and the newly re-formed Treble Charger<\/a>. There were more acts on tap, but I was there working for Treble Charger, and didn’t stick around for the rest.<\/p>\n

\"Bif<\/a>
\nCanadian pop-punk legend Bif Naked. Would 100% see again, anywhere, any time.<\/em><\/p>\n

August 16. London.<\/strong> I, on the other hand, am at Carrot Fest<\/a> in Bradford, Ontario. Yes, Carrot Fest, once again for the Canadian Musicians Co-op showcase.<\/p>\n

\"Canadian<\/a>
\nCo-op alumna Melle<\/a>, warming the crowd up for the main showcase to come.<\/em><\/p>\n

November 2-3. Indianapolis.<\/strong> Or the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair<\/a> in Toronto, which featured a live music stage among its many other attractions. I caught up with country musician Kristin Nicholls<\/a> and singer Kelly Davies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Royal<\/a>
\nKristin Nicholls, performing solo on this occasion.<\/em><\/p>\n

That may seem like a lot of live music, but these are only the shows that intersected with Eras Tour dates. If I counted right, I actually saw live music on 23 occasions in something like 17 different venues over the course of the Eras era. For photos of these, and a whole lot more besides, take a look at my Concerts and Events collection<\/a> on Flickr. And then perhaps consider going to see a live show in your own home town, maybe even an independent artist or two – why not?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well, it’s been about a week since the end of Taylor Swift’s monumental Eras Tour. Millions attended, and I’d presume that millions more, like me, never even got half a sniff at a ticket. I confess I didn’t exactly engage … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,190,9],"tags":[215,69,216],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hobbies","category-music-2","category-photography","tag-concert-photography","tag-music","tag-whining"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":785,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions\/785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/wintle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}