Brad Wheeler
@bradwheelerglobe
Music writer at The Globe and Mail, Canada's national newspaper.
Enjoyed a pair of shows by @ronsexsmith.bsky.social at @hotelwolfeisland.bsky.social this weekend. Great room, great tunes and fine kick drum art. #WhateverItTakes
Crowd filing into the Massey Hall auditorium tonight for the coolest man ever named Herbie.
One's chances of getting a job analyzing the World Cup on a Canadian broadcast without a British accent are "nil."
Tonight in Toronto: Unhummable music made by unknowable people. If you nose you nose.
Went to the legendary Troubadour club in LA for a pair of Bruce Hornsby shows last week. Loved the venue...imagine the @horseshoetavern.bsky.social with a balcony.
My trip to the Troubadour was a smashing success. Bruce Hornsby and his elite band the Noisemakers played 2 nights, repeating 1 song, a sophisticated version of The Way It Is. He closed the two-night stand with a version of He Stopped Loving Her Today that made a near-novelty song almost affecting.
My favourite guitar is the Fender Coronado Wildwood. I finally bought one a few years ago. I've never seen one in the wild, as it were, until tonight. Kevin Morby at Toronto's History club.
"But now old friends are acting strange; They shake their heads, they say I've changed/ Well, something's lost and something's gained, in living everyday" Judy Collins, 87, looking at life from both sides now, at Hugh's Room in Toronto last night. She's back for another show Wednesday.
Joe Jackson at the Danforth Music Hall tonight. Songs so sharp they should come with a suture kit.
"I'm still looking for whispers in between yells, I'm still, I'm still." One of my favourite singer-songwriters, Tony Dekker of Great Lake Swimmers. Tonight at the Great Hall.
Saturday night's all right for @eltonjohn.bsky.social, who will accept his Glenn Gould Prize at a gala event on May 9 at The Theatre at Great Canadian Resort Toronto. Among those honouring the 2025 laureate are @ronsexsmith.bsky.social, @thebeaches.bsky.social, Jeremy Dutcher, Diana Krall and more.
During the 1960s, all technological advances were reserved for napalm, moon rockets and miniskirts. Which left nothing for anything else, including stadium concerts. Beatles, 1966, Crosley Field, Cincinnati, like it was a village fair.
That is @ronsexsmith.bsky.social with the Sadies at @horseshoetavern.bsky.social tonight. His interaction with the Sadies involved songs by Cat Stevens, the Kinks, the Who and the Sadies, as well as cuts from his latest album. #TheyCallHimTheSeeker
These political "tribute" posts for Rob Reiner are rampant tonight. This one is the worst. The disingenuous "forget that," when he clearly can't, not even for a second.
Here at Crow's Theatre for @healey.bsky.social's Rogers v. Rogers. The Rogers-red staging is so hypnotizing I just upgraded my cable bundle.
Calgary dancer Tate McRae gets cover of Rolling Stone's popular annual swimsuit edition.
Stunning concert by Elisapie at Danforth Music Hall tonight. The main set of the meditation on loss and a celebration of music radio ended with an Inuktitut cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here.
Update: The concert by @ronsexsmith.bsky.social last night was wonderful. Some of his songs evoked nostalgia. I think because the melodies take me back to my McCartney-obsessing 1970s. For whatever reason, I feel comfortable in his music. More than comfortable, actually. Safe - I feel safe.
A giant Ron Sexsmith, at the Danforth Music Hall. Like a Batman projection over the skies of Gotham, if it is flashed he will come. Ron's expected shortly. The fate of the night is in his hands.
"Next stop Chi Town." Tonight, at the beautiful Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, looking forward to Boz Scaggs.
A reader's comment on my Rush reunion story. The way people can be proud of their own ignorance, I can't even.