For the Love of Live Music
Thoughts on a trio of recent concerts and the power of music to connect
“If music be the food of love, play on.” — Twelfth Night
William Shakespeare’s gift with words is unparalleled. Phrases he penned, like the quote above, are ubiquitous in the modern English language; even those who have never read his work have heard—or paraphrased—the writer. More than 500 years since the Bard crafted plays and poetry with his quill and ink, the sentiment this opening line evokes, from the tragic-comedy “Twelfth Night,” still resonates.
Music heals. Music feeds the soul. With the daily news offering far too many doom-and-gloom headlines, from politics to the economy, rather than good tidings—and people feeling isolated thanks to an addiction to technology—humans are in need of regular doses of live music to fill the rooms of our hearts with more joy and to connect us more frequently with others.
In the past five days, I was lucky to see three concerts and make these needed connections with strangers. Each in a different city. Each in a different-sized room. Each unique in its own right. What all three artists I saw live shared was an unbridled passion for their art and for their audience.
The Bill King Trio
The Jazz Room, Waterloo, Ont., 4/19/25
This “live music is better bumper stickers must be issued” tour started on Holy Saturday in my hometown when, with a friend, I witnessed renaissance man
and his formidable trio at The Jazz Room. Bill is not only a great writer (as his Substack followers know), but he is also an accomplished photographer and a talented pianist, songwriter and band leader. Two veteran musicians of the Canadian jazz scene—Paul Novotny (upright bass) and Mark Kelso (drums) joined King. The Jazz Room is a true listening room as the signs posted throughout indicate, asking the audience to stay silent and reserve conversation to before the show and in between sets.Bill guided the trio through a pair of hour-long sets that showcased his varied musical influences from classical and Big band to Afro-Cuban jazz, boogie-woogie and soul. Newer originals like “Debussy in Paris” were intermixed with choice covers King rearranged and took in new directions guided by Novotny and Kelso like “Poinciana,” “10 Cents a Dance,” and an epic eight-minute long instrumental take on Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?”
Get a taste of this show—and the talent of Bill King and this trio—by checking out this live recording captured in the same room a couple of years ago.
Colin Linden with Lori Yates
The Cotton Factory, Hamilton, Ont., 4/22/25
Tuesday night, my live music tour continued with a drive to Hamilton, Ontario, where I, along with a couple of hundred music-loving souls, far from the maddening crowds and snarled traffic, saw the Grammy-winning Colin Linden at The Cotton Factory. Colin was taking a break from a tour with T Bone Burnett to play some solo shows in celebration of 50 years of live performances. It was apropos Linden was joined by two of his best friends—drummer Gary Craig and bassist Johnny Dymond—since these three amigos have played together for more than half those 50 years.
Linden is an award-winning Canadian producer and songwriter, based in Nashville, Tenn., who has been performing live and preaching the gospel of the blues since he was a teen growing up in Toronto.
Meeting Howlin’ Wolf at The Concord Tavern when he was 11-years-old confirmed his path; the legendary bluesman told Colin it was up to him—and his generation—to carry the torch. The budding artist took The Wolf’s advice to heart and has been inspiring the next generation of blues aficionados now for more than half a century; on Tuesday, Colin paid homage to The Wolf with a rollicking version of “Just Like I Treat You.”
Every time Colin takes the stage he heeds the other piece of advice the Wolf generously offered all those years ago: “to give it your all no matter who you are playing for: white or black; rich or poor.”
Wielding his curated collection of vintage acoustic and electric guitars—a 1936 Regal Angelus Resonator; a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Gold Top; a Tweady Telecaster; a Gibson Murphy Lab Les Paul; a 1934 Kalamazoo KG 14 and a 1954 Gibson CF 100E—Colin showcased prowess on his chosen instrument, from finger-picked acoustic blues to some sick slide guitar and various other meanderings up and down the frets.
Unfortunately, due to traffic that snaked bumper-to-bumper along the shores of Lake Ontario, I missed opener Lori Yates’ set; thankfully, Colin invited the singer-songwriter back later in the night for a couple of songs, including the title track below from her 2024 release.
Colin ended the night with a nod to a handful of his friends now gone—The Band members Richard Manuel, Richard Bell, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson—with a spirited version of “Remedy,” the opening track from the group’s 1993 album Jericho that Linden co-wrote with Jim Weider.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Meridian Hall, Toronto, Ont. 4/23/25
No openers needed when you’ve been making music for more than 40 years and released 18 studio records, plus a handful of EPs. That was the case for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds who peformed in Toronto on Wednesday night as part of the North American leg of their Wild God tour. The Australian artist and his stellar band treated the sold-out crowd to a two-and-a-half hour musical marathon of pure ecstasy.
I chatted with Cave last September upon the release of Wild God for this GRAMMY feature; Wild God made my year-end best of list, so it was a treat to hear these songs live with the Bad Seeds, the current touring configuration is a 10-piece band featuring four back-up singers, two percussionists, two guitarists, bass and keys.
As fans scrambled into the hall from the long merchandise lines to find their seats inside Meridian Hall, shortly after 8:20 p.m. the house lights dimmed and the Bad Seeds arrived. Cave, dressed nattily in a suit and tie, followed. The artist strutted across the stage high-fiving those lucky fans with front-row standing-room only GA seats in the orchestra pit and waving with gratitude to those in the upper balcony. The token, “I love you Toronto!” which sounds scripted—and not so sincere—when uttered by many touring artists, from Cave felt genuine and straight from the heart.
From the moment the songwriter sat at the grand piano to play the first notes of “Frogs” to the finale 21 songs later, this feeling of gratitude was palpable from both artist and audience. The first 15 rows remained standing throughout, listening trancelike, to the sad and joyful noise … hanging on to each lyric and each word Cave spoke as he introduced each song. This was a spiritual revival. And, judging by the rapturous looks on the faces everywhere I turned inside the venue, this elixir prescribed and delivered from the stage is something everyone not only needed, but also craved.
Cave conducted the crowd and his bandmates throughout the night and encouraged active participation. He constantly shouted, “Ya Ya Ya!’ and pointed the microphone towards fans to repeat this mantra. Cave also instructed people to put their phones away … advice we all need to heed a little more.
Sweat dripped from Cave’s brow long before the second song (“Wild God”) ended. Barriers between artist and audience were repeatedly broken; the artist not only entered the orchestra pit and grasped hands with fans as he sang, but he sprinted all the way up to the upper rows of the lower level at one point in the set. All the while, the Bad Seeds played their part. Each added an essential ingredient that contributed to the overall vibe and big orchestral soundscape. They all starred, but multi-instrumentalist and longtime Cave collaborator Warren Ellis shone most, playing electric guitar, electric fiddle, and keys, with reckless abandon and passion.
The set leaned on the band’s most recent record, the GRAMMY-nominated Wild God, but Cave sprinkled in healthy doses of fan favourites and older cuts from his deep catalogue. A few highlights included: “Jubilee Street,” “Red Right Hand,” which many now know as the theme to the British crime drama Peaky Blinders, and a raucous and explosive rendition of “Tupelo”—an ode to Elvis Presley about the stormy night of The King’s birth Cave penned in 1984.
Many Toronto musicians and fellow music industry folk were spotted in the audience during this celebration of song including Dave Bidini (The Rheostatics) and Travis Good (The Sadies). After a four-song encore, this jubilation concluded with just Cave at the grand piano singing the gorgeous ballad “Into My Arms” with the thousands-strong audience joining in on the chorus—showing the power of music to connect.
As I walked to the parking lot to find my car and prepare to make the hour-long drive home I bumped into a family of four: father, mother and their two sons, who had taken in the show. We shared smiles, and a few of our favourite moments from this gift Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds’ delivered. Music is the universal connector indeed.
See the full set list.
Really enjoyed listening to the Bill King Trio!