Toronto’s new Rogers Stadium has unveiled its inaugural season of live music, including concerts by Coldplay, Oasis and BLACKPINK.

Live Nation Canada will launch the open-air, seasonal stadium on the former Downsview Airport this summer, as announced last September.

At 50,000-capacity, it will be the biggest purpose-built concert venue in the country and one of the biggest in the world.

South Korean boy band Stray Kids will inaugurate the venue on 29 June, before Coldplay’s five-night stand in early July on their Music of the Spheres World Tour.

The opening season will also include concerts by BLACKPINK (22–23 July), Oasis (24–25 August), System of a Down (3 and 5 September) and Hozier (10 September).

Live Nation says the new development will build on the demand for stadium-level tours in Toronto, which is Canada’s most populous city and one of the biggest concert markets for major touring acts in North America.

“Rogers Stadium will solidify the market’s status as a premier global music destination”

“Construction is progressing on schedule, and we look forward to kicking off our inaugural season with Stray Kids on June 29,” Live Nation Canada’s president of music, Erik Hoffman, told IQ.

“This new, temporary stadium will redefine Canada’s stadium market – not only meeting the growing demand for stadium-level concerts in Toronto but also attracting the world’s biggest artists, solidifying the market’s status as a premier global music destination.”

Rogers Stadium will host 12 to 15 events annually for the next five years, after which Northcrest Developments will transform the 44-acre lot of industrial land into new residential neighbourhoods. The venue will not be home to a sports team, nor will it be open during the winter.

The temporary stadium will boast 30,000 seats and a removable stage, allowing big-name artists to bring in their own customised stages.

The Downsview site has a long history of hosting live music events, including the 2003 benefit concert Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert (aka SARSstock) which featured Rolling Stones, Rush and AC/DC. It has also been home to festivals such as Veld and Riot Fest.

Live Nation will continue to host summer concerts at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, which is also named after Canadian media giant Rogers Communications.

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Canadian Music Week has been completely rehauled after Oak View Group (OVG) and Loft Entertainment jointly acquired it earlier this year.

Founded in 1983 by Neill Dixon, the Toronto-based event is Canada’s leading industry conference and music festival.

Following the acquisition, it has been reimagined under the new name Departure Festival + Conference and expanded to include music, art, comedy and technology.

The event will also debut an enriched programme including a songwriter showcase, comedy performances and an enhanced culinary experience with boutique food trucks and outdoor activations.

In the near future, the programming will include film and fashion, according to the announcement made by OVG and Loft in Toronto yesterday (13 November).

The announcement says the new event will include live performances, thought-provoking panels and the return of Radiodays North America Conference.

“Departure honours where we’ve come from and celebrates where we are going”

Furthermore, the annual event will be moved forward from its usual spot in June to 6–11 May. Next year’s event will take place at Hotel X in Toronto.

“Departure honours where we’ve come from and celebrates where we are going,” Loft executive producer Kevin Barton said in the announcement. “We’re creating a launchpad that opens doors to deeper, more inclusive conversations and showcases the richness of Toronto’s cultural scene, celebrates Canadian creatives, and welcomes global artists. We invite industry professionals, music and arts lovers and festival-goers to experience the event in a whole new way.”

CMW was launched in 1983 by David Farrell and his wife Patricia Dunn-Farrell–then co-publishers of the weekly Canadian music trade, The Record. It began as The Record Music Industry Conference and was modelled on competitor RPM Weekly’s “Three Days in March” conferences in the late ‘60s and ‘70s.

Dixon’s marketing company Chart Toppers was initially hired in 1983 to book speakers, and organise panels for the annual event. Over the next few years, the convention morphed into Canadian Music Week, and Dixon became a co-partner a couple of years after it began.

This year’s CMW drew some 3,000 delegates and hosted over 300 performing artists at 25 venues.

OVG, the Los Angeles-based venue development, management and hospitality company led by Tim Leiweke, made its first foray into Canada in 2021 with the Hamilton Arena Project, which recently broke ground.

Loft Entertainment is a Canadian entertainment company helmed by industry veteran Randy Lennox, who formerly ran Universal Music Group Canada and Bell Media.

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Live Nation Canada plans to open a new open-air, seasonal stadium in Toronto next summer.

At 50,000-capacity, the new Rogers Stadium on the former Downsview Airport will be the biggest purpose-built concert venue in the country.

In a press conference this morning, Live Nation said it expects the stadium to host 12–15 performances a year but that it will not be home to a sports team, nor will it be open during the winter.

The stadium will have a limited life as the site will be transformed into residential housing in the coming decades, though the developer declined to share the length of Live Nation’s multi-year lease.

The temporary stadium will boast 30,000 seats and a removable stage, allowing big-name artists to bring in their own customised stages.

“In a global touring market, artists have a lot of choices, and we need to make sure we’re not missing out on anything in Toronto”

Live Nation says the new development will build on the demand for stadium-level tours in Toronto, which is Canada’s most populous city and one of the biggest concert markets for major touring acts in North America.

“In a global touring market, artists have a lot of choices, and we need to make sure we’re not missing out on anything in Toronto,” said Erik Hoffman, Live Nation Canada’s president of music, at the conference.

Live Nation will continue to host summer concerts at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, which is also named after Canadian media giant  Rogers Communications.

The Downsview site has a long history of hosting live music events, including the 2003 benefit concert Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto concert (aka SARSstock) which featured Rolling Stones, Rush and AC/DC.

The site has also been home to festivals such as Veld and Riot Fest, and was the site of the 2012 stage collapse that killed Radiohead drum technician Scott Johnson.

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A Canadian appeal court has upheld a C$175,000 (€120,000) damages award against an Ontario venue after a concertgoer suffered a serious knee injury following a Toby Keith gig.

The court heard that the main exit of Toronto’s Ontario Place was unexpectedly blocked on the evening of 14 June 2016, leading plaintiff Patrick Lyng, then aged 21, and a friend to leave via a grassy hill that was “devoid of barricades or warnings”.

Canadian Underwriter reports that Lyng, who had consumed alcohol, tore his ACL after jumping from the hill – which was slippery due to heavy rain – in his flip-flops and landing awkwardly.

Lyng sued Ontario Place for compensation under the Occupier’s Liability Act in relation to the incident, with a court subsequently finding the venue 75% negligent compared to the concertgoer’s 25% in a 2022 ruling.

The 15,000-cap appealed the decision, claiming the injured fan was “the author of his own misfortune” by jumping from the hill.  However, Ontario’s Court of Appeal rejected the argument.

“Ontario Place failed in its duty to take care that persons were reasonably safe while on its premises”

“The trial judge specifically found that [by] blocking the pedestrian bridge and making no reasonable effort from preventing the crowd, a number who have been drinking alcohol, from going onto that wet hazardous hill, Ontario Place failed in its duty to take care that persons were reasonably safe while on its premises,” it ruled last month.

“It is important to note that the trial judge did not find that Ontario Place had an obligation to prevent patrons from entering onto all patches of wet grass, everywhere on the premises, but pinpointed what he viewed as Ontario Place’s negligent decision to not place ‘barriers to prevent people from going down [the] slippery hill’. He concluded that it would have been a ‘simple matter to warn people to avoid that hill as it was a slip-and-fall hazard after a heavy rain’.

“The trial judge did what [the Occupiers’ Liability Act] directs him to do – he carefully considered what would have been reasonable in the circumstances. In the end he found two clear breaches: 1) the failure to erect barriers at the location where people would proceed down the hill in question, and 2) the failure to warn the crowd (i.e., by a sign) to avoid the hill.”

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British singer-songwriter Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings festival is expanding to Canada.

Curated by Turner, Lost Evenings VII will take place from 19-22 September at The Theatre, Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto, in partnership with Live Nation.

The award-winning four-day event launched at London’s Roundhouse in May 2017, when it starred Frank Turner And The Sleeping Souls, Skinny Lister, Will Varley, Ben Marwood, Ducking Punches and Non Canon. Subsequent festivals have been held under the banner in Berlin, Germany and Boston, US, while it made its West Coast debut last September at House of Blues Anaheim, California.

“After a triumphant time in Anaheim this year, I’m pleased and proud to announce that the seventh instalment of my very own Lost Evenings festival will be taking place in Toronto in September 2024,” says Turner. “The festival keeps growing, and Toronto is one of my favourite cities in the world, so it’s a perfect match. See you all in the Great White North.”

A long-time supporter and patron of the UK’s Music Venue Trust, Turner will perform a different headline set each night, with further lineup announcements still to come. There will also be special guests and panels, plus a second stage named after Turner’s friend, the late merchandise manager Nick Alexander, who was killed in the 2015 Bataclan attack in Paris, France.

“This pivotal occasion marks the beginning of a new chapter in live entertainment in Toronto”

Four-day passes for Lost Evenings are priced from C$220 (€150) and are 75% sold out after going on sale last month.

Live Nation Canada is the exclusive booking agent for the new 5,000-cap The Theatre at Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto, and will jointly promote the programming with gaming and hospitality firm Great Canadian Entertainment.

The $1 billion resort will celebrate its official grand opening weekend in May with headline performances at the theatre by Gwen Stefani (3 May) and Blake Shelton (4 May).

“We are thrilled to welcome Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton to The Theatre for Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto’s Grand Opening Weekend,” says Great Canadian Entertainment CMO Gavin Whiteley. “This pivotal occasion marks the beginning of a new chapter in live entertainment in Toronto as we curate a diverse array of world-class performances, and entertainment experiences for our guests.”

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Canada’s The Feldman Agency is opening a new 9,000-seat open-air venue in the capital city of Toronto.

The Bowl at Sobeys Stadium will be located in the eponymous multipurpose sports and entertainment complex, best known for hosting one of the top tennis tournaments in the world, the National Bank Open.

In partnership with Tennis Canada, the venue will open in May 2024 for concerts with “some of the biggest names in music and entertainment”.

According to a release, The Bowl will offer more than 5,000 square feet of retail space for concessions, as well as as onsite bar and lounge and 20 top-scale executive lounges.

“Toronto needed another outdoor concert space for both domestic and international talent”

“After nearly 50 years of booking our talent in some of the world’s biggest and best venues, we know what performers and fans want, and The Bowl at Sobeys Stadium has what it takes,” says Jeff Craib, CEO of The Feldman Agency. “With a comparable concert business to New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, Toronto needed another outdoor concert space for both domestic and international talent. We can’t wait to open our doors in 2024 to welcome some of the world’s leading performers and thousands of their fans.”

Tennis Canada CEO Michael Downey adds: “The concert series is an exciting new initiative for Tennis Canada. The opportunity to partner with The Feldman Agency and bring music to The Bowl at Sobeys Stadium will enable us to showcase our world-class venue to a whole new audience. Hosting concerts in our stadium will allow us to experience the best of both worlds, exploring new entertainment streams while staying true to our mission of growing tennis year-round – with our programs continuing to run throughout the year on our indoor and outdoor courts at Sobeys Stadium.”

With offices in Toronto and Vancouver, The Feldman Agency represents artists including Michael Bublé, Nelly Furtado, Shania Twain, Simple Plan and Sum 41.

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Music ticketing platform Dice has furthered its expansion across North America by launching in Toronto, marking its debut in Canada.

The launch comes alongside the app’s announcement of exclusive deals with partners including Toronto’s largest independent concert promoter Collective Concerts, as well as Transmit Presents, The Garrison, Baby G, Not Dead Yet, Soluna, South Paw and Prepare the Ground.

“Toronto is the perfect stage for Dice’s Canadian debut,” says Dice president Russ Tannen. “With our new partners, we can bring fans in Canada the shows they love with an easy, innovative, and transparent ticketing experience that was designed for them.”

Dice has also announced 15-year Toronto music industry veteran Dave Lock as its first Canadian hire.

“I’m thrilled to be leading Dice’s expansion into Canada and can’t wait to see how this transforms an industry that has been in desperate need of innovation”

“After my introductory meeting with the Dice team, the first thing I thought was how much I wish we had Dice when I was going to shows in Toronto growing up,” says Lock, who will serve as Dice’s director of venue & promoter partnerships in Canada.

“Their fan first app and discovery features are game changers that almost every promoter and venue owner I’ve worked with over the past 15 years have been asking for. I’m thrilled to be leading Dice’s expansion into Canada and can’t wait to see how this transforms an industry that has been in desperate need of innovation.”

Dice launched in North America in 2019, quickly scaling into key markets across the US including New York City and Los Angeles.

In August, the company raised a $65 million funding round led by MUSIC, which has helped accelerate Dice’s geographical expansion. Dice has recently entered new markets such as Scotland, Liverpool and Miami, in addition to landmark deals in Europe with venues like Alexandra Palace and recent renewals with Troxy, among others.

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Toronto’s newest venue History will officially open its doors this weekend after restrictions around general admission capacity were lifted.

A collaboration between Live Nation Canada and Drake, the 2,500-capacity venue plans to host 200 events annually.

Located in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood, the building includes a convertible general admission area and reserved seating configurations.

We are thrilled to bring History to life in Toronto with live entertainment

“We are thrilled to bring History to life in Toronto with live entertainment that we know will elevate the city’s concert-going experience,” said Riley O’Connor, chairman, Live Nation Canada. “We can’t wait for both fans and artists alike to experience our newest destination music venue.”

History opens on Sunday (7 November) with a show by Bleachers. Other upcoming concerts include Deadbeats, Chvrches, Duke Dumont and WizKid.

The province of Ontario lifted capacity limits on 25 October in the majority of settings where proof of vaccination is required, with plans to lift mask-wearing requirements in indoor public spaces, as well as remove proof-of-vaccine requirements for all remaining settings, by the end of March 2022.

History will also launch a community arts programme aimed at supporting local youth’s artistic aspirations through both exposure and financial support. Art students in the area will have the opportunity to submit a portfolio to be considered for a commissioned opportunity to create band artwork for an upcoming show.

Multiple recipients will be chosen annually and awarded with a bursary, in addition to having their creations promoted at the venue, online and in-print.

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Canada is welcoming US artists to perform on the country’s stages for the first time in 18 months.

Vaccinated Americans and permanent residents are now able to cross the Canadian border for the first time since closing on 18 March 2020.

“This step opens possibilities to get Canada back on the touring map for sure. Some artists already have shows planned with more conversations picking up,” says Arthur Fogel, chairman of global touring for Live Nation.

Live Nation Canada’s first concert with major US acts will be on 2 September with Maroon 5 and Blackbear at the Budweiser Stage in Toronto. This will make the artists the first major US acts to play in the country since reopening.

This week, Live Nation Canada announced plans to require all artists and fans to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid test to attend shows at the company’s stable of owned and operated Canadian venues.

The mandate is set to come into effect from no later than 4 October at Live Nation Canada’s outdoor venues and festivals, including Budweiser Stage (Toronto), History (Toronto), The Danforth Music Hall (Toronto), Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver), Midway (Edmonton), and The Velvet Underground (Toronto).

“Some artists already have shows planned [in Canada] with more conversations picking up”

The live entertainment behemoth is also sharing best practices for artists to request these policies at third-party venues where Live Nation promotes shows but does not control protocols.

“Live Nation and the live music industry are about uniting people, and vaccines are one of the greatest tools for making sure that everyone can continue to enjoy live music together,” said Wayne Zronik, president business operations, Live Nation Canada.

“We’re confident this is the right move for everyone coming out to shows, including artists, fans, crew, and our staff.”

Live Nation has announced similar entry requirements for markets including the UK and the US. IQ also understands that the promoter will take a market-by-market approach based on local governments’ requirements –many of which already utilise Covid-status certification for entrance to public spaces.

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Global esports and entertainment organisation OverActive Media is set to build a multipurpose 7,000-seater arena in Exhibition Place, Toronto, projected to be complete in 2025.

According to the company, the venue will host 200+ events a year, driven primarily by music and entertainment bookings, while also serving corporate events, award shows and ‘a full slate of esports events increasing over time’.

OverActive Media is the owner of four major global esport franchises, including Toronto’s two professional teams – Toronto Ultra of the Call of Duty League and Toronto Defiant of the Overwatch League.

“We are already in active discussions to attract some of the biggest esport events in the world”

The venue will be home for both teams and the company hopes to establish the Toronto arena as a “global hub for major international esport events”.

The arena, designed by Populous, is just one aspect of the privately financed $500 million project, which includes a theatre-style entertainment venue and hotel complex.

“Today is another important step in the evolution of OverActive Media. We are building a world-leading, 21st-century sports, media and entertainment company and this best-in-class performance venue will be the chosen home for a new generation of fans that think differently about their entertainment choices and experiences,” says Chris Overholt, president and CEO at OverActive.

“It has always been our intention to develop a venue and hosting strategy and to build a facility that could not only serve as an iconic home for our two franchises, but ultimately emerge as a global hub for major international esport events. We are already in active discussions to attract some of the biggest esport events in the world. This venue will redefine Toronto’s event hosting opportunities in every way,” added Overholt.

The arena will be the first new sports or entertainment venue built in Toronto since 2007 when the city opened BMO Field, a 40,000-capacity outdoor stadium at Exhibition Place.

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