Music/Events

Where: The Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Ave.
Genre: Pop
Why you should go: Following the success of Saltburn and that infamous dance scene, Sophie Ellis Bextor’s Murder on the Dancefloor has had an incredible resurgence in popularity and catapulted her back into the limelight. The British artist will head to Toronto for an atmospheric night full of floor-filler tracks.

Where: The Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen St W
Genre: Alternative
Why you should go: Edmonton indie rockers head to Toronto for a headline show at the ’Shoe. The trio will play tracks from their latest album, Lasts Forever, featuring their catchy melodies and smooth vocals.

Where: The Axis Club
Genre: Alternative
Why you should go: The Sonic Youth co-founder supports her solo album, The Collective, with a headlining tour across North America.

Where: Multiple venues
Genre: Festival
Why you should go: Canada’s leading annual new music festival, NXNE spotlights essential emerging artists from across Canada and around the world with five-act showcase concerts at 23 Toronto live music venues. NXNE has helped launch then-unknowns like Billy Talent, Lizzo, Arkells, Knann, Lumineers, Killer Mike and thousands more. This year’s lineup includes NEXT cover stars Pony Girl (Fri., June 14, Garrison), Alex Porat (Sat., June 15, Queen W. Day Party), Chinese Medicine (Thurs., June 13, Ground Control) with 275 total acts.

Read our exclusive NXNE 2024 guide.

Where: Multiple venues
Genre: Various
Why you should go: One of the biggest events on the Toronto arts schedule returns for its 37th year as the International Jazz Festival takes over the city for 10 days of music from some of the top names in jazz and beyond. Ticketed festival highlights include Andre 3000’s first Toronto show in a decade as he will perform tracks from his flute album, New Blue Sun (Fri., June 28, Massey Hall) and Hiatus Kaiyote (Wed., June 25, History). Watch for the lineup of free outdoor shows soon.

Where: Downsview Park, 70 Canuck Ave.
Genre: Rap
Why you should go: One of the biggest events of the summer will take place in Toronto as hip hop giants descend on Downsview Park for a night to remember. The likes of Lil Wayne, Akon, 2 Chainz and Lil’ Kim will grace the stage over a legendary day for the Hip Hop purists.

Where: Sobey’s Stadium, 1 Shoreham Dr.
Genre: Pop
Why you should go: York U tennis stadium launches — again — as a concert venue with BNL, Sam Roberts Band and K.T. Tunstall. Shaggy plays same venue Sat., June 29.

Where: Cameron House, 408 Queen St. W.
Genre: Folk
Why you should go: The indie folk singer-songwriter Eastern Ontario honed his craft by performing at parties and events and improvising personalized songs on the spot for his roommates during lockdown. Now he’s gone on to develop an impressive live show that stuns audiences across the country.

Where: Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St.
Genre: Pop
Why you should go: The former One Direction band member has carved out an impressive solo career for himself following the band’s split in 2016. Niall Horan has garnered critical acclaim for his most recent album, The Show, and is supporting this release with a huge world tour this year.

Where: Ontario Place, West Island, 955 Lake Shore Blvd. W.
Genre: EDM
Why you should go: The concert+picnic series is the perfect place for EDM lovers in Toronto as huge artists like Diplo (Sun., June. 30), Keys N Krates (Sun., June 30) and Charlotte De Witte (Sat., June 29) hit the stage over a jam-packed weekend.

Where: Lee’s Place, 529 Bloor St. W.
Genre: Rap
Why you should go: The U.S. rapper, who gained fame as part of 50 Cent’s G-Unit, will head to Toronto to celebrate 20 years of The Hunger for More. The 2004 album will evoke nostalgia as Lloyd Banks will perform tracks like I’m So Fly and Warrior Part 2 — his collaboration with Eminem.

Where: Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St.
Genre: Pop
Why you should go: The iconic Janet Jackson will bring Together Again to Toronto this summer — a tour that marks her 50th anniversary in the industry. Fans can expect an incredible show with a high production value as Jackson will perform hits like That’s the Way Love Goes and All For You to a sold-out arena.

Where: The Danforth Music Hall, 147 Danforth Ave.
Genre: Rap
Why you should go: Don’t miss your chance to see a rapper at the top of his game. Killer Mike became an important rapper beginning with his mid-2010s work as co-frontman of Run the Jewels, including amazing appearances at NXNE 2014. Now a solo act, the rapper achieved mainstream fame earlier this year for his success at the Grammys — including Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.

Where: History, 1663 Queen St. E.
Genre: Rap
Why you should go: The U.S. rapper will kick off his Blue Lips Weekend headlining tour with a show in Toronto as Schoolboy Q showcases his unique style and inventive flows. The rapper from South Central L.A. rose to fame with hits like That Part and Man of the Year and has huge collaborations with the likes of Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and A$AP Rocky.

Where: Phoenix Concert Theatre, 410 Sherbourne St.
Genre: Rap
Why you should go: Hip hop legends Method Man and Redman will be embarking on a joint Canadian summer tour, which stops off at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre. The duo has been collaborating since 1994 at the peak of their powers and they continue to blow audiences away 30 years later.

Where: El Mocambo, 464 Spadina Ave.
Genre: Rock
Why you should go: Greg Hawkes returns to Toronto and the saxophone player from The Cars will perform the band’s famous hits like Drive and Just What I Needed.

Where: Bandshell Park, 100 Prince Edward Island Cres.
Genre: Festival
Why you should go: Two perfect worlds collide as beer and music take centre stage at the Beer Festival. There will be over 100 vendors providing the beer and live music performances by the likes of Cypress Hill (Fri., July 26) and Taking Back Sunday (Sun., July 28.)

Where: Lee’s Place, 529 Bloor St. W.
Genre: Rock
Why you should go: The California rock band will kick off a busy 2024 with a tour of North America this summer, before releasing an album, a memoir and a documentary that will give fans an incredible look behind the scenes of Redd Kross.

Where: Various
Genre: Rap, soca, reggae
Why you should go: The Toronto Caribbean Carnival (Caribana) is North America’s largest Caribbean carnival featuring the legendary parade and concerts both planned and impromptu There will be various events running throughout the weekend, including the Carnivale Music Festival on Sat., Aug. 3 at a TBD location with a huge lineup including Rick Ross, Polo G, Lola Brooke and Jadakiss.

Where: Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W.
Genre: Pop
Why you should go: Born and raised in Cape Town, Linley has gone from writing songs in lockdown to a national concert tour in a matter of a couple of years. The South African has built up a community of fans that resonate with his soulful pop tunes.

Where: Downsview Park, 70 Canuck Ave.
Genre: EDM
Why you should go: Cementing a reputation as one of the biggest electronic music festivals in the country, Veld Festival returns to Downsview Park with an A-list lineup full of the biggest names in the EDM genre, with acts that are guaranteed to put on an incredible show, including Martin Garrix (Sun., Aug. 4) and Steve Aioki (Sat., Aug. 3.)

Where: Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St.
Genre: Pop
Why you should go: Jenny from the block will head to Toronto as part of her This Is Me… Live tour, which marks her comeback after a five-year hiatus. J.Lo will perform from her Greatest Hits, including On the Floor and If You Had My Love.

Where: Lees Palace, 529 Bloor St.W.
Genre: Japanese metal, steam punk
Why you should go: Bad ass steampunk girl band from Japan kicks ass in their first Canadian tour.

Where: Burl’s Creek, 240 8 Line S.
Genre: Country
Why you should go: One of Canada’s biggest country music festivals returns to Burl’s Creek, ON, for a weekend that celebrates the genre with A-list acts like Jason Aldean (Sun., Aug. 8) and Cody Johnson (Fri., Aug. 9.) The outdoor venue can hold up to 100,000, people so expect a busy but lively atmosphere throughout the weekend.

Where: Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St.
Genre: Pop-punk
Why you should go: The genre-defining Canadian artist will embark on her first Greatest Hits tour, including a huge date at Scotiabank Arena. Lavigne will also be releasing her Greatest Hits album on Wed., June 21 as she tweeted, “Can’t do a greatest hits tour without a greatest hits album!!!”

Where: Rogers Centre, 1 Blue Jays Way
Genre: Pop
Why you should go: P!nk keeps showing why she is one of the great live acts in recent years with incredible special effects, vocals and ingenuity. The artist will put this on full display at a huge headlining show at  Rogers Centre with big support acts, including Sheryl Crow and The Script.

Where: Rogers Centre, 1 Blue Jays Way
Genre: Rock
Why you should go: The pop-punk legends will embark on a huge stadium tour across North America, including the 39,000-capacity Rogers Centre. There will be an incredible sense of nostalgia with hits like I Miss You and All the Small Things, but the band also keeps pushing to evolve and release new music and there will be a nice blend between the two.

Where: Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St.
Genre: Rap, R&B
Why you should go: Childish Gambino recently announced his first tour in five years, which includes a date in Toronto this summer. Donald Glover has gone on to achieve further mainstream success as an actor and a writer over the last few years, but the Atlanta star will be gearing up to make further waves in music as he did in 2016 with the modern classic Awaken, My Love! album.

Where: Burl’s Creek, 240 8 Line S.
Genre: Indie rock, Punk
Why you should go: Two days of indie and punk heroes including Billy Talent, All-American Rejects, Silverstein and Gob on Friday and Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Fefe Dobson on Saturday.

Where: Budweiser Stage, Ontario Place, 909 Lake Shore Blvd. W.
Genre: Country
Why you should go: Canadian legends Blue Rodeo are back for their annual love-in by the lake, joined by Nova Scotia indie rocker Matt Mays and 2024 Juno-nominee, The beautifully voiced Begonia.