After last week’s stretch of warm weather, Torontonians are getting ready for the return of chilly temperatures just as spooky season arrives. Here are a few selected culture events to check out this week, plus a few recommendations from the Star’s culture team.
Film: The Exorcist
Oct. 25 and 26 at Hotel X
Any horror junkie would know that the original “Exorcist” movie is a cult classic.
Luckily for fans of the horror genre, you can scare yourself stiff and spend a spooky night at a screening of the movie at the Cinema at Hotel X, a two-level state-of-the-art cinema.
Show times are 8 p.m. on both nights and ticket prices start at $12.50. There will also be concession combos available at $10 and above.
Music: Death to T.O.
Oct. 26 at Lee’s Palace
Death to T.O. is one of the city’s great Halloween traditions, in which local bands and artists dress up to perform live covers from some of the biggest rock bands. The 12th edition of the show, which takes place at Lee’s Palace and the Dance Cave upstairs, will feature live covers of Aerosmith, Björk, Madonna, Hole, Sonic Youth, Nelly Furtado and more.
Of course, you can’t show up without wearing a costume of your own.
Visual Art: Art Toronto
Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 at Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Dubbed the most “significant, oldest and largest international art fair in Canada,” Art Toronto returns to the convention centre for its 25th year featuring more than 100 galleries, installations and projects from across the country, the U.S. and all around the world.
The four-day art event celebrates the diversity of art in Canada and aims to “connect audiences to local, national and international galleries” while promoting varying creative practices in art.
The programming can be viewed online to help guests plan their visits; tickets can be purchased here.
Film: Rendezvous With Madness Festival
Oct. 26 to Nov. 3 at 1025 Queen St. W.
If you’re a mental health advocate and enjoy arts festivals, your next cultural stop this week could be the Rendezvous With Madness Festival.
The long-running event is largest arts and mental health festival in the world, “dedicated to showcasing work that touches upon mental health themes,” and empowering artists with lived experiences of mental health and addiction.
Celebrating 32 years, the 2024 theme is “Shine; Together.” Screenings include the North American premiere of the documentary “1001 Days” and the feature “Drive Back Home,” both on Saturday.
The festival has pay-as-you-wish access to tickets and can be experienced in person and virtually.
Music: Wave to Earth
Oct. 27 at History
Looking for music to match the chill vibes of the fall season and don’t know where to look? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
South Korean indie-pop band Wave to Earth is coming to Toronto on the North American leg of their “0.03 Tour.”
Fans anticipate the trio will perform their top song “Seasons,” which has over 297 million Spotify streams, and other hits such as “Bad” and “Love.”
Currently, there are only resale floor tickets available, which are being sold on Ticketmaster.
Comedy: Last Laugh Comedy Show — Halloweekend Special
Oct. 27 at the Pint Public House
“Ready to die of laughter.”
For those who want to get into the Halloween spirit by sharing laughs, this comedy show will be right up your alley, returning for a Halloween special with a lineup of top-notch comics, including headliner Ernie Vicente and local comics Michi, Thea Rainford, Joe Fish and Cole Chauvin.
Tickets for the show, available to patrons 19 and over, can be purchased for $20 here.
Music: Elyanna
Oct. 28 at Rebel
Palestinian-Chilean singer-songwriter Elyanna first made international waves in the spring of 2023 when she became the first artist to perform a set at Coachella entirely in Arabic. A year and a half later, she’s become one of the most in-demand global stars, performing with major acts like Coldplay and touring the world in support of her recent album “Woledto.”
Catch her at a relatively small venue while you still can.
Film: Walking Through the Fire — Visual Album
Nov. 1 at Cecil Community Centre
“A musical film experience unlike any other,” “Walking Through the Fire — Visual Album” will have its world premiere on Friday followed by a Q&A with artists from the film including Duke Redbird, Shannon Thunderbird, Marc Merilaïnen, Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuk, along with filmmaker and Sultans of String producer Chris McKhool.
The film is a collaboration between award-winning First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists and six-time Canadian Folk Music Award-winning musicians Sultans of String.
The two-hour event has tickets starting at $11.98 with different benefits to each tier.
Theatre: Interior Design
Through Nov. 10 at Tarragon Theatre
Star theatre critic Joshua Chong recommends checking out “Interior Design,” a new show from award-winning playwright Rosa Laborde. The play tells the story of an attempted intervention between a group of girlfriends that backfires spectacularly.
Toronto artist spotlight: The Free Label
Made up of six multi-instrumentalists and vocalists, the Free Label is a buzzy Toronto band that serves up a slickly modern fusion of disco, R&B and funk. The band — whose latest album “Songs for Sienna” arrived earlier this month — are also known for their electrifying live show, the next of which will take place at History on Oct. 29 as the opening act for Sammy Rae and the Friends.
We asked the band to share some of their favourite spots in Toronto, plus a few things they are into right now.
Where does the disco/R&B scene live in the city?
Wherever we’re playing! Toronto is definitely more known for R&B than disco. We love the DJs that do it for real — the homies putting on Beam Me Up (at the Drake Hotel on Fridays) — but we’re trying to create that scene for bands doing that live. Davie Studios Concert Series Listening Room is a good hang for high-quality musicianship.
What’s your favourite venue to perform at? To see music at?
Drom Taberna is so supportive to the community of musicians in Toronto and offers such a beautiful variety of music. Never know who’s gonna roll though — we once watched Anderson .Paak tap Jason off the drums! Always just a packed and greasy and amazing hang. Ten out of 10.
The Rex is one of the last classic jazz bars. One of the musically inspiring places. The El Mocambo has always treated us amazing and worked with us to play some of our favourite shows ever in Toronto. Danforth (Music Hall) is the best big venue to catch an act rolling through town.
What upcoming concerts or shows are you most excited to see this fall?
JaRon Marshall at the Drake Hotel. Pull up.
What are you reading right now?
We just read “Othello” out loud in the van as a group.
What’s the last movie you saw that you’d recommend?
The last movie we watched as a group was “Die Hard” last Christmas when we were touring out in Melbourne.
What are you streaming right now?
All media that is not our current album is propaganda.
The Star recommends …
A few things the Star’s culture team are into right now:
The new Bon Iver EP, titled “Sable,” is only 12 minutes long, but — in my humblest of opinions — it contains some of Justin Vernon’s finest songwriting to date. His first project in half a decade, “Sable,” marks a pivot away from the more experimental and electronic sounds of his previous two studio albums, and sees a return to the minimalist folk music that made Vernon an indie darling in the late aughts.
Featuring little more than an acoustic guitar and a subtle string arrangement by Rob Moose, the single “S P E Y S I D E” — described as “a song that spilled out of him as an apology to a couple of people he loved and hurt” — is an all-time great Bon Iver song, one that I’ll be listening to for years to come. — Richie Assaly
In the spirit of spooky season, I decided to rewatch the first three movies from the “Scream” franchise, starting with the first one. The 1996 “Scream” is by far my favourite slasher movie and it’s definitely a popular opinion that it’s the best film from the original trilogy.
These films are not only thrilling and feature megastars in the intros — only to kill them off before any character development — they also depict the lives of young people and use humour to make things less “terrifying.”
While I have previously watched the first two “Scream” films, this was my first time watching the third movie, and let’s just say I wasn’t a huge fan of the plot holes and would probably place this one at the bottom of my list. Something noteworthy is that the film handles the issue of the exploitation of actresses in Hollywood, years before the #MeToo movement. And speaking vaguely for the purpose of not spoiling anything for those who haven’t seen the film, the killer being someone involved in Hollywood sends the message that evil exists within the industry.
A sequel is never better than the original and a threequel rarely does a franchise any favours, but I think these films earn their appeal through the relationship between the recurring cast — Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers are a totally dynamic duo. — Asma Sahebzada
