In Canada: Coldplay Performs Majestic Set in Toronto as Chris Martin Playfully Digs at ‘Bizarre’ Rogers Stadium

Coldplay took the stage for the second of four concerts at Rogers Stadium in Toronto on Tuesday night (July 8), and the show held the distinction of being the third overall concert at the brand new 50,000-capacity Downsview venue in the city’s north end.

If you ask Live Nation Canada’s president of music, Erik Hoffman, Coldplay was also one of the major reasons the stadium was built. In the band’s first two shows, though, Chris Martin hasn’t exactly had flattering things to say about it. On night one, he called it a “weird stadium in the middle of nowhere,” and on the second night, he went even further, calling the venue a “very bizarre stadium a million miles from Earth.”

“We are solely testing the premise, ‘If you build it, they will come,” Martin said during his piano intro to “The Scientist.”

Martin may have had his tongue a little in his cheek, but it hasn’t been good PR for the venue, which has contended with fan complaints about moving seats, lack of water stations and long waits to exit. The stadium has already made improvements on all of those things, though getting out of one of the two exits is still an ordeal. There are now more staff conducting crowd control, flashing red and green lights to prevent bottlenecks at the nearby Downsview public transit station.

However, the somewhat secluded location benefited these Coldplay shows, as the band’s celebrated celestial-themed Music of the Spheres World Tour builds a whole world; traveling 45 minutes from downtown to get there only increases the feeling of entering a pocket of connection and positivity. The production was impeccable, and it made the night feel majestic.

This was the 203rd show on Coldplay’s record-breaking tour, which is the best-selling and highest-grossing rock tour ever. At one point, Martin told the crowd the previous shows on the tour were just “202 rehearsals for you.” On its first night at Rogers Stadium, the band delayed its set time to fix a lighting tower, but everything was running smoothly by Tuesday.

Many people in the crowd brought flags, and Martin welcomed them all: from countries including Brazil, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Finland and India. He also welcomed a fan who brought an LGBTQ+ flag and later draped himself in one for a song expressing support for all genders and sexual identities.

One night after a fan brought a Palestinian flag, on Tuesday another brought a flag of Israel. “We welcome all people,” Martin said. “It makes me happy that both groups can come.” Later, he celebrated the crowd full of nationalities and religions and said it shows that “all these conflicts that we keep being told about are really overcomeable by the power of love and togetherness.”

It may be a vague platitude, but it’s a message of one-size-fits-all unity that the band has preached throughout its career. On Tuesday, Martin said the show marked the first time all 50,004 people (including the band members) would ever be in the same place, and asked the audience to feel the connection.

Coldplay play two more shows at Rogers Stadium this weekend, on July 11 and 12.

Find full highlights from the concert here. — Richard Trapunski

TikTok Canada Halts Sponsorships of Toronto International Film Festival, Juno Awards, ADISQ and More

TikTok is pulling the plug on its arts sponsorships across Canada.

The social media platform is planning to withdraw as a sponsor of several Canadian arts institutions, including the Toronto International Film Festival and Juno Awards, as it prepares to comply with a federal order to shut down operations nationwide.

Steve de Eyre, TikTok Canada’s director of public policy and government affairs, told The Canadian Press the Canadian government is now enforcing its order from last November to wind down operations of the platform in the country over national security concerns. TikTok has vowed to fight the order, but the video-sharing app is now making plans to halt its Canadian initiatives.

The incoming halt is affecting some of Canada’s arts communities, including the Junos, with which TikTok Canada has been a partner since 2020, including as a title sponsor of the recently added Juno Fan Choice Award. TikTok Canada has also supported CARAS’s music education charity, MusiCounts, with the platform having provided $500,000 to date in support of high school music programs.

Since 2022, TikTok Canada has also sponsored TIFF’s Short Cuts and Special Presentations programs and supported industry panels featuring Canadian creators.

The National Screen Institute’s TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators, which has worked with nearly 400 participants since 2021, will also lose funding.

Last year, the Canadian government ordered the wind-up of TikTok’s Canadian operations (including both of its Canadian offices) after “a multi-step national security process,” but said it would not block the app’s use in Canada.

With no concrete timeline, though, De Eyre said the company is still challenging the order in court and pushing the government to find a better way forward.

“It breaks my heart that we’re being forced to cancel [these programs],” De Eyre told The Canadian Press, adding that due to the order being enforced, the company cannot commit to renewing its partnerships in the country. “The reality is, you need to have local staff to develop those things and to run those things. These programs don’t build themselves.”

Read more here. — Heather Taylor-Singh

Arts & Crafts Launches New Country Label

Celebrated Canadian independent music label Arts & Crafts is going country.

After making a major impact at home and abroad with such artists as Broken Social Scene, Feist, Stars and Dan Mangan, the label has launched a new Arts & Crafts Country imprint and announced the signing of the Juno-winning, platinum-selling country group The Washboard Union.

“Arts & Crafts prides itself on a diverse universe of music built on the label’s core pillars of creativity and community. ‘Independent music made with care’ — we have always been driven by inventiveness, without regard for the limits of genre,” said Kieran Roy, president of Arts & Crafts, in a statement. “It is on that note that we are thrilled to announce our partnership with The Washboard Union, marking Arts & Crafts’ foray into country music and first signing to our newly minted A&C Country imprint.

Together for more than a decade, the B.C.-based trio comprises Aaron Grain, Chris Duncombe and David Roberts. The group’s debut album, The Washboard Union, was released in 2012 and produced by heavyweights Garth Richardson and Bob Ezrin. The group first signed with Slaight Music and Warner Music Canada before partnering with Universal Music Canada for its most recent album, Westerly.

Live favourites on the country circuit, The Washboard Union have earned nine CCMA Awards, including three consecutive wins for group of the year and roots album of the year for Everbound (2020). It also made history as the first country band to receive a Juno Award for breakthrough group of the year. The group has accumulated more than 400,000 radio spins and over 85 million streams, and has scored one platinum and four gold-certified singles in Canada.

The Washboard Union is playing select festival dates across Canada this summer and is also in the studio recording new music, with a new single to be released this fall. The band recently signed to ABC Music (for Australia and New Zealand) and is headed to Australia in October for its first run of shows. Its forthcoming release will be the first under the group’s new label partnerships with Arts & Crafts and ABC Music.

“The Arts & Crafts team are, above all, music fans and innovators,” said Duncombe in a statement. “From our first conversations, it was clear that they understood who we are as artists. We’ve always believed in making music that’s truly authentic, so to partner with a label that values artistry and creativity is energizing. We’re excited to be the first country act to join the new Arts & Crafts Country label, and the three of us can’t wait for our fans to hear what we’ve got in store in the next chapter of The Washboard Union.” — Kerry Doole