THE GREEN LINE
VIDEO STORY
How to tap into Toronto's music scene: Tips from artists, organizers and fans
We asked a former MuchMusic VJ, a local fan, organizers and artists where they go to find hotspots of Toronto's bustling music community.
Akeem Oh performs in Drake Undergound on May 16, 2025.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
Adele Lukusa
Graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University and Kitchener native living in Riverdale. Enamoured with all things arts and culture. Journalist and avid zinester who loves criticism, but loves iced tea more.
Anthony Lippa-Hardy
Mississauga native currently studying journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University. Loves to explore different visual mediums to tell impactful stories that need to be seen.
Amartya Smaran
Aspiring Indian filmmaker, editor and actor currently studying lifestyle media at Centennial College. A city boy from Hyderabad, India, who loves comedy, storytelling, jazz music and biryani. Now sharing a house in Scarborough with three other city boys, he often uses a step ladder to reach cupboards.
Aug. 11, 2025
It was a chilly November night when I first saw Akeem Oh take the stage. He was undeniable.
One of my favourite things about concertgoing is seeing the power of the performer — seeing how the tilt of a head or the tenor of a voice can sway an audience one way or another. Akeem Oh is one of those artists who excel at engaging a live audience.
By the end of his set, the initially timid audience of the Monarch Tavern formed a circle around Akeem after he hopped off stage, guitar in hand, and led us to sing his aptly titled song “Oh.”
I first met Akeem Oh, formally known as Akeem Ouellet, during a shoot for The Green Line’s Toronto Songbook segment last October. He had just moved to the city from Ottawa and was putting up posters around Queen Street West for the very show I experienced just a month later.
If I’d left it to streaming, Akeem’s “FOMOTION” would’ve simply been another addition to my endless “Liked Songs” playlist on Spotify. But the magic of live performances and connecting with a crowd through music isn’t entirely lost on my generation.
Even as the concept of mainstream pop culture fades and subgenre communities wane, music continues to be a cornerstone for youth to connect with one another. In spite of a rapidly digitized world, local music organizers, artists and venues continue to bring young folks together IRL.
Fans attend Wavelength Music's event featuring No Frills “Sad Clown” album release on April 25, 2025.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
Where to find hotspots of youth music culture
Figuring out where all the cool people are enjoying live music is a hard task.
I’m a big music fan, but before researching this issue, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the best spots for local music listening.
“It's actually super easy when you know what you're looking for,” says San Veliz, photographer and local music fan. “The internet's always your friend. If you really want to take a stab at googling stuff — [whether it’s] Toronto jazz or Toronto punk — you're gonna find so many options right away.”
Veliz is a photographer who focuses on Toronto’s live arts scene. You can usually find them trying to capture the best moments during a local band’s performance at Houndstooth, or snapping pics of comedians and crowd members laughing at the Comedy Bar.
San Veliz, a photographer and music fan, stands in front of The Baby G, a live music venue on Dundas Street West.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
As a regular concertgoer, for both work and pleasure, Veliz says that if you find searching online is too daunting, make sure to “look up.”
“Literally, physically look up,” they said. “Because you never know what [poster] you're going to find on a pole, on a wall or whatever.”
Looking up is what introduced me, during my first few years in the city, to festivals like Long Winter and North by Northeast (NXNE). These vibrant posters consistently lined campus and subway walls.
Coincidentally, it’s also how Akeem himself discovers new bands. “Sometimes you walk into a bar at 2 p.m. and there's a band playing. And they're having the time of their life,” Akeem says. “I think that that's what I really love about Toronto. There's always something to discover. With every show, with every connection, there's always something new.”
Torontonians dance during a DJ set at the Oss Fest on July 26, 2025.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
The best places to spot event posters are usually around university campuses or heavy foot-traffic areas in the city, like Kensington Market and Ossington Avenue, between Dundas Street and Queen Street.
If you're looking to support more grassroots organizations with unique events, then make sure to check out our guide, “How to find the best live music venues and festivals.”
Did you go through our list and map and still not sure what to try out? Then just reach out to your local musichead, to that friend with an eclectic but wide-ranging playlist, or the one Instagram mutual who’s always posting concert clips.
“Don't be afraid to ask questions, even if it's a stranger,” Veliz says. “Because music people — and I may be a little bit biased — but for the most part, they’re quite nice and we want to help you. We want to be able to answer your question.”
George Stroumboulopoulos tells The Green Line team how he used to find local bands during his youth.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
Word of mouth is a constant, from young music lovers like Veliz to more seasoned ones, like George Stroumboulopoulos, a.k.a Strombo, a cornerstone of Canadian media and an iconic MuchMusic VJ.
Strombo often found the artists and bands that defined his youth by trading tapes, raking through record shops, picking up zines and asking a friend about their latest obsession. While physical media has become less common for younger generations, word of mouth in the age of the internet is still vital for discovering Toronto’s local scene.
How to support your local artists
For decades, Toronto has been the launching pad for several national and international artists — from Rush and Neil Young to Mustafa and Daniel Caesar.
But nowadays, many music makers struggle to build sustainable careers through their art.
“For an art scene to be vibrant, you have to have affordable places to live where artists can live and have venues,” Strombo says.
“A scene will always die if people can't afford [to live],” he says. “I don't think art happens in a vacuum. You need a place to be close to each other to do cool shit.”
That’s where non-profits like Venus Fest come into play, as they offer artists financial and holistic support — whether a hotel stay or a bite to eat before a show.
How is the City of Toronto supporting its artists? Check out these stories, below, about affordable housing for artists and the Soundcheck Project for protecting live venues.
There’s a sense of scarcity among artists and “a lot of gatekeeping,” according to Beatcave’s co-founder, Jerome Ferguson.
“I feel like it's hard for a lot of Canadian [artists] because there's so very few that end up getting to the top,” he says. “It's that crabs-in-a-bucket type of mentality.”
But that’s where community-based organizations like Beatcave come in. Beatcave was created as a place where music creatives could connect, collaborate and grow together. Founded in Toronto in 2019, it has now expanded across Canada and provides its community members with opportunities to meet industry professionals.
Amber Oosthuyzen, artist and co-founder of Beatcave, says the key is letting go of ego and building a collaborative community. “That's the only way we can keep growing, if we're all willing to collaborate to a certain extent and help the vision grow.” The vision is to build capacity in the Canadian music economy.
You can read more from Beatcave’s founders in the July edition of our Changemakers interview.
Creating affordable housing and strengthening the city’s music economy are big systemic solutions to support artists. But on an individual level? The best thing you can do is go to small, local live shows.
The power of an intimate live show
Live shows have many perks. There’s the powerful feeling of singing a song you’ve had on repeat alone — but this time, with a crowd of strangers. And then there’s the thrill of discovering a new, infectious beat, performed so passionately it begs to be Shazam-ed.
What always brings me back to concerts is the community, whether it’s with total strangers or folks I haven’t seen in a while.
Last month, I watched rappers Kimmortal and Sydanie in a joint concert hosted by Venus Fest. By the end of the show, I had caught up with a couple of Instagram friends, praised two members of the bands’ work, and chatted with a stranger whose dancing inspired me to follow suit.
In huge venues, it’s unlikely you’ll meet the singer or band, but for local artists like Akeem, the post-concert experience is not only accessible but intentional too.
At Akeem’s merch table, fans are encouraged to write a quick note on a “FOMOTION” postcard, which is later sent to other fans on the mailing list.
“When I'm playing a show in your city, I’ll send you a letter and you'll get maybe a little present, like stickers,” he says. “I think that people love to receive mail compared to getting an email. An email is kind of passive. Even if you open up an email, you're not really going to read it or really go through it. If you get a letter, it's like, ‘Oh, this is exciting.’ And it's always unexpected.”
That sort of personalization makes a lasting impression. There's no better way to engage with fans than crafting intentional bonding moments.
It’s the reason why shows by local bands like Pizza Bush are so popular. The antifolk group hosts themed nights, from clown weddings to conspiracy cabaret, where the shows also double as mutual aid efforts.
Pizza Bush band members rehearse before an upcoming show.
: Anthony Lippa-Hardy/The Green Line.
Last June, Pizza Bush hosted a Y2K prom concert with bubblegrunge band Chasing Laika to collect donations for the lead singer’s top surgery fund. Attendees were dressed to the nines, with gowns that would be the envy of “My Sweet 16” contestants and waistcoats taken straight from early Panic! At The Disco videos. That’s a fairly common occurrence for Pizza Bush. Their shows all call for audience participation, sometimes through a fun dress code and often through impromptu antics, like throwing diapers into the crowd or inviting a fan to read a speech.
“We just want to share our freak with people,” band member Mélanie Udell says.
Pizza Bush’s music is an ode to the phrase “cringe but free,” as their songs and parody covers touch on everything from sharting and queefing to the highs and lows of having ADHD.
“If you make space for the weirdos, I feel like the weirdos will show up,” the band’s drummer, Ryan Lane-Day, says.
When I asked San Veliz about their favourite shows, they named performers thoughtfully interacting with their audience, bringing them in on an inside joke and responding to internet memes.
When San was photographing the rock band The OBGMs at the Velvet Underground last fall, the lead singer held a basketball, and a fellow band member took the stage with their Tech Deck tricks. "That's the kind of random stuff that was really fun and unique to me because you get to tell these stories later on.”
The way bands like The OBGMs are more in tune with their audience, more niche and more willing to ride with fans' hijinks, is what makes going to these small shows more fulfilling and memorable than arena shows, Veliz adds.
Anybody can make a record sound good, Strombo says, but not that many people can pull off a live performance. “When I go to see a band that nails it live, I hold them in much higher regard because that's what this is about,” he adds.
“To me, it’s a community experience. It's a gathering of us.”
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