Spoken Word

Kinnie Starr

Interstellar Rodeo, Edmonton AB, July 26

PUBLISHED Jul 27, 2019

There's no possible way that Kinnie Starr's performance could fit into a standard issue live review. In front of a stage being changed over...

The Last Poets' Anger Has Global Scope on 'Understand What Black Is'

PUBLISHED May 17, 2018

Long before "woke" became a buzzword and Twitter hashtivism was a trend, there were the Last Poets. The group formed in Harlem in 1968, an...

The Last Poets

Understand What Black Is

PUBLISHED May 16, 2018

The world has changed in many ways since the Last Poets formed in the 1960s, but the battle for equality has yet to be won. Understand What...

Native North America Gathering

Megaphono, Ottawa ON, February 9

PUBLISHED Feb 10, 2018

The traveling Native North America Gathering — which celebrates the remarkable songwriting and storytelling collected on Light in the Attic...

X Avant Night Three: 'Intérro' featuring Jason Sharp, Tanya Evanson, Kaie Kellough and Kevin Lo / E-Saggila

918 Bathurst, Toronto ON, October 13

PUBLISHED Oct 14, 2017

While the bill originally promised a headlining set from radical industry disruptor Chino Amobi, a bad case of food poisoning had other ide...

X Avant Night One: Man Forever / Germaine Liu / Luyos MC

918 Bathurst, Toronto ON, October 11

PUBLISHED Oct 12, 2017

For its 12th year, the Music Gallery's flagship X Avant festival is returning with a lineup befittingly curated under the broad theme of "r...

Shane Koyczan

Debris

PUBLISHED Sep 23, 2015

It may be impossible to give a fair review of Shane Koyczan's Debris. It's so colossal, both in size and emotion heft, that it requires rep...