Rock Clubs in Toronto

There are great rock clubs in Toronto that offer live music, great atmosphere, a selection of drinks, and tons of fun. Top rock clubs include places such as the Sneaky Dee's, The Hideout, Velvet Underground, the Horseshoe Tavern, and many others. Bars and clubs feature pinball, video games, local beer, cocktails, tasty food, and a lot more.

Horseshoe Tavern in Downtown Toronto

Located on Queen Street West, the Horseshoe Tavern opened doors in 1947 in downtown Toronto. This club is a concert venue for names such as the Cramps, the Police, the Ramones, Stompin’ Tom Connors, Bruce Cockburn, the Band, and Waylon Jennings. The Horseshoe Tavern features live music and a mix of different styles, including alternative country, Celtic, swing, surf, rock, ska.

Rivoli: Music, Food, and Fun

Located on Queen Street West, this is a performance venue, pool, restaurant, and bar that was established in 1982. Top musicians, bands, and comedians have played here throughout the years, including Sean Cullen, Nirvana, Gordon Downie, The Kids in the Hall, and many others. Rivoli offers a selection of tasty foods and snacks such as skinny fries, chicken wings, nachos, crispy calamari, and plenty more.

Crocodile Rock and Classic Rock

Crocodile Rock is situated on Adelaide Street in Toronto and is both a bar and a venue for corporate events, birthdays, bachelorette parties, and other events. The venue features tasty offerings such as coconut shrimp, chicken nachos, philly cheese steak, pulled pork sandwich, and more. Visitors are offered wine, premium liquor, coolers, cider, and premium bottles. Crocodile Rock attracts young people and party folks and is a good place to sip on a drink, hang out with friends, listen to music, and relax. The venue features a mix of different genres and styles, including dance music, disco, retro, Top 40, and classic rock. Situated on 3 floors, the bar has a lounge and a rooftop patio. It is open from Wednesday to Sunday. The dress code is casual but visitors are asked not to wear athletic shoes, jerseys, and sports clothes.

Sneaky Dee's, Alternative Rock, and Mexican Food

Sneaky Dee's is a venue and a restaurant that is found on College Street in Toronto. Many bands and top performers have played here, including Broken Social Scene, Living With Lions, Gob Nails, Cancer Bats, Comeback Kid, The Barcelona Pavilion, and others. The venue features indie and alternative rock and is a meeting place for hipsters, music fans, artists, and other folks. Local artists and bands come to prepare different dishes such as Cactus in The Valley nachos, Northern Blue Nachos by City and the Colour, and others. The restaurant offers tasty meals, salads, and appetizers such as homemade burger, fish sandwich, spicy eggs, and grilled chicken salad. Visitors are offered Mexican style breakfast, Mexican sandwiches, and gringo style breakfast. Run as a family business, Sneaky Dee’s is known for late-night tacos, great music, shows, and party crowds.

Other great clubs to visit in Toronto include places such as Hard Luck, Cherry Cola’s, Rock 'n' Horse Saloon, and many others.

How to Become a Band Manager

The first step to becoming a band manager is to create a management company and look for performers and bands to manage. What you can do is search through manager ad listings online or frequent bars, clubs, and other venues. The next step is to meet artists and discuss their plans, career, and goals.

Handling Financial Matters and Publicity

Band managers handle financial matters for artists and bands, including marketing and promotional materials, hotel bookings, supplies, equipment, drums, guitars, recording, and so on. Band managers are also responsible for schedules and timelines, publicity, and distribution. Basically, the job of band managers is to attract interest through press releases, advertisements, promotional materials, TV, online, and radio interviews, PR campaigns.

Band managers set schedules, make financial decisions, negotiate record and publishing deals, make travel and other arrangements. For more information on how to make financial and credit decisions please see: https://www.creditavenue.ca/ and https://www.creditavenue.ca/canadas-top-ten-secured-credit-cards/. For travel tips see: https://www.creditavenue.ca/top-canadian-travel-credit-cards/

Music Programs and Courses and Focus Areas

Certificate and bachelor’s degree programs are available but this is not a requirement. A degree in Music Production, Entertainment Business, or Music Business can be helpful. Other degree options include Studio Art and Fine Art, Music Art, and Commercial and Visual Arts. Some schools and colleges also offer programs with a focus on musical performance, musical management and merchandising, and music conducting. Music business programs and courses focus on artist management, marketing and entertainment, tour management, and promotion. Courses also focus on orchestration, music theory, entertainment, and sound recording. The Canada’s Music Incubator, for instance, offers programs for artist managers and artist entrepreneurs. The artist entrepreneur program, for example, features media training, studio and style consultations, marketing, social media, and live technical workshops, and vocal and performance workshops. The artist manager program features guest mentors and guest speakers, content creation and marketing workshops, producer consultations, live performance audio and video.

Skills and Work Environment

For bank managers, it is important to have good communication and people skills, management skills, creativity, and extensive knowledge of the music industry. Key skills also include honesty, impartiality, good interpersonal skills, multi-tasking, analytical thinking, and goal setting. Band managers work on-site at shows and gigs and in office settings.

Job Roles and Responsibilities

Band managers have multiple roles and responsibilities and maintain relationships with lawyers, touring agents, accountants, and other professionals. They help bands negotiate contracts with TV channels and radio stations and record labels. Band managers look for funding opportunities, book practice and real time studio sessions, network and maintain relationships, and send demos to online and print media, radio stations, labels, and other players.

Related Jobs and Positions

Related positions include recruiter, artist manager, music publisher, publicist, and tour manager. Band managers also work as visual merchandising, production, and promotions managers, coordinators, and stage managers. Promotions managers, for example, arrange interviews, create print, online, radio, and television advertisements and maintain contacts with media, promotional directors, and program directors. Production managers, on the other hand, develop show schedules, keep track of and maintain show files, and help maintain different systems, including CD Rom, video, backline, lighting, and audio systems. Visual merchandising managers are responsible for band equipment, safety and staging policies, disciplinary issues, and a lot more. In general, band managers must have experience with video systems, audio systems, stage lighting, and project management.