One Last Time – Hollerado Live in Toronto

Hollerado, beloved indie rock band and fixtures of the Canadian music scene for more than a decade, filled The Danforth Music Hall on Thursday for the second of three farewell shows.

Menno, Dean, Nixon, and Jake took the stage to the delight of the crowd who welcomed them with cheers and applause and screams that would reappear again and again as the show went on. From the jump, the band looked happy and like they were having fun. Yes, good live acts have a way of always giving off that look, but this time, knowing the stakes and situation, it looked just like there was a little something extra in their smiles and energy.

Note: Before we get too deep into the Hollerado bits, we need to shout out both Deanna Petcoff and Bad Waitress who did a great job warming up the audience and opening the show. Keep an eye on these Toronto based artists in the future.

Early in the set, Menno looked out over the excited audience and exclaimed, “Welcome to our second last show ever!” It was received with cheers, but also reminded us of what was going on. We were saying goodbye to the band whether we wanted to or not.

But even with that thought in the back of our minds all night, we still got hyped and happy for songs like I Got You and Eloise (which included Eloise herself and her little sister on stage dancing) as well as smashes Pick Me Up and Good Day At The Races. We’re always anticipating special moments in live shows, and we got one during Pick Me Up when the crowd took over the singing for the first time in the show. It was great.

Note: It was a special kind of Canadian fandom to see extremely funny and talented actress Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek) at the side of the stage and on stage throughout the night as she supported her husband Menno and his bandmates.

The heat continued with Born Yesterday, On My Own and (after a fun little Q&A with random fans on the floor) Fake Drugs. A look around The Danforth Music Hall showed hands in the air, people jumping up and down, singing along, and really just having the time of their lives on a Thursday night in Toronto. It was the kind of atmosphere that we always hope to see at concerts. It was the shared experience of strangers, united by music and energy and art and everything we love about live shows.

As we got later into the night, the inevitable got closer and closer. Just like everything else, concerts end.

Hollerado did everything they could to make sure they went out with a bang.

We got more confetti (we lost count of how many times the confetti cannons and bonus tubes and simple handfuls sent celebratory paper pieces into the crowd) and more songs and more happiness.

So It Goes, Got To Lose, and Juliette were the final official songs of the night and they were the climactic conclusion we might have written if we were in charge of the setlist. It was loud. It was amped up. It was fun. Menno pulled a fan up to play his guitar on Juliette, and at their second last show, they had a woman play the part for the first time. And while she played with Dean, Nixon, Jake and the band – he jumped down into the General Admission to play jump rope with the microphone cord and stayed in with them to sing.

At the end of Juliette, we got a big rock and roll instrumental finish and the packed house cheered again.

Happy and satisfied, we made our way to the exit doors and into the lobby. And then we heard Menno’s voice again over the speakers. Apparently, there were five minutes left on the clock and the band was ready to use them. As we quickly made our way back in, Hollerado broke into a cover of blink-182’s Dammit. It was pure and fun and a band that has been putting in work on the road, in the studio, and behind-the-scenes for 13 years looked like a bunch of friends jamming out in bliss.

It was perfect.

Hollerado has one more show on Friday night at The Danforth Music Hall to end the One Last Time Tour followed by their Hollerado and Friends: Open Mic Night at the Horseshoe Tavern on Saturday night. And if you’re able to be there for either of them, we highly recommend it.

We’ve learned over the years to always hold out hope that any retiring band could someday come back to us, and we’ll do that with Hollerado too. But, if this is really the end, it was a hell of a way to go out.

Thanks for the music and good times, boys.

Photos of Hollerado, The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
Thursday, December 12, 2019

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photos of Bad Waitress, The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
Thursday, December 12, 2019

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Photos of Deanna Petcoff, The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto
Thursday, December 12, 2019

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Author profile

Joshua Murray

creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.

Author profile

Trish Cassling

Writer/Photographer/Editor

Toronto Music Blogger