Leonard Cohen was honoured as the Ninth Laureate of the Glenn Gould Prize at a music-filled gala at Massey Hall on Monday night.

The $50,000 prize, awarded every two years, gives recognition to an individual who has made a lifelong contribution to improving the human condition through music and communication.

Cohen chose the Canada Council for the Arts as the recipient of the award. As part of the prize, Cohen, now 77, also selected Parkdale-based Sistema Toronto as the recipient of the $15,000 Glenn Gould Protégé Prize. What a class act.

After being impressed by Austin, Texas band Electric Touch at the acoustic side stage at VFest a few years ago, I was eager to see them plugged in and on a bigger stage. The Opera House show on Monday night certainly satisfied that desire.

Electric Touch are on tour with Hot Chelle Rae (HCR) and other supporting act Action Item. Both those bands draw a large appeal from teenage girls. There were even a handful of chaperone moms present.

Prisoner of Tehran is a powerful production that resonates with today's situation in Syria.

This play is the stage adaptation of Marina Nemat's international bestselling memoir. The story details her arrest in 1980, at the age of 16, for speaking out against Ayatollah Khomeini's regime. She was imprisoned and tortured in the infamous Evin prison. At the moment of her scheduled execution, her interrogator forces her into marriage — and she remains his prisoner outside of Evin.

It was as if Thomas Dolby had brought a time capsule to The Mod Club on Monday night and transported us back to 1982.

Only his show proved much more modern and relevant than the 30-year-old hits that sounded as fresh as yesteryear. And the time capsule was for real. Dolby -- decked out in steampunk-styled fez and flashy blazer — had parked his chrome- and brass-plated teardrop-shaped trailer out front. Inside, fans got to record 30-second YouTube video clips "to the future."

With seven bands gracing the Canadian Room stage inside The Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Saturday night, there was sure to be a runaway winner at the CMW Indie Awards for 2012.

While Saskatoon rockers The Sheepdogs made off with the most awards, including Favourite Rock Artist or Group of the Year, Favourite Live Artist/Group of the Year and Group of the Year, it was Halifax's Rich Aucoin, SiriusXM ($10,000) Emerging Artist of the Year recipient, who stole the show.

Local rockers Diemonds brought The Bad Pack sound to Wrongbar on Thursday night, giving a spirited trip down '80s hair metal nostalgia during day two of Canadian Music Fest.

The Truth Explosion and Jagermeister showcase party featured seven bands in all. Starting things off was the soulful Tanika Charles and The Wonderfuls.