MUSIC | The Weeknd @ Sound Academy
TO's R'n'B influenced musical giant, The Weeknd, concludes a four-night run at The Sound Academy tonight. Also known by his birth name, Abel Tesfaye, this artist's debut album, House Of Balloons (based melodically, and sample-wise on Siouxsie and the Banshees' Happy House) received unanimous praise from music critics and fans alike, and his penchant for creating a tangible sense of mood with his music and lyrics was a common thread in the buzz surrounding this release. With a compilation album, Trilogy coming out later this month, The Weeknd's final show of a massive four-night engagement here in his hometown is sure to be memorable.
The Sound Academy (11 Polson Street) 9PM $46

BOOKS & LIT | Rowers Pub Reading Series
This long-running reading series aims to present emerging authors alongside established figures in TO's literary community. Tonight author Mary Lou Dickinson reads, and her writing career began relatively recently with her first short fiction collection, One Day it Happens, and is continuing in fine form with her novel, Ile d'Or. Prolific Hamilton author Susan Evans Shaw will be discussing her book Canadians at War: A Guide to the Battlefields of World War II. Todd Swift, a Canadian poet and editor now based in the UK (where he had the honour of being Oxfam Great Britain's Poet-in-residence) will also share some of his work. This is a free event.
Victory Cafe (581 Markham Street) 7:30PM

MUSIC | The TJO presents Singers United!
The Toronto Jazz Orchestra is a musical force to be reckoned with here in TO, and is now into its fifteenth year of performing. Tonight the excitement is taken up a notch with the addition of two well-known vocalists to an already stellar cast of musical talent. Both Alex Samaras and Sophia Perlman will join the TJO in performance both together and separately this evening. Compositions by Vickie Yang, Rebecca Pellett, and Josh Grossman will make up part of tonight's program, as well as great arrangements by Quincy Jones, Billy May, Geoffrey Keezer, and others of classic tunes.
The Rex Hotel (194 Queen Street West) 9:30PM $10

COMEDY | One Night Stand: an evening of comedy & cabaret
The Gladstone Hotel hosts an evening of stand-up comedy and cabaret tonight, honouring an upcoming film project, Portrait of a Serial Monogamist. This event marks the launch of a 'crowdsourcing' campaign for this coming-of-age lesbian romantic comedy, written and directed by Christina Zeidler and John Mitchell. A trailer for this work-in-progress film will be shown. Tonight's entertainment will come in stand-up form from Dawn Whitwell, Kathleen Phillips, and Carolyn Taylor, plus guests Miss Fluffy Souffle and Fay Slift, as well as Vag Halen front woman Vanessa Dunn. Tonight's host is Elvira Kurt.
Gladstone Hotel, Ballroom (1214 Queen Street West) 7:30PM $20

OTHER EVENTS ON OUR RADAR

The Asteroid Galaxy Tour + Millionyoung
GROUPLOVE @ The Phoenix

Photo by Ben Roffelsen in the blogTO Flickr pool