Calpurnia (w/ Little Junior) @ The Phoenix Concert Theatre (Toronto, ON) on October 20, 2018 [Photos & Show Review]

One year after making their Toronto debut with labelmates, Hollerado and Little Junior (the latter opening this show), Calpurnia, fronted by Finn Wolfhard of IT and Stranger Things fame, returned to the city and brought the ruckus at The Phoenix.

Little Junior was put in the rough position of getting the already ecstatic crowd more riled up for the headliner. Playing tunes from their debut LP, Hi, which came out earlier this year, the five-piece brought their beach rock vibes to the table and fans ate it right up. The crowd response was not one expected and feeding off that energy, the group got the night off to a great start.

After a few pleas from security to calm the tense crowd down, Calpurnia finally hit the stage. Performing their entire catalogue (their 2018 debut EP, Scout), along with covers of The Beatles and Weezer, it was hard to hear Wolfhard over the dedicated fans screaming every word back at him. Admittedly, I was unsure of what to expect from this group, but they just got out there, had fun, and put on a hell of a show, from energetic bassist, Jack Anderson to guitarist Ayla Tesler-Mabe melting faces off with her riffs, they are an entertaining group to watch. If this is the future of rock and roll, maybe the direction it’s heading isn’t so bad after all.

How fast are you? “Greyhound” fast?