Scroll to the bottom to see the actual rating breakdown

Our rating system needs to change

Apps have destroyed our ability to properly rate things. If a driver on Uber gets too many 3 star ratings, they can be kicked off of the platform -- what?

3/5 stars should be treated as perfectly average, meeting expectations. 5/5 should be something that's nearly impossible to achieve.

With concerts, I may seem harsh but I want to give an actual sense of what you should expect. Allowing you to weigh different artists against each other based on what you find important. I go to a lot of concerts. I enjoy the vast majority of them. But they're not all equal and I take away different things from different performances.

It's rare that I'd go see an artist twice

For two reasons: First, there's way too many concerts in Toronto.

Second, this is the biggest one, I usually get my cup filled after one concert. I've experienced it and I'm good to move on. The vast majority of concerts rate very low on the "spectacle" factor. It's one of two things (that and stage presence) that separates seeing someone live vs throwing headphones on. Most concerts are the band, a basic back drop and that it's. That is completely fine, it's not a complaint, but it doesn't make me want to go back for another go.

The spectacle factor, like all of the categories I rank on, is complete subjective. My 4/5 is another person's 1/5 and vice versa. There's also a fine line between spectacle being something fun and memorable or it being kitschy and forced.

There's no such thing as a 5/5

At least not for the concert as a whole. Things can always be better and I love to see artists that try to push the boat and try something new.

My Bias

I prefer a concert that makes me sweat, I will take the GA/standing room ticket over a seat any day. Not all artists lend themselves well to that kind of set up. I think all of the categories I rank on can apply to any artist (singer-songwriter to death metal) but my numeric scores I give reward pop/rock/hip-hop with a full band more than someone with singing with an acoustic guitar.

My bias and your bias is very important to the scores. If you think something is a 1/5 and I think it's a 5/5, we're both right. We have different tastes and that is a-ok. If 99% of people think something is a 5/5 and I think it's a 1/5, once again, we're all correct.

Music does not need to (and, arguably, shouldn't) be made for everyone. But if we've seen some of the same concerts and our ratings align, then my other reviews and ratings may be helpful to you and vice versa.

The ratings

All scores are out of 5, can include decimals

Venue

A bad venue influences every other score. I've seen a few bands multiple times in different venues and have had some very different experiences.

Audience

Though the artist has very limited control over this, it does impact the show significantly. Most artists attract a certain group of people. Whichever group that might be can influence how much you enjoy a show. People getting too rowdy or not rowdy enough. People talking during the music. How people engage with the music.

Band

Everything but the signing. Includes choice of instruments and how well they're played. Personally I'm biased here towards a good sax, I give negative points to needlessly long solos.

Vocals

Can you hear the singing over the band? Is the singing good? Maybe a bit of extra flare but not straying too far from the source material.

Song choice

This includes the actual choice of songs and the order. For more established artists, this should include a mix of new stuff, old stuff, deep cuts and big hits.

Spectacle

These are the elements of the show that make the show distinct from sitting at home and listening to a recording. Some of this could come through on a video, but the best parts of Spectacle should be something that's only able to be experienced in person.

Stage presence

This is a catch-all that's similar to Spectacle. Includes how the band interacts with each other and the audience.

If Spectacle is the planned elements of the show that make the live performance distinct from a recording, Stage Presence is what makes one show on one night distinct from another show on another night.

Overall Score

This is the least important number, an average of all the other scores, out of 5. Round down to two decimal points: 3.357 becomes 3.35/5