Tegan and Sara announced dates for a fall/winter North American tour, that stops here in Toronto on October 18 and 19, 2019. Other Canadian stops include Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Montreal. Read to bottom on how you can get PWYC tickets to all shows, even if sold out.

The Hey, I’m Just Like You Tour features Tegan and Sara alone on stage in a multi-dimensional show unlike anything they have ever done. Reading and reliving stories from their new memoir High School, performing songs from their new album  Hey, I’m Just Like You (out Sept 27), along with T&S classics, and combing through archive video footage from their teenage years – this show promises a transcendent night that will both entertain and inspire. They have chosen smaller, more intimate venues than previous concert scale tours, allowing fans to get up and close with these talented Canadian ladies.

SNAPSHOT REVIEW

T&S walked onto the sparsely set stage, consisting of a couple of chairs, amps, keyboards, and a stand to hold their literary works. They then began by providing a set of guidelines and instructions as to what the audience was about to experience, and how they should behave. Apparently they felt this was necessary given the audience reaction and feedback from previous stops on this “intimate” tour. “At no point during the night will a full band pop up and we’ll launch into full concert mode”, they clearly stated. This was going to be about them playing their earliest song recordings from the recently released album of old material – that makes sense right? As well, they were each going to be reading excerpts from their just released memoir in between songs. Oh, and they even suggested best times to applaud and when to go to the bathroom.

And that is what happened. For those who unfamiliar with these Calgarian gay twins, they are great advocates for equality in every sense of the word. They even devised a concept whereby they were telling fans not to buy tickets from scalpers, but rather put their name on a waiting list whereby those true fans wanting to attend would be offered any last minute vacant seats by making a donation to the Tegan and Sara Foundation. This may have been the reason for them asking everyone to be in their seats promptly for an 8pm show start, but in reality the show began 40 minutes after that point. So, a great concept, but it may need some tweaking as the tour progresses.

Their memoir is written in the format of each twin alternating chapters and telling their personal stories of growing up, and this is how it was also presented live, with alternating readings between the two. They don’t shy away from anything, including dysfunctional family arguments, being outsiders, awakening sexuality, and experimenting with hallucinogenic drugs. Overall, the Toronto audience were quiet, polite, and receptive, contrary to what they were told about previous audiences, who were expecting a concert experience. “We literally had people in the audience yelling and fighting with each,” they shared.

Overall, it was an opportunity for true fans to get a true experience with their idols. They did promise a full scale concert tour was being organized for next year as well, and of course their book, albums, and other assorted merchandise were all available to tide diehard fans over until then.

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High School is Tegan and Sara’s first memoir, chronicling their teenage years during the height of grunge and rave culture in the 1990s in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The memoir is a bravely honest account of twin sisters growing up down the hall from one another, struggling to figure out their identities, their sexuality, and their futures. While writing High School, Tegan and Sara discovered two cassette tapes with dozens of the first songs they ever wrote between the ages of 15 and 17 – tapes that had been unheard for twenty years. Hey, I’m Just Like You is made up entirely of new studio recordings of those early songs, recasting Tegan and Sara’s remarkable innate songwriting talents as teenagers, and allowing these previously unreleased songs to benefit from the studio expertise they have gained in the past two decades as professional musicians.
 
The Hey, I’m Just Like You Tour will remind you of all that is uniquely challenging about being a teenager; it will also remind you of that short and singular span of years when the future seems wondrously, enticingly possible. This is the original story of Tegan and Sara.

Tegan and Sara, October 18 and 19, 2019 – Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto

Tickets

In an effort to combat secondary ticket sellers and brokers, Tegan and Sara will be offering Rush Seating to both of their Toronto shows this weekend. This means that any empty unsold seats at show time (ie seats which are sitting on the secondary market) will be available in return for a “pay what you can” cash donation to The Tegan and Sara Foundation.

Fans can RSVP for these seats at https://teganandsara.com/rushseating/ staring at 10:00am the day of show.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist with a focus on travel, lifestyle, entertainment and hospitality. He has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He enjoys discovering delicious eats, tasting spirited treats, and being mesmerized by musical beats.