Lemon Bucket Orkestra and The Klezmatics back in Toronto at Parkdale Hall
Schedule
Sat, 04 Oct, 2025 at 07:00 pm
UTC-04:00Location
The Parkdale Hall (Toronto, ON, Canada) | Toronto, ON
Get ready to lose your minds, Toronto! Parkdale Hall is about to explode on October 4th, 2025, as two legendary forces collide for one earth-shattering night of celebration! The unruly, brass-blasting, guerilla-folk-punks Lemon Bucket Orkestra continue their massive 15th-anniversary, and they’re bringing along the godfathers of the neo-Klezmer revolution, The Klezmatics, who are blowing out 40 damn candles of their own! Prepare for a sonic assault that tears through tradition, from the heart-wrenching wails of Klezmer clarinets to the furious stomp of Balkan beats and beyond. This ain’t your grandma’s folk music – it’s a raw, riotous, boundary-breaking celebration of survival, resistance, and the sheer, unadulterated joy of making noise. Miss this? You’ll regret it for the next 40 years!General Admission (~575 spots)
(Advance): $50
(Door): $60
Seated Admission (100 spots): $75
🔥 Lemon Bucket Orkestra:
Equal parts exhilarating precision and reckless abandon, Lemon Bucket are Toronto’s original guerrilla-folk-party-punks—an award-winning, 10-piece juggernaut that has torn up stages and streets around the globe for over 15 years.
LBO live is a truly immersive experience mixing sweat and tears with audience chorales and howling at the moon. Their sound is signature Lemon Bucket: Ukrainian polyphony and Balkan rhythms driven through a whirlwind of hip hop, punk, jazz, and raw power—born from their eclectic global journeys and the rich, polycultural tapestry of their hometown.
🗞 The New York Times calls them:
“Frenetic, charismatic, and gloriously anarchic.”
LBO has performed at WOMAD (UK & NZ), Pohoda (Slovakia), Festival d’Été (Québec City), and New Orleans Jazz Fest, among many others. Bringing people of all backgrounds on journey that is “Amazing, frenetic, gloriously anarchic and ultimately joyous!” – Winnipeg Free Press.
Their newest album, Cuckoo (May 2024), captures that energy: a bold, genre-smashing exploration of diaspora, purpose, and musical resistance.
🎶 The Klezmatics: Transforming Klezmer, Redefining Boundaries
The Klezmatics are Grammy-winning klezmer superstars who revolutionized Yiddish music. Emerging from New York City’s East Village in 1986, they infused traditional Eastern European Jewish sounds with bold contemporary themes like human rights, queer identity, and anti-fundamentalism. Their music fuses klezmer with jazz, Latin, Balkan, Middle Eastern, and African influences, making the genre radically relevant to new generations.
For nearly four decades, The Klezmatics have led the global Jewish music renaissance. Their achievements include 13 acclaimed albums, world tours on five continents, and collaborations with legends such as Itzhak Perlman, Arlo Guthrie, Chava Alberstein, Natalie Merchant, Tony Kushner, Joshua Nelson, and Allen Ginsberg. They remain the only klezmer band to win a Grammy, honored in 2006 for Wonder Wheel: Lyrics by Woody Guthrie.
Their music has appeared in film, theater, and TV (from A Dybbuk and PBS’s Great Performances to Sex and the City), and they’ve graced iconic stages including Carnegie Hall, WOMAD, Yidstock, and Yiddish Summer Weimar.
🗞 Time Out New York raves:
“The Klezmatics aren’t just the best band in the klezmer vanguard; on a good night, they can rank among the greatest bands on the planet.”
In 2025, The Klezmatics mark their 40th anniversary with the tour and forthcoming album New York Sessions—their first new studio album in nearly a decade, performed live before it’s released.
💿 All tour proceeds directly support the album’s recording.
🌍 No matter how crazy the world gets, music unites.
On October 4, two legendary bands from Canada and the U.S. share a stage for the first time ever—in a celebration of culture, chaos, memory, and movement.
🎟 One night only. Don’t miss it.
