Name: The Dears at Sonic Hall
Start: 2025-11-29T19:00:00-05:00
Location: 12 Wyndham St, Guelph, ON, Canada, Ontario

Formed in 1995, The Dears released their first album, End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, in 2000. The orchestral, dark pop sound and dramatic live shows cemented The Dears at the foundation of the then-emerging Canadian indie rock renaissance. In 2001 and 2002, they released two separate concept EPs, Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique and Protest, respectively. In 2003 they released their second full-length album No Cities Left in Canada, and a string of highly anticipated shows at SXSW ‘04 prompted the international release of No Cities Left with Bella Union. Gang of Losers came in 2006. In 2008, the band released Missiles, followed by Degeneration Street (2011), Times Infinity Volume One (2015), Times Infinity Volume Two (2017), and Lovers Rock (2020). In 2024 The Dears partnered with Outside Music/Next Door Records and in the spring of 2025 completed their ninth studio album, release details forthcoming! The Dears have toured the world over, including performances on Letterman (twofold), Jimmy Kimmel, Jonathan Ross and at Glastonbury, T in the Park, Wireless, Montreal Jazz Fest, Siren Festival, Coachella, Austin City Limits, V Fest, Reading and Leeds, Les Inrocks (France), Montreux Jazz Fest, Istanbul Jazz Fest, Pop Montreal, CMW, NXNE and countless appearances at SXSW. They have shared stages with Spiritualized, Broken Social Scene, Daniel Lanois, Rufus Wainwright, Zemfira, Bloc Party, Keane, Morrissey, The Tragically Hip, Metric and Death From Above, to name a few.
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Thanya Iyer is an enigmatic songwriter whose sparkling, experimental pop music embraces mindfulness, aesthetic beauty, and the interconnectedness of all things. Iyer’s 2025 release, TIDE/TIED, expands on the future-folk of their 2020 Polaris long-listed album, KIND. With washes of jazz-inflected pop and ensemble ambience courtesy of Daniel Gélinas’ meditative drumming, Pompey’s adventurous multi-instrumentalism, and the celestial harp of Emilie Kahn, Thanya Iyer builds a layered musical world that Pitchfork described as “a lucid daydream that’s constantly melting at its edges.