Live Review: Cardinals at The Drake Underground Toronto, Ontario

Cardinals at The Drake Underground in Toronto, Ontario September 12 photo by Trinity Lee

Cardinals graced the stage at The Drake Underground in Toronto on September 12, 2026. The Irish band was in town on tour to promote their debut album, Masquerade (2026). They were joined by the Brooklyn-based art rock duo Sex Week, consisting of Amanda Dickson on vocals and Richard Orofino on guitar and vocals.

To open the night, Dickson came onto stage quietly, placing their set list below her feet delicately. It was handwritten on a small piece of paper. Orofino began to strum his guitar with the opening riffs of “Toad Mode.” The room was dark, lit by only a couple of dim white lights.

Dickson’s green bob swayed as she moved her body with artistic intention along to some like “Life is a Circle” and some new material like “Talk.” To end things off and get the stage ready for Cardinals, they performed a crowd favourite, “Coach.”

Sex Week at The Drake Underground in Toronto, Ontario September 12 photo by Trinity Lee

After setting up their gear, the band took their place on stage: Euan Manning on lead vocals and guitar, his older brother Finn Manning on the accordion, Oskar Gudinovic on guitar, and Aaron Hurley on bass. They broke the silence with the gorgeous sound of Finn’s accordion for “As I Breathe” and built up to a crowd favourite, “Twist and Turn.” For this one, Finn put down the accordion and brought out a bright red star-shaped tambourine. He got out of his seat and prompted the audience to clap along to his beat.

As the night went on, we got to hear some great tracks from their new album like “She Makes Me Real,” “Masquerade,” and “I Like You.” In between, they also played some classics off their debut EP like “Unreal” and “Roseland.” These were songs I’ve come to play on repeat, but the live rendition of Euan Manning’s vocals…now that was unreal.

To make things even better, for “The Burning of Cork,” there was some lively shredding for the guitar solo. Audience members thrashed around in the front. It was pretty awesome. They then switched gears, slowing down with the soft intro of “If I Could Make You Care.” The song slowly built up with, yes, another guitar solo. With that, they left the audience wanting way more as they left the stage. The audience cheered for an encore, one that sadly never came. Later, the band chatted outside with some excited fans who told them they would be waiting for their next trip to Toronto. Needless to say, I am among many fans who are excited to see what they get up to next.

Words and photos by Trinity Lee