Public Service Broadcasting and Big Special Electrify Toronto

On December 11th, 2026, Public Service Broadcasting touched down at The Concert Hall in Toronto, with Birmingham punks Big Special in tow. It could be the sense of return, PSB wrapping their first full North American tour since 2017 or the thrill of a debut, with Big Special performing on Canadian soil for the very first time. Either way, the room felt charged and tapped in, like everyone inside was in the know and eagerly awaiting both acts.

Big Special opened with a flurry of energy. Frontman Joe Hicklin stalked the stage with an intensity that bordered on devotional, barking out anthems like “God Save The Pony” and “Hug A Bastard” from their latest album Nothing Average, each one sounding like a sermon for the working-class furious and the hopeful-hearted. Drummer Callum Moloney hammered the kit as if trying to shake loose every injustice that made its way into the lyrics.

Toronto crowds can be a little too cool for their own good, but not tonight. Big Special had them roaring, thumbs up in the air, as if they’d stumbled onto a revolution. The pair broke up their aggressive and high-energy set with some poignant down-tempo moments, which showed the group’s versatility. Surprisingly, the crowd largely seemed very familiar with the duo’s music and knew the lyrics, proving that there was an appetite to see Big Special in the city. They really should be on your list of ones to watch in 2026.

Then came the headliners. Public Service Broadcasting, with their unique archival sample-laden approach to modern rock. Touring their Amelia Earhart-themed album The Last Flight, the South London-based rockers delivered a set that was equal parts spectacle and history lesson. PSB’s brilliance has always been their ability to turn history into something you don’t just learn from; they bring it to life. And at The Concert Hall, the story of Earhart wasn’t a quaint nostalgia trip; it was pulsing and tangible.

Tracks from The Last Flight unfurled like cinematic reels: shimmering synths, propulsive rhythms, and those soaring melodic lines that somehow make wonder and sorrow coexist. Older favourites like “Sputnik” from their NASA-centric 2015 album The Race for Space landed with big cheers from the crowd. The combination of archival radio samples about space travel and propulsive indietronica rhythms had the Toronto crowd in a trance.

By the final notes, the crowd looked spent but exhilarated like we’d all boarded a ramshackle transatlantic craft and white-knuckled it to a safe landing together. As PSB waved goodbye to close out their long-awaited return to North America, it was clear why this tour mattered: it wasn’t just a victory lap, it was a renewal. And with Big Special along for the ride, the show highlighted that the future of loud, thoughtful, politically charged British music feels anything but average. This is a British Invasion I can get behind.