Sweater weather is just around the corner, but for now let’s enjoy the last days of Summer. If you’re in and around Ottawa-Gatineau this week, here’s an overview of what’s worth checking out.
To kick off the week in Ottawa-Gatineau, those interested in the music community can check out the September edition of Music Monday at Bar Robo. This Monday’s discussion will look at community-supported financing and will include a performance by Ottawa pop supergroup The PepTides.
If you’re into heavier music, House of Targ is the place the be on Wednesday night. There’s goig to be a live show featuring USA stoner/heavy metal band Castle, Ottawa rockers Blackbread and Ottawa metal punks Black Tower.
After a successful inaugural edition, CityFolk, previously known as the Ottawa Folk Festival, returns to Lansdowne Park, a new central location that proved to be a wise move last year. This year’s festival will feature headliners Vance Joy, James Bay, Dropkick Murphys, Dan Mangan, Basia Bulat, and The New Pornographers as well as Joey Bada$$, X Ambassadors, Lake Street Dive, Bryson Tiller and more.
As part of CityFolk, Marvest will be happening this year again. Marvest is a free musical harvest of local music created in an effort to attract festival-goers to local settings along Bank Street. The hope is that people discover and appreciate the National Capital Region’s music scene as well as local makers and entrepreneurs. This year’s edition will feature live performances by over 40 local bands and musicians including Saint Clare, The Reverb Syndicate, Buck-N-Nice, Average Times, Harea Band, Dear Blackwolf, City Fidelia and many more. This year, Indie City Madness, the radio show I co-host, is curating a Marvest showcase at the Wild Oat Bakery, and it’ll feature live sets by Pony Girl, Valois and Kilmanjaro.
The metal heads are going to want to make their way over to House of Targ on Thursday night to catch American pirate metal band The Dread Crew of Oddwood who’ll be playing live alongside American folk metal group Wilderun and Ottawa progressive metal project The Night Watch.
This Friday, September 16 at Pressed Cafe, Arboretum is presenting an intimate show featuring LA/Toronto art pop duo Snowblink, who’ll be performing live with Iceland/Montreal dark electro/pop artist Erla Axelsdóttir. This will also be Snowblink’s album release show for their new project Returning Current.
Saw Video is throwing a party to celebrate their 35th anniversary this Friday, September 16. To mark the occasion, there will be cake and champagne, and a fundraising raffle for the media art centre.
Canadian alternative rock band Finger Eleven will be making a stop in Ottawa this Friday in an effort to promote their latest album Five Crooked Lines. The four-piece will be giving a live show at Mavericks and they’ll be sharing the stage with local bands Iconoclast, The Bigmuffs and Lemon Cash.
Skreedlemania is a two-day music showcase spanning various genres including surf/psyche instrumental, folk, garage, punk, pop, rock and even metal. This year’s event, presented at House of Targ as part of Marvest, will feature performances by Telecomo, Glorious Moonrockets, Neck, Flying Fortress and more.
If you can’t catch Bryson Tiller at CityFolk, you can always find him at Ppl Nightclub this Friday night. The Trapsoul hip hop/r&b artist from Louisville, Kentucky will be live and it promises to be lit. Nuff said.
This Saturday, ArtEngine presents Unhanded: Making Under the Influence of Digitalism. Happening at Arts Court, the one-day symposium will bring together artists, designers, curators, historians, writers and researchers to think about what it means to make an object in the world today. The panels will be followed by a reception.
The annual punkottawa.com flea market is back this Saturday, September 17 at Mac Hall inside the Bronson Centre. This is the place to go if you’re looking to buy and sell records, clothing, crafts, jewelry, toys, video games, trinkets and more handmade stuff with part of the proceeds going to animal welfare charities.
In the mood for a low-key morning jam? This Saturday, September 17 at Gallery 101, join DJs JFun, Geronimo Inutiq and others as they play good-vibe tunes to get you dancing and moving your body to sweet grooves. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and is PWYC.
Tastes of Wellington West is a free one-day event to thank all those who shop in the neighbourhood, and invite those from across the city and beyond, to come and explore the neighbourhoods of Hintonburg and Wellington Village. Take to the streets this Saturday and check out sidewalk sales, demos, food samples, course registrations, music, kids play zone, Parkdale Market, and all around good times.
Montreal duo Fire/Works will be making a return to Gatineau this Saturday night to perform live at the Petit Chicago. For the occasion, the indie folk duo will be sharing the stage with solo folk pop musician Peter Henry Phillips, also known as Pilou. Fire/Works are incredible live and this is going to be real special, promise.
Long time friends and DJs Fred Everything and Trevor Walker are reuniting on the turntables this Saturday, September 17, at Mercury Lounge. The pair will be doing a special jam on four decks filled with musical gems that are sure to get you moving.
DJ Envy of Breakfast Club fame will be spinning live inside the Bourbon Room this Saturday, September 17. The world-renowned DJ will also be celebrating his birthday in Ottawa, so if you’re looking for a hip hop party to hit up this weekend, this is definitely a good option.
SlutWalk Ottawa is an annual movement of protest and march which aims to end rape culture and sexual violence. It’s meant to raise awareness that no matter what someone is wearing, it is never a reason to violate them, and it should never be used as an excuse to blame the victims of abuse. This year’s walk is being held on Sunday, September 18 and will depart from the Human Rights Memorial at approximately 2 p.m.
Since submitting a grant application to the Ontario Arts Council for her project titled The Ghomeshi Effect, local theatre director/producer Jessica Ruano has been repeatedly harassed on Twitter. Now she is fighting back with Mean Tweets LIVE: The Ghomeshi Effect at The Gladstone on Sunday, September 18. Inspired by Jimmy Kimmel’s popular television gimmick Mean Tweets, in which celebrities read aloud negative comments that have been written about them on Twitter, the team behind The Ghomeshi Effect, a verbatim dance-theatre piece that tackles sexual violence in Canada and gives voice to survivors, has decided to hold a staged reading of the tweets aimed @ghomeshieffect and @jessicaruano. This event is a fundraiser for the production itself, which premieres at The Gladstone from January 19-28th, 2017, as well as the Ottawa chapter of Hollaback! a movement dedicated to ending street harassment using mobile technology.
