Eventful Capital’s Weekly Picks: From Lisa Leblanc and Anvil to Jokers of the Scene and Ghostface Killah

Easter long weekend is up ahead and that means days off from work and/or school for many of us, which also means more free time to enjoy the city’s cultural scene. Whether you’re looking for concerts, dance parties, an art show or film screening, check out Eventful Capital’s weekly picks below for a selection of noteworthy events happening around Ottawa-Gatineau in the next few days. If you’re into hip hop and you enjoy visual arts, you should check out Mean Muggin’ 3, a selection of new artwork by Al Bender. The exhibition vernissage is happening at Irene’s Pub this Monday, March 30 from 7-9pm, but if you can’t go then, the show will be up until April 26. 

New Brunswick trash folk singer-songwriter Lisa Leblanc will be returning to the Nation’s Capital this Wednesday night. Leblanc, who last performed in Ottawa in November 2014, will be at Ritual once again to perform material off of her new English EP “Highways, Heartbreaks and Time Well Waisted” as well as older tunes. She’ll be joined on stage by Montreal male/female rock’n roll duo Les Deuxluxes. 

The Ottawa Fringe Festival is putting on a fundraiser this Thursday, April 2 at the Arts Court Theatre & Studio. Dubbed Stiff Quickies: Short Films, Tall Drinks, Deep Pockets, the event will feature a screening with works by several artists and represents a great occasion to support the local cultural scene. 

Legendary Metal pounders Anvil tear through Ottawa this Thursday, April 2 with special guests Ottawa thrash metal group A Darker Day, Ottawa thrash metal band Vyc Vypyr and Ottawa metal project Aenigma. If you like raw, old school metal, this is a great opportunity to relive the good ol’ days with Anvil.

Over at Leaky B’s this Thursday night, catch local alt rock/folk noir The Heavy Medicine band alongside Ottawa indie rock group The Haig, Ottawa alt rock n’roll project Onionface and grunge/blues/folk singer-songwriter and guitarist Tariq Anwar.

Electronic music lovers will be happy to know that Jokers of the Scene, sometimes called JOTS, are making a return to Ottawa to give a live set at Mercury Lounge this Thursday night. The Toronto duo, known for tracks like Baggy Bottom Boys and Revolting Joks, is no stranger to the national capital and is sure to deliver a solid night of non-stop dancing. 

Wu-Tang’s very own Ghostface Killah, GZA and Cappadonna will be performing in Ottawa this Thursday night. The legendary NYC rappers will be live inside Ritual alongside special guests Killah Priest, the Moon Crickets, and Lord Fury among others. GZA rarely does live shows these days so this is a rare opportunity to see him perform. This event is bound to sell out so grab your tickets ahead of time if you can because door tickets will be limited.

Sit With Us, a Celebration of Women in Pop Music, is going down at Babylon this Thursday night.  From Grimes and Lana Del Rey to Sia and Banks, DJ Matt Tamblyn will provide the soundtrack to your dance party while you celebrate music and girl power. 

Switzerland Black/Death metal band Samael will be live at Mavericks this Friday, April 3 and for the occasion they’ll be playing their album “Ceremony of Opposites” in its entirety. Montreal dark metal group Beast Within, American metal band Black Crown Initiate, Ottawa death metal project From the Deep, Ottawa metal formation Damnus and Ottawa black death metal group Accursed Creation will also be performing and sharing the stage with Samael. 

At Black Squirrel Books this Friday, there’s going to be an all ages pre-Targ party featuring two of the best and brightest in new Ontario solo experimental pop music: Toronto atmospheric folk pop project Anamai and Ottawa ambient pop psychedilia artist Pipahauntas. 

This Friday night, the FAU crew celebrates spring with an audio-visual night showcasing the best talent of the Ottawa-Gatineau region. From 8pm onwards, head to Daïmôn and enjoy the tunes of the Fau crew, Jas Nasty, Rabieto and more as well as visual projections courtesy of  VJs Daisy, Sacha V and Bourg. 

If you’re into punk rock, a good place to go this Friday night would be House of Targ for Portand punk rock band Divers, Toronto punk/rock/grunge project MASS and Ottawa garage pop group Nightshades. Oh and you can never go wrong with pinball and perogies.

Ottawa pop/jazz/blues outfit Monday I Retire will be giving a live show at the Rainbow Bistro on Friday, April 2 and for the occasion the local band will be sharing the stage with Ottawa ska/punk 6-piece Suits n’ Toques and Montreal funk/swing group Static Gold. If you’re looking for some live music to dance to, this is probably a good pick. 

This Friday, April 3, the Mercury Lounge presents the return of renowned Brooklyn producer DJ Spinna who will be giving a 3-hour set filled with hip-hop, break beats, R&B, rare grooves, classic soul, funk, jazz, disco classics, house and vintage garage tunes. The perfect place to go if you’re in the mood to dance this Friday night.    Fryquency, the all-ages pay-what-you-can music series that exhibits indie and experimental Canadian bands, is happening this Saturday inside Mugshots and this edition will feature live performances by Toronto cinematic project Del Bel, experimental doom folk/punk band Year of Glad and Hull experimental post pop/rock trio Scattered Clouds. Rap Queb heavyweights Loud Lary Ajust will be returning to Gatineau this Saturday night, this time performing at the Bistro in the Hull sector. With a new album under their belt, the Montreal-based hip-hop trio will be giving a live set with local acts Righteous, Le Grimaud and others. This is sure to get turnt up. Those of you who are fans of bass and trap will want to go to Ritual this Saturday night to check out Stooki Sound’s live set. The London-based production and DJ duo Stooki Sound, known for blending genres, will be bringing their take on UK bass, hip-hop and trap to Ottawa as part of the Infinity Tour.   Underground hip-hop fans will be happy to know that Atlanta rapper Rittz will be making a stop at Ritual this Sunday night in an effort to promote his latest album “Next to Nothing”. For the occasion, the Strange Music signee will be sharing the stage with Story Tellers, Mace Milly, and M.I.M.E.   It looks like the Petit Chicago has a new monthly event on Sundays featuring a drag show and this Sunday’s edition will include live performances by queens Dixie Landers, Hyddie Hoe, and Kiki Coe. 

Eventful Capital’s Weekly Picks: From Steve Adamyk Band and Jason Hodges to Djemba Djemba and Mr. Carmack

The Easter Long Weekend surely means times off from work for many of you, which also means more leisure time to enjoy the city’s cultural scene. Whether you’re looking for music shows, dance parties, an art sale or a record swap, check out Eventful Capital’s weekly picks below for a selection of noteworthy events happening around Ottawa-Gatineau in the days ahead.

This Monday, April 14, Montreal-based artist Patrick Lac will be performing live at the Brasseurs du Temps located in the Hull sector of Gatineau. The folk-rock singer-songwriter, who’s originally from the Outaouais region, will be giving a show alongside Japanese multi-instrumentalist Kento Kataoka. 

New York power-pop punk group Broadcaster will be in Ottawa this Monday night. The trio will be performing live at Luneta Bistro with local opening acts The Mnemonics and Benevenstanciano, both of Ottawa.   

This Wednesday, April 16, indie rock band Ladyhawk will be giving a live performance at Cafe Dekcuf above Mavericks. The Vancouver-based group, who’ll be in Ottawa as part of its Decade of Passive Aggression Tour, will be joined on stage by Welland indie project Marine Dreams and Ottawa indie band Saint Clare.   Garage sale season is upon us. Local artist Deirdre Sokolowska is putting on an Art Garage Sale at Avant Garde Bar this Thursday, April 17. If you’re looking for art pieces and other random decorative items at affordable prices, this is definitely worth checking out. A few local art lovers and artists alike will be on hand selling the goods from 7 to 10pm.  The folks at Ottawa Showbox present a night of local punk music this Thursday night. Happening at Babylon, the show will feature live sets by Ottawa powerpop/punk formation Steve Adamyk Band, punk group Finderskeepers, Robots! Everywhere!! and DJ Male Nurse. For the occasion, local visual artist Kaylie Seaver will be painting live art and selling her pieces throughout the night. Oh, and there will be shitty projections.  The Ottawa Fringe Festival is putting on a fundraiser  this Thursday, April 17 at the Arts Court Theatre & Studio. Dubbed Stiff Quickies: Short Films, Tall Drinks, Deep Pockets, the event will feature a screening with works by several artists and represents a great occasion to support the local cultural scene.  The Benefit of the Free Man is about to kick off an East Coast tour of Canada this week and they’ll be stopping in Ottawa this Thursday, April 17. For the occasion, the Toronto-based chamber folk project will be performing live at Pressed Cafe with Ottawa-based duo Vedal Pearl and musician Caitlin Dolan.  CKCU FM’s Debaser presents Toronto four-piece Weaves at Mugshots this Thursday night. The indie pop rock band will be giving a live set with Ottawa poly-pop project Boyhood and Toronto experimental musician Petra Glynt. The hand-drawn poster alone is convincing enough to attend, real talk.  

Also happening this Thursday night, the Mercury Lounge presents Easter Long Weekend Edition: The Bunny Bounce, a night dedicated to 1970s afro latin disco funk. If you’re looking for a 70s dance party to start the long weekend right, this should be right up your alley, that and the Double Barrel Easter Special also happening that night in the same building, see below. 

For one night only, the Double Barrel party is headed back to its roots at Overkill where everything started. This Thursday night for old time’s sake, join the original duo DJs Ska-Tee and Magnificent and current Overkill Thursday resident DJ “Ray-Ray” Rayaz playing all the funk, soul, Motown and vintage reggae classics that you’ve been enjoying since 2009.

Needless to say there’s lots happening this Thursday night. If you’re into trap music, then be sure to head over to Ritual for Traplord Forgives, a night dedicated to trap in all its glory with selections courtesy of DJs Foster, Danya D, and Frank Play. Also, please take note of the dress code, this is Easter long weekend ladies and gentlemen.

Local rawbeat rock duo StillNative are putting on a show at the Rainbow Bistro this Friday, April 18 for their IndieGoGo Campaign to help raise funds to “manufacture, promote and distribute their second LP”. For the occasion, StillNative will be performing a Black Keys Tribute Set along with some original material and they’ll be joined by opening act Rishi Von Rex. 

Over in Wakefield this Friday, April 18, the Wicked Mercy will be live in concert at the Blacksheep Inn. The Ottawa-based rock blues 5-piece will be playing along with special guests The Lionyls and Bella Cat Blues. 

This Friday night, Raw Sugar Cafe is hosting a Record Swap to give you the opportunity to trade your vinyl treasures for other vinyl treasures (barter exchange only). Following the swap, “Vinyl Record” DJs will be playing on rotation for your listening and dancing pleasure. 

The house fans will want to hit up Mercury Lounge this Friday night to take in the live set by Canadian house legend Jason Hodges. Presented by Pozativ Recordings and the Mercury Lounge, the Ottawa-born internationally renowned DJ and Producer will be dropping some serious jacking house beats on the dance floor alongside resident DJs Balu, Lance Baptiste and Ray Ray.

Timekode is back at its new home this Friday night, April 18. Now happening at the newly renovated Cafe Nostalgica, the night of soul moving soles will feature music selections by usual suspects DJs Zattar, Memetic and Eric Roberts. 

The FOE organizers, l’Avant-première centre and the Table Jeunesse de l’Outaouais are brewing up a special show to be held this Friday night over in Hull. The talented local rapper/slam poet D-Track will be performing live alongside Montreal post-rap 5-piece Dead Obies while the Fau Mardi collective takes care of visual projections. With a limited capacity of 100 people, this is sure to be an intimate and interactive event.

The original insultans of soul, Peter Elkas & The Elkas Band will be performing live at Mavericks this Saturday, April 19 as part of the Party of One 10th Anniversary Tour. The Toronto/Montreal 4-piece ensemble will be giving a live show alongside special guest Jailmate. 

Straight Goods Music, Lifted, Bydek Group, and DNA have teamed up to bring you a Mad Decent edition of Lifted with special guests Djemba Djemba of Los Angeles and Mr. Carmack of Honolulu, Hawaii. These two rising producers who are behind some of today’s biggest artists/tracks will be giving live sets at Ritual this Saturday night. If you’re into new sounds, then you basically don’t want to miss this. 

This Sunday night, the official BET HOT 97 Celebrity Status Part 3 is going down at Ritual. Featuring NYC DJ Relly Rell from BET’s 104 & Park, Dancehall DJ Blaxz Dun De Place from Toronto, Boy6blue from Montreal along with Ottawa’s own DJs Mes, Tytus and Rocsteady, the event will be hosted by Iamohsogood and will include two floors of music to keep you dancing all night.