What’s up: Free Press staff recommends things to do this week

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This article was published 17/10/2024 (337 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An evening with Jón Kalman Stefánsson

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 7 p.m.
McNally Robinson Booksellers, Grant Park location (1120 Grant Ave.)
Free admission

Chilly Iceland is a hotbed of literary talent across a range of genres, and one of the Nordic country’s brightest stars visits Winnipeg next week to launch his latest sweeping, epic novel.

Jón Kalman Stefánsson will launch Your Absence Is Darkness, published in Canada in March by Biblioasis, on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McNally Robinson Booksellers’ Grant Park location at an event co-presented by the Consulate General of Iceland in Winnipeg, the Icelandic Canadian Frón and Lögberg-Heimskringla.

He’ll be joined in conversation by McNally Robinson co-owner Chris Hall.

Stefánsson’s latest, translated from Icelandic by Philip Roughton, brings together a cast of characters both past and present in northern and western Iceland.

Readers first meet a man suffering from amnesia, who begins pulling the pieces of his life together in fits and spurts as he reconnects with people from his past and is introduced to stories of those adjacent to his life.

Through a wide and varied cast of characters, Stefánsson creates a complex and moving novel that reinforces his place in the Icelandic literary pantheon — one established by his trilogy Heaven and Hell, The Sorrow of Angels and The Heart of Man.

Stefánsson was also longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2017 for his novel Fish Have No Feet.

Admission to Stefánsson’s launch is free, and the event will also be streamed on McNally Robinson’s YouTube channel.

Buy on mcnallyrobinson.com

— Ben Sigurdson

 

Mason Melle and Gabriela Ocejo

Friday
Darling Bar, 171 McDermot Ave.
Tickets: $22 at eventbrite

Mason Melle’s latest album, Return of Locoweed, begins with the Saskatchewan-born, Winnipeg-based artist baying quietly to what one could imagine to be a hazy moon, tinted red and orange by a wildfire that’s driving him mad.

Unlike the plant its named for, Melle’s honeyed southern-rock effort doesn’t produce any harmful effects, instead expanding on the guitarist’s 2019 self-titled EP by slowing things down and building up a steady head of steam.

Supported live by Brodie Parachoniak, Keiran Placetka and Brendan Berg, Melle is joined on the bill by Gabriela Ocejo, a guitarist and instrumentalist who’s played with the likes of Super Duty Tough Work, Megumi Kimata’s beat-centric French Class project, and the jazz manouche band Juvel, who opened for Ridley Bent last Friday at the Times Change(d).

It’s been a busy fall for Ocejo, who also opened for Petunia and the Vipers in September at the WECC. Born in Argentina before relocating to Winnipeg in 2011, Ocejo has also played with the Crooked Brothers and Matt Foster, giving her a distinct blend of South American tango and contemporary folk.

— Ben Waldman

 

Stellar with Diaphanie and Dominique Adams

Saturday, Oct. 19, 8:30 p.m.
Darling Bar, 171 McDermot Ave.,
Tickets: $17 at reallovewpg.com

Public Domain is the new Good Will, and Darling Bar the new Forth Bar — or at least these hipster venues harbour more than a little of their old occupants’ spirits, for all the fresh branding and menus.

Many of the musicians playing at Darling Bar this Saturday also feel charmingly haunted by their associated and former projects. Headliners Stellar — Sophie George, Ellie Ratel, Sage Stoyanowski, Hailey Hunter — channel Winnipeg’s immortal indie folk tradition, and a little of Hunter’s harder-edged outfit the Haileys.

The band’s cheeky bio reads: “Back in 2006, while Pluto was being demoted, the other (legitimate) planets were conspiring to align four gals on their musical journeys. 15 years later, a big bang occurred during the black hole that was C*vid. The galactic group was created… At the pace (they’re) moving, they’ll reach Mars before any billionaire.”

It’s witty stuff, though if you’re expecting mostly irony or space-rock from Stellar you’re misled: vulnerable, harmonized vocals sail with ethereal guitars for a sound that’s overall more tender than cosmic.

Second advertised on Real Love’s characteristically pastelly concert poster are the rootsy Diaphanie, led by vocalist Heather Thomas. While acoustic guitar, courtesy of Elessar Thiessen, occupies the space filled by synths and drum machines in Thomas’ former project Atlaas, her pyrotechnic vocals and classic songwriting sensibilities remain a constant.

Soulful folkie Dominique Adams — who’s made quite an impression on the Winnipeg music since moving here from Edmonton a couple years ago — rounds out the lineup of strong female leads.

Commune with the spirits at this pre-Halloween concert, with Darling Bar’s fancy cocktails within close reach.

— Conrad Sweatman

 

Ione Thorkelson @ ShopWAG

Sale runs to Sunday
WAG-Qaumajuq

Pre-eminent Canadian glass artist Ione Thorkelsson has been working in her medium for half a century — and she’s still innovating.

Her new series, Handfuls of Light, sees her experimenting with a new medium: light. Thorkelsson has created cast glass/light objects that react to light.

Each object includes a solar panel and LED lights that are activated by a sensor when it gets dark out, the colours shifting as the evening progresses. The collection debuted earlier this month and is on sale at ShopWAG at the WAG-Qaumajuq until Sunday.

Also, on Saturday, ShopWAG will be hosting the 2024 Cape Dorset print sale. This 65th annual collection features 34 prints by 15 Kinngait artists, which you can preview online at wag.ca.

Doors open at 8 a.m., sale begins at 10 a.m. It’s advised to get there early if you have your eye on a certain print.

— Jen Zoratti

 

Evanescence at the arena

Oct. 22, 7 p.m.
Canada Life Centre (300 Portage Ave.)
Tickets start at $65.75, including fees, via Ticketmaster

Evanescence returns to Winnipeg on Tuesday night for the band’s first local show in 13 years.

The gothic American alt-rock group previously headlined the short-lived music festival Rock on the Range in 2011.

The band — founded by lead singer Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Ark. — found mainstream success with hits such as Going Under and Bring Me to Life from its debut album Fallen, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. Evanescence received six nominations and won two Grammy Awards following the record’s release.

Show openers include alt-rock trio the Warning and grunge-metal outfit Halestorm. Evanescence and the latter band have been touring globally together for the last number of years, bringing together Lee and longtime friend Lzzy Hale, lead vocalist for Halestorm.

“It’s cool because our audiences, they like each other,” Lee said in a 2021 Associated Press interview.

Tuesday’s show is set to be a career-spanning concert.

— Eva Wasney

 

Diwali Mela

Saturday, 4.30-10.30 p.m.
RBC Convention Centre, 375 York Ave.
Free entry

The Hindu Society of Manitoba is holding a mela, or fair, to mark the Festival of Lights, one of the most important and auspices events in the Hindu, Jain and Sikh calendars.

Celebrated across five days in India, Diwali, a contraction of the Sanskrit word Deepavali, symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil.

A host of cultural activities has been planned for both adults and children including a rangoli competition, fancy dress parade for children, garland making workshop, mandala painting and craft making using recyclable waste products.

The free event features food stall offering delicacies from various regions of India, as well as classical, folk and contemporary dance performances.

— AV Kitching