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This article was published 19/10/2017 (1135 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Tom Petty tribute concert

When iconic Americana rocker Tom Petty suddenly died earlier this month, local organizers of an already-planned Tom Petty tribute concert had a lot of things to think about.

Originally, it was intended as a show to celebrate Petty’s 67th birthday, to be held Friday, Oct. 20 at Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club. When news of Petty’s death had been confirmed, the decision was ultimately made to continue on with the event, but turn it into a memorial tribute for the much-beloved musician.

"It’s a tricky situation," said Johannes Lodewyks, who’s best known for his work with the Winnipeg band the Noble Thiefs, in a news release about the event.

"We’ve had this birthday gig booked for months. Now, with this news... you never want to come off as opportunistic in regards to the death of a beloved icon. He deserves the best."

Petty was one of the most influential songwriters of all time, and Lodewyks assures his cast of local players — including members of the Noble Thiefs, SC Mira, SubCity, Bo Legged, Clipwing and more — will do the fans and the songs justice at the event, which is titled Free Fallin’: A Tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

"We had such an overwhelming response last time we performed this tribute… we knew way back in the spring that a birthday celebration was in order. It’s certainly a change of pace with all these emotions circling around now. We’ve consulted friends, fans, musicians and promoters and it seems people still want to hear those songs. Perhaps now more than ever. The show will go on!" said Lodewyks.

The tribute band will perform twice on Friday, Oct. 20 — once at 8 p.m. and again at 11:30 p.m. — at Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club, 234 Main St.

Tickets are $10 in advance ($15 at the door) and are available at Times Change(d), Music Trader and online at Ticketfly. The last time the tribute act performed, tickets sold out quickly, so purchasing tickets in advance is strongly recommended by the organizers.

— Erin Lebar

 

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Ashley MacIsaac

He was known as the enfant terrible of the fiddle, but now that he’s 42, Cape Breton’s Ashley MacIsaac probably no longer merits such a moniker.

The fiddler — who once gave a Late Night With Conan O’Brien audience a view of what was under his kilt and admitted to an addiction to crack — is living a quieter life these days. He recently separated from his husband of 10 years and now lives in Windsor, Ont., touring only occasionally. One of those tours hits Winnipeg this weekend, when the Juno-winning performer joins forces with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra for a concert that’s part of the WSO’s Pops series, led by resident conductor Julian Pellicano.

Known for such hits as Sleepy Maggie and Devil in the Kitchen, which fused rock, electronic and traditional Celtic music, MacIsaac, who plays a right-handed fiddle left-handed, brought his vigorous Cape Breton style to wider attention in 1995 with the release of his double-platinum album Hi, How Are You Today.

MacIsaac performs with the WSO Friday, Oct. 20, and Saturday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $25 at wso.ca.

— Jill Wilson

 

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Hard rock and metal show triple-header

A triple-header of hard rock and metal shows begins Tuesday, Oct. 24, when Montreal rockers Special Ops hit the Pyramid Cabaret stage with two new EPs in hand — Baby Take it All and Tangents — which were released within six months of each other. The band (lead vocalist/guitarist A.K. Johnson, guitarist Weka BW, bassist Waldo Thornhill and drummer Pat Cadaver) hasn’t toured since Thornhill’s battle with cancer 10 years ago and a lineup change that saw a new guitarist added to the fold.

Left of Center, Mmars and Awaiting the Answer will join Special Ops at the Pyramid. Tickets are $10 and doors open at 8 p.m.

Next in line, Oshawa "allcore" five-piece Adrian Pain & the Dead Sexy take the stage at the Garrick Hotel on Wednesday, Oct. 25. They released their new EP, Mixed Messages, in February and are now on a Canadian tour to promote it. The band has two other EPs under the belt, as well as a solo album from Pain. The group says Mixed Messages is the culmination of the amalgamation of both the band’s work and Pain’s solo work with "subtle messages that they hope would help their fans deal with negativity in different aspects of their lives."

Tickets are $5 at the door. Dead 3 Days and Five Hundred Pound Furnace will also take the stage. Doors open at 8 p.m.

Finally, on Friday, Oct. 26, Decatur, the Toronto-based "metal messiahs" will stop in at the Garrick Hotel. The four-piece band is touring in support of their debut record, Badder Than Brooklyn, which they recorded in the New York City borough.

"We put a lot of effort into writing real songs and putting out a real album that hopefully touches a broad fan base. Our goal was to make sure that not only every single song had been thoroughly thought through, but that it was given all the attention and passion that we truly felt they deserved... Our goal was to produce something from the soul, not from the computer," said vocalist and guitarist of the the four-piece, Jay Sarrazin, in a news release about the album.

Tickets are $5 at the door. Willswitch Engage and Hell and Malfunction are also set to perform. Music starts at 9 p.m.

All three shows are 18+.

— Erin Lebar

 

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Just for Laughs Canadian Comedy Tour

This year’s annual Just for Laughs cross-country tour is really sweetening the deal — Montreal comic Sugar Sammy will be the host and headliner of the three-comedian bill that comes to the Burton Cummings Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 21.

The man born Samir Khullar is one of Canada’s most popular standup acts, with an HBO special to his name and the distinction of having the bestselling one-man show ever in Quebec and being the first English comedian to win an Olivier comedy award (they love him in France, too).

It’s the second time as Just for Laughs host for the quadrilingual comedian — he can crack wise in English, French, Hindi and Punjabi — and he’s joined by two New Yorkers who are no comedy slouches themselves: Last Comic Standing winner Alonzo Bodden and Gina Brillon, named one of 2017’s 10 Comics You Need to Know by Rolling Stone.

Tickets are $37.50 and $42.50 at Ticketmaster.

— Jill Wilson