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This article was published 21/06/2018 (2829 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Flaming Lips

Renowned for their elaborate, uplifting live shows — which often feature singer Wayne Coyne surfing the crowd inside a giant clear plastic ball — the Flaming Lips return to the Burt as part of the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival this week.

The Oklahoma group has always marched to the beat of its own drummer, and danced to the rhythm of its own inimitable spacey sound. It has released albums filled with twisted melodic gems and others seemingly designed to be off-the-wall (in the sense of “offputting”), and various combinations thereof, and didn’t change its prog-pop tune, even after the surprise MTV hit She Don’t Use Jelly propelled the band into the mainstream.

The group’s most recent album is last year’s Oczy Mlody (Polish for “eyes of the young”), which Pitchfork said, yielded “songs as dense, tangled and intricately structured as the gear set-up likely required to produce them.”

The Flaming Lips play Sunday, June 24, at the Burton Cummings Theatre at 8 p.m. Balcony tickets are still available at ticketmaster.ca.

In conjunction with the jazz festival, Cinematheque will be screening Bradley Beesley’s 2005 documentary The Flaming Lips: The Fearless Freaks, at 9 p.m. on Friday, June 22, and Thursday, June 28.

The Free Press said of the intimate film, made by the band’s longtime friend, “Beesley takes a shambolic, highly personal approach to the documentary form, and the film’s fragmentary feel — pieced together from years’ worth of home movies, video clips and his own extensive footage as semi-official chronicler of the band since 1991 — suits the Lips’ own unorthodox, artsy style.”

— Jill Wilson

 

Indigenous Day Live

On Saturday, for the 12th year in a row, Indigenous Day Live — the largest national celebration in recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day — will host a jam-packed day of activities at The Forks.

The day starts off with a sunrise ceremony and sacred fire at the Oodena Circle, and later, at 11 a.m., there will be free outdoor activities including storytelling and games, a pow-wow, a skateboarding competition, a “best bannock” contest, a kid’s tent, and artisans and food vendors. At 12:30 p.m., attendees can witness a round dance that all three cities hosting Indigenous Day Live events — Winnipeg, Toronto and Ottawa — will participate in simultaneously, a portion of which will be broadcast on APTN across the country.

The main concert kicks off at 7:30 p.m., and will feature Ontario indie-pop band Walk Off the Earth, Manitoba folk singer-songwriter William Prince, as well as roots-rock trio Midnight Shine.

This will be Midnight Shine’s first performance in Winnipeg; the band recently released their third album, High Road, and have been getting major buzz for the first single from that record — a cover of Neil Young’s Heart of Gold, with some of the lyrics translated into Mushkegowuk Cree. Two of the three members are originally from northern Ontario, while the band’s frontman and lead singer, Adrian Sutherland, comes from the isolated northern community of Attawapiskat, Ont.

If you can’t make it to The Forks, many of the day’s big events will be broadcast live on APTN. There will also be a livestream available online at indigenousdaylive.ca, and some partnering Indigenous radio waves will be airing content as well. The five-hour evening concert will broadcast live on June 23 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on APTN.

For more information about scheduling and events, visit indigenousdaylive.ca.

— Erin Lebar

 

Rock the Commons

The next generation of Winnipeg’s rock ‘n’ roll is taking steps to ensure they have a stage to perform on.

Fourteen-year-old Ryan Spence, who attends Maples Collegiate and the School of Rock, is the promoter behind Rock the Commons, a musical fundraiser for the Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre. The concert begins Friday, June 22, at 5:45 p.m. at Maples and tickets are $10, which are available at the School of Rock, 657 Corydon Ave., and Maples Collegiate, 1330 Jefferson Ave.

“I saw the talent of the students and I thought they deserve to be seen.” Spence says of the School of Rock performers who’ve spent weeks rehearsing pop and rock classics for events such as Rock the Commons. “It’s the perfect opportunity because I have always loved music and feel that it could make a difference in people’s lives.”

The Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre is under construction at Garden City Collegiate, 711 Jefferson Ave., and will include a 532-seat concert hall and rehearsal and teaching spaces for Seven Oaks School Division students. A fundraising campaign has been launched for the project and so far $900,000 has been raised toward a goal of $2.2 million.

To donate to the Seven Oaks Performing Arts Centre, visit artslivehere.ca.

— Alan Small

 

Flatlander’s Beer Festival

Winnipeg has had an explosion of craft beer in the last couple of years, so our palates should be prepared for the wide variety of brews on offer at this year’s Flatlander’s Beer Festival at Bell MTS Place this weekend.

Featuring more than 300 beers and ciders from around the world — including a plethora of local examples — the event gives folks a chance to sample myriad different styles of the malty, hoppy brown beverage; the proceeds go the True North Youth Foundation.

You shouldn’t drink on an empty stomach; luckily, food trucks will be on site at the arena concourse, featuring Tot Wheels, Little Pizza Heaven, Tulum Treats and R U Caribbean Me.

There will be an on-site Liquor Mart where attendees can stock up on their favourites from the fest — including some that are unique to the event — and have them delivered to their local outlet.

The festival has three tasting sessions: Friday, June 22, 7-10 p.m., and Saturday, June 23, 1-4 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. Tickets are $40 plus fees at Ticketmaster or Winnipeg Liquor Mart locations (designated-driver tickets are $25 at the Bell MTS Place box office).