WEATHER ALERT

Windsor Hotel happy to be singin’ blues again

Advertisement

Advertise with us

THE Windsor Hotel appears to want to recapture its glory days as a blues music venue with performances this weekend by Winnipeg bluesman Big Dave McLean and blues band Rumblefish.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/04/2010 (6002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Windsor Hotel appears to want to recapture its glory days as a blues music venue with performances this weekend by Winnipeg bluesman Big Dave McLean and blues band Rumblefish.

McLean is booked to perform at the downtown watering hole Thursday and Friday nights, according to a news release from the Blues Society of Manitoba. Rumblefish will play Saturday night and will be present for a jam session on April 27.

“It’s going to be a celebration this weekend, that’s for sure,” said Winnipeg blues singer and community activist Kathy Kennedy.

The storied hotel on Garry Street was bought in March by Winnipeg hotelier Wayne Towns.

McLean, once a regular performer there, has not played the room in several years.

“They’ve got a new sound system, I hear,” said Kennedy, who is booked to sing in the room May 7 and 8. “They’ve also got a sound man, which is something they haven’t had in eons.”

In January, Kennedy organized a rally in support of the hotel after she heard it was being demolished. Her information turned out to be incorrect, but not before 3,070 people signed a petition to save the 107-year-old facility.

Kennedy has also been trying to get the Windsor located on the city’s historic properties register but so far has had no success.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

No more Jets 1.0 or 2.0: League announces all eras of Winnipeg’s club to be merged

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Preview

No more Jets 1.0 or 2.0: League announces all eras of Winnipeg’s club to be merged

Ken Wiebe 6 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 5:47 PM CDT

Mark Scheifele’s goal was always to chase down his mentor and former Barrie Colts head coach Dale Hawerchuk, no matter what the official record book said.

So when the NHL and the Winnipeg Jets announced on Thursday morning that they were consolidating the franchise history to include the 1.0 and 2.0 eras (including the Atlanta Thrashers chapter of the club), Scheifele was among those to give the move two thumbs up.

“Yeah, it clarifies it for you guys more, not as much (for) me,” said Scheifele. “It’s really cool to bring in the old Jets records, and especially Dale. Chasing him down was always on my mind. So, it’s cool to do it actually in the record books.”

Scheifele remains the franchise leader in games played (961) and he’s likely to eclipse Hawerchuk in goals (Scheifele has 372 to Hawerchuk’s 379) and points (Scheifele has 907 to Hawerchuk’s 929) this season. He now has Thomas Steen’s 553 assists in his sights after amassing 535 heading into 2026-27.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 5:47 PM CDT

Mayor introduces charter change motion to remove council members charged with crimes

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Preview

Mayor introduces charter change motion to remove council members charged with crimes

Joyanne Pursaga 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 6:11 PM CDT

Mayor Scott Gillingham is urging council to move forward with his plan to force a paid leave of absence on elected civic officials charged with criminal offence.

The mayor introduced a new “notice of motion” at Thursday’s city council meeting that calls on the province to change the City of Winnipeg Charter to allow the process, days after Transcona Coun. Russ Wyatt registered to run for re-election despite facing sexual assault charges.

“This is about the electorate, the people of the City of Winnipeg who elect members of council, the mayor, to public office, to serve them. There should be no distraction, there should be confidence and public trust that people of Winnipeg can have for their elected officials,” said Gillingham.

Union leaders, the mayor and some councillors have publicly urged Wyatt to step aside from his council role to deal with the charges.

Read
Updated: Yesterday at 6:11 PM CDT

Well-known Brandon-born rock drummer Sutherland dies at age 58

Rylee Gerrard 3 minute read Preview

Well-known Brandon-born rock drummer Sutherland dies at age 58

Rylee Gerrard 3 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2026

Chris (Suds) Sutherland, a Brandon-born drummer who was the driving force behind many top artists in the Canadian music industry, has died at 58.

Sutherland is widely praised throughout North America as a talented percussionist with an extensive discography.

He performed with such Canadian music legends as Kim Mitchell, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings, Streetheart and others.

Sutherland brought presence and “plow” when he played, Tina Faye said about her husband.

Read
Wednesday, Sep. 23, 2026

Two U.S. presidents, and America’s decline

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Two U.S. presidents, and America’s decline

Editorial 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

“Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.” — Abraham Lincoln in his Cooper Union address, given in New York City in 1860.

“When you add the United States and Venezuela together, we have more than 60 per of the oil in the world. So it’s perhaps the biggest deal. It was a war, but it’s perhaps the biggest deal ever made. To the victor belong the spoils.” — U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking to the United Nations on Tuesday. (And a point of clarification — combining U.S. and Venezuelan oil would amount to 22 per cent of global oil reserves.)

It is quite the juxtaposition: Lincoln speaking in one of his strongest speeches, making the case that slavery should not be extended to the Northern Territories of the U.S. It was a sentence — the closing line in his speech, in fact — which argued that moral truth and justice will prevail against brute force, and that moral behaviour will, in itself, become power.

Donald Trump essentially argued that the obverse is true: that brute force justifies all behaviour — saying that might is right. The end of seizing control justifies the means, the means in this case being an invasion of Venezuela and the end being gaining de facto control of an independent nation’s resources.

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Pisces.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Tread carefully because the sun is opposite Neptune in your sign which can make things confusing. You might think you know what’s going on but actually you either do not have the facts or you’re on the wrong page. And it’s probably not be your fault.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

Read
2:00 AM CDT

Concrete doc befits brutalist Winnipeg

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Preview

Concrete doc befits brutalist Winnipeg

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Yesterday at 5:58 PM CDT

Moviegoers across North America are pounding the pavement and lining up around the block to see The History of Concrete, small-screen documentarian John Wilson’s feature-length debut.

Read
Yesterday at 5:58 PM CDT