FESTIVAL OF FRIENDS TURNS 50
July 31st - August 2nd
Gage Park
Celebrating 50 years of free live music
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Festival of Friends. The festival first started in 1976 and the admission has been, and will always remain, FREE. Besides the usual festival attractions such as a midway, arts and crafts and food, the Festival of Friends has always been the preeminent music festival. This year has a stellar musical lineup mixing local acts and bigger artists. The festival starts on Friday night kicking off at 2pm and ending with the Redhill Valleys and Dallas Smith as the festival’s first night headliner.
The festival continues on Saturday with 4 stages of entertainment including performances on both the Bandshell and the Main Stage. The Bandshell includes performances by Jacob Moon, the Brown Notes and The Poobs in the afternoon, while the Main Stage starts at noon and wraps up with 3 powerful women singers: Suzie McNeil, Basia Bulat and the evening’s headliner, Feist.
Feist, whose full name is Leslie Feist, has had a long career in the music industry from the early 90s to the present. She is best known as a member of Broken Social Scene and a solo artist but has a much more storied musical background that I urge you to check out. She performed on sesame street but one of my favourite performances was when she sang “You and I” with Wilco on the Late Show.
As great as that is, it gets better on Sunday August 2nd with a full day of music. Shows on the Main Stage start at 12 and include Obstruction, Alfie Smith, Carm Milioto, Chris Chambers, The Pinto, Great Lake Swimmers, and wrapping up with the 50th Anniversary All-Star Concert.
The All-Star Concert has a house band … none other than Hamilton's own Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. Joining them onstage will be numerous past performers and artists including James & Scott (Finger Eleven), Chantal Kreviazuk, Hawksley Workman, Brad Roberts (Crash Test Dummies), Tebey, Maestro Fresh Wes, Marc Jordan, Dan Hill, Andy Kim, Elliott Brood, Teenage Head, Ashley MacIsaac and Harrison Kennedy. And that is what was known at press time. This is a concert that is not to be missed. I’d get there early because its FREE and there will be thousands of people attending. For more information check out https://festivaloffriends.ca
TOMMY STINSON
August 5th
Tommy Stinson was a bassist for the 80s band The Replacements. Following that he played with other bands including Bash & Pop, Perfect, Guns N Roses and Soul Asylum. He has pedigree! He comes to the Corktown with Karla Rose and Little Venom. Opening for the night are local favourites, Rocket and the Renegades.
GRIEVOUS ANGELS
August 15th, 2pm
Another great August show at the Corktown. Grievous Angels are a Canadian folk/country band that have been playing since 1986. The band is led by NDP MP Charlie Angus. In fact, the band existed before he was elected MP, and he used music during his campaigns. With Canadian references and content and socially conscious underpinnings, they are a great way to both celebrate Canada and call for change in the tradition of folk music.
THE GORE PARKS
August 7th @ 7pm
Clifford Brewing
This is a new project. Danny from Clifford is the one who told me about this new band. They perform original music that spans genres from alt-country to modern rock. The members all come from diverse musical backgrounds, so the group’s sound can be different song to song. The lead songwriter is James Richards, who plays drums and sings lead for most of the songs. He brings a back catalogue of tunes that finally find a home with the band, Gore Parks. The second lead in the band is Danny Buzanko, a high energy acoustic guitarist and co-songwriter for the group’s material who also provides lead vocals on several tracks. The band includes a jazz-trained lead guitarist in Jimmy Dymond, a bassist with a punk-rock background in Dave Gaudet, and an electric guitarist in Greg McAleer who is influenced by hard rock. Danny, like myself, loves musicians like Wilco, John Prine and Elvis Costello ... so I expect some great songs and sounds from this new band.
DANIELLE LANOIS
August 7th
Westdale Theatre
Daniel Lanois is a name that deserves to be mentioned alongside the finest sonic experimenters of the 20th century – and the 21st century too. Yes, he’s been willing to step back into the background as others take the limelight, but that shouldn’t diminish his contribution, which ripples throughout practically every style and sound of the modern era. Whatever you’re listening to – whether it be acoustic or electronic, roots or futurist, underground or pop – if you listen closely you’ll hear traces of the sonic signatures of Daniel Lanois. And what’s more he’s still experimenting as eagerly as he ever has. At a point when most musicians with anything resembling his level of success would be resting on their laurels and playing on old successes, he still has more hunger and as a result is creating music as beautiful and new as ever before. This show is presented on by Sonic Unyon.
JAZZ ON THE PLAZA
Friday August 7th to Sunday August 9th
BPAC
Jazz on the Plaza is BPAC’s beloved free summer concert series, transforming the outdoor plaza into a lively gathering place for music, community, and warm summer afternoons and evenings in downtown Burlington. Each year, the series showcases outstanding Canadian jazz artists – from rising local talents to internationally celebrated performers – inviting audiences to relax, connect, and experience live music under the open sky. A long-standing tradition at BPAC, Jazz on the Plaza celebrates the power of music to bring people together and animate the heart of our city. Here is the lineup:
Friday August 7th
Irene Torres - 6pm
Empanadas Ilegales - 7:15pm
Saturday August 8th
Waleed Kush Afro-Jazz - 2pm
Sammy Jackson - 3:15pm
Ori Dagan’s The Grand Voices of Jazz - 4:30pm
Big Smoke Brass - 5:45pm
Laila Biali - 7pm
Sunday August 9th
Dizzy & Fay - 2pm
Kellylee Evans - 3:15pm
Heather Bambrick - 4:30pm
FREE
BONNIE RAITT
Wed. Aug. 12th
FirstOntario Concert Hall
Bonnie Raitt is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose unique style blends blues, R&B, rock, and pop. After 20 years as a cult favorite, she broke through to the top in the early 90s with her GRAMMY-award-winning albums, Nick of Time and Luck of the Draw, which featured hits, “Something To Talk About” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me” among others. Rolling Stone named her one of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” and one of the “100 Greatest Singers of All Time.” Like the above mentioned Grievous Angels, Raitt is also known for her lifelong commitment to social activism as she is for her music, and has long been involved with the environmental movement, which works for royalty reform and recognition of generations of pioneer R&B artists. She continues to work on safe energy issues in addition to environmental protection, social justice, Native American and human rights, as well as artist's rights and music education. And like the above mentioned artists she was also influenced by the late legendary John Prine, and will always be associated with the song “Angel of Montgomery”.
BEAUTIFUL NOTHING REUNION
Sat. Aug. 29th
Mills Hardware
Burlington's Beautiful Nothing enjoyed video rotation on MuchMusic, won a Hamilton Music Award, and had strong college radio support. Over the years, they’ve shared the stage with Canadian alternative rock favourites like The Trews, Monster Truck, Big Wreck, and Arkells, earning high praise from the legendary Alan Cross while accumulating a dedicated cult following. Formed in 2000, the band actively wrote and performed until 2018, For this one-night-only show, Beautiful Nothing will be revisiting the best of their entire catalog. If you know this band, it’s a reunion you won't want to miss. If you don’t know them, they have videos on youtube you can check out to hear their sounds.
