GOING OUT BEST BETS
THEATRE
Ta Da!, the multi-disciplinary Anglo- Quebec arts festival, is back in Wakefield this weekend, featuring a full schedule of performances and activities from Sept. 7-8. Program highlights include Michael Burgos’ parody The Eulogy, Arzoo Dance Theatre’s The Lion’s Roar, featuring dancer/choreographer Deepti Gupta, the bilingual puppet play Beaver Dreams, starring Wakefield’s Rae-Anna Maitland, and a Saturday-night Black Sheep concert with Chelsea singersongwriter Ian Tamblyn and friends (tickets $20, available at theblacksheepinn.com). Most shows are $15 per person, or two for $25, with a $25 family rate for Beaver Dreams. Tickets and schedule information are available at tadafestival.ca. There’s also a community tie-dying workshop, and square dancing for the whole family. Events take place in and around the Centre Wakefield La Pêche.
ACCORDION
Galliano Island-based singersongwriter, accordionist and trumpeter Jack Garton is on a rare tour of Eastern Canada, travelling to spread the word on his delightful new album, Love You Over Time. With songs that explore the theme of commitment, lightened by some dark humour, it’s a lively musical package that was recorded with his bandmates in the Demon Squadron, although Garton is touring solo this time. He stops at the Art House Café, 555 Somerset St. W., on Thursday. Admission is $10, or pay what you can. The music starts at 8 p.m.
GUITAR
Australian fingerstyle guitar master Tommy Emmanuel brings his dazzling abilities Friday night to the Casino Lac-Leamy’s theatre. Although the cross-genre artist is selftaught and unable to read or write music, Emmanuel has flourished for decades thanks to his virtuosic skills and musicality. He performed live at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, and in 2008 and 2010, the readers of Guitar Player magazine named Emmanuel the year’s best acoustic guitarist. Admission: $58, including taxes, at theatrecasino.ca.
FOLK
Veteran Ottawa musician Vince Halfhide will be launching his new and eponymously named solo album at the Westboro Masonic Hall (430 Churchill Ave.) on Friday. Halfhide, who in almost 50 years of playing has worked with everyone from Heaven’s Radio to Sneezy Waters to the Toasted Westerns to the Jivewires to the Mighty Popo, recorded a dozen new songs for the album last winter at the Toronto studio of Canadian roots legend Ken Whiteley. The music at the hall starts at 8 p.m. and admission is $20, with tickets available at vincehalfhide.com. At the show, Halfhide’s new CD will be on sale for $20.
EDM
The grounds of the Canadian Museum of History will be transformed into an electronic dance party this weekend, thanks to the throbbing beat of the Riverside Festival. This year’s lineup features a slate of international DJs, including Snails, Kayzo, Slushie, Julian Jordan, Loud Luxury and more. Tickets are $45-$50, available at riversidefestival.ca. You must be at least 16 years old, with valid ID, to attend. The museum is at 100 Laurier St., Gatineau. Doors open at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It’s a rainor-shine event.