Adventure Club’s victory lap
Montreal duo’s massively successful Canadian tour winds down in Victoria tonight
Adventure Club’s steady ascent over the past half-decade has culminated in a massively successful Canadian tour in support of RED // BLUE, which arrived in December at No. 2 on the iTunes dance chart.
The tour winds down Sunday night in Victoria. Distrikt nightclub will be the 17th and final stop for the Montreal duo of Christian Srigley and Leighton James, who have been on the road since Jan. 1 with their Made in Canada tour. The downside: The show is sold out, with little chance of tickets freeing up before showtime.
Fans who got on board early will be rewarded, however. Tourclosing shows always kick a little harder than most, so attendees should expect a rollicking night of club music from Adventure Club, who earned a Juno Award nomination this week for dance recording of the year. Yet more reason to celebrate.
Showtime is 9 p.m.
The Gonzalo Bergara Quartet will stick around after their appearances at this weekend’s Victoria Django Festival for a Valentine’s Day dinner and concert at Northern Quarter on Tuesday.
The gypsy-swing quartet with roots in Argentina will play during two three-course dinner seatings at the Douglas Street restaurant, with brief opening sets by New York favourite Misha Piatigorsky.
Tickets for dinner shows at 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. are available for $95 through Northern Quarter (1724 Douglas St.), Lyle’s Place (770 Yates St.) and Hoyne Brewery (2740 Bridge St.).
For information, victoriadjangofestival.com.
The first wave of artists appearing at the 18th annual Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival (June 14-18) includes several first-time bookings and a few returning favourites, setting the stage for a full festival lineup announcement in the coming weeks.
New Zealand’s the Black Seeds will follow up their successful appearance at last year’s festival with a spot on the 2017 edition, organizers announced this week. The Black Seeds share the top of the bill with U.K. ska legends the Skints, one of two big-name acts making their debut at the popular festival this year. Mike Love from Hawaii is another expected highlight, making his first appearance at the long-running festival.
Colombia’s Skampida, Vancouver’s Roots Roundup, Victoria’s Batuque Axé and Colombia’s Mistica were among the other acts named during the announcement.
Early-bird VIP tickets ($179.50) and full festival passes ($129.50) are on sale now at Lyle’s Place, Jupiter and ticketweb.ca.
For more information on the festival, visit victoriaskafest.ca.
One of Victoria’s most famous former residents has put her voice to a remake of It Takes Two, one of the biggest rap hits of the 1980s.
Carly Rae Jepsen and rapper Lil Yachty (featured on the smash hit Broccoli) recorded the duet as part of an upcoming ad campaign for Target, though snippets of the song have been teased on social media. News of a full release for the song was announced Friday, bringing the Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock classic from 1988 to a new generation of fans.
A video by Roman Coppola will arrive today, according to reports. The song is available for streaming on Apple Music and Spotify.
Prior to having the biggest hit of 2012 with Call Me Maybe, Jepsen spent the 2004-2005 school year at Victoria’s Canadian College of Performing Arts.
A massive tour by Five Alarm Funk gets underway next month and includes back-to-back shows in Victoria at Sugar nightclub.
The popular eight-piece Vancouver group will play 22 shows in 27 days as part of its Canadian tour. The band will perform April 14-15 at Sugar as part of the string of dates to support its new studio album, Sweat, which is due March 3.
Tickets are $20 via Lyle’s Place and Ticketweb.ca.
B.C. blues-rock duo The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer has Apocalipstick ready for release on March 24 via Tonic Records. The album is the followup to the band’s Juno Award-nominated breakthrough A Real Fine Mess.
The group fronted by Shawn Hall of Nanaimo and Matt Rogers of Vancouver was joined on the record by drummer John Raham (of the Be Good Tanyas) and keyboardist Geoff Hilhorst (from the Deep Dark Woods), along with singer Dawn Pemberton and others.
The group will hit the road to promote the record with tour dates booked across Canada. The Harpoonist and The Axe Murderer is scheduled for three Vancouver Island dates with opening act Leeroy Stagger, including stops April 19 at the Queens in Nanaimo and April 20 at the Waverly Hotel in Cumberland.
Tickets for the band’s April 21 date at Sugar Nightclub are $20 through Lyle’s Place and Ticketweb.ca.
Folk-blues favourites Rick Fines and Roly Platt will band together for an anticipated concert Feb. 17 at the Upstairs Lounge in the Oak Bay Recreation Centre.
The intimate concert venue provides the perfect arena in which to enjoy Fines’ witty songwriting and Platt’s tasteful harmonica work.
Doors are at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance through Ivy’s Bookshop (2188 Oak Bay Ave.) and Oak Bay Recreation Centre (1975 Bee St.). If available, they can be purchased for $25 at the door.
Victoria’s the Choir will tackle a Beatles classic Thursday at the Copper Owl — and adult singers of all stripes are invited to participate.
Led by choir director Marc Jenkins and guitarist Dougal McLean, the drop-in event will focus on a performance of Two Of Us, a highlight from 1970’s Let it Be. No experience is necessary, but organizers are asking those who attend to be familiar with the song.
Admission is $7. Doors open at 7 p.m., with singing scheduled for 7:30.
The Copper Owl is located at 1900 Douglas St., next door to Paul’s Motor Inn.