Our Weekenders give you the head’s up on what’s going down this weekend. Get your dancing shoes on!
Friday, May 4, 2012
DB and the Blue Rocks Debut Gig
So it’s the first weekend of May, the grass is green, the sun is (mostly) shining, and the trees are beginning to bud. Why not get out of the house this Friday, May 4th, and enjoy some awesome tunes? Known for playing all the old school blues from John Lee Hooker to Buddy Guy, the DB Blues Band has taken a slight shift in style, and plans to unveil it this weekend. Going by their new name, DB and the Blue Rocks, they will not only rock the blues they are more well known for, but have also introduced some classic rock tunes that anyone can rock out to!
Get to the Forks early, enjoy the weather, then check out DB and the Blue Rocks at Finns Pub (in the Johnson Terminal) this Friday, May 4th, at 9:00 pm for the six piece blues band you will not want to miss!
– Shanell Dupras
Jeff Presslaff’s Miles Davis tribute @ the Park Theatre
Miles Davis’ 1957 compilation album Birth of the Cool was a huge landmark in the history of cool jazz. Winnipeg jazz pianist, trombonist, and composer Jeff Presslaff will be channelling the spirit of that album with a nine-piece band in a show titled “The Complete Rebirth of the Cool”. This isn’t a literal recreation of the album; rather, Presslaff and his nonet have created completely new pieces inspired by the songs. This should be pretty interesting for fans who are into the idea of bringing the past into the present.
Tickets are $12 in advance online or in person at the Park Theatre and Jazz Winnipeg office. Alternately, they’re $15 at the door. The show runs from 8 – 10:30 pm.
-Adrienne Yeung
Sunday, May 6, 2012
The last time I saw Leeroy Stagger on a Manitoba Stage was at the 2010 Folk Fest, during a daytime workshop (playing with, I can’t remember who else). The combination of Stagger’s red neck-tied bandana, and the undeniable instinct to assume that his name is that of a John Wayne character rather than a musician, all culminates in a sort of superficial trust: Yes, this beardy tattooed man on stage will indeed create some perfectly wildly folk rock music. And indeed, he did (and does) just that. There’s something altogether magical when warm weather, blue skies, home-spun music and a surprising lack of mosquitoes mélanges into the magnetic and mesmerizing grassy fields of FF.
Despite the show being housed inside the Folk Exchange (203-211 Bannatyne) this time, I don’t doubt the magic will fade one bit. Show starts at 8, and tickets are $15 at the door or $12 in advance.
– Victoria King