Big Sugar plays the Pearl
By Steve Newton
FRIDAY: roots band Steve Dawson & the Hooded Mergansers—led by Canadian guitarist, songwriter, pedal steel player, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and engineer Dawson–plays Mel Lehan Hall at St. James.
FRIDAY: American punk-rock bands Strung Out and the Casualties coheadline the Rickshaw Theatre, with guests the Venomous Pinks.
FRIDAY: Brewhalla North Vancouver features sampling of craft beer, wine, cider, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages along with live music, games, and food at the Shipyards.
FRIDAY: local indie-rock band the Starling Effect, featuring singer-guitarist John “Coolhand” Lucas, plays the Princeton Pub, with guests Hotel Empress and Pontiac.
Nickelback plays BC Place
FRIDAY: Canada’s most divisive hard-rock band, Nickelback, headlines day one of Coast City Country at BC Place. Here’s my interview with Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger from 2001.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY: 11-piece Vancouver rhythm ‘n’ blues/funk/soul band the R&B Allstars performs at White Rock’s Blue Frog Studios as part of its Last Dance Tour.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY: True Tribal: Contemporary Expressions of Ancestral Tattoo Practices explores 30-plus years of Indigenous tattooing from around the world and showcases the artists who are reconnecting with traditional skin-marking practices, at the Museum of Vancouver.
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY: through videos, photographs, testimonies, song lyrics, and reflections, the exhibition Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia offers an account of infamous feminist art collective Pussy Riot’s non-violent actions, running until June 2 at the Polygon Gallery.
SATURDAY: Toronto blues- and reggae-rockers Big Sugar, featuring singer-guitarist Gordie Johnson, play the Pearl. Here’s my interview with Gordie Johnson from 1998.
SATURDAY: the Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat Cereal Cartoon Party at the Rio Theatre features three hours of retro cartoons, commercials, and PSAs curated by David Bertrand–and all the sugary cereal you can eat.
The Predators are in town
SUNDAY: the Vancouver Canucks take on the Nashville Predators in Round One of the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Arena.
SUNDAY: School of Rock Vancouver presents students from the Rock 101 Kids, Performance, and Adult programs performing songs by the Beatles and the Stones at the Hollywood Theatre.
SUNDAY: Early Music Vancouver presents the Tallis Scholars, the “rockstars of Renaissance vocal music”, performing under music director Peter Phillips at the Chan Centre.
SUNDAY: Comedy Cancer Benefit hosted by Ryan Williams at Chill X Studios features standup comedy by Amy Walsh, Devin Alexander, Efthimios Nasiopolous, Ola Dada, and headliner Charlie Demers, with proceeds to support local comedian Dion Arnold, who is battling stage 4 cutaneous melanoma.
SUNDAY: screening at the Rio Theatre of Poor Things, director Yorgos Lanthimos’s fantastical tale of a young woman brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist, starring Emma Stone in her Oscar-winning performance.
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