Newt’s top 10 things to do in Vancouver this weekend, January 24 to 26

From Ground Zero screens at the Rio

By Steve Newton

FRIDAY: French guitarist Stéphane Wrembel performs Gypsy jazz and world music at West Vancouver’s Kay Meek Arts Centre.

FRIDAY: Vancouver blues legend Jim Byrnes performs at North Vancouver’s Deep Cove Shaw Theatre. Here’s my interview with Jim Byrnes from 1985.

FRIDAY: the Snowed In Comedy Tour at the York Theatre features standup comedy by Dan Quinn, Paul Myrehaug, Pete Zedlacher, and Erica Sigurdson.

The Silence of the Lambs screens at the Rio

FRIDAY: late-night screening at the Rio Theatre of director Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-winning 1991 horror flick The Silence of the Lambs, starring Jodie Foster as FBI agent Clarice Starling and Anthony Hopkins as evil genius Hannibal Lecter. Here’s my original review from 1991.

FRIDAY TO SUNDAY: exhibition of paintings by New York City-based artist Firelei Báez, organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, runs until March 16 at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

FRIDAY TO SUNDAY: the annual PuSh Festival, running until February 9 at various Vancouver venues, features contemporary works of live art–dance, theatre, music, and multimedia–by local, national, and international performers.

The Capitals are in town

SATURDAY: the Vancouver Canucks take on Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitols in National Hockey League action at Rogers Arena.

SATURDAY: Vancouver punk-rockers the Black Halos perform their 2001 album The Violent Years in its entirety at the Rickshaw Theatre, with guests Real Sickies and the Bad Beats. Here’s my 2005 interview with Billy Hopeless of the Black Halos.

SUNDAY: screening at the Rio Theatre of From Ground Zero, in which 22 Palestinian filmmakers living through war capture their lives in Gaza over the past year. In Arabic with English subtitles.

SUNDAY: Allman Brothers tribute band the Allmost Brothers, featuring guitarists Todd Taylor and Johannes Grames, plays the Rio Theatre.

If you’re a concert promoter, arts organization, music store, club owner, or just somebody wanting to support my work, I’m looking for an exclusive sponsor of my twice-weekly Newt’s top 10 things to do in Vancouver blogs. If interested, please contact me at steve@earofnewt.com.