A busy June begins with a couple of big festivals featuring a lot local talent.
This weekend’s trimmed down SOAR festival happens at Casa. there will be two cabarets featuring dance, music and magic, May 30 and 31
Dancers Claire Lint and Sidney Murdoch will be performing on both nights beginning at 7 p.m. Ben Price’s new magic show Rabbit stew is May 30, while Jeff Newman Mentalism also present a new show, Trickster, on May 31.
For music, Local alternative rock musician Mercedes Fawns performs on May 30 and W.I.T.s are on deck, May 31.
Tickets are $10 for each show.
An excellent play happens at Southminster United Church to open June. We Are All Treaty People explores the possible friendship between an indigenous girl and a non-indigenous girl. Tickets are free, but you must get them in advance through through Eventbrite at http:/bit.ly/ Wearealltreatypeople.
A bittersweet show takes place at the Slice, June 1 as several local bands bid farewell to independent record store and concert promoter Blueprint Records, a fixture downtown for 12 years. The spirit lives on with Street Legal Records. Performers include Cope, Mombod, Open Channels, Sparkle Blood and Biloxi Parish perform beginning at 9 p.m. Admission is $7 in advance, $10 at the door.
The next night, June 2, Street Legal Records launchers with a big rap showcase featuring OK+NTK, Shed beat Boyz, Sammy and the Fiend, Trey Mark, Crisko, JPB and Stratum403. Admission is five dollars.
If you aren’t in to rap music, Moose Jaw indie rock band Bears in Hazenmore return to the Owl Acoustic lounge and Birch Barks. Admission is by donation.
Things take off after that. The Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival is set to go the following week beginning June 8 and running until June 16. In addition to lots of local talent, some of the highlights include Brooklyn based jazz guitarist Nobuki Takamen, who was a highlight at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens at last year’s festival and will be bringing his trio back this year, June 10. Tickets are $25 or $50. Other highlights include the Sojourner’s Marcus Moseley hosting Sweet Inspiration Gospel Choir, June 13 at Southminster United Church; The Calgary Jazz Orchestra, June 14 at the Enmax Centre lounge featuring Edmonton singer and Tommy Banks’ grand-daughter Mallory Chipman who performs with her band the next night. Saskatoon bluesman BC Read plays the Slice, June 15. and Juno award winning saxophonist Allison Au Quartet plays the Owl Acoustic lounge in the afternoon, June 16. And Holly Cole headlines the festival at the Enmax Centre, June 16. Tickets for that concert are $51.
The weekend after that The Rotary Dragon Boat Festival is at Henderson Lake, June 22-24. There will be lots of entertainment including the Chevelles and Desert Wind Belly Dancers on June 22.
Also on June 22, this months’ ’90s throwback is Blind Melon who had a big hit “No Rain” in 1993 and Eve 6 will be playing Average Joes. Tickets just went on sale for $45 in advance, $50 on the day of the show. It will begin at 8:30 p.m.
And, just announced, John Mellencamp will be playing the Enmax Centre, Oct. 28. Tickets go on sale, June 1.
