The January-smashing festival roars back for year two
Elliott Brood
Music | by Stephen Whitworth
Winterruption
Multiple Venues
January 19–22
For the second year, the Broadway Theatre and Regina Folk Festival are teaming up to save all humanity from January sadness with Winterruption, an epic series of concerts at multiple venues in the great cities of Saskatoon and Regina. Suck it, Swift Current.
As if that weren’t enough, the partners have somehow arranged for a weekend of unseasonable weather, so that someone leaving their house to, say, go to a concert (for example) won’t freeze solid into a icy visage of anguish and regret before they get to the show.
As of this writing (Tuesday night), Saskatoon’s looking at forecast highs of three on Thursday and Friday. The coldest it will get over the weekend? minus-eight. Not bad for a month that’s given us windchills in the “Ice Planet Of Hoth” range.
The line-ups look fantastic. Starting Thursday (the day this paper comes out), The Broadway Theatre will screen holotype mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, with live music from guest act Heat Rüb, featuring some guy named Ian Blurton on guitar. There’s also the Cross Canada Fiddle Fest at satellite venue The Bassment.
Moving onto Friday, the sharp-witted Steve Patterson will be at the Broadway. Best known as the host of CBC radio’s improv argument program The Debaters, Patterson will celebrate his 20th anniversary in show business with a performance that includes stories, songs and hilarity so miscellaneous you won’t be able to even imagine it. Over at The Bassment, Danny Michel will perform songs from his Arctic-recorded album Khlebnikov, and probably material from songs recorded in places other than on a Russian Icebreaker, I’d wager. Louis Pub, meanwhile, will host a show by the rootsiest of rootsters, Elliott Brood, while the group Tuns, featuring members of Sloan, Super Friendz and Inbreds will blow minds at Amigos. Emma Ruth Rundle rounds out the musical roster with fearless autobiography at The Refinery, while podcaster and Canadian media conscience Jesse Brown of Canadaland is at the Cosmo Seniors Hall.
For Saturday, Jan. 21 let’s start at the Cosmo and Grownups Read Things They Wrote As Kids, which promises to be hilarious, adorable, cringe-inducing and heartbreaking — a crudité of emotion as only a child could create. It’s such a shame you can’t go because this sucker’s sold out. The Bassment, meanwhile, features Ali Hassan performing Muslim Interrupted, a comic tale of his journey to becoming a cultural Muslim. The Broadway, meanwhile, has Vande Vasudevam, a performance of Indian classical dance featuring tales of Krishna and other characters from Hinduism. Louis’ Pub has a great double bill with the bands Said The Whale and Northcote, while Amigos will be electrified by the high-voltage decibels rock of plugged in industrial noisers Holy Fuck.
And since we can’t end a story on a rude word, we’ll wrap this up by pointing out that Fred Penner will play the Persephone on Sunday. Expect ever-returning cats, beautiful sandwiches and too much darn fun.
Winterruption 2017: it’s the one where a good time will be had by all. For more details check out broadwaytheatre.ca. Have a great weekend!