Last Wednesday, two local Latin dance studios teamed up to kick off a series of free events under the title Outdoor Salsa at City Hall. Every Wednesday this summer, Azucar! Latin Dance Company and Salsa Force will be bringing a free evening of dance to the Rink of Dreams in front of City Hall. Each […]

The music business has changed. Once a towering behemoth built of executives, lawyers, and piles of cash, today’s music industry is a more diffused. There was a time when a band’s top priority was to become signed to a major label, become famous, and proceed to roll in wealth. But if that was a golden […]

Last week, details emerged for this year’s Fringe Festival, and what a festival it promises to be. This year, Ottawa’s biggest theatre festival will get even bigger, sporting 54 productions over its ten day run. Beginning on June 20th, fringe-goers will be treated to some of the most eclectic theatre out there, and for only ten bucks […]

What is your musical fantasy? Does it involve copious amounts of liquid chocolate and a select Barenaked Ladies album? Or do you simply long to walk in the footsteps of a certain Liverpool quartet at the crossing at Abbey Road? (I could watch that webcam all day!) Or maybe you’re more the adventurous sort. Maybe […]

Tomorrow night at Café Alt, Roberta Bondar is releasing a new album. Just for clarification, I’m talking about the Ottawa band named Roberta Bondar, not the Canadian female astronaut. I wonder if that’s a coincidence. In either case, Roberta Bondar is about to become a pioneer, not of outer space this time, but of a […]

Ottawa has entered a golden age of hip hop. Seriously. With acts like Jesse Dangerously, Philly Moves, Flight Distance, Atherton, and Homebased, you don’t have to go that far from the Transitway to find some really seasoned, talented rappers and turntablists making their way in this new capital city reality. Funnily enough, if one of […]

Here’s a question: do you like Biggie? I mean Notorious B.I.G.; do you like him? He’s a rapper. He died 16 years ago (gawd I feel old). He was a pioneer, a visionary, an exceptional rapper. And so, this month, some of the localest of local deejays and rappers are throwing a big party in […]

There’s probably a lot I could say about Wellington End. But, since this is web writing, I’m going to try to condense it into a sentence.  Here it is: Fantastic music, great beer, delicious food, all local. Cheap, too! Just 30 bucks for the whole thing, and that gets you access to 40+ artists across […]

The Soundcloud embed isn’t working, so here’s the direct link. It’s 10 minutes long. A couple weeks back, Cafe Alt hosted the second edition of the aptly named Cafe Alt Concert Series. It was a resounding success, in no little part due to the gentlemen you are about to meet. James and Blackburn is a […]

Emcee Julie Nesrallah flips the last page of her prepared notes. Everyone gathered in St.  Andrew’s Church on Kent lets out an audible breath of relief. We empathize with the poor CBC Radio 2 host, who seems to be a little short of breath herself. It seems there’s simply too much to say about the […]

Game Summit is in full swing over the river at the Palais de Congres in Gatineau, and apt613 is hitting the floor to play some… some games of giant Catan? Kafkaesque? Yes. Fun? Also yes! I discovered some brand new board games that now hold a special place in my cold heart. So, now I’ll […]