encoreNOW is a bi-weekly column by Paul Rellinger where he features upcoming music, theatre, film, and performing arts events and news from across the Kawarthas.
This week, Paul highlights a live music fundraiser for Peterborough’s Redpath Wellness Centre, Billboard In Concert’s homage to 1986 at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre, the 20-year cultural celebration that is Artsweek, the return of Foley’s East Coast Pub to Showplace, Performing Arts Lakefield’s welcoming of The Dreamboats to open its new season, and Canadian rock music icon Bryan Adams in concert at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.
Brewfest RedPath fundraiser on September 27 a live local music extravaganza at 100 Acre Brewing Company
VIDEO: “Talk to Me” – Sarah Jane Riley
If you’re lately more familiar than ever before with Peggy Shaughnessy and her good work, there’s good reason for that.
The co-founder of Right To Heal, a grassroots initiative that brought her RedPath addictions treatment program to her hometown of Peterborough, was just recently inducted into Peterborough’s Pathway of Fame. Just prior to that, the short film Healing Outside The System, which chronicles and honours her work building the community and connections that people need to find their path to healing, was premiered at Market Hall.
Now, what has been a busy month for Shaughnessy will continue on Saturday, September 27 when a benefit for RedPath will be held at 100 Acre Brewing Company off Ashburnham Road just south of the Highway 115 bypass.
Although billed as Brewfest, the fundraiser will feature live music at its centre, with two stages welcoming performances by Ty Wilson, Brad Renaud, Sarah Jane Riley, Jeanne Truax and Emily Burgess, Joslynn Burford, Baz Littlerock, Bon Jovi Forever, Monkey Wrench, High Waters Band, Midnight Jewel, Misfits In Action, and Gunslingers.
Besides that head-turning lineup of local musicians, the noon to 9 p.m. event will feature a cornhole tournament — a whole lot of bean bag-tossing fun for the uninitiated — a raffle table, food from Lowlands Fire Food ( which has made an art form of wood-fired pizza) and, of course, lots of craft beer. That’s a pretty good day.
This may be one of the last opportunities to enjoy live music in the great outdoors before things cool down, so get out enjoy and support what has been, and remains, an innovative and very effective approach in helping people on their long road to recovery.
Bring a lawn chair as seating is limited and, at the request of the vendor, outside food or drink is not permitted.
Pop music from 1986 squarely in the sights of Billboard In Concert September 26 to 28 at Port Hope’s Capitol Theatre
In 1986, I was 28 years on this earth, working 12 hours a day and juggling a busy home life made interesting by the shenanigans of two boys, aged three and one. When the world stopped spinning, which was didn’t happen nearly enough, enjoying the recorded pop music of the time was a real treat.
According to Billboard magazine, the number song of 1986, from its polling of all genres of music, was “That’s What Friends Are For,” Dionne Warwick’s collaboration with Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder. Not my number one choice of 1986, but a pretty good song nonetheless.
Whatever your favourite pop song of 1986 was, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll hear it as part of Billboard In Concert: 1986, the newest chapter in the Capitol Theatre’s ongoing series of tributes to the hit songs of any given year, which runs from Friday, September 26 to Sunday, September 28 in Port HOpe.
Directed by Capitol Theatre artistic director Rob Kempson with a live band led by music director Jeff Newberry, this signature remix of 1986 pop music favourites will feature hits by Lionel Ritchie (his “Say You, Say Me” was number two in Billboard’s 1986 ranking), Patti LaBelle, Prince, Whitney Houston, Starship, Madonna, Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson, and many other leading acts.
Delivering the music will be local and regional performers Colin Ronald, Shannon Linton, Michelle Bardach, Zoë O’Connor, and Kelsey Verzotti, backed by a live band featuring Newberry on keyboards, Hanuel Yi on keyboards and percussion, Matt Ray on guitar, Tami Sorovaiski on bass, and David Schotzko on drums.
Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on September 26 and 27, and 2 p.m. on September 28. Tickets are $55 ($45 for those under 30), except for the September 26 show which is pay what you can. Visit capitoltheatre.com to order.
Peterborough’s treasured cultural event Artsweek retuns from September 28 to October 3
Each year, Peterborough seems to lose one or more cultural events for any one of a number of reasons. That’s all the more reason to wholly celebrate, and support, those events that have well withstood the test of time, and today remain as vibrant, and vital, as they were on the day they were first presented.
In 2005, then Peterborough mayor Sylvia Sutherland appointed a committee to organize a year-long series of special projects and events as part of the city’s 100th anniversary. Enter arts managers and champions Liz Bierk and Su Ditta, who were asked to come up with ideas for arts-related legacy projects. The annual Artsweek festival was born.
With the aim of shining a light on the range and level of artistic talent in our midst by highlighting the creative, social and economic impact of works delivered by the arts community, Artsweek has presented the talents of numerous performers, representing a variety of genres — much of it staged in out-of-the-ordinary places.
In 2015, the Electric City Culture Council (EC3), which Ditta heads, assumed responsibility for the now-biennial celebration from the city, with the last full-scale Artsweek event held in 2023. Now its returning, set for Sunday, September 28 to Sunday, October 5, with the opening ceremony on September 28 at 3 p.m. at Millennium Park.
At the opening, Mayor Jeff Leal will read the official Artsweek proclamation, with remarks by city councillor and artist Alex Bierk and performances by guest artists including Blues in the Bottle, Washboard Hank, Samantha Banton, Janet McCue, Sahira, Victoria Yeh, Caylie Staples, Josh Morley, and more.
The 2025 festival will see the return of popular events, including Porchapalooza on five verandas in the Teacher’s College neighbourhood on September 28, the Take-Out Poetry Cart featuring a rotating all-star line-up of area poets including Sarah Lewis, Thamer Linklater, Amal Osman, Ziysah von Bieberstein, and more, and the lunch-hour Hot Spots performance series in the Peterborough Square courtyard.
New events include Trent Radio’s Radio on the Go series at various locations, Solace for the Spirit by the Hollow Woods Recorder Consort and guests, the play The Auction written and directed by 4th Line Theatre’s Kim Blackwell, The Soul Buffet celebrating Black culture, food, and the oral traditions of spoken word within the Black community, and many more.
The full schedule of events is available at artsweekpeterborough.ca. All events are free.
With cultural event providers constantly having to justify the social and economic benefits of their endeavours in the face of threatened government funding cuts, events such as Artsweek need, and deserve, our attention and support. It’s not a question of we can’t afford it. It’s a question of we can’t afford to lose it.
Foley’s East Coast Pub returns to Showplace in Peterborough on September 28
If there’s a local family that has more fun than the Foleys, I’m not aware of it. That includes my own, which is entertaining but often for all the wrong reasons.
The great thing about the Foley family is their unabashed willingness to share their fun with all who want in. Hence Foley’s East Coast Pub, which returns on Sunday, September 28 to Showplace’s Cogeco Studio with matinee and evening performances.
Promoted as “two hours of music, laughs and stories from Canada’s East Coast and the Maritimes,” the longstanding kitchen party (minus the kitchen) offers up sea shanties, folk ballads, and songs about sailing vessels, ghosts, pirates, and coal mines.
As usual, ‘Seanchai’ Hugh Foley — a gifted storyteller of considerable skill, wit, and knowledge — will hold court, with intermingled music performances by the Foley Celtic Band, comprised of Fiddlin’ Jay Edmunds, Ron Kervin, Andrew Martin, Theresa Foley, Sheila Prophet, and Norma Curtis.
This is as fun as it gets on a Sunday. Proof of that can be found in the fact that it perennially sells out. That said, visit www.showplace.org for tickets to the 2 or 7 p.m. staging as soon as you can, lest you be left disappointed. Tickets are $30 for adults or $15 for students.
Performing Arts Lakefield goes back in time to open its 45th year on October 5
VIDEO: “Mustang Sally” performed by The Dreamboats
For a relatively small community, Lakefield sure has a lot going on. There’s the Lakefield Literary Festival and the Lakefield Jazz, Art and Craft Festival which, combined, annually draw thousands to the village.
And then there’s the live music series pulled together and presented annually by Performing Arts Lakefield (PAL).
Established in 1981 by the late high school teacher Alasdair Wallace, the series has been presented ever since, bringing to Lakefield top performers in a variety of music genres, including classical, jazz, and blues.
The 2025-26 season is now dawning at Lakefield United Church on Regent Street, with The Dreamboats kicking off the five-show season on Sunday, October 5. From the spirit rhythms of Chuck Berry to the infectious charm of The Wonders, this nostalgic trip down rock ‘n’ roll’s memory lane delivers hits of the 1950s and 1960s.
Having performed internationally as well as across Canada, the Mississauga-based quartet sounds and looks the part of the memorable acts they pay homage to. Gifted musicians, each has the pipes to go with it — the list of rave reviews on their website a promising preview of what their Lakefield audience can expect. But this is no simple tribute act. The Dreamboats put their own spin on the music so many know and still love.
Tickets to the 3 p.m. concert cost $40 ($15 for students) at performingartslakefield.org, where you can also find out more about the remaining concerts in the series and purchase series subscriptions. Individual concert tickets can also by purchased in Lakefield at Happenstance Books & Yarns.
Bryan Adams cuts like a knife through the Memorial Centre
VIDEO: “Roll With The Punches” – Bryan Adams
As talk of a new multi-use sport and event centre in Peterborough heats up once again, the old barn on Lansdowne Street still has some life in it.
Full evidence of that will come on Tuesday, October 7 when longtime Canadian rocker Bryan Adams returns to the Peterborough Memorial Centre as part of his North American “Roll With The Punches” tour promoting his 17th studio album of the same name. As a bonus, The Sheepdogs — well worth a look and listen on their own — are the opening act.
On the list of Canadian rock performers who have shown incredible staying power, Adams has to be very near the top.
Roll With The Punches was released in late August, featuring the title track and “Make Up Your Mind” as the first singles. The related tour, however, started in New Zealand and Australia earlier this year followed by a number of European dates. According to Adams himself, the Peterborough tour stop will “feature all the classics, some deep cuts and the sharing of brand new tracks.”
That’s all great, and expected, but if Adams performed just the “classics,” no one would leave disappointed. That’s the inevitable result when your repertoire includes “Cuts Like A Knife,” “I’m Ready,” “Heaven,” ‘”Summer of ’69’,” and “Everything I Do (I Do It For You).” Impressive as that is, it represents but a small sample size of the Kingston native’s hit music now 50 years in the making.
At age 65, we can assume Adams has a few live shows yet to give, but fans of his music, and the simply curious, would be wise to catch him while he’s still in very-close-to-peak form.
Tickets to the 7:30 p.m. concert range from $59.50 to $129.50 plus fees and taxes, and are available online at www.memorialcentre.ca, at the Memorial Centre box office, or by phone order at 705-743-3561 ext. 2.
Encore
- I cannot believe that the Jethro’s Family Friendly Blues Jam, held Sunday afternoons at the Jethro’s Bar + Stage on Hunter Street West, marked its third anniversary September 14 before a wall-to-wall crowd. It seems like yesterday that revered Peterborough musician Al Black started the jam. Since then, he has, with the venue’s blessing, brought countless up-and-coming musician on stage alongside many local established musicians. Almost every musician who has amounted to anything will tell you that the opportunity to play before an audience early on was key to their growth and subsequent success. The Jethro’s Family Friendly Blues Jam has reaped benefits we don’t even know of yet. Bet on it. Good on Al and all involved.
- Also held recently was the sixth annual Big Band Day. The September 13th concert, held annually at Millennium Park, drew a large crowd, with the Peterborough Concert Band, Electric City Swing, Northern Spirit Big Band, The Ron Marenger Big Band, and Knightshift doing the honours via a 45-minute set each. For those with a liking for that big brass sound, and there are many, this concert delivered. Better still, it was delivered by those whose reward are the smiles on the faces of those within earshot. Playing music for the sheer love of it is never a bad thing. Kudos to Long & McQuade for again partnering on the event
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