Local guy plays the big stage at Northern Lights fest

--taken from: Sootoday

by Donna Hopper

Additional NLFB headliners included Friday’s Yukon Blonde, Saturday’s A Tribe Called Red, and Sunday’s Whitehorse. Spotlight performances throughout the weekend featured those by The Turbans from London, England that includes members from Turkey, Bulgaria, Israel, Iran, Italy and Greece; Canadian supergroup TUNS that includes Chris Murphy (Sloan), Mike O’Neill (The Inbreds), and Matt Murphy (The Super Friends, The Pretty Lights); North Carolina’s Johnathan Byrd and the Pickup Boys; Bixiga 70 from Sao Paulo, Brazil; Montreal’s Rae Spoon; Sudbury’s own Juno-nominated hip hop/pow wow singer Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie; and legendary Canadian children’s entertainer and TV personality Fred Penner.

--taken from: Sootoday

Fest showcases local talent

--taken from: The Sudbury Star (read more here)

by Sara Harasym

Houle has been attending the Northern Lights Festival since she was a child, and has played before with other groups and during workshops with her musical family, but this a first for St-Onge and McDonald. And what a first it is. The Ape-ettes will be performing twice on Saturday. The first performance – at 3 p.m. – will be on The William Ramsey as part of the Party Cannon Pirate Cruise with TUNS – an indie super-group formed by Sloan’s Chris Murphy, Mike O’Neill of The Inbreds, and Matt Murphy of The Super Friendz/The Pretty Lights.

--taken from: The Sudbury Star (read more here)

It's Festival Boreal this weekend: wear good shoes

--taken from: The Sudbury Star (read more here)

Music is in the air as Northern Lights Festival Boréal is ready to deliver four days of non-stop entertainment.

Living-legend Buffy Sainte Marie will be gracing the Grace Hartman amphitheatre in mere days; her first performance at the festival in more than 30 years. She will bring her full band to deliver a truly unparalleled performance this Thursday.

Supporting acts for the special Thursday night include Juno-winners Quantum Tangle, Iqaluit alt-country rockers the Jerry Cans, the iconic poet Joy Harjo, the triumphant reunion of No Reservations, the hauntingly beautiful singer-songwriter Ansley Simpson and the Black Bull Moose Singers.

Once the festival is wrapped, make your way to the Townehouse Tavern to catch Nick Sherman, Leonard Sumner, Bboy Redsky, local Juno-nominee Bryden Gwiss Kiwenzie and Mob Bounce.

Indie rockers and riff-heads beware as Friday night is going to deliver the tunes that will be stuck in your head all summer. Headliners Yukon Blonde are making their way back to the festival to crank their pop-hooked rock anthems. Super-group TUNS, featuring Chris Murphy of Sloan, will be kicking out the jams right before Yukon Blonde. If you’re more into the groove, don’t fret as Festival Boreal delivers with the incredible Brazilian 10-piece act, Bixiga 70, who will be playing a main stage spot, as well as a once-in-a-lifetime slot at the Townehouse Tavern following Yukon Blonde.

--taken from: The Sudbury Star (read more here)

A birthday party like Canada’s 150th doesn’t come around every day, leaving no good reason to sofa away this holiday long weekend

--taken from: The London Free Press

by Dan Brown

If live music is your thing, you’ll want to check out SesquiFest, a five-day celebration of the sesquicentennial in the city’s core that runs through Monday, with free performances and more. Set to rock the Forest City are such local acts as With a Fox, which performs Saturday at 8 p.m., and headliners including Hollerado, Fefe Dobson and Sloan. Sponsored by Canada 150 London and the London Heritage Council, the festival includes a 360-degree cinematic take on Canada in the travelling Sesqui Dome. You can also find a selection of Ontario craft brews at the beer garden. For more information, go to canada150london.ca

--taken from: The London Free Press