SCENE August 2023

CONTENTS

FFWD

4. A guide to some of the area’s most stunning hikes to help you get out and enjoy the summer in a spectacular setting

LIVEWIRE

6. Program helps local abused women gain financial independence while planning for their futures

BITS

8. From the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival to BUMP and other community gatherings, August has a lot to offer

SPORTS

10. The Calgary Dragon Boat Festival sets sail on Glenmore Reservoir again

BOOZE

12. Local distillery Bridgeland Distillery winning awards with its world-class brandy

FOOD

13. Eats abound with a healthy serving of food events this month

THEATRE

14. Helping you plan your way around this year’s Fringe Festival with five can’t-miss productions

28. MATT BERRY

30. CAM HAYDEN

24. Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA returns to Calgary for another eye-pleasing encore

ART

15. Mapping Calgary in a unique and culturally conscious way

FILM

17. Drag culture and Kung-Fu collide in campy new Canadian film

PRIDE

18. A look at what you can expect as Pride celebrations kick off in the city

MUSIC

23. Calgarian Bella White making her name in the Nashville country community

24. Calgary International Blues Fest aims to be an inclusive event for all music lovers

26. Modern Love updates and remakes beloved Beltline dive bar Broken City

We acknowledge that we live, work and play on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta. And we thank them.

Editor-in-Chief Mike Bell mbell@redpointmedia.ca

Design Kris Twyman

Print/Digital Production Manager

Mike Matovich

Cover: Kooza perfomers Cedric Belilse

(left) & Mizuki Shinagawa

Photo: David Kotsibie

CONTRIBUTORS

Matt Berry

Sarah Comber

Christine Beevis Trickett

Autumn Fox

Cam Hayden

Benjamin Heisler

David Kotsibie

Nathan Iles

Erika Ravnsborg

Krista Sylvester

Aryn Toombs

Don Tse

Mary-Lynn Wardle

CEO, Co-owner Roger Jewett

President, Co-owner Käthe Lemon, klemon@ redpointmedia.ca

Director Strategy & Content Meredith Bailey, mbailey@redpointmedia.ca

Client Support Coordinator Alice Meilleur ameilleur@redpointmedia.ca

Account Executives Michaela Brownlee mbrownlee@redpointmedia.ca, Jocelyn Erhardt jerhardt@redpointmedia.ca

Accountant Jeanette Vanderveen, jvanderveen@ redpointmedia.ca

Administrative and HR Manager Tara Brand, tbrand@redpointmedia.ca redpointmedia.ca 1721 29 Avenue SW, Suite 375, Calgary, AB, T2T 6T7 Lettermail only

Kooza’s Mizuki Shinagawa

Hiking in the Rockies

We’re well into the dog days of summer. Or the do-nothing days.

Yes, while there are still festivals to come — please see our feature on the Calgary International Blues Festival, as well as the roundup of some of the food and froth fests on tap in August, and, of course, for those who aren’t quite cowboyed out, Country Thunder — it’s often summer’s signal to retreat back to nature. Be that for a week in the wilderness or even just for a few hours in one of the many picture-perfect perambulations in these parts. For this month’s RWND, we look to FFWD writer Christine Beevis Tricket’s run-down on some the best spots for a walkabout, be you a seasoned hiker, lapsed nature lover or someone who huffs and puffs climbing the stairs. Get out and enjoy the gloriousness that surrounds us — before you’re snowed in and cursing the frozen, hellish landscape we chose to live in.

May 15, 2014 by Christine

Beevis Trickett

Whether you’re a novice or seasoned professional, Alberta offers some of the most scenic and diverse hiking opportunities in the country. In a single day you can hike through a wildflower meadow, meander alongside a rushing river or climb a mountain.

Tunnel Mountain, located in the heart of the Town of Banff, is an easy introduction to hiking in the Rockies. It is perhaps one of Banff’s more well-known hikes due to its accessibility to the townsite and its well-maintained trail. Climbing to a height of 300 metres (948 feet), the 2.4-kilometre trail offers breath-taking panoramic views of Banff and the surrounding Bow and Spray river valleys.

From a distance, the mountain — one of the smallest summits in the Banff townsite — resembles a sleeping buffalo, which is fitting considering that was name given to the mountain by local First Nations.

While hikers might search for the mountain’s current namesake, they won’t find it. In 1882, a team of surveyors suggested a tunnel should be blasted through the mountain as they felt the most direct route for the Canadian Pacific Railway would be straight through rather than around. But CPR general manager William Van Horne, anxious to get the railway completed, refused the idea of

a “damned tunnel” and the railroad was diverted to its current route. Despite the diversion the name stayed.

The trailhead for the hike is situated just off St. Julien Road near The Banff Centre (ed. now Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity). Alternately another access point is located at Tunnel Mountain Drive north of The Banff Centre. Rated a moderate hike, the trail switches back and forth along the mountainside to make the climb more gradual, although there are a few steeper sections. The trail can be icy in early spring and in late fall and winter.

The top of the trail opens up to a panoramic view of Mount Rundle and the Banff townsite in addition to the Banff Springs Hotel. From the top a five- to 10-minute hike along a trail heading east leads to an open grassy meadow. The round-trip takes approximately two to three hours.

For those who want to explore further or are ready for more of a challenge the following list includes some of the top hikes in the Rockies:

CANMORE/KANANASKIS

Grassi Lakes Canmore

Nordic Centre Provincial Park

Distance: 3.5km/1.5 hours return

Difficulty: Intermediate/difficult (two routes)

Features: Take one of two interpretive trails down to the Grassi Lakes area surrounded by cliffs often used by climbers. Trails up to the climbing cliffs also lead to pictographs. Hikers can use one trail going up and the other on their return to make this a loop.

Grotto Creek Canyon Trail

Bow Valley Provincial Park

Distance: 4.2kms/2 hours return

Difficulty: Intermediate

Features: The trail eventually winds through a narrow canyon featuring a waterfall and vertical rock walls.

For more information on hiking in provincial parks: albertaparks.ca

BANFF NATIONAL PARK

Sunshine Meadows

Distance: 13 km/half to full-day return

Difficulty: Moderate

Features: Located on the edge of the continental divide, the Sunshine Meadows are surrounded by some of the Rockies’ highest

peaks and as a result feature some of the most stunning settings in the area. The trail starts from Sunshine Village, which you can reach either by gondola or by shuttle bus in the summer. Guided hikes are available.

Lake Agnes Teahouse Trail

Distance: 7 km/approx. 3 hours return from Lake Louise

Difficulty: Moderate

Features: A popular trail starting half a kilometre from the Chateau Lake Louise. Hike uphill along a well-groomed trail through a forested area to a quaint cabin by the lake for tea and a slice of pie. From the teahouse you may choose to hike to other destinations such as the Big Beehive (for views of Lake Louise and

the Bow Valley) or Plain of Six Glaciers Trail.

Larch Valley/Sentinel Pass

Distance: 12 km/4-5 hours return

Difficulty: Moderate

Features: A great fall hike made popular for its yellow larches in autumn. Hike up to a meadow that allows lovely views of surrounding peaks in the Valley of the 10 Peaks. For more information on hiking within Banff National Park: pc.gc.ca, banff.ca, banfflakelouise.com

JASPER NATIONAL PARK

Maligne Canyon

Distance: 4.2kms/2 hours round trip

Difficulty: Easy/moderate

Features: A self-guided interpretive trail leads you through a limestone canyon that in some parts is only two metres across and 50 metres deep. Discover rare black swifts (a type of bird that nests at waterfalls) raven’s nests waterfalls fossils and underground streams.

Wilcox Pass

Distance: 2.4kms/1 hour return to the first viewpoint; 8kms/3 hours to the second viewpoint

Difficulty: Moderate

Features: Named for Rockies climber Walter Wilcox, this trail was historically used by First Nations families to bypass a canyon on the Sunwapta River north of the Athabasca Glacier. Trail starts steeply but flattens out gradually to an open meadow where you may spot bighorn rams.

Parker Ridge

Distance: 5.4kms/3 hours return

Difficulty: Moderate

Features: Climb a ridge along a well-defined trail with switchbacks up 275 metres and then down for a great view of the Saskatchewan Glacier. Catch glimpses of mountain goats and enjoy fields of alpine blue forget-me-nots and pink moss campion between mid-July and mid-August.

For more information on hiking in Jasper National Park: pc.gc.ca, https://www.jasper. travel/things-to-do/hiking-walking-biking/

This story was edited for space. To read the entire piece and more from the FFWD vaults, please go to theyyscene.com.

From wildflower meadows to spectacular views Alberta has some of the best treks in the country

Maligne Canyon

Your Phil this Fall

September

Never Break The Chain: The Music of Fleetwood Mac

8 + 9 September / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Pictures at an Exhibition

16 September / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Tour De Force: Cheng + Cello

23 September / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Serena Ryder with the Calgary Phil

29 September / Jubilee Auditorium

October The Sneetches, by Dr. Seuss

1 October / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Disney + Pixar’s Up in Concert

7 October / Jack Singer Concert Hall

The Last Night of the Proms … Ever!

13 October / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Roman Rabinovich in Concert

27 + 28 October / Jack Singer Concert Hall

November

Classically Jazzed

3 + 4 November / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Alberta in Harmony: Moving Mahler

10 November / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Brett Kissel with the Calgary Phil

17 November / Bella Concert Hall

18 November / Jack Singer Concert Hall

Price + Schumann2

25 November / Jack Singer Concert Hall

For details and tickets, visit calgaryphil.com

Momentum savings program helps women escaping domestic abuse

By Aryn Toombs

An underreported reality for many women struggling through domestic abuse is that they feel forced to remain in an abusive relationship because of finances.

Discovery House, a transitional shelter for women and their children escaping violence, paints a harrowing picture of that abuse: affording housing, putting food on the table, making car payments, buying clothing for their children, and other everyday activities become fears that tie women to their abusers.

“It’s a real stress point that we hear from clients. And in fact, over 50 per cent of our clients when they come to us and we talk about the types of abuses that they are experiencing, at least half of the clients here experience financial abuses during some point in their relationship,” said Anita Hofer, director of strategy and communications for Discovery House.

She said that while providing emotional and mental health supports are essential to providing healing, the other part to ending the cycle of abuse is giving women a hand-up financially.

“Without money, how do you ever have a damage deposit to get an apartment? How can you have a laptop to go back to school without money? How can you save or make sure that you can put food on the table?”

Local non-profit agency Momentum has been offering a matched savings program for the clients of Discovery House, matching the savings that the clients make at a 3 to 1 ratio while also providing financial literacy education.

“Our matched savings programs at Momentum, they function really as a way for people to learn about things, and to then earn a match to their own savings with a goal of people being able to build their assets and move towards financial stability,” said Jeff Loomis, executive director for Momentum.

“You can think about it as a power boost to someone’s own savings, as they’re learning about money.”

Hofner said financial abuse doesn’t leave the visible bruises and marks that physical violence does.

“It makes it really difficult for mothers to leave an abusive partner and it makes it so that clients need extra support. That we’ve got this other organization that’s able to offer

this expertise to our clients, we’re really grateful to them for the partnership.”

Empowering change

Jessica, a domestic abuse survivor that LiveWire has chosen to use a pseudonym for to protect her identity, was one of the graduates from the Momentum savings program on July 25.

“It’s empowering because you know your finances inside and out, and before I was just kind of always in the dark, never really knowing or understanding what was going on,” she said.

“Being completely in control of my own finances makes a huge impact on stepping out.”

She said that the savings match portion of the program was a motivator, but for her, knowing how to save in the future was the real long-term benefit.

“Just learning to live with that extra little bit of money, and knowing that I could do it, that in itself is really empowering.

“I just don’t really miss that little bit of money, knowing that I’m slowly building something. Having that nest become a little bit bigger every month feels really good.”

Hofer said that Discovery House’s analysis showed that 90 per cent of clients who took part in a financial literacy program had high levels of satisfaction with it.

She said that many of those same clients go on to affordable housing. Although, said Hofer, the current challenge of a lack of affordable housing in the nation makes that a larger issue.

“We are seeing that that continues to just be something that people are strapped out financially about, so any kind of financial boost that they can get is helpful.”

For Jessica, she wanted people to know that there are resources available for women needing help and that they shouldn’t be suffering alone.

“We’re all in the same boat, although our stories may be different. You don’t need to be alone. It really takes a village to help a person grow, and there’s so many of us that are going through this, but when you’re going through it if you’re alone, you’re really not. So make the call and reach out to somebody for support.”

Long-term successes seen

That empowerment, said Hofer, also extends to the children of mothers who are escaping domestic abuse.

“Sure, it’s empowering for the mom. But then when the child sees that mom can be empowered by having financial knowledge, and real-life skills, like how to handle your money, how to invest your money, how to

save your money, and why having an RRSP is important, it really lifts the whole family.”

She said that a lot of the work that Discovery House does is to try and mitigate the intergenerational trauma that comes from abuse and poverty.

“The trauma of living in poverty is one that adds up for kids over time, and for sure, it creates all kinds of intergenerational challenges down down the line.

“And you know, people will say, ‘Well, what do you do with men and boys?’ We work with boys here, who are future men, and we’re trying to get them to be more competent with understanding their emotions, know how to have healthy relationships, respect the women in their lives, respect the other men in their lives so that they go on to having a more healthy future.”

Loomis said the matched savings program for Discovery House clients, like those of all of Momentum’s matched savings programs, have had real-life long-term positive impacts on people’s wellbeing.

The effects of savings, he said, can be profound.

“It can start to be able to help people think about the future — it can turn hope into a verb. By setting aside money for your future, you start to get the thinking from just focusing on the current need, the huge challenges like someone from leaving a domestic violence situation, that immediacy of that crisis situation, and can start having people think about their future possibilities and be able to dream for the future.”

He said that from a survey done by Momentum of graduates, 92 per cent continue to save after the end of the matched savings program.

“It’s just so difficult for people to save that are living on low incomes. So that’s why if they can save just a little bit, to say they can save that $30 or $40 a month, then with a threeto-one boost while they’re in the program, it just makes it a lot easier for them to start saving.

“Then as they stabilize and start thinking about the future as they’re pursuing their hopes and dreams, that savings becomes part of just their regular habits.”

For more information on Discovery House, see discoveryhouse.ca and visit livewirecalgary.com for more Alberta news.

“It can start to be able to help people think about the future — it can turn hope into a verb. By setting aside money for your future, you start to get the thinking from just focusing on the current need... and can start having people think about their future possibilities and be able to dream for the future.” JEFF LOOMIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR MOMENTUM

16 BEERS CURRENTLY ON TAP

WE BELIEVE BEER IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE YOU ENJOY IT WITH, BUT WITH SO MANY CHOICES, YOU'LL HAVE NO PROBLEM FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO JOIN YOU.

OUR TAPROOM OFFERS EASY-DRINKING CORE BEERS, AN EXCITING ROTATION OF SESONALS, TASTY SNACKS, AND A UNIQUE CELLAR MENU OF BARREL-AGED WILD BEERS.

SEE YOU SOON.

Summer Sights and Sounds in the City.

Comedy on the island

A huge hit last summer, the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival will once again take over Prince’s Island Park with a load of laughs in a pretty incredible setting. The weekend fest, which takes place Aug. 25 to 27, features some of standup’s biggest names.

Headliners this year are Nick Offerman (Friday), Jonathan Van Ness (Saturday) and Andrew Schulz (Sunday).

Offerman is known best for his role as Ron Swanson in the sitcom Parks and Recreation. He is also no stranger to the city, having filmed several things in Calgary, most recently a stunning and incredibly memorable role in an episode of the dystopian zombie series The Last of Us.

Other comedians who will perform over the course of the weekend include Sam Morril, Annie Lederman, Dan Soder and Monet X Change.

For the full lineup and tickets — VIP and general admission ducats are available — please go to greatoutdoorscomedyfestival.com.

Look up and get a BUMP

It’s that time of the year, when the writing is on the walls — or rather the murals.

The beginning of August marks the start of the Beltline Urban Murals Project (BUMP) Festival, which is a “community-led, artist-focused … city-wide street art movement reimagining public spaces through the visual arts and expanding the capacity of the local arts community.”

Chosen by a panel of judges, the artists from the city, as well as national and international creators, will showcase their talents with new murals, road works and graffiti works throughout the heart of Calgary.

Some of those whose works will be featured in those public spaces include: Yasaman Mehrsa a Toronto-based visual artist; Brazilian street painter Dinho Bento; Montreal-based muralist and illustrator Milkbox; and collaborative Canadian duo Diane and MSHL.

Things kick off in earnest Aug. 5 with Graffiti Jam, taking place from noon to 6 p.m. at High Park, and featuring seven graffiti artists creating their work live, along with DJs, food, beer, basketball and local vendors.

Throughout the rest of the month there will be artist talks, guided mural tours, a screening

Nick Offerman THE GREAT OUTDOOR COMEDY FESTIVAL

of Dune, and the BUMP Alley Party to close things out Aug. 26.

For more information, as well as a map of where the murals are located, please go to yycbump.ca.

Summer spins

We’ve had the folk, we’ve had the blues, we’ve had the country, we’ve had the rock — now we get the beats.

For lovers of EDM, it’s time once more for the Chasing Summer fest, showcasing some of the finest and most well-known DJs from around the world.

Running Aug. 5 and 6 at the Max Bell Centre Festival Grounds, the roster for the twoday, outdoor rave is who’s who of club culture, including Tiesto, Zed, Griffin, Seven Lions and James Hype, along with dozens of others.

Single-day and weekend passes are available in general, VIP and cabana options.

For tickets and more information, go to chasingsummerfestival.com.

Get Loopy

It is the longest-running street festival in Calgary and it’s one many other area’s of the city model theirs after— the yearly Marda Gras in the southwest community of Marda Loop.

The walkable, family-friendly, car-free day takes place Aug. 13 when they shut down the stretch of neighbourhood on 33 Ave. between 19 and 22 St.

All the usual street activities will be on hand — music, area vendors, kids entertainment and the pet photo booth and pageant, with proceeds from that favourite going to the Tails of

Help charity, which “helps fund essential veterinary care for ill or injured pets of owners who are experiencing financial hardship.”

Making it a little easier to get there and not have to worry about parking and annoying the Marda Loop locals, there will be a shuttle service to and from the festival leaving from the Military Museums and dropping folks off and picking them up on Garrison Gate S.W., just south of the festivities.

Cirque to quench your thirst

Peanuts. Check.

Popcorn. Check.

Cotton candy. Check.

Beer. Oh, my, yes. Checked.

The circus-going experience just got a little more enjoyable and livelier thanks to a new collaboration between local craft brew legends and a legendary Canadian-born performing troupe.

Trickster is the new Village Brewery brew to commemorate Cirque du Soleil’s upcoming Calgary performances of their hit show KOOZA, which will take place under the Big Top on the Stampede Grounds from Aug. 25 to Oct. 8.

The limited edition beer — a clean, quaffable “crispy lager” — will be available in the KOOZA beer garden during the show’s run, alongside other Village faves.

Sunalta gets hopping

The community of Sunalta is fast becoming an inner-city gem that more and more people are discovering.

That should only be furthered by the first

(and hopefully first annual) Sunalta Grassroots Fest, which takes place Aug. 27 in the southwest community.

The family-friendly “bar hop” style event, features local music and beer in the ever-expanding craft brew hotspot, home to Two House, Tailgunner and Best of Kin.

Those three taprooms will feature — along with their suds — a sampling of Calgary talent throughout the day: Amy Nelson, Elle McAndrews, Red Hot Hayseeds, Clinton St. John, Sean Hamilton and the Amber Hour, and Carter Felker.

Tickets are available from Eventbrite through sunalta.net, and all proceeds from the day will go to support the Sunalta Community Association.

Help us out

Perhaps you’ve seen it in these pages the past couple of months, but we want to know who you are.

We’re conducting a readership survey to help us serve you better.

We want to know what you like, what you hate, what you can’t do without (once again, horoscopes didn’t make it in this month’s issue — let your voice be heard!), what we’re missing and more.

It doesn’t take much time — and there’s free stuff to be had!

Head to the contents page, scan the code and please fill out the survey.

Up for grabs are gift certificates from friends such as Turn It Up! Records and Hi-Fi, and Inner City Brewery.

We’d appreciate your participation.

Milkbox BELTLINE URBAN MURALS PROJECT

Amy Nelson

Calgary Dragon Boat Race & Festival is for Everyone

By Nathan Iles

When considering the landlocked prairie beauty of Calgary, the first thing that comes to mind is not usually “boat racing.” And yet, every August, the Calgary Dragon Boat Race & Festival makes waves on the banks of North Glenmore Park, bringing a unique sense of culture and community to the city.

The festival’s event manager Charlene Delisle is often awed by the communal spirit she witnesses. “You just sit back, you watch all of this, and you think, this is what society is all about,” she reflects. “Being a part of something; being happy.”

The “something” she refers to is a Chinese cultural tradition that goes back more than 2000 years. The festival is held to honour the memory of Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet and philosopher who lived through the Warring States period of the Zhou dynasty. In 278 BC, Yuan committed suicide to protest the corruption of a Chou emperor, and it is said that local fisherman raced their boats into the Mei Lo River, attempting to save the drowning philosopher’s life. For generations since, people in China have held boat races in Yuan’s name.

The boats themselves are striking in appearance; 40 feet long, intricately painted, and adorned with an ornamental dragon head at the bow, and a tail at the end. But what’s most fascinating to see is the rowers themselves, 20 of them sitting in pairs paddling furiously as a single team member steers from the rear of the boat and another pounds a drum beside the dragon head. This spectacle is only enhanced by the diversity of the athletes.

“Anyone can do this,” emphasizes Delisle. “It’s not something you have to go get an education or spend many hours in a gym to be a part of. This is something that is brought together because you want to be a part of something.”

In Calgary alone, there are more than a dozen teams that welcome athletes of all backgrounds, ages, gender identities and athletic abilities.

Dragon boating also has roots in the original Olympic Games of Ancient Greece, so a team drawing inspiration from the mythical warriors of Sparta is only fitting. Mike Heartz, who has been the captain of the Calgary Spartan’s Dragon Boat club since 2018, is also passionate about the inclusivity of the sport.

“Our mission, from day one, was to prove that you can both do well in [competitive] races and also be a social, friendly team,” he says.

The Spartans are a mixed-competitive team with a rigorous practice schedule. “All of the competitive teams in Alberta typically practice two to three times per week,” says Headtz “The social teams typically practice once per week and prioritize having fun, which is also an important piece in this community.” This fun can be seen in some of the names of other Calgary teams, such as Rocksteady and the Waverunners. There is even a team of past and current Calgary Transit employees, bringing more Cowtown flair to the festival.

The Calgary Dragon Boat Society is the organization that has hosted the festival since 2010. The diverse board of the society has the stated aim “to engage Calgarians in an annual community dragon boat festival that profiles local Chinese culture and promotes a shared cultural experience.” Sponsors range from international organizations such as Sinopec to local organizations such as Calgary Chinatown, and it is thanks to many of these sponsors that you can enjoy more than just boat racing at this year’s festival.

As competitive and casual racers sail across the reservoir, attendees can browse the Calgary Dragon Marketplace, which features over 50 local businesses offering artisanal crafts. Assorted food trucks and a (family friendly!)

beer garden sponsored by Marda Loop Brewing is sure to keep attendees full and satisfied as they cheer the racers on. A kids’ play area offers two bouncy castles and face painting. There is even a stage providing cultural entertainment throughout the entire event, with performances from the Calgary Tai Chi and Martial Arts College and Global Fest. Best of all, the entire event is free. What else could fit better with the spirit of inclusivity that pervades this event? In addition

to free admission, free parking is offered at Mount Royal University, with free shuttle bussing to and from the event offered by the Deerfoot Inn & Casino.

The excitement of the competition forms the heart of the festival, especially for local teams. “The Calgary Dragon Boat Festival is special to us because it’s our hometown race,” says Heartz. “It’s where we strive to prove ourselves and showcase our talent to all of our family, friends, and other teams.”

But quieter moments will pervade as well. Eye-dotting ceremonies and traditional Chinese blessings punctuate the event, and on Saturday morning, the Sistership Dragon Boat Association — an organization dedicated to providing dragon boating opportunities to people diagnosed with breast cancer — will conduct a ceremony to honour the survivors and victims of breast cancer, laying roses across the water.

The Calgary Dragon Boat Festival takes place on August 11, 12, and 13 in North Glenmore Park. It promises to not just be a piece of Calgary’s cultural mosaic; it also promises to be a whole lot of fun. As Charlene Delisle puts it, “What’s better than getting out, being a part of the festival season, and watching people race up and down the reservoir?”

For more information about the festival and to see a full calendar of events, head to calgarydragonboatsociety.com.

“Anyone can do this. It’s not something you have to go get an education or spend many hours in a gym to be a part of. This is something that is brought together because you want to be a part of something.”

CHARLENE DELISLE

Dragon Boats compete on Glenmore Reservoir

The World’s Best Brandy is Made in Calgary?

By Don Tse

Brandy has historically been marketed based on region (for example, Cognac and Armagnac) and age (for example, VS, VSOP and XO). Through clever marketing, Cognac and Armagnac have set the standard for brandy, but in truth, they are made from grapes not appropriate for winemaking.

Bridgeland Distillery (77 Edmonton Trail N.E.; bridgelanddistillery.com) is changing that.

“Most of the brandy in the world is made from varieties of grapes nobody wants to make into wine,” explains Daniel Plenzik, cofounder and distiller at Bridgeland Distillery. “So we asked ourselves, ‘If we make a really good wine, will it make a really good brandy?’

The answer was yes!”

Indeed.

Bridgeland Moscato Brandy received a gold medal and was crowned the best product in the Brandy Aged 2-3 Years category of the World Brandy Awards. Bridgeland Distillery also makes Gewurztraminer Brandy. As their names imply, the two brandies are made from

single grape varieties, a highly unusual practice since the vast majority of brandy is made with a mix of grape varieties.

“Traditional brandy needs longer aging because it is so acidic,” says Plenzik. But by using the highly aromatic Moscato and Gewurztraminer grape varieties, Bridgeland Distillery’s brandy tastes amazing after only a relatively short time of maturation.

While Cognac and Armagnac drinkers might be used to their signature flavours, which are sweet and fruity from the grapes, but also spicy, bitter and earthy, Moscato Brandy and Gewurztraminer Brandy are intensified representations of those wine styles. Moscato Brandy is bright and citrus-like — reminiscent of candied orange peels — while Gewurztraminer Brandy shows tropical fruit and figs. Where Cognac or Armagnac are thought of as fireside sippers appropriate to accompany a book, Bridgeland brandies are appropriate for sunny days and social gatherings.

Not only are these world-class brandies delicious in their own right, they present a unique

learning opportunity for Calgary wine lovers.

Visitors to the Bridgeland Distillery tasting room can sample the Moscato wine, unaged spirit from the wine (dubbed “BadaBing”), the Moscato Brandy and a special “Artisan Collection” version of the Moscato Brandy which enjoyed extra aging in a port cask. Fans of Gewurztraminer can try the wine, the brandy made from the wine and Eau de Vigne, Grappolo made from the Gewurztraminer pomace (labelling restrictions prevent Bridgeland Distillery from calling the spirit “grappa,” but that’s what it is).

“I don’t know anywhere else in the world where you can have the wine, the brandy and the grappa from the same vineyard,” says Jacques Tremblay, the other co-founder and distiller at Bridgeland Distillery.

These products are very much in the spirit of experimentation that has catapulted Bridgeland Distillery onto the world stage. In addition to the grape-based spirits, the distillery makes single malt whisky from barley sourced from a single field in Alberta,

a bourbon-like spirit made from Taber corn, limoncello, amaro, baijiu and other spirits bridging tradition and innovation.

Jacques Tremblay and Daniel Plenzik

PHOTO: JARED SYCH

All-you-can-eat August

Food festivals fill the calendar with culinary celebrations

By Mike Bell

Abuffet, a smorgasbord, a nosh up — call it what you want but August in Calgary offers up a delicious opportunity to sample the sugar and spice that makes the city so nice, which is the thriving culinary scene.

In this economy, fewer and fewer folks are able to afford a foodie night out at any of the incredible restaurants the area has to offer, so an opportunity to do it on the cheap and sample the wares of many chefs, many different styles, cuisines, cultural tastes and experiences is one that’s hard to pass up.

Luckily, again, the month provides several events where you can do just that.

Each has its own, shall we say, flavour, but the main aim is to showcase all of the tastes you can encounter with your stomach leading the way.

Go on, dig in and pig out.

Swimsuit season is almost over and winter is fast approaching so you may as well prepare for it with that extra layer of lard.

Brewery and the Beast

Aug. 27 at Fort Calgary

If your taste buds take you to just one eating event in August, you’ll probably want to set your sights and salivary glands on this ridiculously edible event.

As organizers promise, “Brewery and the Beast is a one-of-a-kind culinary event that brings together an extraordinary line-up of chefs and beverage makers to deliver a feast of fire-kissed meats, craft beers, cocktails, ciders and wines.”

Around since 2012, B&B, which dubs itself as The Festival of Meat, has tastings in Vancouver, on Vancouver Island and, of course, Calgary.

Showcasing locally sourced proteins and in-

gredients — including “proteins that are grown with integrity and transparency. All proteins featured in the chefs’ dishes are sourced from Canadian Farmers and Ranchers that raise their animals responsibly and ethically” — the more than 50 local chefs, brewers and distillers, the festival lets you eat your way through Alberta.

Tickets provide unlimited access to the food and non-alcoholic drinks, as well as eight tickets for adult beverages. (There is a VIP option which obviously gets you more.)

The list of high-end restaurants in one place is seriously stunning with a roster that features, among others, Bridgette, Charcut and Charbar, Deane House, Foreign Concept, Lulu Bar, Notable, Oxbow, the Living Room, Barbarella, The Nash, Rodney’s Oyster House, Flores and Pine, Pigeonhole and Fonda Fora.

Drink providers from at home and abroad include Banded Peak, Blindman Brewing, Un-

common Cider, Three Finger Jack Wine, Tito’s Vodka and coffee from Rosso.

If you can’t find anything to suit your tastes, then presumably you are a staunch vegan or subsist entirely on a steady diet of Big Macs and soda pop. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that …)

For more information, including tickets and the complete list of restaurants and beverage makers, please go to breweryandthebeast.com.

Taste of Calgary

Aug. 3 to 7, downtown

Not to be outdone, this summer staple is back and bigger and better than ever in its two and a half decades.

Now spread out over five days, instead of last year’s four, and spread out further over its location at 4 Ave. and 8 St. S.W. to include shadier and grassier spots, there will be much more to munch and sup your way through, too.

BBQ on the Bow

The number of participating restaurants, food trucks, breweries and distilleries, has leapt to 90 and menu items now number 350. Who and what’s on the menu?

Vendors include Big Fish and Open Range, Kitchen Lizard, Mama Dessert, Peak Pizza, Arepas Ranch, Mina’s Brazilian Steakhouse, Tasty Churros, Odd Burger, Simply Irie, The Dumpling Hero, Wafflepops, Mumbai Bites, Uzu Ice Cream, Bow River Brewing, Bridgeland Distillery, OT Brewing Company, Eau Claire Distillery and The Canadian Brewhouse.

Admission is, as always, free, with each dish ranging between two to seven tickets.

As for those tickets, this year Taste of Calgary will actually be paperless, with food lovers able to purchase a Taste Pass, which allows the ability to purchase taste tickets directly from each of the vendors and load them on the card.

Until Aug. 2 (5 p.m.) you can purchase the passes online and get a VIP entry which lets you skip the line at the fest. After that date, the Taste Pass can be purchased at booths at the festival or you can purchase their samples with debit and credit cards, which you can buy directly from which ever booth and flavour you’re craving.

There will, of course, be entertainment provided by such local acts as Peter and the Wolves, The Frontiers and Liz Christensen.

For more information and to get yourself a Taste Pass, please go to tasteofcalgary.com.

July Chartlist

Direct from your radio pals at 90.9 FM, here is a snapshot of the current artists & albums topping the charts at CJSW. Tune in, turn it up and enjoy.

1. Deep Covers** - Generation Loss (Self-Released)

2. La Sécurité* - Stay Safe! (Mothland)

3. Sweeping Promises - Good Living Is Coming For You (Sub Pop)

4. PRIORS* - DAFFODIL (Mothland)

5. Motorbike - Motorbike (Feel It Records)

6. Leather Jacuzzi** - Rumours 2 (Self-Released)

7. Oranje** - Pure Sport (Self-Released)

8. The Soul Motivators* - Do It Together (Self-Released)

BBQ on the Bow

Sept. 1 to 3 at Shrine Stables, 5151 101 St. N.W. OK, this one is admittedly something of a tease.

It’s less a sampling than a smelling.

Canada’s oldest sanctioned BBQ competition focusses on local pit masters and backyard, weekend warriors working their wonders on the smoking of meats in the Kansas City style.

It’s all about the contestants who are vying for prizes in various categories, such as brisket and ribs. The judges get to sample, while you get to sniff.

No, the actual low-and-slow act of BBQing is not that interesting to watch — unless you’re a meat-smoking reprobate who spends hours on end watching all of the Food Network and Cooking Channel shows about it — but it’s still a free, fun, family-friendly gathering of a pretty tight-knit community.

That said, there is an entertainment aspect to the weekend, with local musicians performing almost non-stop through the daytimes of the competition, including such notables as bluesman Tim Williams, roots act the Sadlier-Brown Band and R&B faves the Torchettes.

No, you may not get to sample, but perhaps it will get your appetite ready for one of the many Calgary BBQ joints — The Palomino, Hayden Block Smoke and Whiskey, Comery Block Barbecue or Big T’s — this city has to offer. Hell, maybe it may even inspire you to try your own hand at the art — and, yes, it is an art — and get ready to enter a team in next year’s BBQ on the Bow.

9. BLVD NOIR** - Santé (Self-Released)

10. Resurrection Men** - Insults and Injuries (Self-Released)

11. Joni Void* - Everyday Is The Song (Constellation)

12. Zoon* - Bekka Ma’iingan (Paper Bag)

13. Valiska** - Wolf Moon EP (Self-Released)

14. Window Lamp** - Episode (Self-Released)

15. Softlung* - Second Chances (Self-Released)

16. Love Language* - Indian Cowboy (Self-Released)

17. Ryan Bourne** - Plant City (Self-Released)

18. Big Blood - First Aid Kit (Feeding Tube Records)

19. Tough Age* - Waiting Here (We Are Time)

20. Chinos - Try On (Hi Doggy!)

21. Charlotte Cornfield* - Could Have Done Anything (Next Door Records)

22. Ricca Razor Sharp** - Riccafy Your Party Tonight (Self-Released)

23. Moreish Idols - Lock Eyes & Collide EP (Speedy Wunderground / PIAS )

24. Miesha and The Spanks** - Unconditional Love In Hi-Fi (Mint Records)

25. Kid Koala* - Creatures of the Late Afternoon (Envision Records)

26. Tim Hecker* - No Highs (kranky)

27. Cats Cradle** - C.F. & L.O PT II EP (40TTEN APPLE Records)

28. Rubber Blanket - Our Fault (Mt.St.Mtn.)

29. Cindy - Why Not Now? (Mt.St.Mtn.)

30. Youth Lagoon - Heaven Is a Junkyard (Fat Possum)

** Local * Canadian

A Taste of Calgary

Inglewood’s Fringe Festival is loaded with eclectic onstage antics

By Krista Sylvester

Summer in Calgary has already been full of all sorts of festivals and events to enjoy and there’s still more to come, but none arguably more exciting than the 17th annual Calgary Fringe Festival.

Returning to its longtime home in historic Inglewood, the eight-day festival runs Aug. 4 to 12 with a diverse lineup packed with local and international comedy, drama, music, mystery and more. It may be cliche but it’s true: there’s something for everyone at this renowned festival.

While the concept of the festival was born in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, there are now more than 200 Fringe Festivals worldwide, including right here in Calgary. The Edmonton version of the event usually draws more than 800,000 attendees yearly as the second-largest Fringe Festival in North America.

If you missed out on Edmonton’s festival or wanted to chase more of that eclectic

vibe, you’ll find everything you need in Inglewood throughout the week. Fringe Festivals are known for being uncensored and unpredictable, but that’s what makes them so enjoyable.

Don’t forget to pick up your Fringe button for $5 either online or at the Fringe Festival box office in Inglewood. The button is required to attend performances but proceeds go towards helping the non-profit organization run.

Most performances run around an hour, give or take, and tickets are around $20 (and many shows offer pay-what-you-want options) with the proceeds going directly to the artists.

Whether you’re checking out local favourites or international treasures, you’re sure to find all sorts of laughs, cries and more with a variety of performances to choose from.

With so many shows to navigate, to get you started on your Fringe Festival adventures we wanted to share five that we are excited about.

Beyond Belief by Paul Sussman Lantern Community Church (San Francisco)

How can those other people believe such crazy shit? Look in the mirror before you mock! Join Paul on a delusional, hilarious, mind-bending (and true!) trip through childhood premonitions of catastrophes, learning to love God in a dungeon, an LSD-induced love triangle and more.

• Saturday, Aug. 5, 8 p.m.

• Sunday, Aug. 6, 4 p.m.

• Monday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m.

• Tuesday, Aug. 8, 8 p.m.

• Thursday, Aug. 10, 6 p.m.

• Saturday, Aug. 12, 4 p.m.

Mail Ordered by Shanice Stanislaus Festival Hall (Singapore)

The “Pick of the Fringe” from the 2022 Vancouver Fringe Festival is coming to Calgary!

Lila, a village girl, arrives in Canada, looking for a husband who’s just her type — any man

who can buy her for $100,000. Featuring a cast from Singapore and Calgary, this interactive comedy delivers hilarious Asian melodrama tropes and parodies.

• Friday, Aug. 4, 5:45 p.m.

• Sunday, Aug. 6, 1:45 p.m.

• Monday, Aug. 7, 7:45 p.m.

• Tuesday, Aug. 8, 5:45 p.m.

(pay what you want)

• Thursday, Aug. 10, 5:45 p.m.

(pay what you want)

• Saturday, Aug. 12, 7:45 pm

Date Night by Sunflower Collective Theatre Festival Hall (Calgary)

What does it mean to be loveable? This interactive, semi-improvised play is about dating, caring and mental illness in today’s world. You are invited on a romantic date between the performer, you, and all your fellow Fringers –where you’ll navigate the awkwardness and joy of second dates, secrets and the intimacy

THEATRE

of telling someone who you really are behind the dating profile. Go out with me?

• Saturday, Aug. 5, 7:45 p.m. (pay what you want)

• Sunday, Aug. 6, 3:45 p.m.

• Monday, Aug. 7, 5:45 p.m. (pay what you want)

• Tuesday, Aug. 8, 7:45 p.m.

• Thursday, Aug. 10, 7:45 p.m.

• Friday, Aug. 11, 5:45 p.m.

Gameshow 33 by The Kinkonauts Festival Hall (Calgary)

The Late Night Fringe show classic is back, with a twist. Join our beloved roommates in their apartments as they struggle through a gauntlet of challenging games designed to test their strength, agility, knowledge and wits. Would you be able to rise to the call of audience participation? Will you cheer yourself hoarse rooting for our Fringe Artists’ guests? Who will rise and who will fall? Who will feed the Fish, and who will pay the rent? Find out at Gameshow 33.

• Friday, Aug. 4, 9:45 p.m.

• Saturday, Aug. 5, 9:45 p.m.

• Friday, Aug. 11, 9:45 p.m.

• Saturday, Aug. 12, 9:45 p.m.

Drag Me Kicking and Screaming by Aida Cupcake Presents

ATCO Performing Arts Centre (Calgary)

What are the reasons to not pursue musical theatre? To not follow your heart? And what happens despite all your worst efforts? A big, campy finale! Drag Me Kicking and Screaming will draw you in and lift you up.

• Saturday, Aug. 5, 8 p.m.

• Sunday, Aug. 6, 2 p.m. (pay what you want)

• Tuesday, Aug. 8, 8 p.m.

• Thursday, Aug. 10, 8 p.m.

• Friday, Aug. 11, 8 p.m.

Calgary Fringe Festival runs from Aug. 4 to 12 at various locations in and around Inglewood. For a complete schedule and more information please go to calgary fringe.ca.

REVERY GUITAR TELLS A STORY

Featuring over 80 guitars and a lifetime of legendary stories from one of Canada’s most celebrated players.

Celebrate the Alberta-bred global rock phenomenons through an insightful exhibition capturing 20 years of rock.

A new exhibition dedicated to the almighty guitar, featuring 25 rare and legendary instruments.

Get unique insights, hear from iconic personalities, and listen to compelling stories about Canadian music history. Listening devices are free for NMC Members or can be rented for $5.

• Randy Bachman: Every Guitar Tells A Story

• Studio Bell Architecture

Gameshow 33

The Calgary Atlas Project: Remapping Calgary

By Benjamin Heisler

Join me on a surprising journey to a place where two rivers meet. As your guide, I write from a table cluttered with maps. Not simple geography, these maps are multi-layered, multi-vectored and multiplying. And they are invaluable articles to time travellers looking to traverse our city multidimensionally.

The Calgary Institute for the Humanities of the University of Calgary initiated the Calgary Atlas Project in 2019 to shine a light on some of Calgary’s forgotten or overlooked histories through these maps with smart art and detailed text. Each is written by community insiders and illustrated by artists from our region.

Nine maps have been produced so far: A Queer Map: A Guide to the LGBTQ+ History of Calgary; First Nations Stampede; Calgary’s Art Underground; Calgary Goes to the Movies! A Historical Guide; Workers Stand Up: Calgary Labour History Map; “RING-A-DING-DONG DANDY” A Map of Stampede Wrestling; and The Animals Guide to Calgary are available at certain bookstores and cultural spots.

Upcoming maps will illustrate waves of immigration, Jewish history, alternative energies, and sports and diversity.

When I unfold my copy of Calgary’s Art Underground map, I see blobs of colour that clash in places and blend in others. Words, shapes, lines, patterns, and symbols swirl. Some images are familiar, some not. Some conjure memory. I rotate it once, then again as I try to find bearing.

Apparently, the artists who created the graphics handled it in a similar way. The Altlas Project website describes the collaborative working process of Drunken Paw — the three-person art collective comprised of Mark Dicey, Leslie Sweder and Janet Turner: “Three separate drawings are rotated between the three artists with each taking part in the conversation by reacting to what the others have previously expressed … They land on some triangulation of a shared experience, the residual effect of this being a lush landscape both of their collective subconscious and the environment they are working in.”

Their process echoes how one can experience Calgary’s artworld in conversation.

On the flip side of the map, writer Diane Sherlock assists us with guidance to 56 loca-

tions from the past and present. We find our path and establish North on the sprawl.

I know a little about some of these locations, nothing of others. Some spark conversation, memories and even nostalgia. Some examples: performers and audiences continued to shout out to the Night Gallery for nearly a decade after its closing; Wreck City went viral, attracting thousands to explore art interventions in condemned spaces; The Arbour Lake Sghool collective built large inhabitable cardboard structures and dug trenches in their Arbour Lake front yard, much to their neighbours’ distress.

The map is titled Calgary’s Art Underground, and I suppose the underground refers to a place that is difficult to access. Visibility has been emerging artists’ greatest challenge.

Prompted by the map, I share a triangle of stories, tales from our little-known history that deserve legendary status.

Our first story is set at the Burns Visual Arts Society, one of Calgary’s longest running artist studio collectives. Its early days are a fascinating story of survival and politics.

Once upon a time, a heroic TV journalist named Ralph Klein lent support and provided a media platform to save struggling artists evicted by the City. It was the dead of winter, and they had rented studio space in the Burns Building, then a run-down heritage building.

Artist Wayne Gilles recalls that Klein “met with us informally to update us on the City’s plans and helped get the message of ‘young artists abused by civic government’ out.”

They were able to delay eviction and move to the nearby Neilson Block.

Gilles remembers they appreciated Klein’s help, which they “innocently accepted as altruism. It was only later that it was clear that both Petrasuk and Klein were trying to undermine the newly elected Ross Alger with the intention of running for mayor themselves … Klein won the next election as mayor of Calgary.” The hero journalist became civic regent for nine years and reigning provincial king for 14.

Second up, have you heard of our famous art fire? It took place in the space that became the Illingworth Kerr Gallery, which

was at The Provincial Institute of Technology and Arts, now Alberta University of the Arts. An artwork was performed by internationally acclaimed L.A. artist Chris Burden, Do You Believe in Television? In February 1976, hay was scattered up three flights of the parkade stairwell and a television set at the base.

Once crowds gathered, a voice from the screen pronounced, “Do you believe in television?” and a hand was shown on screen lighting fire to the hay, as fire was also set to the hay.

It is said the flames nearly reached the second floor before onlookers acted.

The experimental artwork seemed a test of what the crowd would do.

Our third stop is in collective memory. Calgary has a rich history of transforming domestic spaces into exhibit spaces. Existence of these marvellous and spontaneous art occurrences indicates fertile cultural topography. Samples on our map include: the Haight Gallery, Straw Gallery, The Lily, Mary’s Place, Carpet ‘N Toast, United Congress, and the New Edward Gallery.

At the last on this list, I recollect nearly a 100 art goers encountered at an opening in the basement suite.

Another past visitor, Stacy Koehler, recalls owner Edward Nyikes: “He always had interesting people around him, and I always felt like I was getting a peek inside a creative person’s world.”

Two of the maps in the series are now used in remarkable but unexpected ways. Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in Calgary Board of Education (CBE) high schools use A Queer Map: A Guide to the LGBTQ+ History of Calgary as a tool for teen mental health. First Nations Stampede Map, is now in Grade 2 classrooms in the Calgary Catholic School system as an aid to teach math.

The master cartographer behind this wide-reaching project is Jim Ellis, the Director of the Calgary Institute for the Humanities. Thanks to him for this treasury of art, history, and diversity.

Pick up a map, keep it as a poster, and use it to adventure in this place where we live.

Atlas Project maps are available at the Bookshop at Esker Foundation, Shelf Life Books, The Next Page, Pages Books, Owl’s Next Books and Lougheed House.

I know a little about some of these locations, nothing of others. Some spark conversation, memories and even nostalgia.

A Queer Map: A Guide to the LGBTQ+ History of Calgary ARTIST: MARK CLINTBERG GRAPHIC DESIGN: GLENN MIELKE

HIGH HEEL KICKS

Drag Fu film more classic, comedy camp from Canadian director Lee Demarbre

By John Tebbutt

There’s a new drag kung fu movie out, and it’s from the guy who made 2001’s gloriously silly Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, so fucking pay attention!

Ottawa-based filmmaker Lee Demarbre has returned to his cult/action/comedy roots with Enter the Drag Dragon, and the film is … well … fabulous!

Demarbre’s wacky low-budget flicks are entirely their own thing, but there’s an obvious affection for the kung fu genre shining through the screen.

I had to ask Lee if there were any classic martial arts films that influenced him.

“I love this question – YES!” he enthused. “Hong Kong films particularly.

“I remember before making my first short film back in 1996 (Harry Knuckles), I decided that I’d try to appropriate a Hong Kong action aesthetic into my action scenes.”

It turns out that, like myself, Lee is a big fan of legendary Hong Kong director, actor and producer Sammo Hung. “Sammo is the best! His style of capturing and covering action is incredibly cinematic and continued to inspire all my films leading up to Enter the Drag Dragon.”

Lee also revealed the reason why the film’s protagonist, Crunch, is played by multiple actors.

“Drag Dragon was made over the course of four years without producer, investor or granting involvement. It was made out of the pure desire to make a movie.”

The planned two-year shoot was unavoidably delayed by tragedy. “During the read through I got the call that my mom was dying and that she had a short time to live. I let everyone involved with the film know that I would have to put a pause on production. While my mom was being treated, I spent all my free time with her. At first the treatment was going well, so with my mom’s permission – we started production and shot every other weekend. We would continue to shoot off and on according to my mom’s health – the process was now taking twice as long as it should have...however, I loved being on set, away from the hospital, taking my mind off of

my mom’s illness.

“In the meantime, Sam Kellerman (who playas originally cast as Crunch) got a fulltime job and wasn’t available as much as I would have liked. I explained to Sam that I needed to continue shooting, because being on set was a way for me to deal with my mom dying.”

This led to the idea of having two additional actors take turns with the role. “I got the idea from two movies; Emmanuelle 4 and Walking Tall Part 2 – both films changed out the leading actor with another actor through the process of plastic surgery. I always loved these films for (their) audacity, and found this gimmick hilarious!”

“Incidentally, my mother plays ‘The Screaming Lesbian’ in Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter. 23 years later, Enter the Drag Dragon is dedicated to ‘The Screaming Lesbian’!”

One imagines that staging fight scenes with characters in outlandish costumes might lead to the occasional mishap. “Running in high heels was the biggest issue,” confirms Demarbre. “And keeping the wig on during a fight. You’ll get a big kick out of our blooper reel!”

If Drag Dragon seems like a return to the style of Demarbre’s earlier work, that’s because it is. “My last feature film was a properly budgeted production; shot in 14 days! When you make a movie in two weeks, you’re trying to get through your day; you’re not trying to make the best film you can make.”

Lee seems to have flourished with a more easygoing shooting method. “It was so much fun to make, I often wish I was still on set making the movie!”

Just like Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, Demarbre’s new film is proudly Canadian. “The producer of my last two feature films told me that I couldn’t set a movie in Ottawa because he couldn’t sell it overseas. He even went so far as to say ‘fire anyone with a Canadian accent’! I call bullshit on this, and made sure to show off Ottawa as much as possible!

“So every time you see a Canada Post mailbox, the Parliament Buildings, or anything Canadian – it’s my middle finger to those who think Ottawa isn’t cool enough to be a set piece in your movie!”

ENTER THE DRAG DRAGON plays Sept. 1-Sept. 7 at the Cineplex Odeon Eau Claire Market Cinemas.

“Running in high heels was the biggest issue. And keeping the wig on during a fight. You’ll get a big kick out of our blooper reel!”

LEE DEMARBRE

Calgary Pride is Alive!

By Erika Ravnsborg

Pride Week is back Calgary! Aug. 26 to Sept. 4 is a week-long celebration of showing your true colours for the city to behold. Pride Week inspires us all to open our hearts and minds to those who are different from us. We all know that Calgary is a diverse city and not just by cultures. As a diversified metropolis — the third most diverse in Canada — here you will likely meet many people who have different gender identities, expressions and sexual orientations. They, too, are looking for a place where they can belong.

In an interview, the manager of com-

munications Anna Kinderwater shares what Calgary Pride Week is all about.

What can we expect to see at this year’s Calgary Pride?

AK: Our parade which we are holding on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. is the highlight for the queer community. This year we are starting it from the 016 Indigo Parking Lot and will end up at Fort Calgary. It will be full of colourful characters in a positive, safe and inclusive atmosphere. When the parade is finished, we will start off the Sunday Pride Festival at Prince’s Island Park. This is the day where it is our family-friendly event and it’s going to run

from noon until later because of a movie we are showing in the park. Our 18-plus event is on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. It starts at 2 p.m., but we stop serving alcohol at 6 p.m. Many people look forward to the food trucks, music and activities there is to enjoy.

What can you tell us about Calgary Pride history?

AK: The organization has been around for over 20 years. During that time, we continually looked for ways to educate and reach out to the community. What started out as a way to

As the 2SLGBTQ+ community faces increased backlash, Pride Month is needed now more than ever

“People have a natural fear of the unknown.

What we want to do is lift that veil and show that there is nothing to be afraid of.“

ANNA KINDERWATER

inform the public and celebrate compassion, Pride has managed to create a free, fun and accessible festival. We wanted to show that we are active members of the city working sideby-side with others.

Because of the pandemic we did have to do a lot of work online but we have taken extra precautions to ensure the public’s health and safety.

What does the organization hope to achieve?

AK: We want to create a safe space for people to be loud and proud about who they are. Everyone has a voice and deserves to be heard. People have a natural fear of the unknown. What we want to do is lift that veil and show that there is nothing to be afraid of. With a little understanding and a lot of acceptance, we can all do some great things together. At Calgary Pride, we recognize that everyone has different experiences, opinions and some who might not have been exposed to our Pride Festival. We still welcome all of those who wish to see what it is truly about.

How can the public show their support?

AK: It’s easy. Even if you are not part of the LGBTQ (community), you can show that you are an ally by doing small things. If you display our flag on your lawn, wear a pin or

have a sympathetic bumper sticker displayed that is a good way to show your support if you can’t make it to the Pride Festival. But if you can make it, just remember that your presence is vital. It is greatly appreciated and you are letting others know that they are not alone.

What has Calgary Pride achieved so far?

AK: We have created multiple programs that has helped integrate ourselves in society. Programs such as our “Reading with Royalty,” in which we have drag performers reading to youths at the Calgary Public Library. This is just a way where we can answer some questions that kids and their families are looking to ask us but don’t know who to reach out to. We have also connected with a lot of businesses, gotten into a lot of partnerships, and leaned into the community.

What are the organization’s plans for the future?

AK: We are currently a non-hierarchy, peer-management type of organization. At Calgary Pride, no matter what your position is, you are free to share ideas and everyone is equal. Our hope is to keep that going but we also want to reach out and help out others who may be facing some kind of discrimination (ie. racial, ethnic, etc.).

Are you ready to see what a world of inclusivity looks like? Here are some events happening that can help you with that.

Reading With Royalty: Presented by TD Bank Group and partnered with Calgary Pride, this bit of educational fun is for kids ages zero to eight years. Held in various Calgary Public Libraries, dazzling family-friendly performers lead a special storytime for young audience. Celebrate 45 minutes of inclusivity and diversity with the King, Queen, and Monarchs of Drag. (calgarylibrary.ca/events-and-programs/programs/reading-with-royalty/)

YYC Pop-up Pride Market: The third go-round for this event and a chance to get a little shopping done or do some business networking with the Local 2SLGBTQ+ community. Expect a fabulous scheduled drag show, hear some marvellous music, and shop from some of Calgary’s local artisans. Sunday Aug. 27 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Bridgeland-Riverside Community Park, 917 Centre St. N.E.

Citywide Pride Interfaith Gathering: For the fifth time, Affirming Connections and Calgary’s Network of Affirming Faith Communities are at it again. With music and storytelling

If we can create more jobs with this, along with getting different perspectives on various issues, and letting others know that they are seen, then we can have a real hope for a brighter future.

Is there anything else you want the public to know?

AK: We appreciate all folks who are looking to learn more about our organization and what we do. Anyone who allows us to lean in and leans towards us in return, shows that

compassion and empathy are still alive in this community. For that we thank you.

As we all know, the world is filled with many wonderfully unique people. One of the best things we can do for others and ourselves is to accept each other’s differences. There are things we don’t agree with nor would we understand, but that just stresses why we have to be kind to each other and not pass judgement. Because in the end, we are all looking for love. May the world be free of prejudice and let love reign.

from the talented Emmet Michael, this event will be all about celebrating queer identities and inclusive meditations. You can tune in online or come in person. Sunday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m., Beth Tzedec Congregation, 1325 Glenmore Tr. S.W.

Calgary Pride Festival: Getting bigger and better every year, for two days Calgarians can enjoy some extraordinary performances, food trucks, marketplaces, pet activities and much more. On the Saturday, it’s an adult’s night, where people can enjoy the beer gardens and, on the Sunday, it is a family-friendly zone which will finish the day with a movie night. Saturday, Sept. 2 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 3, from 12 to 9 p.m. Prince Island Park.

Calgary Pride Parade: Next to the Calgary Stampede, the Calgary Pride Parade, which happens on a Sunday this year, is something to look forward to. This is the showcase for the 2SLGBTQ+ community to show the world who they truly are. Sunday, Sept. 3, 10 a.m., marching from 016 Indigo Parking Lot on 9 Ave. S.W. to Fort Calgary, 750 9 Ave. S.E.

Calgary Pride runs Aug. 25 to Sept. 4 at various venues. For more information please go to calgarypride.ca.

“As we all know, the world is filled with many wonderfully unique people. One of the best things we can do for others and ourselves is to accept each other’s differences.“

ANNA KINDERWATER

Reading with Royalty

KOOZA

A whimsical and daring ode to a traditional circus, Cirque du

By Sarah Comber

Butterflies flutter eagerly in Cedric Belisle’s stomach as the countdown to showtime commences. Calmly, he inserts his AirPods and begins to apply his makeup; listening to soft music.

To step into the whimsical and wacky world of Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA, and embrace his role as the show’s principal character The Innocent, it’s integral for Belisle to lower his energetic frequency.

“My character is very naïve; he’s a loner,” says Belisle. “At the start of the show it’s really important for me to channel that side of him.”

While the tracks Belisle favours to get into a pre-show mindset change all the time, Adele is one of his preferred musicians. “She’s also my partner’s favourite artist,” he adds. “So, it’s a way for me to stay connected to him.”

That connection, that grounding to reality, is echoed in the role The Innocent plays in contrast to the high-flying acrobatics and daring acts KOOZA is renowned for; including the Wheel of Death, the world’s only double high wire performance, and an aerial silks act performed by Japanese artist Mizuki Shinagawa.

“It’s very relatable for the audience to connect with The Innocent, because the show is told through his eyes,” says Belisle.

“Just like it could be told through the eyes

of any members of the audience.”

Written and directed by David Shiner, KOOZA relays the story of The Innocent, an endearing if naïve clown, finding his place in the world. One day while flying his kite, The Innocent receives a mysterious item and is transported to the bizarre, zany world of KOOZA. The Innocent navigates this strange place under the watchful eye of the show’s other lead character: The Trickster.

“It’s a beautiful journey of self-discovery, and I think that every single member of the audience can definitely relate to The Innocent,” says Belisle.

Indeed, KOOZA’s plot might be familiar to Calgarians who had the privilege of stepping into the Big Top 13 years ago, when KOOZA last visited the city in 2010. Cirque du Soleil’s take on a traditional circus, KOOZA was revamped in 2021.

“It was beloved in 2010 and it has only gotten increasingly more impressive,” says Gracie Valdez, KOOZA’s artistic director. “There are new artists, and we’ve updated the technology in the show.”

This will be Valdez’s third visit to Calgary with Cirque. Most recently, she came to the city in 2019 as the artistic director of LUZIA. That was Cirque du Soleil’s last performance in Calgary before Covid-19 put a pause on tours.

“I love the Calgary audience,” says Valdez. “We always receive a really warm welcome. You guys love when people come in and perform, and are a really authentic and beautiful audience. I am really looking forward to that.”

In contrast, this will be Belisle’s first time

“It’s very relatable for the audience to connect with The Innocent, because the show is told through his eyes.”

CEDRIC BELISLE

PHOTOS: DAVID KOTSIBIE

Comes Back to Calgary

du Soleil’s KOOZA returns to YYC after more than a decade.

coming to Calgary as part of the Cirque du Soleil troupe.

“I am enjoying the time I am getting to travel across Canada,” says Belisle. “Being in my home country, it is very special for me to perform in all these different cities. Stopping by in Calgary is a moment I have been looking forward to for a long time.”

Particularly special for Belisle was having the opportunity to perform KOOZA in his home town of Ottawa; which is where he first discovered his passion for performance, and knew he wanted to one-day work at Cirque du Soleil.

“My first introduction to Cirque was when I was 10 years old,” says Belisle. “It was a Saturday morning, and I was trying to look for cartoons. I actually landed on Cirque du Soleil’s ALEGRIA. I looked at my parents in that moment and I told them, ‘Mom, Dad, that’s exactly what I want to do when I grow up.’”

Belisle’s parents supported his dream, spending long hours driving him to and from gymnastics training. Eventually, Belisle would go on to become a competitive trampolinist; joining the Canadian junior team from 2006

to 2007, where he won the bronze medal at the Indo Pacific Championships in South Africa. In 2009, Belisle retired from competing to focus on his original goal: performing with Cirque du Soleil.

He wouldn’t have to wait long for his dream to come true. At age 19, he auditioned for Cirque. Two weeks later, he learned the good news.

“I still remember waiting at home for that phone call and receiving it, and just running into my parents’ arms and jumping and celebrating with them,” says Belisle. “It was truly a moment that I will never forget.”

After his initial start as a power track performer and understudy for the role of Jamie in WINTUK, Belisle joined the cast of KOOZA as part of the house-troupe and understudy for The Innocent. Leaving KOOZA in 2015, Belisle toured with the cast of VAREKAI. Two years later, he returned to KOOZA and took over the role of The Innocent from Stephane Landry.

“He’s the one who really created the character,” says Belisle. “So, when I came in —

Continued on next page

“The show has got everything. It’s got a rollercoaster of emotions; you really get to be awed and inspired and go on this journey with The Innocent. It’s a nice break from reality.”

GRACIE VALDEZ, KOOZA ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Mizuki Shinagawa

with character work, you never want to copy someone else’s work. You want to bring your own touch.”

Belisle’s take on The Innocent draws heavily upon his own history and life experiences. “The Innocent really, really wants to make his kite fly,” he explains. “And that was just like me when I was a child, dreaming of making it onto the Cirque du Soleil stage. I apply those same feelings to my character; the feeling of me lying in bed at night dreaming of stepping out onto that stage.”

“I was also on the show when Cedric started as The Innocent,” says Valdez, whose

career with Cirque began in 2008 as a stage manager. “I’m very proud of him for how he has developed that character and how he keeps it fresh from show to show.”

As artistic director, Valdez is passionate about ensuring the 52 artists under her direction present their authentic selves and “keep the spark alive” while performing the same show night after night. “I work really closely with the artists; exploring their ideas and making sure that we keep things relevant and exciting,” she notes.

Indeed, since 2007 KOOZA has been performed for more than 8 million spectators in

more than 20 countries around the world.

“I have seen KOOZA hundreds of times and I will continue to do so,” adds Valdez. “The show has got everything. It’s got a rollercoaster of emotions; you really get to be awed and inspired and go on this journey with The Innocent. It’s a nice break from reality.”

Belisle adds that there’s nothing like the

energy of KOOZA. “It’s a beautiful show. There’s something for everybody in it; kids, grownups, everyone will be mesmerized,” he says. “I’m excited to see everyone out there and perform for you guys.”

KOOZA will be showing in Calgary from Aug. 25 to Oct. 8, 2023. Tickets are available online at cirquedusoleil.com/shows.

Continued from prevoius page

“It was a Saturday morning, and I was trying to look for cartoons. I actually landed on Cirque du Soleil’s ALEGRIA... ‘Mom, Dad, that’s exactly what I want to do when I grow up.’”

CEDRIC BELISLE

Calgary’s Bella White the New Queen of Country Awaits Her Coronation

By Mary-Lynn Wardle

Asweet, rippling perfection shines in the music of Calgary born and raised Bella White.

From writing her first song in her journal at age seven to experiencing her first heartbreak from unrequited love in Grade 4 to her first public performance at 12 years of age, her music ensnares the eternal, universal recurrence of heartache and longing in a matter-offact manner that’s anything but mundane.

At the beginning of White’s professional career she wore grooves into The Music Mile as a member of Red Hot Hayseeds, then earning a solo deal with illustrious roots flame-keeper, Nashville’s Rounder Records (Dr. John, Alison Krauss, Sierra Ferrell), before she was even of legal drinking age in the label’s home state.

White’s had abundant practice at it all. Which no doubt led to her first album, 2020’s Just Like Leaving and this year’s Among Other Things, being, well, pretty much perfect.

And in April of this year, White made her first appearance at The Grand Ole Opry. White’s pathway to success may seem like it was short, but actually started earlier than most — in pre-school even, when her Virginia-born, North Carolina-raised dad, William White, ran into Craig Korth as they were picking up their kids. The dads ended up playing music together.

“I remember going to all the little bluegrass festivals in Alberta and sitting on the side of the stage watching him play just like thinking he was so cool,” White said in a phone interview from her boyfriend’s home in New Orleans, where she will be moving from her Victoria digs once she gets off the road in October. “He was in that band with Craig Korth and Julie Kerr (Kerr and Korth had Jerusalem Ridge, William White’s was Widow Maker) and their daughters Ella and Amy are like sisters to me and my sister”

It was barely a half-decade before White was on the stage in her own right.

“I think the first thing I ever did was play one of the open mics at The Ship and Anchor. Do you know the band The Lovebullies? You know, Joni (Brent) and Chantal (Vitalis) and all of them. They were, like, family friends of mine and I’ve known them since I was a little kid and Caroline (Connolly) had me come and sing there one day when they were hosting it.

I think I was maybe 12 at the time.”

White went on to play all the beloved venues of Music Mile and beyond, often as part of Red Hot Hayseeds, so by the time she finished William Aberhart High School, she was set on music rather than post-secondary. She moved to Boston at 19.

“It’s kind of random. I feel like I was kinda surprised by it too, but there’s a music school in Boston (Berklee) and I did not attend it but they have this really cool American roots program that teaches you about a lot of old country music and bluegrass and old-time music and kind of folk music of America if

you will. A lot of my peers at the time were either finishing up their time at Berklee or had attended Berklee or were living in Boston creating music. There was a really rich music community in Boston, and it was a scene I wanted to be a part of so I figured I would insert myself. I was there for about a year. It was a really special time.”

White wrote the songs for her first album, and gathered some of those peers to record at Guilford Sound in Vermont. When White

self-released Just Like Leaving in 2020, Rolling Stone picked The Hand of Your Raising as a must hear country song. Pretty soon, White was on Rounder Records with a world-wide release. Fast forward a couple of years to White onstage “in the circle” at the Opry.

“It was really a special experience. It was something that I’ve always, of course, revered the idea of. I don’t even know if I really considered that I would actually get to do something like that or if it was an option but I just kind of was like, ‘Oh yeah, The Grand Ole Opry, that’s an institution and that’s amazing.’ I never really thought, ‘Well, I’ll play that one day,’ so when I was offered the performance I was kind of like, ‘Oh, shit, that’s cool.’ ”

She adds, “You really do feel like you’ve become part of this family and that was really neat to feel so at home at somewhere that’s

Continued on page 25

”I think I can go back and a lot of the times really look at the feelings I was experiencing or if (the songs) are written present tense they’re about past experiences that maybe happened a long time ago.”

BELLA WHITE

Bella Fish PHOTO: BREE FISH

Calgary International Blues Fest, a Place For All

By Mary-Lynn Wardle

Jazz

singer Cindy McLeod

is

passionate about many things, but two or them are front and centre when she talks about The Calgary International Blues Fest, which runs from July 31 to August 6 this year at various venues. Since 2005, McLeod has been producer and artistic director of the fest, and the focus of her work is bringing people and great music together, so, music and inclusivity are cornerstones of the fest.

1. THE FESTIVAL EMBRACES AND PROMOTES INCLUSIVITY

McLeod not only provides free events to decrease barriers to people enjoying the blues, she also encourages volunteers from agencies assisting the struggling and the homeless, like Calgary’s Alpha House, among her 500 volunteers.

“There is something important that happens when these (marginalized) people put on their volunteer T-shirt and become part of a team,” McLeod says. She will keep on inviting struggling people to volunteer even though working with the population has challenges. “It works and it doesn’t work in that today you might have five people and then you get none. Tomorrow you might have 20 and then you get none. And I don’t give a shit. I want the door to be open. You want to talk about inclusivity? You and I could talk for hours.”

She mentions a volunteer from one of these agencies who is profoundly deaf and had become so much a part of the fest family that he throws his arms around her when he sees her, then grins and lifts his T-shirt to reveal all his previous volunteer T-shirts underneath.

To include all, there are many free events. “All the front half of the week is free, because accessibility is really important to me personally. So, there’s the opening night at the King Eddy and it’s a dance party.

“We do a noon performance at the cathedral downtown. There’s a daycare that comes, there are people in wheelchairs.

It’s really accessible and people bring their lunch.”

Check the schedule to discover more free events.

2. MCLEOD STRIVES TO GIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO BLACK MUSICIANS — AFTER ALL, THAT’S WERE THE BLUES CAME FROM

“It’s much like rock and roll, Black people are being pushed out of the blues. Ironically, it was a Black gay man who created rock and roll, Little Richard. You can’t find a Black band anywhere in rock and roll today, and jazz, it’s pretty similar,” says McLeod.

“All the people that I hire, (from) the States particularly … are telling me that they can’t even get a gig at a festival. You look at the bill and it’s all rock and rollers, who have now branded themselves blues guys, taking all the gigs. It’s pretty hideous. There’s all the investment from the record labels and there is zero Black presence in the infrastructure either.”

To show appreciation for the music’s source, hear the raw blues of Texas-born Sugaray Rayford, the Beale Street rooted Memphissippi Sounds duo, and Louisiana’s up-and-coming blues torch carrier D.K. Harrell.

3. MUSICIANS ARE BETTER THAN ANY TEXTBOOK FOR HELPING PEOPLE UNDERSTAND HISTORY

“I have Russell Jackson (singer, songwriter, and B.B. King’s bass player) and Tony Coleman (King’s drummer) coming up anyway. Wednesday night I always do a series called A Walk Through Blues History. And it’s about context,” notes McLeod.

“A lot of people … just don’t really fully comprehend the language, the history. So, these guys are going to talk about this very thing. They are both really articulate. It won’t be militant.”

The event is traditionally at The Eddy Wednesday night, hosted by Calgary’s own John Rutherford, who is currently enjoying international attention with his new EP Midnight Microphone. “He’s conducting this interview for the walk through and

John Rutherford

he does his homework and he hauls out his records and people walk in and go, ‘God, where did you find that?’

“We talked about this the other day, ‘Am I the right person?’ John, you’re exactly the right person. Your new album brought you to this place. You’re so respectful (of the traditions and music).”

4. INCLUSIVITY MEANS HONOURING THE WOMEN WHO HAVE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE BLUES SINCE THE START

“Billie Holiday, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith … these women were sexually liberated; they were liberated in every way. They were the bosses. They had businesses. They hired men. And you and I were taught about Gloria Stein-

MUSIC

Bella White

Continued from page 23

very intimidating but they just do a really great job or making you feel really welcomed.”

Some people have already started calling White the next queen of country, an accolade that can create pressure. But she takes it in stride. “I kind of chuckle. I mean I appreciate that so much because that’s a label that I don’t take lightly. I think so many of my biggest musical heroes at times have been referred to as the queens of country music like Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris and Loretta Lynn — you know, all these badass ladies.

“And I also know some of the badass ladies that are making amazing music in country music right now that are, you know, people that I really admire and who I’m really lucky to know.”

Her own list of the next queens of country include Sierra Ferrell, whom she toured with, Erin Rae, Melissa Carper and Mariel Buckley. “I’m happy to be in the mix. And I think it’s one of those things where I’m like, OK, I’ll take it, I can’t turn that down, but I don’t know if I necessarily feel like I am that.”

With White’s penchant for capturing a candid moment and emotion in a single lyric line, she might, indeed, be headed up Queen of Country Road.

em. It was white washed,” says McLeod.

To that end, the forever-amazing guitarist and singer Rita Chiarelli plays Sunday, as does Texas-born Diunna Greenleaf, who has created her own version of the blues, and Canadian Angelique Francis. And that’s just a start. Look into the schedule for more knock-yoursocks-intonext-Tuesday ladies.

5.

THROUGHOUT THE WEEK, IT’S ALL ABOUT MUSIC AND MUSICIANS.

“It’s meaningful work for musicians, exactly what I’m talking about, creating a legacy. It’s teaching musicians that they are worthy of dignity and respect. These are struggles I guess after a fashion, but more, it’s been of great reward. The blues has always had a loyal

fan base in Calgary, but there was never any organization underneath it. That’s part of it, to create something that lives and breathes for the blues in Calgary.”

6.AS AN ORGANIZER, IT’S HARD TO PICK JUST A FEW, BUT …

“I have a thing on the Sunday night that’s kind of groovy and it’s a Part Two where I have pulled harmonica players from across Canada together and put them one setting with a backing band,” says McLeod. “They’re all world-class players and they all have surprising different styles, and people have never seen this before, it’s never happened in Canada before. So, I did that the first time last year and I’m doing it again this year. I have Shawn Hall from Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, Big Dave McLean, Steve Mariner who is with Colin James and Harry Manx.”

Calgary International Blues Fest runs July 31 to August 6 at various venues around town. For tickets and the full schedule please go to calgarybluesfest.com.

Although she’s still young (she’ll have just turned 23 when she plays a hometown show at Dickens this month), the heartache in her songs feels ancient, perhaps from channeling that Grade 4 unreturned love and having added a few breakups along the way.

“I feel like I can tap into those feelings pretty quickly. I’m a very positive, happygo-lucky person I would say, but you know, there is a side or an underbelly that’s raw and emotional and it’s very sensitive and feels things very big.

“I would love to be able to write or practice writing with a more positive outlook because I think that is a gift and I love to hear music like that.

“But I wouldn’t say that I’m necessarily wallowing in it and I’m not always writing the songs, I’m not always in tears or, like, upset in the moment but I think I can go back and a lot of the times really look at the feelings I was experiencing or if (the songs) are written present tense they’re about past experiences that maybe happened a long time ago.”

Bella White plays Dickens Aug. 9. and the Edmonton Folk Music Festival Aug. 11. Learn more and listen at bellawhitemusic.com

Sugaray Rayford

Rita Chiarelli PHOTO: DENISE GRANT

Angelique Francis

Modern Love rebuilds a Broken City

By Autumn Fox

Chances are, if you’ve ventured past Calgary’s Electric Avenue lately, you’ve seen the neon beacon adorning Modern Love’s façade — two crossed daggers and a broken heart. And if you’ve walked through the doors of the former Broken City in recent weeks, you wouldn’t be wrong to think another David Bowie song might be more apt to describe the storied venue — Changes.

For 18 years, Broken City, Calgary’s deeply beloved dive bar and music venue, cultivated a fiercely loyal community of artists, musicians, misfits and weirdos. But the space began to take on its name in a very literal sense — a self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps — desperately in need of some figuratively (modern) love and literal modern upgrades.

Enter James Renton and the co-owners and operating partners of The Buckingham, Edmonton’s own famed punk rock dive bar.

“We were wanting to expand for a number of years, but COVID kind of slowed that down. We were looking at a few places and nothing was really speaking to us. And then our real estate agent was like, ‘Hey, I know a place — they might be interested if you want to go have a look at it.’ And when we rolled up, it was Broken City,” says Renton.

“I’ve been playing in bands at Broken City since like, 2006, so I knew the room really well, but it was kind of the first time I had seen the room in the daylight, and with the lights on, and it just happened to be raining that day, too. So I kind of got the full experience of it, you know?

“Me and my partners kind of talked about it. We’re like, ‘It’s going to need a lot of work,’ but we kind of came to the conclusion that if someone didn’t step in soon and make the repairs that the room so badly needed, then Calgary was gonna lose this room, and it would be like another mid-sized venue that was just gone.”

Renton and his partners officially took over the space in September 2022, continuing operations as Broken City until Halloween the following month, when the venue closed indefinitely for extensive renovations.

While many regulars optimistically held out hope for an opening in time for January 2023’s BIG Winter Classic — Broken City previously being ground zero for the festival — the

logistics of such an undertaking came with delays standard in any major renovation. Even the most optimistically minded wondered how a venue with a plumbing system all but on par with that of an outhouse, that consistently ran out of buckets to catch rainwater, and that had a back bar with its own unintentional water feature could possibly be restored without razing it to the ground and starting from scratch. (Full disclosure: Having worked at Broken City for four years, it is truly with fondness that I recount these issues, and gratitude that I could now very nearly consider myself a red-seal plumber.)

Ironically, in February, when the Modern Love team announced themselves officially on social media, these very shortcomings were what many seemed to lament the loss of the most. Broken City owned its flaws, embraced the chaos, and was all the more endearing because of it. Fans, devotees, and regulars now found themselves facing an existential crisis — is a dive bar still a dive bar with a working toilet?

“Of course, there were a lot of people that were upset that Broken was closing. But in the long run, you know — I don’t want to sound like a downer — but there was a good chance

that Calgary was going to lose Broken City and then nothing was going to go there ever again,” says Renton.

“And you know human beings are reactionary animals, so I didn’t let it get to me. People are allowed to have their own thoughts on it. And you know, there will be times I’d be drinking at the Ship or something like that, and people come up to me like, ‘You’re the guy that destroyed Broken City.’ And I always wish I could say, like on Game of Thrones, when Tyrion Lannister is on trial for killing Joffrey, he’s like, ‘I wish I was the monster you think I am.’

“Like, I saved you. You just don’t know it. But it’s totally fine. It doesn’t bother me. I come with the gift of gab anyway. So if someone is willing to listen to me, I would talk to them for about five minutes or so. And I’d say most of the time I’m able to make people see the good that we’re trying to do here.”

With Calgary live music venues already in desperately short supply, Renton expects most Broken City diehards will eventually come around — if they haven’t already. Not to

”We kind of came to the conclusion that if someone didn’t step in soon and make the repairs that the room so badly needed, then Calgary was gonna lose this room, and it would be like another mid-sized venue that was just gone.”

JAMES RENTON

PHOTOS: JARED SYCH

mention future generations of music lovers.

“It’s kind of morbid, but whether it’s Modern Love, or whatever it is, with all the work that we put into it, this room is still probably going to be able to be operating long after I’m dead.”

Finding ways to best utilize occupiable space was a big part of the redesign — the now larger stage, complete with updated sound system, has been moved to the south wall where the old bar was situated, bathrooms moved to the

pretty amazing chef and he’s come up with a pretty great menu.”

Renton says, in his mind, Modern Love is kind of The Buckingham 2.0 — but that was more of a starting point than an end goal.

“We wanted to make sure that it was a very Calgary-centric room, and I hope we succeeded in that. We were very careful — we wanted to hire people from the art scenes, and the music scenes, and stuff like that —

Renovation delays saw many shows scheduled for their targeted April opening pushed back or delegated to other local venues, but Modern Love finally opened its doors on Friday, June 16 — an official trial by fire with another Broken City staple, Sled Island Music and Arts Festival kicking off only five days later.

The response was positive — with disbelieving, wide-eyed visitors taking in the aesthetic changes — the original tattoo art adorning the

Renton says he wishes they could have had enough time for a soft opening — a chance to casually introduce Modern Love to the community, and an opportunity to fully train the new staff, but he’s impressed with how they managed to pull together with such a short turnaround.

“I’m very thankful for the staff that we hired. They’ve been very patient with us, and understanding that yes, we do have a lot of

back of the venue from the front, and the new, beautifully designed 360-degree centralized bar, tiled and lined with burnt orange glitter vinyl barstools and vintage lighting allows for direct sightlines to the stage from any point in the room. Meanwhile, the rooftop patio has been extended to reach past the bar hut, increasing capacity substantially.

Modern Love has upped the number of draft beer taps to 18 with a focus on supporting local craft breweries. There is a small cocktail list, and like its sister venue, The Buckingham, the menu has gone fully vegan — but in a completely approachable way.

“I come from a touring background. I’ve been playing in touring bands for almost 20 years now, and I’ve been all over the world, and I found that no matter where I went, I was always eating the same shitty veggie burger. Everywhere I went. So with The Buckingham, we wanted it to be a place where people like us, you know, weirdo vegetarians and vegans, could just eat whatever they wanted and still have it be bar food. I want a greasy burger just like everybody else is having…. We hired a

all walks of the different arts and cultural communities. To make sure that it organically grew into a Calgary room. I mean, we could have just slapped a bunch of Calgary Flames things on the wall and said, ‘Hey, it’s Calgary,’ but that’s not how we wanted to do it.”

Despite a chronic resistance to change from its critics, Modern Love has kept a roster of familiar faces and programming — Comedy Monday Nights, Quiz Shoe pub trivia, and of course, cult hit Rockin’ 4 Dollar$, have all returned to regular rotation. Not to mention the weekly Versions Patio Party, and regular appearances from the Natural Selection DJs.

“I think we kind of kept — and we’re hoping to keep — the ethos of Broken City. It’s a place for everyone to come and enjoy the room, and whatever events we have going on. We brought a lot of the DJ stuff back. If we go pound for pound, we’re actually doing more shows than Broken City was doing. So that was a big part of it — to make sure that it was still an art space, and that it was welcoming and inviting.”

walls, the warmth and free-flowing openness of the venue, with the skeleton of the space still very much intact.

In the months following the announcement of Broken City’s closure and evolution into Modern Love, online commentators gleefully debated how long before the renovated bathrooms would be destroyed and the venue overrun with graffiti.

Come opening week, Renton says he fully expected a christening by Sharpie.

“There’s been a few things, nothing gnarly. I personally am OK as long as things aren’t hateful or anything like that.

“It kind of makes a dive bar. It kind of gives it a little bit of identity, you know? So there’s been a few things written here and there — one person took a gold Sharpie and started drawing an underwater scene. That’s really nice. And there’s a couple of ‘Rest in Peace Broken City’s,’ which are totally fine. There was one person that was comparing us to Earls, which I thought was pretty funny. It’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re going to go see Ten Foot Pole at Earls.’ But I left it up. It’s fine.”

experience running bars, but you know, this is the first time we’ve opened one in Calgary, and just dealing with the different culture and stuff like that. So they’ve been very patient with us, and they’ve been teaching us a lot, too.”

In that short burst of time, the Modern Love team has already been able to forge a new identity separate from that of The Buckingham. Renton says the Edmonton crew runs with a ‘Live stupid, die happy’ ethos. “Because we just kind of do what we want, and we have a lot of fun doing it.”

Modern Love, however, has adopted perhaps a more suitably on-brand mantra for a Calgary venue.

“Kyle, one of our bartenders, came up with this wonderful quip that, you know, it’s weird — this is such a Stampede city, more or less. Cowboy culture is very relevant here, and we’re not really that at all. So he came up with the saying, ‘In a world full of cowboys, be the rodeo clown.’ So that’s kind of what we’re rolling with right now.”

Modern Love, 613 11 Ave. S.W., modern-love.ca, @modernloveyyc

“I think we kind of kept — and we’re hoping to keep — the ethos of Broken City. So that was a big part of it — to make sure that it was still an art space, and that it was welcoming and inviting.”

JAMES RENTON

The YYC Music Awards: Opening Ears to the City Scene

By Matt Berry

The YYC Music Awards go down once again on Sept. 24 at Grey Eagle Event Centre, and I always love this event as it showcases some of Calgary’s finest talent, and even lets someone such as myself discover new acts. This month we’re gonna talk about the five acts up for X92.9’s Alternative Recording of The Year.

ORANJE

As I mentioned earlier, there are even acts I discover with the YYC Music Awards and this band is one of them. They’re arguably one of the scene’s most unique offerings with their experimental, self-described emo/math-rock. The new single, Quanzor, hits an emotional punch without saying a single word. Keep an ear out for this act on Sept. 24 and beyond.

NIKU

The gents in NIKU are not only some of the nicest guys out there, but they make killer rock tunes, too. Over the last couple years of

NIKU’s life it feels like they have been going non-stop with constant gigs — including snagging the opening spot for The Beaches at X92.9’s One Weekend Only — and a consistent onslaught of banger tracks including their debut self-titled record with standouts such as Follow, Spinning Out, and the album opener, Waking Up. NIKU have proven with their relentless hard work, and stellar live show, they are ones to watch.

KUE VARO + THE ONLY HOPES

Kue Varo and The Only Hopes seem to be one of the most buzzed-about acts recently in the Calgary scene. Not only do they have a distinct sound, but they even got featured in Exclaim which granted them some national exposure. There is a ton of hype for their upcoming record Cowboy Witchcraft, which is set to drop on Oct. 11. It will be the first album in three years from Kue Varo and the first with the full addition of The Only Hopes. With all the chatter about this act it would be far from an upset to see them take home the award.

JVNO THE BARD

Of all the acts out there who try to blend the early emo sounds of the 2000s with modern indie-rock sensibilities, JVNO The Bard feels like one who truly channels that feeling. His nominated single, Castaway, could easily be a trip back to high school for this 34-year-old man, but instead feels very now. JVNO The Bard seems to take influence from his predecessors, and makes a sound all his own. If you want to relive your youth with an act making cool tunes in 2023 then put on JVNO The Bard — especially as we try to cherish these fleeting days of summer.

THE ROYAL FOUNDRY

This act snagged the Alternative Recording of The Year in 2022 so could they go for a twofer? Quite possibly as The Royal Foundry are one of Alberta’s most talked-about acts. The Royal Foundry formed in Edmonton, but recently came down to Calgary, and got a place in High River. There must be something in the water as The Royal Foundry have been hitting

another gear recently from their energetic and engaging live shows, to their songs on the radio which are constant fan favourites on X92.9. The band is currently working on the follow-up to their huge album Wake Up Wake Up and I have no doubt these wonderfully kind, and ridiculously talented artists can once again put Calgary on the map as a true music city.