Big Wreck, a Canadian-American rock band, yesterday announced their “In Loving Memory of 20th Anniversary Tour” celebrating the 20th anniversary of Big Wreck's debut album, “In Loving Memory Of”. The tour kicks off January 18th in Peterborough, ON with a series of shows in Canada and the United States. A show for Brandon at The 40 does appear on both the tour poster, and web site, for Friday, February the 16th. “That Song” and “Blown Wide Open” are among of the bands biggest hits. Ticket information for Brandon has not been released.  We will attempt to update with more information when it becomes available. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

DJ Red, DJ Dirtybird, Blair McDonald (Finally Famous DJ services), Doug Kool (Look Music), and Bryan Podworny (Expressions Entertainment) are some of the local DJ’s that make your evening more enjoyable.  And without a doubt taking a chunk out of the business of live acts. Today some of the top DJ’s in the world are making over 60 million dollars a year (Calvin Harris) and some guys will earn 250k to 300k a night doing bar shows in Vegas.  Not bad really you show up with 2 laptops, turntable, and special effects machine and crank it up.  In comparison when Metallica plays Bell MTS Centre in Winnipeg the band will earn around 600k.  Keep in mind Metallica will tour with 10 semi-trailers and 5 tour buses and a crew of about 40 people. In the 90’s back in the Encounters and Unwinder days bands like Honeymoon Suite, Helix, Kim Mitchell, Gowan, I Mother Earth, Brighton Rock, GOB, Quiet Riot, Our Lady Peace, and Tragically Hip would play live for anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 dollars.  Over the last several years only a few notable live acts play the local clubs as the DJ has become the biggest draw. Blair McDonald & Braden Orchard of Finally Famous DJ Services will go out on a Saturday night and charge on average about $1,100.00 to provide music, lights, and Emcee services.  “Hey if you have a song on your phone and we don’t have it we will play it…. How many guys can say that?”  Right now a big event for Finally Famous is doing shows at the Double Decker downtown and selling it out almost every time.  “in the clubs we play EDM music”.  EDM music is considered Electronic Dance Music. To give you a sample of one of the biggest DJ / EDM shows click on this video from Tomorrowland 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-AP6k5a-Tg Doug Kool a local icon and legend with 42 plus years in the mobile DJ entertainment service.  “The DJ market is a totally different. There are some big functions that want live acts and in the clubs, DJ’s will always be cheaper than bands”.  People really have no idea of the costs to bring in a band of some notoriety into a local club.  Kool states that “bands want such big money to play now and a place like Houstons are lucky to break even after all the costs are incurred….  You need to totally sell out to even attempt to break even.”  On a busy night with DJ’s and providing professional sound and lights Look Music can do from 12 – 15 shows per night. DJ Dirtybird says social media and word of mouth is how his business has increased “to be honest a lot back in the day we would do posters everyone sits on their phone for hours a day and if you promote yourself right things will work good 90 percent of my promos are Twitter and Facebook.  DJ Dirtybird loves what he does “I get paid money to listen to the music I love.” Shane Robins a local singer from a local band Just4Kicks says their talent and music selection keeps customers calling them back.  “We have become the corporate band for events such AMM and they want a live band and not a DJ”.  According to Robins they just don’t stick to one type of music.  “We play every genre of music we don’t stick to one era”.  And at the end of the day for most bands, this isn’t about money it is about having fun.  “We are for sure as busy as we want to be …. We work full time and it is about having fun”.  The cost to book Just4Kicks is in the range of about $1,500.00. One thing is very certain is large local clubs like the Roadhouse and Houston’s are slowly fading off into the sunset and smaller options like The Dock, Double Decker, Prairie Firehouse, Lady of the Lake, Joe Beeverz, Huggy’s, The Keg and Wheat City Bar and Grill are on the steady increase as it appears people are looking for smaller and quieter options.   SOCIAL MEDIA DJ RED https://www.facebook.com/dj-red-456971984319594/ DJ DIRTYBIRD https://www.facebook.com/DjDirtybird/ Finally Famous DJ Service https://www.facebook.com/finallyfamousofficial/ Look Music Services https://www.facebook.com/lookmusic.brandon Bryan Podworny / Expressions Entertainment https://www.facebook.com/expressionsentertainment/ Just 4 Kicks https://www.facebook.com/j4kband/ Darryl Wolski - Former DJ  92 CITI FM / KX96 / The Unwinder and Encounters twitter.com/2112hockey    

Grim Acres Scare Away Cancer Haunted Attraction will feature three main haunts this year. Beyond Darkness will test your anxiety as we push the limits on your darkest fears. In its 3000 square feet, your heart will race in anticipation with what lurks around each corner. The Awakening will take you through cinematic terror as you creep your way through the darkness. Fear will find you in this converted abandoned house with 3 floors of terror. NEW THIS YEAR- A kid and adult friendly indoor CarnEVIL featuring over 20 games for the kids and a few more the adults will LOVE. Test your skills in this indoor 2800 square foot CarnEVIL to win FREE prizes ( kids prizes donated by Centum Mortgage)! No admission charge. As part of the carnival, they will also have a psychic medium that will do readings for you. Dare to connect with those you love. An amazing experience! Grim Acres own Laser tag returns for exciting family yard fun! Brandon Bouncy Castles will be on location to help shake, rattle and roll those skeleton bones! Capture the Zombie (non contact capture the flag) will be in their new Bony Corral feature! Concessions on site to keep you warm and fed. Warming station by the fire where you can share ghostly stories if you dare. All attractions are FREE. Donations gladly accepted for the Canadian Cancer Society. 100% of all money raised will be donated to the CCS. This year will also feature a no scare hour from 6 to 7 pm daily Event times are 6 to 11pm Oct 27th to Oct 30th. Directions. Please take HWY 1a from Brandon to 117W (Stanley Road), then turn south for approx 4 miles to 52030 Stanley Road. Please see map loaded to the pictures on this event page.

​With its biggest ever lineup of Canadian talent, the Canadian Pacific (CP) Holiday Train is set to close out Canada 150 with its 19th annual tour. The CP Holiday Train program launched in 1999 and has since raised more than C$13 million and four million pounds of food for communities along CP's routes in Canada and the United States. Beginning in Montreal, Quebec, on November 25 and 26, 2017 respectively, two trains will make the festive journey, travelling through both the U.S. and Canada to bring holiday cheer to 182 communities along CP's network. Each event is completely free, with CP encouraging every attendee to open their cupboards or wallets to ease hunger needs in their community. Local food banks will be accepting donations at each stop to ensure those less fortunate can access adequate food this holiday season and year-round. "The Holiday Train program is all about local food banks and food shelves and the critical role they play in our communities," said Keith Creel, CP's President and Chief Executive Officer. "People come for the beautifully-lit train and stay for the incredible show – all in the name of community. The holiday season is the best time of the year, and we look forward to bringing together thousands of Canadians and Americans this season for this incredibly important cause and a great time." CP is also encouraging fans of the train to donate heart-healthy food, as everyone should have access to healthy, nutritious food, regardless of circumstances. This supports the mission of CP Has Heart, a program dedicated to improving the heart health of men, women and children in North America. To date, this program has raised C$12 million for cardiac care and research. The 2017 edition of the Holiday Train also concludes CP's Canada 150 celebrations and the Canadian train will feature the Spirit of Tomorrow car, which was part of the Canada 150 Train this past summer. "I am delighted that Canadian Pacific will be bringing joy and holiday cheer to communities across the country with a special Canada 150 edition of their Holiday Train. What a wonderful way to bid farewell to this remarkable year, as we look to the future with hope and optimism," said the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Canadian Heritage. In line with the Canada 150 celebrations, the CP Holiday Train boasts its most stacked lineup of all-Canadian artists on tour in the program's history, including multiple Canadian Country Music Award and Juno Award winners. Sunday, December 3, 2017 Station Address Arrival Event Time Performers Portage la Prairie ​Opposite Centennial Arena, 390-1st St. NW 12:15 PM 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM Colin James and Emma-Lee Neepawa Railway Street between Mountain Avenue and Currie Avenue 3:30 PM 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM Colin James and Emma-Lee Minnedosa West of Station, North Side of Yard, 30 2nd Ave, NW 4:30 PM 4:45 PM - 5:15 PM Colin James and Emma-Lee Shoal Lake Gravel lot adjacent to Grain Elevator on North Railway avenue 7:45 PM 8:00 PM - 8:30 PM Colin James and Emma-Lee   People visiting the Holiday Train are encouraged to take photos and enter CP's Capture the Spirit photo contest. Participants could win a trip aboard the 2018 CP Holiday Train as well as a $1,000 donation to their local food bank. Further details about the contest will be available closer to the start of the program on the Holiday Train Facebook page at facebook.com/HolidayTrain. To help make this year the best yet for local food banks and food shelves, the Holiday Train asks fans to follow the train on social media, invite their friends and family and spread the message about the importance of heart-healthy donations by using #HealthyDonations. Supporters can follow the Holiday Train on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @CPHolidayTrain. As part of Canada 150, CP and the Canada 150 Federal Secretariat are also partnering to promote the Holiday Train and the conclusion of the sesquicentennial celebrations. Use #Canada150 and #CPHolidayTrain as you track the progress of the Canadian train.

BRANDON – Few Prairie music lovers know that they live amid a rich repertoire of songs from medieval France, from Parisian dance halls, from Quebec, and some created right here in the Northwest Territories. On October 29, 2017, you will have opportunity to hear Ray St. Germain, Brandon University students, Garry Lepine, Conlin Delbaere-Sawchuk (of Métis Fiddler Quartet), and Indigenous drummer Debbie Huntinghawk join their musical talents to recreate the songs—a musical experiment. The concert will begin at 3 p.m., at the Lorne Watson Recital Hall. The concert is being arranged by Brandon University Professor Emerita Dr. Lynn Whidden, an ethnomusicologist whose teaching has helped to maintain use of local Indigenous traditions. She has also produced academic work on the music of Indigenous communities that has been referenced in Canada, the United States and Europe and received the Alumni Award for Career Achievement at this past weekend’s BU Homecoming 2017. This month Whidden was also in Innsbruck, Austria, presenting a sound history of this area and on the Plains during the lifetime of Métis leader Gabriel Dumont, 1837 to 1906. “During that time, the bison disappeared, the passenger pigeons went extinct, reserves were created,” she said. “Dumont saw drastic changes right here on the Prairies. This is what I have documented — and some of those (Prairie Métis) songs live on.” Many of the songs come from Real Boucher, a Métis who grew up in St. Louis, Saskatchewan. Several years ago, he sent Whidden 55 of his songs (there are many more) asking that they be preserved and performed—singing the songs is the best way to keep them alive. “Songs and music are such a rich part of Métis culture and history, and there is such a vibrant Métis population in Brandon, this is going to be a fantastic concert,” said Chris Lagimodiere, Director of the Indigenous Peoples’ Centre at BU. Brandon University will also be hosting the 2018 Louis Riel Day celebrations. Definitely on the concert program is Real’s song Francoeur, also sent just a year earlier to Whidden from an elderly woman in the Netherlands asking that it be preserved. In addition to unforgettable melodies the songs are rich in history. The show begins with Real’s song in Cree. It is followed by “Glou, glou, glou” (guess what it’s about!); a medieval pastoral, a love song to mountain life; then a popular Parisian song about the jailbreak of a Catholic cardinal; a funny “big bird” song—beware parading in plumage because hunters lurk; next a song about a popular Northwest policeman named Capitaine Huot; and finally Monsieur Palisse who, if he hadn’t died a few hours ago, would still be alive! The concert finishes with “The Singing Tracks” the story of Manitoba told in local song, with the cart tracks represented by the Red River Jig. Joe Venne, of Birtle, Manitoba contributed an ancient boat song (women: beware running off with a mysterious sailor); you will hear “Turkey in the Straw” in Michif and a “table song” to celebrate a wedding; and Susan Ducharme’s song, “Marie Rouvin,” the liveliest tune anywhere. We thank Edgar Desjarlais for contributing his father’s song and Ray St. Germain who will sing his much-loved “The Métis”. “This will present a wonderful variety of very fun songs, I think you will enjoy them,” Whidden said. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling 204-727-9631, 204-725-7520 or 1-888-627-9663.