The list of entertainment options for those in Brandon looking to enjoy a night out just grew by one, as the WMCA has announced a Sunday, January the 14th date for Canadian comedian Brent Butt. This event joins previously announced shows in the past few weeks for Theory of a Deadman (WMCA) and for Big Wreck (The 40). Brent is best known for having spent six seasons on the hit CTV comedy series “Corner Gas”. Prior to appearing on Corner Gas he had spent many years headlining comedy clubs in Toronto and touring internationally. Tickets for the show go on sale Friday, November the 10th.  For additional events in Brandon, please follow our events listing page. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});  

Theory of a Deadman, a Canadian Rock Band from Delta, BC, will be playing a show in Brandon in support of their latest album “Wake Up Call”. The show is scheduled to take place at the WMCA on Monday, March the 5th at 7:30 pm. Formed in 2001 the band has had 9 songs in the Top 10 song charts including number one hits Bad Girlfriend, Lowlife, So Happy and Angel. In 2003 they won a Juno award for “New Group of the Year". For more information on the show, or to purchase tickets online, please click this link. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The Comedy Invasion Presents Big Daddy Tazz & Friends to Support 4 Year Old Cayden Cross and his battle against Muscular Dystrophy.  Big Daddy Tazz, James Mullinger, Scott Porteous and Nelson Mayer headline "The Comedy Invasion" at the WMCA on Thursday, January 25th.  Show time is 8:00 pm. Cayden was born on February 15th, 2013. The young boy experienced many health problems right from the start. These problems included respiratory & cardiac issues as well as feeding difficulties and was immediately placed on a ventilator and various monitors/IV's to monitor his condition. Cayden was even given caffeine to help stop his heart from spontaneously stopping. He would spend the first 26 days of his life in the hospital before going home with his loving family on Wednesday, March 13th. On August 7th, 2013 doctors confirmed that Cayden had Congenital Myotonic Dystrophy - a form of Muscular Dystrophy. The disease horribly affects every system in his body to some extent, some worse than others. Myotonic Dystrophy is a Neuromuscular Disorder which occurs when the protein inside the DNA repeat itself. 5-37 repeats of protein is considered "normal". In Caydens case, his protein repeats itself 1500 times which is why the disease affects him so severely. Coincidentally, Caydens mother Angela also has a form of Muscular Dystrophy. Although Angela's is not as severe as her sons, her protein repeat count is 500. Her doctors have also told her as she gets older, her symptoms from the disease could worsen. Currently Cayden is unable to walk, crawl, stand or talk but that does not stop him from enjoying the same things other children his age love to do. He loves playing with toys, listening to music, occasionally dancing to the music, shopping, going for walks, reading books and car rides. A percentage of the proceeds made on this night will be donated to Cayden Cross' mother and father to make life easier for Cayden with essentials such as: swimming lessons, music lessons and gym membership so he can ride his bike on the track at the Healthy Living Centre. This also helps keep up his therapy. There are also long terms goals such as: lift system for the bath/shower and home modifications to help make Caydens life easier. 4 Comedians 1 Cause ~BIG LAUGHS, BIGGER DREAMS~ Tickets are just $25 each. Available through Ryan Pandolfi, Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium and North Shore Outfitters. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

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