Kenny Shields, lead singer of the popular Canadian rock band Streetheart, has passed away quietly and peacefully early this morning at the St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg MB.  Band-mate Jeff Neill confirmed Shields death Friday on Facebook.  Shields, who hailed from Nokomis, Sask, was 69 yeas old at the time of his passing. In July, of this year, they had to cancel the entire 2017 tour schedule for Kenny Shields and Streetheart due to Shield's health concerns. In lay terms, he has approximately 20% efficiency on the left side of his heart which has caused his right side to become damaged in an attempt to compensate. This has created a dangerous buildup of fluid in his lungs along with other serious internal issues. If not for emergency surgery on Monday by a group of highly skilled and compassionate physicians at the St. Boniface Hospital and the Victoria General Hospital, Kenny would likely not be with us today. Www.streetheart.ca Members of Streetheart, and special guests, will pay tribute to the legacy of the legendary Kenny Shields on August 20th at Winnipeg's Classic Rock Fest.  

Get ready to Wiggle, Canada! Tickets go on sale Friday for the world's most popular children's entertainment group, The Wiggles, as they prepare to return to Canada for their Big Show! tour - their biggest show yet! Last year was a great year for the Aussie Fab Four, as they played 332 high-energy shows around the world to enthusiastic crowds. Emma, Lachy, Simon and Anthony are once again ready to delight families across the country with their incomparable brand of preschool entertainment. Audiences across the country will Wiggle down to their biggest and best show yet!  Best of all - since The Wiggles want every Canadian family to be able to enjoy their fun songs and dances, ticket prices for their new Canadian tour are the lowest yet. The tour kicks off on September 27th and runs until November 2nd, 2017. Canadian audiences will get the chance to see Anthony Field (Blue Wiggle), Emma Watkins (Yellow Wiggle), Simon Pryce (Red Wiggle) and Lachlan Gillespie (Purple Wiggle), along with their Wiggly friends Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus! "We can't wait to bring our favourite songs, both new and classic, to Canadian audiences this year!" says Emma. "It's so exciting to see parents who grew up singing and dancing to The Wiggles now bringing their own children to experience the magic for themselves!" The Big Show! tour will include classic Wiggles songs like Hot Potato, Rock-A-Bye Your Bear, Do the Propeller and Get Ready to Wiggle and new music from the Nursery Rhymes album. The Wiggles will be bringing a full band (including bagpipes!), and will be joined by Scottish highland dancers, ballet dancers, Irish dancers, and many more! Canadian Tour Dates and Cities Include: Wednesday, 9/27  Halifax, ON   Scotiabank CENTRE Thursday, 9/28   Moncton, NB  The Capitol Theatre Friday, 9/29   Fredericton, NB  The Fredericton Playhouse          Sunday, 10/1  Québec City, QC Le Capitole de Quebec Wednesday, 10/4 Montreal, QC  The Théâtre St-Denis Thursday, 10/5  Ottawa, ON   Centrepointe Theatres Saturday, 10/7   Toronto, ON  The Sony Centre for the Performing Arts Sunday, 10/8    Hamilton, ON   FirstOntario Concert Hall Tuesday, 10/10  Brantford, ON  The Sanderson Centre for the Performing Arts Wednesday, 10/11 London, ON Centennial Hall Thursday, 10/12    Kitchener, ON   Centre In The Square Friday, 10/13    Burlington, ON  The Burlington Performing Arts Centre Sunday, 10/15   Cornwall, ON  Aultsville Theatre Monday, 10/16   Belleville, ON  The Empire Theatre Wednesday, 10/18 Guelph, ON   River Run Centre Friday, 10/20    Peterborough, ON Showplace Performance Centre Monday, 10/23   Winnipeg, MB Burton Cummings Theatre Tuesday, 10/24  Brandon, MB Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium Thursday, 10/26  Saskatoon, SK  TCU Place, Saskatoon's Arts & Convention Centre Friday, 10/27   Lloydminster, AB Vic Juba Community Theatre Saturday, 10/28 Edmonton, AB  Northlands Coliseum Monday, 10/30  Red Deer, AB  Central Alberta Theatre Tuesday, 10/31 Calgary, AB  Arts Commons, Jack Singer Concert Hall Thursday, 11/2    Vernon, BC   Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Plus more cities to be announced soon! Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, July 21st (check venue for local time). For a complete list of tour dates and ticket information for the Big Show! tour, please visit: www.thewiggles.com. Tour date and ticket information is subject to change. Anthony, Simon, Emma and Lachy can also be seen on ABC Kids in their wonderful Wiggle Town TV series. In 2016 The Wiggles performed 332 shows across the globe to some 330,000 fans, at 143 locations. 2017 will have seen The Wiggles tour extensively through Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and North America. For even more Wiggly fun, like The Wiggles official Facebook page Facebook.com/TheWiggles, follow them on Twitter via Twitter.com/TheWiggles, follow them on Instagram @thewiggles, and subscribe (it's free) to The Wiggles Youtube channel youtube.com/thewiggles. Join in on the conversation using the hashtag #wigglescanadabigshow. About The Wiggles The Wiggles are the world's most popular children's entertainment group which formed in Sydney, Australia in 1991. Having performed for over 26 years, it's now the case that children who once saw the fab four of fun are now bringing their children to enjoy the best in early childhood entertainment! The last year has seen The Wiggles confirmed (GFK charts) as the #1 selling children's artist on DVD, the #1 children's entertainment live concert attraction, awarded a record 13 ARIA (Australian Recording Industry Association) awards for the Best Children's Album (making them the most awarded artist in any one category).

The boys over at Prairie Dawg Entertainment are back at it again, this time bringing popular Vancouver hip-hop artist, Snak the Ripper to Houstons. His impressive body of work includes several million views of YouTube and tours of Europe. Snak's first album was released in 2007 and over the years he has toured in “support slots with the likes of RA The Rugged Man, Sean Price, Camp Lo, Swollen Members, Cunninlynguists, Choclair, and Moka only to name a few.” Fans in Brandon are certain to enjoy his loud, aggressive vocal style. The Brandon show is just one of 32 shows on his cross Canada tour which sees Snak performing in cities like Vancouver, Edmonton Toronto, Montreal & Winnipeg. Snak will be accompanied on tour by special guests Jacyln Glee, Brevner, and D-Rec. The show goes down Wednesday, August the 9th starting at 9:00 pm inside Houston's. The Facebook event page can be found here. Organizers tell bdnmb.ca that ticket sales have been brisk and that they expect a complete sellout. Their last big show at Houstons, Merkules, drew a sold out house so you are encouraged to purchase your tickets in advance. Advance Tickets are only $20.00 and available at http://www.snaktheripper.com/, CREAM Clothing located at 341-10th street in Brandon or R.DUBZ at 587-8th street in Brandon.

  BDNMB.CA is extremely pleased to announce that KYU Grill, a mobile food vendor serving Japanese fusion, will be participating in our first ever Food Truck Warz this September. KYU Grill is known in Winnipeg as the home of the HEROSHIMA, an original grilled-skewer sandwich served on a sweet bun with Japanese inspired sauces and toppings. In Winnipeg they have been named Winners of Food Truck Wars: People’s Choice Award two years in a row (2015 & 2016). In addition to the popular HERISHIMA they offer a wide variety of street eats including: KYU corn, spring rolls, lettuce wraps, poutine and wings. You can visit them on their web site, or else on their official Facebook page. Stay tuned to bdnmb.ca as we continue to announce trucks that will be participating in our inaugural event.

RIP – Sassy’s / Spats / Red Pepper / Barnacles / The Unwinder / YAKS / Inferno / Voulez-Vous / Miss Q’s / Encounters / OCC and Code.  I know that have missed some names over the last 25 years. There once was a time, 15 years ago, when clubs like Encounters, The Unwinder and Houston’s were busy three or four nights a week.  Today if a bar has one busy night a week that's a victory. Over time a few things have changed.  In 1991 Manitoba Lotteries introduced VLT machines to help offset decreasing revenue that rural bar owners were feeling at the time.   One would say it was a bit of a gold rush for those owners until Casinos popped up everywhere, and Winnipeg allowed VLTs in their licensed premises.  The novelty of those machines in rural bars and clubs died quickly after that.  Also, minimum drink prices of $2.25 came about in 2001 after a young man died after being at a hotel on Pembina Highway. He was very drunk, after a 25 cent shooter promotion, and rolled into the river and passed away.  So those old promotions of 1 cent drinks at the Unwinder from 9 – 9:45 pm on a Thursday, or 2 for 1 Tuesdays became a thing of the past. So, what is the overall problem that faces local club owners as well clubs across the country.  The two most common thoughts are: #1 -  booze is too expensive #2 -  to meet women or men all you need is Tinder or Plenty of Fish on your phone.  You can buy a dozen beer for 25 bucks and just chat and communicate with whoever you want from the comfort your couch. One local club The 40 has found their ticket to a busy night is booking touring acts like The Trews, Glorious Sons, and classic rock bands like Helix and Streetheart. Liz The 40 BDNMB – can local clubs revive their history from the last 15 – 20 years? Liz - It might not be as a heavy hit as the past, but I think with some planning and matching with what the people want nowadays...and there is always someone in your group of friends, or a friend of a friend, who will always have a birthday where they want to go and have some fun! BDNMB - booking bands can be difficult .... does being in Brandon make it more difficult to get quality bands to come to town? Liz: Since Brandon is still a bigger city in Manitoba, a lot of bands still want to make it in to Brandon and get their foot in the door, from my experience.  Now bigger bands, a lot of them like to come to Brandon as a drive through while there on tour in Canada, and we're a perfect spot! BDNMB – does your staff help with ideas and promos etc? Liz: YES!! I love my staff, they all give their opinions on how to promote, which bands might be good, how we should set it up, etc.  Also, I like to know the opinions of the customers, who they want to see, what they want to hear since we are here to please our customers. Jason Roblin – Vionell Holdings / Houston’s BDNMB – can you find a way to revive local nightclubs to their glory years of 15 and 20 years ago? Jason Roblin - I don't think anyone has figured this out in large or small centers like Brandon.  Going out to clubs for 18-30 year olds is not what it used to be.  This group wants good food, and better entertainment, than only 10 years ago.  The age group likes to socialize in smaller groups and spend their disposable income on live sporting events (the Jets or Bombers in Manitoba), they also can travel to large outdoor festivals inexpensive.  Once you experience these events at a young age a night club only provides limited entertainment value. BDNMB – do places like Brown’s and The Dock for example cut into revenue, or is that a totally different market? Jason Roblin - Upscale lounges with good food do take away from the traditional have drinks and watch a local band type atmosphere. Despite the novelty of a $5 smokie after the bar, the new crowd may still spend $100 on a night out, but now it is more heavily weighted towards food and safe transportation than booze. BDNMB – Bands – DJ’s – Contests – Food – VLT’s what else can a club owner do to make the bar fun and unique? Jason Roblin - One off concerts seem to help attendance at night clubs. Sponsoring a big activity that may or may not be a fund raiser like a street hockey tournament, or events that bring people in from out of town (Ag days) tend to fill the night clubs. With zero tolerance drunk driving laws, and minimum drink prices, without a reason to go out, people chose to stay home or hit a lounge for two drinks (rather than 5 or 6 at a night club). For single people, dating sites and other social media like Tinder have eliminated the need for people to go outside of their comfort zone to meet new people. This has reduced some potential customers motivations to go to a club. Now people can at least make an introduction to a familiar acquaintance via social media. Fez – Double Decker BDNMB -is their a way to revive local nightclubs to their glory years of 15 and 20 years ago? Fez - There is a way, Bringing down the Decker party is the hottest DJ 3 layered different music scenery BDNMB - – are you surprised to see the success of The Decker as it is one of the few downtown local places to hang out? Fez - Decker has always been successful but due to the non-care of downtown there is more violence and homeless people around. BDNMB - – does your staff help at all in promotions and feedback from what customers look for? Fez – yes for sure. Darren Burdeniuk – The Dock on Princess BDNMB – Any chance in saving the nightlife scene in Brandon? Darren - I'm not sure, I think socializing has changed and people meet people and socialize so much online and in smaller venues these days. Big night clubs really are a thing of the past. Everyone is also much more responsible with drinking and driving now then they were 20 years ago. BDNMB – Are you surprised with the success of The Dock so far? Darren - I am not surprised, but very happy with the success at The Dock. The key to our success is the people who work there. They are what make it the success that is is. We still have team members who were with us since we opened. Being part of a franchise has its advantages but also has its disadvantages. Because we chose to develop our own brand instead of a franchise it gives us the many advantages like making our food from scratch in house. 80% of restaurants fail in their first year, and then out of the 20% that succeed, 80% of those restaurants do not make it to 5 years. BDNMB – How valuable is your staff to helping with ideas and promo’s etc? Darren - Yes, the staff help out with most if not all of the decisions at The Dock. We meet weekly with our leadership team and we discuss promotions, menu ideas, customer feedback, online reviews and restaurant trends. As a team we are really strong, and we always idea share on ways to make The Dock better. BDNMB decided to hit the streets, so to speak, and find out what people at the clubs today are thinking. Sitting outside of Houston's at 11:40 pm a group of young girls from Neepawa were walking in. Bdnmb asked their opinion about what they like and dislike. Bdnmb – now, girls what is it that you dislike the most about clubs and going out? Mandy & Sara -the prices make us stay home longer and drink cheaper. Bdnmb - does VLTs, or food, or the band make a difference for you? Mandy & Sara – No, none of that matters as long as people are inside. We don't care about a band or DJ. For many of us that are say 35 and over we can say “those were the days” but perhaps the youth of today is making their own memories at small lounges and house parties. A memory I can share of busier times was that one time we had 750 people crammed into the Unwinder on a Monday night to see Helix. The liquor inspector said “Beef you better find a way to get 400 people out of this place”, so we had Barrie Roney hide in the parking lot and the person that found him got a 100 bucks. Mike Strang also turned on the hot dog cart and gave away free hot dogs outside to get people to leave the building…. Hey, whatever it takes was our theory. Darryl Wolski for BDNMB.CA @2112hockey