An election is on the horizon, and plenty of folks are hoping for a change in our country's political leadership. With that in mind, some Canadian musicians have joined forces for a series of a concerts across the country with the aim of ousting Stephen Harper's Conservative government.
The concerts are going under the banner "#ImagineOct20th." There are dates in Winnipeg, Toronto and Vancouver, and participating artists include Feist, Dan Mangan, the Sadies, Torquil Campbell of Stars, Dave Bidini of Rheostatics, Sarah Slean, Donovan Woods, Lowell, Daniel Wesley, the Crackling, Ben Rogers, Geoff Berner, Tariq Hussain of Brasstronaut, prOphecy sun, Veda Hille, Emm Gryner, Colin Cowan and more.
The election is on October 19, and the shows are a few weeks before than, in late September and early October. See the dates below; note that not all of these nights are concerts in the traditional sense of the term, since there are also journalists and comedians taking part on some of the nights.
#ImagineOct20th's website reads, "We want to encourage Canadians to finally oust the Conservative Government, and to encourage young people to vote in general. In a country where the majority of voters did not vote for the current government, the Conservatives can only benefit from electoral apathy."
The website advocates strategic voting in order to block Conservatives from getting seats.
In a tweet, #ImagineOct20 participant Torquil Campbell confirmed that the group doesn't have a leader, and that it's a simply a coalition of like-minded artists. Read more about their views here.
UPDATE (9/24, 4:30 p.m.): Several more shows have now been added to the series. You can see the latest concert announcements over here.
Tour dates:
09/26 Winnipeg, MB - back alley party *
09/30 Toronto, ON - Randolph Theatre ^
10/01 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret ~
10/03 Vancouver, BC - Fox Cabaret (Not-a-Party Party) #
* with Kenneth Lavallee, Smoki Tyger, Mandel Hitzer, Ultra Mega, DJ Hunnicutt
^ with Torquil Campbell, Feist, Dave Bidini, Joseph Boyden, Donovan Woods, Lowell, Brave Shores, Sarah Slean, Michael Healey, Emm Gryner, The Sadies, Mark Mattson, Ken Babstoc
~ with Dan Mangan, Robert Wilson, Veda Hille, Daniel Wesley, the Crackling, Ben Rogers, Tariq Hussain, David Beckingham, prOphecy sun, Geoff Berner, Colin Cowan, Reid Jamieson
# with Not-a-Party Party w/ Charlie Demers, Shit Harper Did comedy crew, Rachel Tetrault and Jolan Bailey, Brigette DePape, Kai Nagata, Meghan Sali
The concerts are going under the banner "#ImagineOct20th." There are dates in Winnipeg, Toronto and Vancouver, and participating artists include Feist, Dan Mangan, the Sadies, Torquil Campbell of Stars, Dave Bidini of Rheostatics, Sarah Slean, Donovan Woods, Lowell, Daniel Wesley, the Crackling, Ben Rogers, Geoff Berner, Tariq Hussain of Brasstronaut, prOphecy sun, Veda Hille, Emm Gryner, Colin Cowan and more.
The election is on October 19, and the shows are a few weeks before than, in late September and early October. See the dates below; note that not all of these nights are concerts in the traditional sense of the term, since there are also journalists and comedians taking part on some of the nights.
#ImagineOct20th's website reads, "We want to encourage Canadians to finally oust the Conservative Government, and to encourage young people to vote in general. In a country where the majority of voters did not vote for the current government, the Conservatives can only benefit from electoral apathy."
The website advocates strategic voting in order to block Conservatives from getting seats.
In a tweet, #ImagineOct20 participant Torquil Campbell confirmed that the group doesn't have a leader, and that it's a simply a coalition of like-minded artists. Read more about their views here.
UPDATE (9/24, 4:30 p.m.): Several more shows have now been added to the series. You can see the latest concert announcements over here.
Tour dates:
09/26 Winnipeg, MB - back alley party *
09/30 Toronto, ON - Randolph Theatre ^
10/01 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret ~
10/03 Vancouver, BC - Fox Cabaret (Not-a-Party Party) #
* with Kenneth Lavallee, Smoki Tyger, Mandel Hitzer, Ultra Mega, DJ Hunnicutt
^ with Torquil Campbell, Feist, Dave Bidini, Joseph Boyden, Donovan Woods, Lowell, Brave Shores, Sarah Slean, Michael Healey, Emm Gryner, The Sadies, Mark Mattson, Ken Babstoc
~ with Dan Mangan, Robert Wilson, Veda Hille, Daniel Wesley, the Crackling, Ben Rogers, Tariq Hussain, David Beckingham, prOphecy sun, Geoff Berner, Colin Cowan, Reid Jamieson
# with Not-a-Party Party w/ Charlie Demers, Shit Harper Did comedy crew, Rachel Tetrault and Jolan Bailey, Brigette DePape, Kai Nagata, Meghan Sali