LOLA 2010 September 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 – London Ontario

A friendly reminder that London Ontario’s own LOLA Festival (London Ontario Live Arts) is taking place this weekend.  Since its inception in 2006, LOLA has built a reputation on innovative curation, bold artistic statement and constant growth.  LOLA (London Ontario Live Arts) is a mostly free four day multi-disciplinary excursion into visual art and sound, their aim is to transform London's downtown core through subtle spectacles of the seen and heard. 

 From The LOLA website:

The curatorial theme of LOLA 2010, Conflict//Resolution — stems from an interest in working with the social history and heritage of Victoria Park. A former British Army barrack turned green space, the park is currently home to many war memorials, including decommissioned military equipment. For the past four years, Victoria Park has also served as the central location for the LOLA Festival. In response to this, the art in this year's festival ofthen simultaneously references war and peace, while when possible referencing the history and culture of the park and London.

The musical trajectory of this year’s lineup was, in a sense, borrowed from the expanded and ever evolving musical oeuvre of the late Arthur Russell.  Arthur’s limitless pallet and knowledge of musical languages was nothing short of extraordinary.  Disco, the avant-garde, folk, soul, experimental, ambient, contemporary chamber works, and rock were but a few of the genres Arthur explored.  In following Arthur and his world of echo through boundless musical landscapes, we're taught to appreciate new sounds, textures, subtle abstractions, and sonic colorings we'd yet to acknowledge or understand previously.

The stellar lineup this year is huge and includes Jamie Lidell, Land of Talk, My Brightest Diamond, the Chicago Underground Duo, Born Ruffians, Caribou and closes Sunday night with Text of Light featuring  Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) and many more.

The full schedule and artist lineup below.  Please check the LOLA website for maps and additional venue information.  

Thursday, September 16, 2010 

6:30 pm UWO ArtLab Opening Party UWO ArtLab
8:30 pm Downtown Walk (led by Andrew Francis) Rogers Main Stage
10:00 pm Zeus London Music Hall
11:30 pm Jamie Lidell London Music Hall

Friday, September 17, 2010

2:00 pm Wild Domestic Rogers Main Stage
3:00 pm Transmorphous Sound Ensemble Trans/Media Stage
4:00 pm Capillary Action Rogers Main Stage
5:00 pm LOLA Happy Hour The Grand Theatre
5:00 pm Tony Conrad Trans/Media Stage
6:00 pm Trio Tarana Rogers Main Stage
7:00 pm Christopher Willits Trans/Media Stage
8:00 pm My Brightest Diamond Rogers Main Stage
9:00 pm Rhys Chatham Trumpet Trio Trans/Media Stage
10:00 pm Born Ruffians Rogers Main Stage
10:00 pm Invincible APK Live
11:30 pm Pursuit Grooves APK Live

Saturday, September 18, 2010

1:00 am James T. Cotton (Dabrye / Tadd Mullinix) APK Live
2:00 pm Ben Gunning Rogers Main Stage
3:00 pm Thesis Sahib Trans/Media Stage
4:00 pm Minotaurs Rogers Main Stage
5:00 pm Exit 2012 Trans/Media Stage
6:00 pm Fond Of Tigers Rogers Main Stage
7:00 pm White Rainbow Trans/Media Stage
8:00 pm Land Of Talk Rogers Main Stage
9:00 pm Chicago Underground Duo Trans/Media Stage
10:00 pm Bang The Party APK Live
10:00 pm Caribou Rogers Main Stage
11:00 pm The Makeover APK Live

Sunday, September 19, 2010

12:00 am Bang The Party APK Live
12:30 pm UWO Contemporary Music Ensemble Rogers Main Stage
2:15 pm Light Of East Ensemble Rogers Main Stage
3:30 pm Leaf Bird Rogers Main Stage
5:00 pm Arthur's Landing Rogers Main Stage
6:45 pm Text Of Light (feat. Lee Ranaldo) Rogers Main Stage

Hey Hey, My My, the Forest City Welcomes that Neil Young Guy

Neil Young to Make the Trek Across Canada this Spring

This city has been abuzz of late with possible news that Neil Young would be coming to town. Well like his oft promised Archive Volume 1 Boxed Set I took it with a grain of salt and hoped for the best. Thankfully though it’s now been confirmed; and good news for other smaller Canadian markets as a full fledged spring mini Canuck tour has been scheduled. The Young tour starts April 6 in St John’s, Newfoundland and will travel across Canada, making stops in 10 cities.

4/6/2009 Mile One Centre St. John's,NL
4/10/2009 Halifax Metro Centre Halifax,NS
4/11/2009 Harbour Station Saint John,NB
4/13/2009 K-Rock Centre Kingston,ON
4/15/2009 John Labatt Centre London,ON
4/17/2009 Essar Centre Sault Ste. Marie,ON
4/20/2009 Credit Union Centre Saskatoon,SK
4/22/2009 Prospera Place Kelowna,BC
4/23/2009 Rexall Place Edmonton,AB
4/25/2009 ENMAX Centre Lethbridge,AB

Visit johnlabattcentre.com for local ticket details and times.

Psssst Presale here.

The 2009 tour is a continuation of his successful 2008 tour. The concerts will feature Young with the same band that backed him in 2008 - Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Chad Cromwell, Anthony Crawford and Pegi Young. Tickets for Young's first show here in years go on sale Friday, Feb.27th. Young has not played in London since he made a stop at Alumni Hall at the University of Western Ontario in 1973! Still no word on the boxed set but Neil’s new record, apparently a thematic set about his electric car, Fork in the Road is due soon.

L-L-L-L-LOLA 2008 Lineup Announced

The lineup for LOLAFEST 2008 (London Ontario Live Arts Festival) has just been announced. The third incarnation of this event will start on Thursday September 18th and runs through Sunday September 21, 2008. Over its four-day run, LOLA vows to once again transform downtown London into a massive public art gallery and concert space.

Additional artists are forthcoming with venue and times to be announced.

LOLA remains, without question the best annual music event in this area and I would highly recommend your attendance. The best part, most of the performances are free!


THE OFFICIAL 2008 LOLAFEST LINEUP

ARTISTS
David Merritt
David Dyment
Laurel Woodcock
Kelly Mark
David Poolman/Roman Tkaczyk
Brendan Fernandes
Michelle Gay
Taylor McKimens
Rich Jacobs
Michael Chapin

BANDS
Do Make Say Think
Plants & Animals
Holy Fuck
The Drift
Hylozoists
Torngat
Sandro Perri / Silences Sumire
Laura Barrett
Feuermusik
Off The International Radar
Muskox
Bocce
Tin
Olenka & The Autumn Lovers
We Are Wolves
Woodhands (tent)
Megasoid
Lowfish

Look at my pictures here.

UPDATE:

The World Comes to London

Despite the fact that we as Canadians are often associated with snow, we certainly know how to make the most of things come July! Celebrate then with the perfect event to kick off our long hot summer. Sunfest is Canada's Premier Celebration of the Global Arts, held without admission fee in (my city), London, Ontario in beautiful Victoria Park.

Every summer since 1995, Sunfest has brought together thousands of people of all ages and cultures for four days of exemplary music, dance, crafts and cuisine from around the globe. This unique, high profile event features over 30 top professional world music & dance and jazz ensembles based in Canada and abroad. This summer's line-up ranges from Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (Nigeria) to Dobet Gnahore (Ivory Coast), and from Grupo Fantasma (USA) to Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali (Pakistan).

For a complete listing of all artists go here.

Sunfest

July 3rd to 6th, 2008
Victoria Park, London, Ontario, Canada
Hours
Thursday: 6:00 - 11:00 pm
Friday, Saturday & Sunday: Noon - 11:00 pm.

Vote For the Best Record Store in Canada

In yet another valiant attempt to save our anaemic record industry and simultaneously commemorate upcoming Record Store Day... I give you, today, from the cbc radio3 website:

Please post your nomination of your favourite store on our blog today.

We'll compile all of your favourite stores and next week post the TOP TWENTY STORES that YOU will then get to vote on, starting next Wednesday, March 26. The following week, we'll slim in down to a TOP TEN, then a TOP FIVE, and finally, on April 19th, which is International Record Store Day , we'll announce our Searchlight #1 independent record store in Canada.

CBC Radio 3 will broadcast live from the winning store, which will also receive a winning trophy and plaque, will get rigged with Sirius satellite radio stereo system, and will have a special in-store appearance from their favourite local artist that we will also broadcast live. So hop on the blog and let us know all about your favourite store and why it should be nominated! If you're shy, feel free to email us your passionate reply to feedback@cbcradio3.com.

I know this will be my chance (and yours) to vote for my favourite record store – Grooves, in beautiful downtown London. Places like this are just getting all too rare. Make sure you get to the blog and vote. And heck if you don’t have a record store you like, just vote for Grooves. The proprietors, Troy and Dave are outstanding individuals and deserve all the kudos they can get.

So get out there and vote early and vote often!

LOLA Fest 2007 - A Huge Success

Truly one of London's greatest music and arts weekends ever held, LOLA Fest 2007 has come and gone. A huge thank you to all of the organizers, bands, artists and fans for making this terrific event such a success. I felt very fortunate to partake in this happening and enjoyed all aspects of it. I discovered a lot of great new music and that is exhilarating to me.

I will dispense with the usual review, but rather feature some of my pictures from the weekend.

Let's hope LOLA Fest 2008 is in the planning stages. I encourage everyone to support this event in any way you can.

LOLA 2007

Brian Eno's - 77 Million Paintings

Basia Bulat - Day One

Akron/ Family - Day Two

Constantines - Day Two

Constantines - Day Two

Constantines - Day Two

Ohbijou - Day Two

Hylozoists - Day Two

Torngat - Day Two

The Infamous Shoe Tree

LOLA Fan Jack

LOLA Fest This Weekend

At last it's here. Opportunities like this one are rare. Be sure to attend. Click to see the lineup and times.

London Ontario Live Arts Festival (LOLA) has its second wild and wonderful incarnation starting on Thursday. Over its four-day run, LOLA vows to transform downtown London into a massive public art gallery and concert space.

British artist Brian Eno's generative exhibition 77 Million Paintings is being unveiled Thursday at the Wolf Performance Hall. (Eno is said to be recording with Coldplay and won't be on hand.) Grizzly Bear, Constantines, Basia Bulat, Torngat, Hylozoists, the Acorn, Prefuse 73 and Akron/Family are among the free attractions at Victoria Park. There are also some admission-charging club shows.

Posters, venue and artist information here.

Brian Eno Chooses LOLA for Canadian Premiere of his Latest Art Exhibit

Multimedia artist Brian Eno, perhaps best known his for records with Roxy Music and U2, is bringing his “77 Million Paintings” art plus music exhibit to North America. The installation, which is a kaleidoscope of the world’s art accompanied by his music, will follow a successful San Francisco run with a trip to London. LOLA (London Ontario Live Art Festival 2007) runs from September 20 – 22. See the web links for full times and dates.

Eno, a pioneering musician has had a long career as a visual artist. He has worked with "generative" light compositions in the same way that he has worked with generative music for decades. His visual work has been exhibited in galleries across the world and installations of his latest generative artwork, “77 Million Paintings” will be showing for the first time at LOLA before travelling to the Biennales of both Venice and Milan this year.

Eno’s unique installation features customized software to create literally millions of visual combinations of “visual music”. The paintings are generated from handmade slides that are randomly combined by the computer. The software also processes Eno’s music that accompanies the paintings, in a similar way to the selection of elements and their duration in the piece. They are arbitrarily chosen, forming a virtually infinite number of variations. The result is that having created the seed of the work it becomes unpredictable even to the artist himself and every viewer has a singular experience of the painting.

Well worth your time this opportunity should not be missed.