After sold-out shows in St. John’s and Halifax in 2019, well known Afro-German-Caribbean disco and funk vocal group Boney M. featuring Liz Mitchell return to Atlantic Canada for seven ‘Holiday Favourites and Classic Hits’ shows this November and December.

Tickets for Halifax, Moncton, Charlottetown, Truro, and Sydney go on sale this Friday, September 23 at 10 a.m. and tickets for Corner Brook and St. John’s go on sale this Friday, September 23 at 12 noon.

Tickets for the Corner Brook show will be available online at cbciviccentre.com

Tickets for the St. John’s show will be available at the Mary Brown’s Centre Box Office (50 New Gower Street), by calling 1-709-576-7657 and online at mbcentre.ca

Originally founded in Germany by writer and producer Frank Farian, Boney M. was one of the disco-oriented pop acts which dominated the European charts throughout the late seventies and early eighties with a string of hits well remembered to this day. The band has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and their discography of hits is extensive. The group had eight #1 hits on the European charts, including Daddy Cool, Sunny, Ma Baker, Belfast, Rivers of Babylon, Brown Girl in the Ring, Rasputin, and Mary’s Boy Child. In addition to the successes of Boney M’s singles was the success of three #1 albums in the European market.

Now in the 21st Century, there is obviously no doubt that songs from the past are far more popular than ever before. Boney M’s international success during the past thirty-five years has proven that their hits belong to the collection of timeless classics. In 2022, Boney M. featuring Liz Mitchell is still a phenomenal live act drawing huge crowds across Europe.  The live show is as spectacular as ever and they are currently making live appearances in concert halls, arenas, and festivals around the world.

Boney M. live in Atlantic Canada is presented by VaughCo Entertainment: vaughncoentertainment.com

Jim Cuddy has seen it all in a hall of fame worthy career atop the pantheon of Canadian songwriting royalty. What’s now foreign to the frontman of the legendary Blue Rodeo is stillness, an involuntary byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Once it started happening (in 2020), staying still, that’s my first year of staying still in 35 years,” Cuddy shared in a sitdown with The Herald ahead of Blue Rodeo’s return to St. John’s on the Many A Mile Tour. 

“We have a little rural place that’s north of the city, so I was there sitting in this one seat and just playing and writing songs and thinking what I would do with them and how I was going to do this, but not worrying about the final result, just writing songs. And yes, I think that had a very beneficial effect on all of us, because whatever little injuries go along with touring all the time, they cleared up and whatever little complaints you have about, ‘oh, I don’t like this hotel’ or, ‘can’t we stay in Montreal instead of Ottawa?’ All that bulls**t, it doesn’t matter anymore because the essence of what you do is gone, the essence of playing live.”

Blue Rodeo would release their whopping 16th studio album in 2021, Many A Mile, though Cuddy is open to the idea that, pre-pandemic, the reality that the band had released their final record loomed large.

Charge up the lifeblood

“We could never go out and just do the songs that we’d already committed to in the past. I think we’d just feel like a jukebox and so it’s always necessary to charge up the lifeblood a little bit and get everybody playing together,” Cuddy shared. 

“These guys are fantastic players, and just to hear them create is inspiring. But I don’t know. It’s definitely a waveform that two years ago, before this pandemic started, I was pretty sure we were never going to make another record. And then halfway through the pandemic, I was less sure. And of course I was proven wrong. I’m sure we’ll do it again.”

2022 marks milestone anniversaries for seminal Blue Rodeo albums, including 1987’s debut record Outskirts, which marked the shift for the group from applauded bar band to full on national treasure.

“I think that when we made Outskirts, first of all, we were very pleased to be making a record, but that wasn’t the end all, be all. We weren’t going to be super disappointed because we’d already been disappointed. We’d been a band for seven years at that point, and we were a really successful bar band at that point, and we really enjoyed ourselves playing in The Horseshoe, playing the Big Bop. So making the record was a step, and then it kind of failed at the beginning, but being taken out by the record company and being told you’ve sold 5,000 copies, which made us go wow, 5,000 copies! That’s more than you sell off the stage. But then ‘if you don’t sell more we’re going to drop you,’” Cuddy recalled.

Dealing with hits

 “And then Try comes out and it becomes a hit and that changes our lives. But we’re not aware of how it’s changing our lives. But I look back and I realize that all that we had done in the bars and how we formed ourselves as a band, that was the training period and that was over.”

Returning to St. John’s at Mary Brown’s Centre on Sept. 10th (a rescheduled date from earlier this year), and Cuddy laughs when we jokingly thank the consummate gentleman and national treasure for continuing to include ‘The Rock’ in the band’s touring itinerary.

“It’s one of those things you can feel embarrassed being thanked for. Because we’ve always loved coming to Newfoundland,” Cuddy shares with a smile. 

“We used to come and play Memorial University to play the pub there, and you had to go for two nights and Gary Clark would bring us out and it was a thrill. We got treated just like every other band. We were super abused a couple of times at the beginning and then people liked us and then we got invited to parties and we got our education about St. John’s and Newfoundland in those times,” he said.

“I think just generally for us, we started to tour Canada because that’s what we were offered. We toured the States a lot because that’s what we were offered, but it didn’t open our hearts the way touring in Canada has. There’s few exceptions to this – we really loved everywhere we’ve been and everywhere I’ve been on ‘The Rock’ and have really enjoyed it. I have friends now that have places there from Ontario, which is crazy, right. And it’s a way of life. It’s a type of person and it’s a natural beauty there. So we should be thanking you for being there and for also having such enthusiasm for music.”

For all things Blue Rodeo visit bluerodeo.com. For tickets to see the band with special guest Jenn Grant on Sept. 10th at Mary Brown’s Centre visit mbcentre.ca 

The Provincial Government delighted islanders when they announced they would be bringing Come From Away The Concert and the new musical comedy Tell Tale Harbour to Newfoundland and Labrador as part of the Arts and Culture Centres’ program line up for Come Home 2022.

The Tony and Olivier Award-winning international hit musical Come From Away  returns to the Steele Community Centre in Gander and premiers at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s reuniting  members of the Toronto cast and band along with original Broadway cast member, the province’s own Petrina Bromley. 

Come From Away The Concert will be presented in Gander, from Sept.13-15 and in St. John’s from September 19-20, as marquee events for Come Home 2022.

Later in October, the province’s Arts and Culture Centres’ present Tell Tale Harbour, based on the screenplay, The Grand Seduction. This new musical comedy from the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Prince Edward Island will see its Newfoundland and Labrador debut as another marquee event for Come Home 2022. 

Co-written by and starring the province’s own musical icon Alan Doyle, Tell Tale Harbour also features the talents of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians Jillian Keiley and Edward Riche.

“Exciting things are happening in Newfoundland and Labrador for Come Home 2022. The stage is set for some incredible performances. Along with the impressive performances that will grace the stages of our Arts and Culture Centres province-wide, we are thrilled to be bringing Come From Away The Concert and the Tell Tale Harbour musical home to our province,” said Premier Andrew Furey at the announcement. 

“We are beyond thrilled to bring Come From Away back to its home in Newfoundland this year. When we first performed our show there, it was a life-changing experience for us – and the Come From Away Company – and we are grateful to be invited back with a Canadian cast including several Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, like Petrina Bromley, coming home from Broadway. It means the world to us to share these stories with the community that was so generous with us and has now inspired millions around the globe,” said Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away’s creators. 

The Herald spoke to Bromley who said she was “excited” to be returning to ‘The Rock.’ “The idea of bringing the show home to Newfoundland for people to see is an incredible experience. Sharing that story and seeing that it gets told so that everyone can get a sense of how important it is and how big a moment it was is just magical,” she said.

Bromley’s favourite memories of the show’s run are the performances on home soil, she added. “It was just the most unbelievable experience to be welcomed and embraced into the community and to have that feeling of pure nervous joy. I always say for me it was like bringing your new boyfriend home to meet the family.”

The incredibly gifted performer, Owen Mac, returns to Newfoundland with special guest Desi Mac and the Keltic Storm Band. 

Proudly presented by Vaughnco Entertainment, Mac can be seen onstage at Arts and Culture Centre’s in Corner Brook on August 31, in Grand Falls-Windsor on September 1 and in Gander on September 2.  On September 3rd, Mac will be in St. John’s performing at Holy Heart Theatre for his highly anticipated return.  

Friendly & welcoming

During his last visit, Mac performed at both Princess Sheila NaGeira Theatre and at Holy Heart, he recalled.  

“I remember coming back home to Ireland with my family wanting to return (to NL) as the people over there are so friendly and welcoming and it feels very much like Ireland … I can’t wait to perform again in both those venues and more as I return at the end of August,” he said.

At just 19, he has had quite the career. “I remember growing up, I knew that I always wanted to pursue a career in music,” Mac said, recalling that his  first performance in front of a live audience was at 12-years-old.

“Music has always been in my family, so I think that’s how I had such a love for it. My daddy used to sing a lot, and I grew up listening to him perform, so I think music has always been in the house for me.”

The talent comes from many sources, he continued, and he has a few musical inspirations. 

“I have always been influenced by a lot of country and gospel singers and of course singers back here in the Irish country scene. People like Vince Gill and traditional artists like Jim Reeves and Merle Haggard.”

What can fans expect to see when he takes the stage on September 3rd? The best of the best, he shared! 

Performing for fans

“This year I am bringing out my seventh studio album and I can’t wait to share it with everyone,” he said. 

Mac shared that returning to NL means a lot after COVID and he’s excited to visit and perform for fans. 

“I just can’t wait to see everyone while I am back over again and I hope that everyone enjoys the show.”

For tickets and more visit vaughncoentertainment.com, holyhearttheatre.com or the various ACC websites in your region 

“I’m looking forward to it very much,” shared frontman Robin Wilson in advance of the showcase. “It’s a beautiful community and a lovely countryside. I’m planning to make the most of it. I’m coming up with my girlfriend and I’m a big fan of Our Lady Peace, so to share the bill with them is exciting. I’m a big fan, so that’s exciting.”

The band have been touring in support of the chart-topping sophomore record New Miserable Experience, with the exercise in revisiting their breakthrough record a bittersweet one, Wilson shares.

“Yes, it’s very heavy,” Wilson admits of revisiting their sophomore record, one that spawned the hits Hey Jealously, Until I Fall Away and Found Out About You.

“There’s a lot to think about, there’s a great deal to unpack when thinking about New Miserable Experience. Of course, most of it is pride and pride in the band for surviving and for continuing our career, but there are many bittersweet memories associated with recording New Miserable Experience”

For our full one-on-one with Wilson check out an upcoming issue of The Newfoundland Herald. Tickets are still available for the inaugural Churchill Park Music Festival!

Raine Maida has done it all. Vocalist to multi-platinum selling, Juno winning rockers Our Lady Peace, the polished, poised and perennially put-together Canuck paused to reflect on three decades fronting one of our nation’s most successful musical staples.

“I think I definitely have come to a place where I’ve slowed down in terms of being able to be in the moment,” Maida shared from his Los Angeles home. 

The band is fresh off their genre-defying, production-pushing Wonderful Future tour, where they’d roll out hologram special guests in a thematic tribute to their 10th studio album Spiritual Machines 2 – itself a sequel to the lauded concept album inspired by futurist Raymond Kurzweil’s book The Age of Spiritual Machines.

“I think it was really organic in the sense of during COVID we couldn’t tour, and we really didn’t get to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Spiritual Machines like we probably would have,” Maida shared of the decision to re-visit the themes and concepts of 2000s Spiritual Machines.

“Everyone was stuck indoors, so we took a look at Spiritual Machines, and when you start dissecting it, not even musically, it was just like wow, this is pretty cool. You listen to the interstitials that Ray talks about between the songs. It’s like s**t, a lot of this, mostly everything came true. As a human being, I’m like damn, I’d love to know what the next 20 years looks like for Ray. And so when you start extrapolating that from the music you’re like okay, if we want to go back to Ray and ask him to give us another 20 years predictions, we probably need an album to back it up, you know? And that was kind of it.”

‘Being Inspired’

Enlisting the aid of producer Dave Sitek (of TV on the Radio fame), Maida, bassist Duncan Coutts, guitarist Steve Mazur and drummer Jason Pierce, set to work on delving back into Kurzweil’s predictions for a future-rock record that, as Maida puts it was “the record I’ve been trying to make for ten years now.”

“I think as a band and for me as an artist, it’s not about getting bored, but I just never saw art as being something that should be copied by yourself, if that makes sense,” Maida shared. “I’m all for being inspired and borrowing from other artists. And I think Bowie said it first, like the best artists are the best thieves really, you know? So I’ve always taken that approach.”

2022 is a year of milestones for Our Lady Peace, marking the bands’ overall 30th anniversary, while also serving as the 20th anniversary of the groups’ landmark worldwide hit Gravity, which spawned the chart-topping singles Somewhere Out There and Innocent.

Reflecting on all parts of the journey, and Maida is content with the groups’ most recent effort, signaling it as one of the hallmarks of a career filled to bursting with changes.

Long-awaited reunion

“At the end of the day it’s like coming full circle where Spirits Machines 2 is, dude if this was the last record we made I could say, yeah, this is the right way to go out, for me at least. I’m not going to speak for the other guys, but I’m very proud of this record. It’s the first OLP record that I can still put on and listen to. Every other record I get inside my head. I’m like I would have done this. This is just like, you know what, I’m in. I just submit to this and I love it.”

Part of this most recent sonic highway for Maida and company required a reunion with longtime OLP guitarist Mike Turner, who contributed to Spiritual Machines 2 and also took part in the acclaimed Wonderful Future Tour.

“I said in interviews before we released Spiritual Machines 2, it’s like we couldn’t have done it without it Mike,” Maida shared honestly. “He brought that book into the studio when we were starting to make that fourth record. I couldn’t conceive ever releasing a Spiritual Machines 2 album without Mike being a part of it.”

To the business at hand, and the band is set to return to Newfoundland and Labrador at the inaugural Churchill Park Music Festival, alongside fellow chart-toppers Matchbox Twenty, on August 13th.

“It’s funny. I go back to the George Street ones that we’ve done. That just really gives me the vibe of Newfoundland,” Maida shared with a smile. “It’s such a special thing. It doesn’t always work out in terms of scheduling how we can make it work. But there’s never been a huge gap, I think, where we haven’t played Newfoundland. So I can’t wait. I definitely love playing in the summer more than the winter too. I”m glad we’re coming back during the summer (laughs).”

Further reflecting on the winding road of ups and downs and startling successes that have defined Our Lady Peace, and Maida is refreshingly honest about the journey, and more than content with the destination.

“You talk about Gravity. Like, that thing blows up in the U.S. Somewhere Out There is a huge hit and Innocent and it’s like all this attention. And that was really like five albums into our career, right? So that was weird. People are like, ‘Wow, can you believe you’re having success again? And I’m like yeah, but you know what? For me, I was just judging myself on a body of work. Like we’re not there yet. And I always held to that,” Maida shared, honestly, concluding that, with this most recent chapter in the Our Lady Peace discography, the mosaic fells complete.

“It’s funny, because now with Spiritual Machines 2 included in that body of work, now I think I can call it a body of work and I’m cool with it. So it’s a great moment to be in this band.”

For tickets and more information on the Churchill Park Music Festival visit churchillparkmusicfestival.com

Two of Canada’s finest slingers of riffs and good times – Cancer Bats and Comeback Kid – are heading to St. John’s on October 8th at The Rockhouse in St. John’s.

Direct support provided by Jim Jones & The Kool-Aid Jammers and Of The Black.

“I started planning this show in 2019/20,” shared promoter Johnny Rawkhard. “It was going to happen in the summer of 2020, but I’m incredibly happy to finally make this happen on October 8th!”

Set times are as follows:

Limited ‘Early Bird’ general admission and premium section tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Monday, July 25 at ChurchillParkMusicFestival.com.

Early bird general admission tickets are $49.50 plus applicable service fees & tax and early bird premium section tickets are $99.50 plus applicable service fees & tax.

Gates open at 4 p.m. and the show ends at 11 p.m. This event will have a licensed 19+ area and a limited all ages section. There will be an area for lawn chairs if you choose to bring your own.

This concert is in addition to the already announced shows on Saturday, August 13, featuring Matchbox Twenty, Gin Blossoms, Our Lady Peace and Timber and on Sunday, August 14, featuring The ‘Original’ Irish Descendants, Bud Davidge of Simani, Celtic Connection, Kubasonics and Carolina East, as part of the Come Home 2022 celebrations.

About Churchill Park Music Festival

The first annual Churchill Park Music Festival will take place in Churchill Park, located in the heart of St. John’s, Newfoundland over three days, August 12, 13 & 14, 2022. Featuring wide open views, surrounded by mature trees and greenery, the festival location is easily accessible from all parts of the city – a perfect setting for recreation and leisure, social gatherings, and celebrations. The event will bring to Newfoundland a variety of top musical talent and aims to provide a safe, inclusive, and pleasing experience for all attendees.

For more information, visit: ChurchillParkMusicFestival.com.

The world’s most popular children’s entertainment group, The Wiggles will be travelling across Canada from St. John’s to Vancouver to perform their biggest show yet! Anthony, Tsehay, Lachy and Simon are delighted to sing, dance and play music for their fans, and will be bring along all of their Wiggly friends too! Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, Shirley Shawn the Unicorn are all coming along for the fun, PLUS The Wiggles are excited to introduce Caterina Wiggle and John Wiggle from the Fruit Salad TV series to their Canadian fans!

The Wiggles Big Show Tour! will feature all your favourite Wiggles songs such as ‘Do the Propeller!’, ‘Hot Potato’ and ‘Rock-a- Bye Your Bear’, along with new and catchy tunes such as Dippy Do Dinosaur Dance! The Wiggles Big Show Tour! will get your hands clapping and toes tapping! Come along and sing and dance with Anthony, Lachy, Simon, Tsehay, Caterina and John and all their Wiggly friends!

?? Tickets are $45 (HST included) plus fees & surcharge. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 22, 2022, and are available at Mary Brown’s Centre Box Office Monday – Saturday noon – 4 pm, by phone at 709-576-7657, or online at mbcentre.ca.

For the first time in over 20 years, Canadian rock legends The Tea Party return to Newfoundland and Labrador.

The trio of Jeff Martin, Stuart Chatwood and Jeff Burrows, whose eclectic blend of rock, blues, prog and Middle Eastern influences popularized the term ‘Moroccan Roll’, make their long-awaited return to The Rock at the 2022 George Street Festival on July 29th.

Reflecting on past excursions to our rocky shores – including an opening slot for Bon Jovi in Grand Falls in the summer of ‘95 – and Burrows laughs at one particularly memorably hilarious moment during the 2001 Salmon Festival.

“The one big one I can remember is the Salmon Festival…” he shared in a stidown with The Herald. “I think Nelly Furtado was on the same bill. And it was really weird because she came up when we were playing Heaven Coming Down, and she started doing this kind of scat rap. And that’s when Jeff Martin went to go into his solo. And we’re not usually used to sharing the stage with anybody. He went into his solo, and he started backing up and doing his thing really hard. And she was looking the other way and he almost zambonied her completely. Just missed her. And I mean, we’re all six feet plus and she’s got to be five feet. And it was one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen, the poor girl (laughs).”

Pandemic Downtime

Jokes aside, the pandemic downtime has been arduous on the global workforce at large, and especially crippling for the touring entertainer. 

The band was scheduled to return to The Rock for the Saints and Sinners tour in 2020 opposite fellow Can-rock luminaries Big Wreck, Moist and The Headstones, before the advent of COVID-19 put all travel plans on hold.

“I mean, everybody’s going to tell the same story, but you get your hopes up,” Burrows shared of the reality of the pandemic for working artists. 

“Schedule a tour, canceled. Schedule a tour canceled. Canceled two Australian tours. Canceled a European tour. It’s pretty disheartening, right? I mean, you’re getting ready. You’re prepping, looking forward to seeing the guys. I literally have not seen my bandmates, because everybody lives so far away, in three years. So it’s really strange. Jeff lives in Australia, Stuart’s in B.C. … so it’s just really, really strange.”

The band did manage to keep the momentum going thanks in no small part to the release of two collections of EPs released in the pandemic era, though Burrows himself was quick to admit that creativity did not come easy to him during isolation.

‘Hard to be Creative’

“The last three years has been like a microcosm of a really depressing life. I don’t know. I mean, I’ve been up in weight and down and weight and up in weight and down in weight, then drinking too much and not drinking and eating too much and going on a diet. It’s just been ridiculous. I found it very hard to be creative.

“Some people flourished in it. Jeff did a solo record, which is good, so he kept touring as much as he could in Australia in the meantime. Stuart does his video game music, I do work in Windsor when I’m there and I have a contract with the college so we all kept busy. It’s just didn’t hit me that way. I could bring nothing to the table at that point,” Burrows shared refreshingly, adding that, being old school rockers, the road is where they make their bread, and have their best creative awakenings.

“We’re not in the game of TikTok. We’re a band who literally started on the road and love to be on road. And that’s where we’ve earned our living. We don’t have album sales of Nickelback or anything like that. So that’s always been our thing, that we earn a living on the road. So it was pretty tough when the breaks were not let off at all for three years, and who knows what’s going to happen even now come fall or whatever. I don’t know anymore. It’s so weird.”

Reflecting back on over three decades of content – including the impending anniversary of their breakthrough album Splendor Solis – and Burrows jokes that the surreal nature of the bands’ success and longevity is never lost on him.

Gigging for Gas Money

“Yeah, it’s always shocking whenever I speak to anyone about how long it’s been. Like when we first started in 1990 till now, it’s a longer time between 1990 and now than 1990 and when The Beatles stormed America. That’s f****ng nuts. You know what I mean? It freaks me right the hell out,” he laughs, honestly sharing that, in those early days of the band, royalty cheques and chart-topping prowess were a far cry from the reality of gigging for gas money and drive by meals.

“When I think about it, 30 years ago we made not one dime touring that (Splendor Solis album). It was like okay, well here we are Chicoutimi. Let’s go play some acoustic guitars and bongos in the park so we can get some gas money so we can get to the next small town, Victoriaville in Quebec. You didn’t make money.”

Fast forward to the summer of 2022, and the trio’s status as flag-bearers of a particularly fertile time for Canadian rock is firmly established.

Come July 29th, at their more than long awaited Rock return, eager fans can expect the hits – classic cuts like Fire in the Head, The Bazaar, The River and Temptation. And to trust in the fact that the band will be just as eager to hit our shores as we’ll be to welcome them.

“Man, I can’t wait. I can’t believe we’re actually going to Newfoundland. It’s so great. It seems surreal to me because it’s been forever. And you know, Jeff and Stuart, they live so far away, so far away from Newfoundland. I know Stuart’s flying his wife just for that because she’s never even been, because they met after 2000. So it’s just incredible. I can’t wait.”

For more information on The Tea Party visit teaparty.com. For tickets to The Tea Party with special guests Sam Roberts Band and Women of Rock visit georgestreetlive.ca