Daniel Lanois, Rick Mercer, Blue Rodeo announced for fall events
The fall calendar is starting to fill up with big-name concerts and other events.
Article content
Article content
Both musician-producer Daniel Lanois, comedian-TV personality Rock Mercer and Canadian hitmakers Blue Rodeo announced tours that will bring them to Calgary.
Article content
Article content
Celebrating 40 years together, Blue Rodeo is back on the road with an anniversary tour. They swing into the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium for two shows, on Oct. 1 and 2, before moving on to Edmonton for two shows. East Coast soul singer Adam Baldwin opens for them on all dates.
Article content
Article content
Lanois, well-known as a producer working with such heavyweights as U2, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Robbie Robertson, is also an eclectic musician who can't be pinned down to any one sound. Born in Hull, Quebec, his music spans folk, classical, soul, ambient, rock and electronica.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Lastly, Rick Mercer brings his sharp wit and political commentary to Edmonton on Sept. 13 and Calgary on Sept. 14 at the Jubilee Auditoriums as part of his Stand Up for Canada Tour.
Article content
Mercer is best known for CBC comedy shows This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Made In Canada and Rick Mercer Report. He has written four bestselling books and won nearly 30 Gemini Awards and Canadian Screen Awards.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
22 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Toronto's first Simons location marks ‘new chapter' for department store: CEO
TORONTO – Wandering through Simons's newest store a day before it opened on Thursday, Bernard Leblanc had a quiet confidence despite the busyness surrounding him. Across almost every inch of the flagship store at Yorkdale mall in Toronto, staff were scurrying to unwrap and steam the last of the location's merchandise, vacuum carpets and dress mannequins. The seemingly menial tasks belied the enormity of what they were all preparing for: Simons's entry into the venerable Toronto market. That feat has been a long time coming. La Maison Simons is 185 years old but has taken such a methodical expansion outside its home province of Quebec that it only counted 17 stores until now. While it's long wanted to head to Toronto, it somehow detoured through Halifax, Vancouver and even the city's outskirts in nearby Mississauga before forging its way into the heart of Ontario on Thursday. Leblanc, the CEO of Simons, sees the entry as both a 'new chapter' for the company and proof that 'slow and steady wins the race.' 'Ultimately, we have owners that don't think in quarters. We think in generations,' he said of the Simons family. They founded the business in Quebec City in 1840 as a dry goods retailer and charted its evolution into a department store beloved by Canadian fashionistas. Leblanc is the first non-family member to hold the company's top job and so there's a lot riding on the Toronto expansion. The retailer will spend a combined $75 million on the Yorkdale store and another to follow at the Eaton Centre this fall. Leblanc expects them to increase the company's annual sales by 15 per cent to $650 million. In some respects, his milestone is coming at a perfect time. The last eight months saw the fall of Simons' biggest competitor — 355-year-old department store Hudson's Bay — and a rise in consumer support for Canadian goods amid the tariff war. Simons' house brands, including Twik, Icône, Contemporaine and Le 31, make up 70 per cent of its stores' merchandise on average. While Leblanc is thrilled to see the patriotism having an effect on customers, he's not relishing the collapse of his rival, which filed for creditor protection under the weight of mounting debt in March. 'I'm saddened by the fact that such a historical Canadian icon has left the market,' he said of Hudson's Bay. 'As a retailer, we like to have a very buoyant and dynamic retail industry, so having somebody exit is always a little bit of a shock to the industry.' It was also a reminder to Simons that the company has to keep reinventing itself because 'history and heritage is not a guarantee of success,' he said. Simons has not publicly emerged as a bidder for any of the Bay leases or intellectual property. Nor has it 'aggressively pursued specific brands that we didn't have because of exits from different people in the industry,' Leblanc said. 'We do scout the market globally for new upcoming brands and discover brands that people perhaps don't know about,' he said. 'That's more our focus, not so much coming in to be opportunistic, to pick up something that somebody left behind.' But it's something that somebody left behind that helped make his company's Toronto ambitions a reality. Simons was only able to move into Yorkdale and Eaton Centre because U.S. department store Nordstrom decamped from Canada in 2023, saying it had been too hard to make a profit in the market. The massive properties Nordstrom held in some of Toronto's top shopping destinations presented the opportunity Simons had long been looking for. 'We had been in discussions with Yorkdale for some time,' Leblanc said. 'We were here many years ago trying to see what potentially we could put together.' At 118,000 square feet, the new, two-storey Yorkdale location will be the largest space in Simons's Ontario portfolio. It carries many of the same brands shoppers have come to expect from other markets — Herschel, JW Anderson and Lacoste. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Unique to this location is a sprawling, geometric ceiling mural called 'Ciel' from French artist Nelio that gives the store a fresh, airy feel. A 'walk of frames' composed of 40 pieces from 24 artists brings another reason to linger in many of the store's nooks. Leblanc is betting the merchandise and store vibe will keep customers coming back and teach his company valuable lessons it can use as it continues to plot future growth. He named both Toronto and Vancouver as markets that may be able to support even more Simons stores but said for now he's focused on 'taking it all in stride.' 'I'm really excited about making these two stores a success, starting with Yorkdale,' he said. 'And then we'll see where things take us.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2025.
CBC
23 minutes ago
- CBC
Why new generations are continuing to visit a secluded century-old grotto in Vanier
Social Sharing CBC Ottawa's Creator Network is a place where young digital storytellers from diverse backgrounds can produce original video content to air on CBC and tell stories through their own lens. It's a 24-hour venue, located in the heart of Ottawa's busy Vanier neighbourhood, but this outdoor site is a space for peaceful prayer and contemplation, drawing thousands of pilgrims from different religious backgrounds each year, particularly in mid-August for the Feast of the Assumption. Abdul Farooq, 25, says he discovered the century-old Grotte Notre Dame de Lourdes when he moved to the neighbourhood in 2022, after studying French literature and translation at the University of Ottawa. He says he felt attracted by the feeling of calm he discovered there. "It struck me as something very exceptional, especially since I didn't grow up with spaces like that in the suburbs in the GTA," said Farooq, referring to the Greater Toronto Area. Though not Catholic himself, Farooq — who grew up in a religious Muslim family — says he immediately felt at home at the grotto. "Certain aspects of the grotto felt very familiar ... that focus on quiet contemplation," said Farooq, who has noticed other young people gravitating toward the peaceful space. Farooq teamed up with co-creator Gavin Lanteigne and multimedia storyteller Kevin Acquah to learn more about this sanctuary and the people who worship there for a video for CBC Ottawa's Creator network. "It felt like a way of getting back in touch with that aspect of my upbringing, but in different terms," he explained. WATCH | Experience the calm of Vanier's grotto in this Creator Network piece: This historic sanctuary draws visitors 24 hours a day, and not all are Catholic 4 minutes ago Nestled in busy Vanier, the leafy Grotte Notre Dame de Lourdes caught the attention of 25-year-old storyteller Abdul Farooq, who teamed up with Gavin Lanteigne and Kevin Acquah to tell the story of the century-old outdoor religious site and its enduring appeal in this CBC Ottawa Creator Network piece. Familiar outdoor worship Visiting the grotto has been a way for Marita El-Kadi to connect with her family's Lebanese roots. "A lot of Lebanese people before immigrating to Canada would go pray outdoors," El-Kadi said in the film, explaining that her parents brought her to the space as she was growing up in Ottawa. Now 25, El-Kadi says the grotto is a place for her to feel close to her late mother Claudia El-Kadi. "My Mom had a steadfast kind of faith," said El-Kadi. "No matter at what stage of her diagnosis, she still believed," adding "it was still able to bring her comfort at the end of the day." In her mom's final days, El-Kadi said her mother's friends visited the grotto as a means of caring for her. "They would pray for her there specifically because it is a place of healing," said El-Kadi. When Claudia died in 2021, El-Kadi said she lost some of that connection with the space. But lately, she's felt a renewed desire to stop by for a sense of peace, solace and community which can be hard to find for young people in the city. "People are still looking for this connection with others," she explained. A century of solace The grotto's history in Vanier dates back to 1908, when a group of Montfortain seminarian students recreated a celebrated grotto in Lourdes, France, where it is said the Virgin Mary appeared a number of times to a young girl named Bernadette. There are other such spaces around the world and Canada, usually built in rock, and featuring a statue of the Virgin Mary as well as an altar area and outdoor seating for masses. In Vanier, before today's stone structures were built, the cave and altar were created out of snow. "As kids we built snow castles, so we took that idea and looked at photos from France and they built something like that," recalled president of the Grotto Volunteers Committee Jean Laporte, who has been a parishioner there since he was born. "When I was young — seven, eight, nine years old — we'd go there and have picnics on Sunday afternoons with my family," he said, recalling an era when the Catholic Church played a central role in the lives of French Canadians families like his. "It was a different time," said Laporte. "The church was the heart of the community, and the grotto was a place where people came together to pray, to celebrate, and to find comfort." In particular, he said it was a place for sick people to come and pray, where the healed would leave their crutches behind. He remembers tour busses of worshippers arriving from across North America decades back. Although attendance has dwindled since it first opened, he said the site remains busy, with 10,000 people visiting annually for organized events, and an estimated 10,000 more who stop by at other times. It's especially packed in mid-August for the Feast of Assumption, with its torchlight procession and other events, including the mass with blessing for the sick. "It's not just for Catholics, we have people from across religions who come to sit and meditate, maybe to get away from the noise of the city," explained Laporte. After a fire at the church in 1973, Laporte said the grotto site was sold to the parish and now the outdoor space is entirely volunteer-run. Laporte's father was a longtime volunteer and two years ago Laporte junior took over as caretaker. "We see different generations of people volunteering to help keep it going," said Laporte, adding that today many of the volunteers who help clear snow, organize candle sales, and plan events are new to Canada. He's met people from Portuguese, Haitian, African and Lebanese backgrounds who tell him the grotto reminds them of similar spaces back home. But for Laporte, what sets this place apart is that it welcomes people year-round, 24 hours a day. "It's always been open. We've never had a fence or a gate. So people can just come," he said. "I've been there all times of day — even in the middle of the night people come." A new grotto in Ottawa's south Vanier is no longer Ottawa's only Catholic grotto, thanks to the opening of a new Catholic sanctuary this June in the city's south end, said Barry Devine, director of the newly formed Stewards of the Grotto at St. Patrick's Parish in Fallowfield. Dreamed up by longtime parishioner Charles Tierney as a means of honouring his late wife Bernadette, Devine said the Grotto of Our Lady of the Fields, which is located in the church's cemetery, took two years to build and they are still awaiting the altar and sound system to host outdoor masses. In the context of waning number of Catholic faithful, Devine said he knows it's unusual to hear of a new sanctuary. But he said his parish is thriving as the church undergoes restoration, as well as a cemetery expansion and he's been happy to hear the positive feedback over the new outdoor sanctuary, which welcomes all. "It's new, it's open, and it's for people to come and and use as a place of refuge and prayer and inspiration and [they are] encouraged to do so... I think that that's just the bottom line," said Devine. Open to all For Farooq, that sense of quiet welcome is also what makes Vanier's space special. "You're outside, you're among people, and it doesn't feel closed off," he said, adding that he decided to make a film about it because he feels it's important to share lesser-known parts of the city with a wider audience. "When people say the word 'Ottawa', they're just talking about a couple of buildings: Parliament, Senate, courts, and so on," said Farooq. "But this is an aspect of the city's history that is important to a lot of people."
Canada News.Net
an hour ago
- Canada News.Net
Antony Starr pens farewell note for his 'Homelander' character as 'The Boys' final season wraps shooting
Washington, DC [US], August 14 (ANI): Actor Antony Starr penned an emotional goodbye to his 'The Boys' character Homelander on Wednesday as the Amazon series wrapped production on its fifth and final season. In his Instagram handle, Antony Starr penned a long, heartfelt caption and posted some behind-the-scenes photos from the superhero satire. The actor called his character 'Homelander' a true 'highlight' of his career. 'Difficult (for me) to put into words what an incredible ride this has been. How much life and growth has occurred. How amazing the team is. It's truly been the highlight of my career,' Starr wrote. 'When we began, I had no idea what was coming. This juggernaut left the station and never stopped. Except for that Covid moment. Oh and the strikes. That was a thing too. But apart from those two times, it never stopped, boldly making its mark on the television landscape. There's nothing else like it. It lives in its own lane,' added Antony Starr. With production on the final season having wrapped, Starr then handed out thank yous to 'the incredible Canadian crew. The amazing production team. The insanely talented cast. The people at Amazon and Sony that took a chance on this insane thing(and made the great choice in casting me)and all the other people that contributed in some way, big or small, to this beautiful, complex, warped, delicious show.' The actor then thanked showrunner Eric Kripke, whom he called his 'co-parent with his twisted gem of a character'. 'We created a monster, sir. And I will miss him, and you. Till we roll out the last season. When I'll see you. But this creative chapter is closed, and I'll miss it, brother,' added Starr. 'The Boys' first debuted in 2019 and has received both commercial and critical acclaim, landing eight Emmy nominations, including for outstanding drama series. Though the final season of 'The Boys' isn't expected to air until next year, spinoff series 'Gen V', which follows college-aged supes, is set to premiere its second season on September 17. (ANI)
