Religion has typically been at the root of many homophobic arguments, but for many religious leaders in Halifax, those attitudes are out of date. St. John’s United Church has been one of the leaders in paving the way for LGBTQIA-friendly religious spaces in the city. It initiated an affirming process with a committee in the […]
Cultural Festivals
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Mind your business (association)
Things have been a little quiet this summer at the Halifax LGBT Business Association. The two-year-old organization has weathered the loss of some prominent board members over the last six months. But board secretary Lynn Iding (who’s also manager of professional development programs at law firm McInnes Cooper) says not to worry: business is fixing […]
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Plenty of options for staying sober at Pride
Pride week in Halifax means tons of chances to party—but where do you go if you want to be dry? Don’t worry. Being sober at Pride doesn’t have to be a buzzkill. Only a handful of Halifax Pride events are officially 19-plus, however Pride chair Willem Blois does admit the overall program lists many boozy […]
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Sharon Jones: The hardest working woman in show biz
Sharon Jones’ success has been a long time coming. At 58, the soul singer received her first Grammy nomination this year. But working so hard for so long, Jones doesn’t take her success for granted. While she’s been singing since childhood and recording for 20 years, Jones’ passionate soul tunes only started to receive wider […]
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Laxmi Adhikari’s sweet harmonium
Tonja Gunvaldsen Klaasen, Laxmi Adhikari Sunday, May 24, 4:30-6pm Common Roots Urban Farm free Before Laxmi Adhikari and his wife Raj Adhikari moved to Halifax in 2011 from Nepal, they had over three decades of playing music under their belts—Laxmi on the harmonium and Raj on the Madal drum—their son also performs music, but he’s […]
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Brötzmann on fire
In the history of free jazz, a form of jazz from the mid-20th century that reacted to increasingly standardized jazz styles, few musicians are as renowned around the world as Peter Brötzmann. In his career spanning 50 years, Brötzmann has been at the forefront of the European jazz movement to radicalize the concept of prescribed […]
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Moss Lime gathers no stones
Moss Lime, Bonnie Doon, Vulva Culture Saturday, May 23, 12pm The Bus Stop Theatre 2203 Gottingen Street $10 It’s been a whirlwind year for Montreal band Moss Lime. It recorded its first handful of songs last July and swiftly caught the attention of Fixture Records, who released the sharp, post-punk EP July First in November. “In […]
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Last Lizard king
Peter Brötzmann, Last Lizard Friday, May 22, 7:30pm Fort Massey United Church 5303 Tobin Street $25 “I like spontaneous collaborations without too much thinking involved,” says Montreal’s Alex Zhang Hungtai AKA Last Lizard, formerly KA Dirty Beaches. The experimental tenor saxophonist was last in town for the 2013 Halifax Pop Explosion. He did an improv set […]
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Submit to OBEY Convention 2015
Now in its eighth year, the OBEY Convention proudly waves the flag of the underground, the avant-garde, the experimental and all contemporary noise and art for four full days in May. It’s a chance to shine spring sun on the deep corners of the subterrestrial. Let’s hear it for the weird ones. In the jungle […]
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Tragic and hopeful Vulva Culture
Moss Lime, Bonnie Doon, Vulva Culture Saturday, May 23, 12pm The Bus Stop Theatre, 2203 Gottingen Street $10 “There was a girl at our show in Newfoundland who told me ‘You guys sound like a lot of drugs on a rocking chair underwater,’” says Vulva Culture drummer Bianca Palmer. “I was like ‘Shut up, that’s […]
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Gift From God are on a journey
Tasseomancy, Gift From God Sunday, May 24, 2pm Halifax Music Co-op 2107 Brunswick Street $10 Born from an intuitive sense of harmony between its members, Gift from God is a collaboration rooted in improvisation. At their OBEY show, Lindsay Dobbin (drums), Kira Daube (vocals) and Elizabeth Johnson (keyboards) will feed off of both a shared musical […]