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An indie roots fest, an eccentric art bonanza in Ontario Place and seven other things to do this week

By Will Sloan
An indie roots fest, an eccentric art bonanza in Ontario Place and seven other things to do this week
Jimmy Eat World. Photograph by Jimi Giannati

A concert with something for everyone Barenaked Ladies, Jimmy Eat World, Matthew Good, Death Cab for Cutie, Dropkick Murphys, Whitehorse and the New Pornographers are among the 44 artists at this year’s Toronto Urban Roots Festival, which expands to a fourth stage for the first time and offers something for nearly every musical taste. Friday, September 16 to Sunday, September 18. $75–$415. Garrison Common, Fort York, 250 Fort York Blvd., torontourbanrootsfest.com. 

An eccentric art fest at Ontario Place After four years of neglect, Ontario Place is finally being resurrected (albeit temporarily) by In/Future, an interdisciplinary arts and music festival. Artists are covering the grounds with quirky installations, while all sorts of dancers and musicians—including prog-folk powerhouse Bruce Peninsula—fill the 11-day schedule. Our pick: Night Swimmer on the western island, an immersive sound installation of wildlife and water recordings from Georgian Bay. Thursday, September 15 to Sunday, September 25. $30–$90. Ontario Place, 955 Lake Shore Blvd. W., infuture.ca.

One night, 24 years You’ve got to hand it to the baby boomers: from the Cold War and Vietnam to Elvis, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, they lived through some interesting times. The years 1945 to 1969 come alive in this celebration of the postwar era, with performer Rick Miller (MacHomer) impersonating precisely 100 politicians, musicians and activists—including Mick Jagger and Walter Cronkite—from the days of JFK and the space race. Friday, September 16. $45–$65. Living Arts Centre, 4141 Living Arts Dr., Mississauga, livingartscentre.ca.

A solo show from Steven Tyler Tyler has been publicly musing about the end of Aerosmith, but even if the band’s next tour isn’t their last, the front man is nonetheless eager to branch out. On his first solo album, We’re All Somebody From Somewhere, the lifelong rocker experiments with a country sound. Tyler’s Out on a Limb tour showcases that Nashville twang, but he will also lean heavily on obligatory Aerosmith favourites like “Sweet Emotion,” “Janie’s Got a Gun” and “Walk This Way.” Tuesday, September 13. $63–$203. Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 1 Front St. E., ticketmaster.ca.

A close-up look at climate change As the spectre of climate change looms larger, this retrospective explores how artists past and present have documented our environment. Photo and video works by artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Hicham Berrada contrast with photojournalism from the Ryerson Image Centre’s collection. Wednesday, September 14 to Sunday, December 4. Ryerson Image Centre, 33 Gould St., ryerson.ca/ric.

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Tideline, an award-winning epic As a young man returns the body of his father to their war-torn homeland, he uncovers the secret truth about his family history and encounters a generation of people disconnected from their past. The first in a tetralogy of politically resonant plays dealing with the self and displacement, Wajdi Mouawad’s Governor General’s Award–winning, two-and-a-half-hour epic, Tideline, has a dreamy, otherworldly tone entirely its own. Friday, September 16 to Saturday, October 1. $28. Hart House Theatre, 7 Hart House Cir., harthouse.ca.

Slayer: live and really, really loud Some music you can enjoy just fine as an MP3, but there’s some you really ought to hear live. To wit: Slayer. In concert, their quick, brutal and screamingly loud brand of thrash metal has the power to pummel not just your eardrums but also your body. Anthrax and Death Angel share the bill. Monday, September 12. $49.50. Sound Academy, 11 Polson St., ticketmaster.ca.

A jazzy festival in Kensington To cap off TIFF, Kensington Market is transforming itself into a jazz hub for a full weekend, packing more than 80 shows into three days. Soulpepper honcho Albert Schultz performs a rare set, funk outfit Shuffle Demons time travels back to the ’80s, and Blue Rodeo frontman Jim Cuddy teams up with opera icon Measha Brueggergosman at Handlebar for a uniquely electrifying collaboration. Friday, September 16 to Sunday, September 18. Prices vary. Kensington Market, kensingtonjazz.com.

Clive Holden’s evocative landscapes The Toronto-based new media artist is a landscape painter for the digital era. His video works and chromogenic prints feature stark, evocative images of mountains layered with vivid, surreal colours and striking digital effects. The resulting works, displayed here under the name “Internet Mountains,” evoke a stimulating tension between wildly disparate artistic styles and media, posing questions about what place nature imagery occupies in the digital age. Tuesday, September 17 to Saturday, October 15. Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen St. W., bulgergallery.com.

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