The Niagara Stage | Niagara Parks

The Niagara Stage Concert Series is presented by Niagara Parks, with support from the renowned Polaris Music Prize & the Government of Ontario. Happening every Saturday (plus Canada Day) throughout the summer at our epic Queen Victoria Place stage, this series draws from the long list of diverse Canadian musical talent that has been awarded, recognized, and listed by the prestigious Canadian Music Prize across its 12 year history. Supported by the Province of Ontario through the Celebrate Ontario grant, enjoy a spectrum of sounds, styles, talent, and culture as vast as Canada itself.

All shows begin at 8pm on the Niagara Stage, located just outside Queen Victoria Place Restaurant in Queen Victoria Park.

The Artists

Basia Bulat • June 30

With an electrifying voice and lyrics like silver arrowheads, Basia Bulat has become one of Canada’s most conspicuous talents. Juno nominated and shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize, she often appears solo in gigantic halls, winning over crowds with an autoharp or charango, stomping feet and two mighty lungs. Her massive talent has also been recognized at scale: her songs have been adapted for major performances with symphony orchestras, and she’s been tapped for prestigious tributes to Leonard Cohen and The Band. Since releasing her debut in 2007, she has shared a stage with artists including Arcade Fire, The National, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Daniel Lanois, St Vincent, Sufjan Stevens, Destroyer and Andrew Bird.

The Darcys • July 1

The Darcys are an alternative pop duo from Toronto, Canada that combine the anthemic songwriting of The Killers and Arctic Monkeys with the dance-floor-ready fun of Chromeo and Justice. Always the life of the party, The Darcys’ music is lush with vibrant synths, 808s and funk bass that makes their sound feel as at home in today’s modern pop landscape as it would in a crate of classic vinyl. The Darcys last studio record, Centerfold, a California postcard rich with themes of escape was both a commercial and artistic breakthrough for the band. 2018 sees another evolution for The Darcys as they turn their gaze inward, writing songs with a maturity and social awareness not heard on previous releases. This isn’t to say the party is over, if anything it’s just begun.

Weaves • July 7

In 2016, Weaves’ self-titled album was among the most anticipated of the year, lauded internationally upon its release for the band’s sideways approach to guitar pop, described as “one of the most unpredictable sounds of 2016” (MTV), and “a triumphant assault on all things conventional” (i-D). For the band, the year was a transformative experience, spent mostly on the road, playing festivals and touring with fellow 2016 breakout artists like Sunflower Bean and Mitski. Upon returning home to Toronto, rather than succumb to the exhaustion of their relentless world takeover, the band was propelled forward by their own momentum, which they corralled like the barely contained energy of their explosive live sets. Surprisingly, singer Jasmyn Burke and guitarist Morgan Waters found themselves possessed by an irrepressible burst of creative energy.

Philippe B • July 14

A pillar of Quebec’s author’s music scene, Philippe B was the recipient of the singer-songwriter of the year award at ADISQ’s 2014 Gala. He carefully weaves his web of rich and unique songs, creating a distinct musical universe that makes him stand out from his peers. He has twice made the Polaris Long List, only confirming Philippe B’s place as one of Quebec’s leading singer-songwriters and as a major artist of his generation.

Nap Eyes • July 21

Nap Eyes makes crooked, literate guitar pop refracted through the gray Nova Scotian rain. Their songs are equal parts shambling and sophisticated, with one eye on the dirt and one trained on the starry firmament, inhabiting a skewed world where odes to NASA, brain protein aggregation, and the Earth’s magnetic field coexist easily with lyrics about insomnia, self-reproach, and drinking too much. In the world of Nap Eyes, workaday details punctuate (and puncture) cosmic concerns, as enigmatic songwriter, singer, and rhythm guitarist Nigel Chapman wrestles with air and angels, struggling (and often failing) to reconcile the Romantic rifts, both real and imagined, that define our lives: between chaos and order; solipsism and fellowship; the anxiety of social (dis)orders both big and small; and the various intersections and oppositions of religion, art, and science.

Antoine Corriveau • Aug 4

Critically acclaimed and SOCAN Song Award winner (Le Nouveau Vocabulaire, 2015) Antoine Corriveau redefines himself from album to album whilst imposing his racy song-writing style. Both bared down and unpolished, then sometimes magnified by rich orchestral arrangements, he has refined his firm and balanced voice out of the ashes of Dylan, Waits and Nick Cave. The musician distills darkness, extracting a range of felted gleams with his hoarse and dusty tone. He drives his tales along a wild, cloudy and engaging plot, embracing the transgressions and improbabilities of the human psyche under a shroud of empathy. Deepening his quest on Cette chose qui cognait au creux de sa poitrine sans vouloir s’arrêter, the artist shows himself under a new horizon. With themes exploring small deaths that line our every path, the poetry is in deep contrast with luminous sounds, with wide spaces for strings, piano, brass, and vocal harmonies.

Jessy Lanza • Aug 11

Jessy Lanza's second album 'Oh No' is addressed to her own constant nervousness. The pressure of music making, which used to calm her nerves, has led to a whole new world of contingencies that stoke the anxiety mill. The exclamation 'Oh No,' for Jessy, marks yet another incident of randomness interrupting her tranquillity. All of which seems at odds with the confidence and spontaneity of this second album as well as recent collaborationswith the likes of Caribou, DJ Spinn and Morgan Geist and his Galleria project.

Kobo Town • Aug 18

Kobo Town is named after the historic neighborhood in Port-of-Spain where calypso was born amid the boastful, humorous and militant chants of roaming stick-fighters. Situated near the fishermen's wharf, the area was a site of constant defiance and conflict, a place where sticks and stones, songs and verses clashed with the bayonets and batons of colonial rule. Founded and fronted by émigré Trinidadian songwriter Drew Gonsalves, Kobo Town’s music has been variously described as “an intoxicating blend of lilting calypsonian wit, dancehall reggae and trombone-heavy brass” (Guardian) and a “unique, transnational composite of rhythm, poetry and activist journalism.”(Exclaim!) From their home in Toronto, the JUNO-nominated group has brought their distinct calypso-inspired sound to audiences across the world, from Port-of-Spain to Paris and from Montreal to Malaysia.

Tanika Charles • Aug 25

In a few short years Tanika Charles has transformed from an emerging solo artist to a commanding performer and band leader, a staple of the Canadian soul scene. Both on stage and off, Edmonton-raised Charles presents an immutable charm, at times endearingly abrasive and honest in her vulnerabilities. Her art is inherently autobiographical. If Tanika’s singing it, she’s lived it. In May of 2016 Tanika Charles’ released her Polaris Prize-nominated debut LP, Soul Run. The album’s first single and title track, a tale of withered romance and high octane escape, has landed regular national radio rotation, as has the second single “Two Steps”. Production work on the album is handled by Slakah the Beatchild (Glenn Lewis, Melanie Durrant), Daniel Lee (Hooded Fang, Phedre), Emdee and 2nd Son (a l l i e), Christopher Sandes (The Big Sound), and Big Tweeze (Theo 3, Adam Bomb). The overarching sound is classic soul and heavy drums, without the need for retro crutches.

Fiver • Sept 1

For a decade, Simone Schmidt has been writing new life into and around folk, country, and rock songs. Critically outspoken and largely evading the branding of the music industry proper by working under several aliases, Schmidt might be recognized for her tenure as the front person and songwriter for country act One Hundred Dollars (2007-11) or psych rock unit The Highest Order (2011-ongoing), or from her solo work as Fiver (2012 - on). Schmidt has six LP's to her writing credit, along with a range of singles, collaborations with artists as wide ranging as hardcore punk phenomenon Fucked Up, to the inimitable U.S. Girls, and Old Time and Bluegrass veteran Chris Coole. Schmidt has produced original works for film (World Famous Gopher Hole Museum, Land of Destiny) and appears as a guest vocalist on a number of records, including Doug Paisley, Tasseomancy and The Wooden Sky. In April 2017, Schmidt released Audible Songs From Rockwood on Idée Fixe Records, a song cycle based on the lives of people incarcerated at the Rockwood Asylum for the Criminally Insane in Upper Canada between 1856 -1881.

Polaris Music Prize history

Basia Bulat

2008 – Short List for the album Oh, My Darling
2010 – Long List for the album Heart Of My Own
2014 – Short List for the album Tall Tall Shadow
2016 – Short List for the album Good Advice

Weaves

2017 – Short List for the album Weaves
2018 – Long List for the album Wide Open

Antoine Corriveau

2017 – Long List for the album Cette chose qui cognait au creux de sa poitrine sans vouloir s’arrêter

Tanika Charles

Long List for the album Soul Run

The Darcys

2014 – Long List for the album Warring

Philippe B

2014 – Long List for the album Ornithologie, la nuit
2017 – Long List for the album La grande nuit vidéo

Jessy Lanza

2014 – Short List for the album Pull My Hair Back
2016 – Short List for the album Oh No

Fiver

*2009 – Long List for the album Forest Of Tears
*2011 – Long List for the Songs Of Man
2017 – Long List for the album Audible Songs From Rockwood
* as a member of One Hundred Dollars

Presented by Niagara Parks with thanks to the Government of Ontario & Coca-Cola