Monthly Archives: April 2015

Meet Our New Contributors!

Happening Hamilton is excited to welcome to our team new Hamilton-lovers! Meet Krista and Michael, enthusiastic students wanting to learn more about our lovely city and write about it along the way. Look forward to more coverage of great events and their own perspectives on living in Hamilton.

KRISTA

I came to Hamilton in 2011 to attend McMaster University, but I first discovered the City of Hamilton itself when I accepted a volunteer position as a tutor at the N’Gen Youth Centre in downtown Hamilton. My experiences there made me curious to discover the rest of the City.  Now that I’ve been living in Hamilton for almost three years, I can say that I truly love what Hamilton has to offer, especially the beautiful trails and waterfalls that line the escarpment.

When you move to a new city it can be difficult to become part of the community, and it can be even harder if you are a McMaster student who is afraid to leave the campus. Happening Hamilton made it easier for me to get to know the city, and I hope to help others, both new and current residents, become involved in their community.

When people first heard I was moving to Hamilton for university, many inquired and wondered why I was doing such a thing. “McMaster is a great school and all,” they said, “But HAMILTON? Really? You want to be stuck for the next four odd years in the armpit of Ontario?” At the time I found it ironic to be hearing these comments from Winnipeggers, as they are known to loath the city of their residence with a passion when living there, but miss and crave it when they are gone. However, I always felt that people were always a little hard on my hometown, not giving it a chance to prove itself, of exploring it enough to find the true secrets and gems to be found. That’s the way I feel about Hamilton. Perhaps that’s why I felt almost instantly at home when I moved here 2011.  There is so much to see, so much to uncover. What better time than now to go out and find more reasons to fall in love with Hamilton, the city that has been, and will continue to be, my home.

Funking Shift Up Sideways; Exhibition Closing Night Featuring Dirk Quinn Band

Keisha Neoma-Quinn’s solo art exhibition at Sealed Art is coupled with a fantastic line up of live music upstairs at The Loft. The free Gallery viewing opens at 6pm, where paintings and sculptures by Keisha Neoma-Quinn are on display. This body of work is engaging, energetic and expressive of pure creativity. It draw from the experience of live music, relationships with the natural world, and automatic free associations. With her art, Keisha aims to instil a positive feeling, a sense of fun and play for those who view the work, to remind them of the possibilities of silliness and imagination, and to enjoy life. The pairing of her creations with live music is naturally cohesive. And the line up compliments it well.

At 9pm the live music upstairs begins. Cover is $20 and it is a BYOB event.

Charlie Banjo Bean kicks it off; you might have met her under the name Keisha, or she might have said Charlie. Artist by day, Bluegrass Queen by night. Whichever name you know her by, Charlie Banjo Bean is definitely cool beans. When she straps on her five string, she’ll pick it pretty and belt it loud. Next up is Itzkotron, who you may recognize as the bassist from the Toronto band Must Stash Hat, with a progressive experimental looping set. Hamilton’s own Toadhouse will then get you hopping with their jammy beat. And to top it off, all the way from Philadelphia, Dirk Quinn Band! The whole band – including saxophonist Max Swann – is coming to town. this high energy funk/jazz band has developed a unique style that has attracted the direly committed attendance of fans ranging from jam band hippies to jazz snobs. With impressive melodic sensibilities, rhythmic experimentation and an accessible modern edge, these talented musicians will lay beautiful and delicate movements on your ears before drawing you through evil dissonance and into the hard driving funk at its core.
Prepare to feast your eyes on enriching visuals and dance your ass off!

Non-Stop Nordic Night

The summer is coming to an end and so we at Happening Hamilton have thought that we should bring back one final Nordic Night. A final night of dancing, cheap drinks and great people!

Hosted by two people who are definitely not DJs, Daniel and Brianna, this night will showcase the amazing music from Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland. They will be playing tracks by your favorite Nordic artists and some that you have never heard, paired  up with $3 drinks all night!

Open Auditions For Beautiful Souls Orchestra

Attention Musicians:
The Beautiful Souls Orchestra (BSO) is excited to announce its first round of auditions for vocalists and instrumentalists.

The BSO is a non-reading, non-traditional ensemble in which musicians of all backgrounds can come together with a focus on developing our personal experience of the music we play. Our mission is to inspire others by first inspiring ourselves. Instead of reading sheet music, weekly rehearsals are recorded and made available to members for practice and memorization purposes.

Plans are in place to expand the group by approximately 50 members for September. If you are looking for a positive community to embrace your creative musical voice then please join us for auditions at The Corktown in Hamilton.
We are auditioning all instruments but we’re especially looking for strings, woodwinds, brass and voices for the choir. “Unconventional” instruments are also welcome.

Auditions will be held on Sunday, August 21st and Sunday, August 28th at from 9:00 am until 12:30 pm. Advance registration for auditions is not necessary.