The Pearl Company

FIN DE FIESTA FLAMENCO: AUDACIA: Saturday, August 27. 8:00pm. $20 /$15 students/seniors/un(der)waged. Direct from Seville, Spain: Fin de Fiesta Flamenco dance and music ensemble presents AUDACIA, a bold new production that explores the many sides of one of the world’s most passionate and intense art forms: flamenco. Though they come from different continents, Fin de Fiesta Flamenco’s core members make their home base in Seville Spain while calling the world home, and collaborating with artists from all over the planet. Flamenco’s gypsy roots in Andalusia are echoed in their vagabond life, “We’ve chosen to live a life of movement… following the dance and the music where it takes us,” says guitarist Dennis Duffin. Ancient rhythms meet avant-garde ideas and converge in an explosion of staccato guitar, haunting flute, stunning vocals and percussive footwork. To the south of Spain and back again, AUDACIA will leave you breathless, with the pulsing rhythms of flamenco beating in your heart. Fin de Fiesta Flamenco is Lia Grainger (artistic director, dance), Dennis Duffin (musical director, guitar), Lara Wong (flute), Alejandro Mendía (voice), Davide Sampaulo (percussion, for select performances) and Jessica Hana Deutsch (violin, for select performances). www.findefiestaflamenco.com  Fin de Fiesta Flamenco in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n12IrFQCoCM

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Bob Wegner – One Man Show: Saturday, August 13. Doors: 7:30. Show:
8:00 pm. $20.  Bob Wegner is a seasoned performer, songwriter, and composer. Career highlights include playing with Classic Albums Live, performing on Canadian Idol, and playing in several productions of the west end musical ‘We Will Rock You’ after auditioning for Queen’s Brian May. He also performs as a solo artist, with an extensive repertoire ranging from Indian classical music to Bach to flamenco, as well as many of his own compositions covering a broad range of genres. Bob’s one-man show is an evening of both great music and storytelling. This is a unique chance to catch this master at his best! http://www.bobwegner.ca     Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkonqO5LHXY

Staycation Shorts! Wednesday, August 17 – Saturday, 20. all@8:00. $20/$15 students/seniors/un(der)waged. Theatrical Tidbits for We Who Stay!  Six super cool shorts for maximum summer entertainment. All 6 plays performed each night.
“For Daw’s to Peck At”: from Make.Art.Theatre: “Ben has been promoted and given his first task in his new position: fire his oldest friend James.”  Written by: Ryan M. Sero. Directed by: Annalee Flint. Featuring: Tyler Brent & Sean Emberley.
Charly Chiarelli: Only the gods and goddesses know what I will contribute. But it will surely reflect a scintillating aspect of human experience – and there will be musical adornment. I’m toying with the subject of sanity. It would be crazy for folks to miss this event, replete with committed performers (or performers who should be committed).
Brenda Lennie: Respected local stand-up comedian, Brenda Lennie, shares her “Vacation Photo Album”, ably assisted by Jim Maxwell. Brenda’s known for her Wham Bam Comedy Jams and workshops.
Greg Moverley: The Audition. The Audition takes Shakespeare’s thoughts that “all the world’s a stage” to lofty heights as we get a behind the scenes look at an actor auditioning for the role of a lifetime.
Tony Di Casa: Dark Angels: Dark Angels is a dark, existential comedy that serves as a metaphor for life. It poses the ultimate questions that encapsulate the human experience. Written and directed by Tony DiCasa. The cast members are Victoria Kyoko, Olivia Prunean, Sarah Leach, and Tony DiCasa.
Gary Santucci: A Citizen’s Arrest. Based on a true story from early days at The Pearl.  Street Justice “of a kind” delivered by the Long Flowing Grey Haired Vigilante….

Henry Wagons: Friday, August 12. 8pm. $20/$15 students/seniors/ un(der)waged. Henry Wagons is an Australian singer/songwriter, musician, radio & TV personality and frontman of the critically acclaimed, raucous country-rockers, Wagons who have released six albums in Australia, and made their U.S. debut with 2011’s Rumble, Shake and Tumble. Henry is a true renaissance man, a charismatic raconteur, and an experienced broadcaster, having presented arts programs on every medium possible. The hirsute Melbourne singer-songwriter, is a showman with an eccentrically curated public identity: fan of psychedelic country sounds, Cormac McCarthy novels, and Las Vegas-era Elvis Presley, user of a gold-plated smartphone, and possessor of a larger-than-life personality. For 2016’s full-length solo debut After What I Did Last Night…, Henry Wagons traveled to Nashville to work with producer Skylar Wilson and some of the city’s most respected Americana musicians.   Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unrf_ffCN_4    http://www.wagonsmusic.com/

Big Johnny Blue & Strange Cargo: Saturday, August 6. 8:00pm, $15 / $10 students/seniors/wage-challenged….  Like the blues?  You’ll love them Big Johnny Blue style.  Big Johnny’s a Hamilton guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and founding member of The Hamilton Blues Society. He has written hundreds of songs, and played with countless local musicians over the years. He is committed to supporting local music and musicians, especially by supporting efforts to tell the story of Hamilton’s blues history, and the power of music to improve the life of every man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE8p_zRZeIs&index=1&list=PLB3320D903F7A1FCE        https://www.facebook.com/bigjohnnyblueandstrangecargo/

Garnet Rogers: Book Launch: Night Drive, An Evening of Music and Remembrance: Friday, August 5. Book Launch: 7 to 8:00pm – free. Concert: 8:30. $20 Admission/$10 if you have bought a book: “A brilliant songwriter. One of the major talents of our time.” — The Boston Globe  “The greatest interpreter and vocalist performing in the contemporary folk scene.” — Sing Out.  We know this, and we know that he was born in Hamilton to parents of Nova Scotian descent.  We also know that Garnet spent hours harmonizing with his brother, the late folk legend Stan Rogers and was on the road as a full-time working musician with Stan, until he died tragically in a plane crash. Since then, Garnet has established himself as a formidable solo artist. Now he has written about the journey.
NIGHT DRIVE – TRAVELS WITH MY BROTHER
“So, here it is folks. Stories about how Stan and I grew up together, discovered music together, and learned to play in a band and travel together. How the songs got written and recorded. What life was like on the road before there was an independent music scene.
And nearly every stupid, inexplicable and bizarre thing that could happen to a pair of young idiots who were naive enough to think they could play folk music for a living back in the mid- 70’s and early 80’s. The bar fights and the bike gangs, the police chases and the arrests. And a thousand gigs in every corner of North America. It’s all here. At least most of it…”
http://garnetrogers.com/    Listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHyTxGwAdnk

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Shari Vandermolen & David Brideau: Saturday May 5.  Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. Tickets: $20. Shari Vandermolen is a renowned vocalist and award-winning performer in Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area who has been entertaining audiences for 15 years with her Quartet, Trio or 5-piece band Quarter to Nine.  She is also the lead vocalist for the 10-piece jazz combo SwingLine.  On May 5th Shari brings her powerful and impressive vocal stylings back to the Pearl Company for a more intimate evening of song with jazz guitarist David Brideau, James Gannett on bass and Vince Waters on drums.  “…hear Vandermolen make jelly of your emotions with her voice and her art… one example is Stormy Weather… I barely weathered that storm intact.”  – View Magazine
David Brideau is a Canadian jazz guitarist, composer, and teacher who has been an active musician for over 15 years. A Hamilton native, and honours graduate from the Mohawk Jazz program, David has played all around the GTA with his own group, the David Brideau Trio and Quartet, as well as being prominently featured in groups with Michael Morobito, Amber-Leigh Palka, and Lauren Perreira among others. He studied under jazz greats Bob Shields, Pat Collins, Kim Ratcliffe, and Mark Ucci and is currently continuing his studies at McMaster University. David often composes his own standards, and released the sold-out EP “Addicted To You” in 2016. He is a recipient of the Dave McMurdo Music Bursary, the Antony Roberts Music Bursary, and the Richard Newell Memorial Scholarship.
Ticets: https://www.ticketscene.ca/events/21098/