Your September Guide to Live Music in Ottawa’s Original Downtown
September 1, 2023
Fall is fast approaching – the season of sweater weather, colourful nature walks and pumpkin spice lattes! But even as we undergo a change in the seasons, there’s been no change in the abundance of live music from amazing artists in Ottawa’s Original Downtown! This month’s guide covers just some of the incredible acts that will be making an appearance on Rideau Street this month and includes everything from indie folk to hip-hop to heavy metal and everything in between!
Fotocrime, Ultra Love
To promote the release of “Accelerated,” their latest release on Artoffact Records, Louisville post-punk outfit Fotocrime will be touring throughout Canada and the United States, making a stop at Club SAW along the way! Making use of drum machines and layered synths, the band has developed a sound that takes inspiration from acts like Mark Lanegan and Leonard Cohen but is still distinct and entirely their own. Over their six-year career, they’ve released five albums and two EPs while touring across North America and Europe alongside artists like Nitzer Ebb and Emma Ruth Rundle, just to name a few.
Joining them that evening will be Ultra Love, a female-fronted post-hardcore outfit from right here in Ottawa. With a sound and style reminiscent of 90s emo rock and post-punk, frontwoman Pascale Arpin strives to break through the boundaries of conventional genres to give audiences a distinct sound in a genre that is largely male-dominated.
📅 September 2
⏰ 8:30 p.m.
📍 Club SAW
🎟️ Tickets
F!TH, HUG MOSH, Passenger Princess
Looking for even more of the heavy stuff? Then be sure to check out F!THwhen they perform at Club SAW! This local outfit makes hard rock music inspired by the likes of Linkin Park, Alexisonfire and Billy Talent and have quickly developed a reputation for having “explosive” and “dangerously catchy” songs that will stick with you long after they leave the stage. Supporting them that evening will be local acts HUG MOSH, who describes his music as “candy coated intrusive thoughts,” and Passenger Princess, who put out their debut release “OC Transpo Sucks” earlier this year.
📅 September 8
⏰ 8:30 p.m.
📍 Club SAW
🎟️ Tickets
2 Shadows
If you’re really looking to turn things up to 11, you can’t afford to miss this band when they make their way to Mavericks this month! 2 Shadows are a heavy metal duo based out of Vancouver and inspired by artists like Slipknot, Rammstein and Korn. Having honed both the auditory and visual components of their act extensively over the years, their live performances are just as theatrical as their recorded works and sure to leave an impression on anyone lucky enough to catch them live!
Since releasing their newest album “Bring the Cold Inside” in the spring of last year, 2 Shadows have been touring extensively both nationally and internationally in order to bring their exhilarating mix of metal and theatrics to as many audiences as possible. Be sure to mark your calendars for this one, metal fans!
📅 September 8
⏰ 8:00 p.m.
📍 Mavericks
🎟️ Tickets
Midnight Mayday, The Kaladars
One of our favourite spots to catch live music is Avant-Garde Bar on Besserer, and luckily for us, they’ll be playing host to some great local acts this month! Midnight Mayday is currently hard at work playing shows around the Ottawa area to promote “Live off the Floor,” an album containing five original compositions that were, as the name suggests, recorded live from their base of operations in Kanata. They describe their music as “swampy, grungy, bluesy, folky music.”
Joining them are The Kaladars, another local band that came to exist after the dissolution of The Abstracts. Members Jared Lance and Stu MacFarlane have since reunited alongside their friends to form this brand new band that aims to bring opposing influences together, to create “a sound that’s rough around the edges but smooth at the same time.”
📅 September 9
⏰ 8:00 p.m.
📍 Avant-Garde Bar
🎟️ Tickets
Great Lake Swimmers
For all of you folk music fans out there, this is a show you absolutely have to be at! Great Lake Swimmers is one of Canada’s most acclaimed and renowned folk music acts and they will be performing at the National Arts’ Centre’s Babs Asper Theatre to promote their latest release, “Uncertain Country!”
Winners of the Canadian Indie Awards’ “Favourite Folk/Roots Artist” category in 2010, Great Lake Swimmers specialize in creating delicately crafted, atmospheric folk ballads that evoke a sense of mysticism and wistfulness that only they can replicate. The band frequently experiments with recording in abandoned silos and rural churches, creating a sonically unique aesthetic that spans throughout their entire discography.
📅 September 15
⏰ 7:30 p.m.
📍 National Arts Centre, Babs Asper Theatre
🎟️ Tickets
Ruzz Guitar’s Blues Revue
Feeling the blues? Get your groove on at Avant-Garde Bar with Ruzz Guitar’s Blues Revue! Hailing from Bristol, UK, Ruzz Guitar and his backing band, Blues Revue, are all about the blues; more specifically, legendary blues artists like The Brian Setzer Orchestra and Jimmie Vaughan. Rizz Guitar’s skills as a musician have received widespread critical acclaim from numerous established blues musicians and he and his band have taken their music across the world, having appeared on stages and radio stations throughout Europe and the United States. The band will be performing at Avant-Garde as part of their 2023 Coast to Coast Canada Tour – don’t miss it!
📅 September 15
⏰ 3:00 p.m.
📍 Avant-Garde Bar
🎟️ Tickets
Grace Petrie
Folk fans who are looking for their next concert after checking out Great Lake Swimmers need to mark their calendars for Grace Petrie’s appearance at the National Arts Centre! Petrie has been delivering her protest songs to audiences across the globe for over fifteen years. With a fiery stage presence and witty, poignant lyricism, her music frequently touches upon the political climate of her native Britain and how her government’s actions impact her as a lesbian as well as a staunch feminist and socialist.
Petrie most recent release, “Connectivity,” managed to climb to the number 2 spot on the Independent Albums Chart as well as number 37 on the Official Albums Chart. Catch Grace’s performance and discover why her music has been able to resonate with audiences the world over so deeply!
📅 September 21
⏰ 8:30 p.m.
📍 National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage
🎟️ Tickets
Wolf Castle
Fans of rap and hip-hop have been spoiled this year with the debut of the 83 ‘til Infinity exhibition at the Ottawa Art Gallery earlier this year. Lucky for them, there’s more where that came from; be sure to check out Wolf Castle’s performance at the National Arts Centre this month and strap yourself in for a hip-hop journey with a uniquely Indigenous twist.
Wolf Castle, a.k.a. Tristan Grant, describes himself as a “socially conscious Mi’kmaw rapper who uplifts community and…crafts killer hooks and earworms while interrogating and deconstructing the status quo.” Born on a reserve in New Brunswick, Wolf Castle has defied all the odds by forging a career for himself as a rapper, touring Canada and delivering his message of hope to anyone who will listen. His work has been praised by CBC Music and other media outlets for its disruptive lyricism and intricately crafted beats.
📅 September 29
⏰ 8:30 p.m.
📍 National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage
🎟️ Tickets
Dizzy, fanclubwallet
Lastly, Canadian indie darlings Dizzy will be making an appearance at Club SAW as part of their 2023 North American tour! This indie pop outfit were the recipients of the 2019 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year for their album “Baby Teeth.” Their music consists entirely of infectious grooves and catchy melodies that will instantly make them your favourite new band. Be sure to give their brand new self-titled LP a listen before you purchase your tickets and see for yourself just how addictive their work can be!
Local band fanclubwallet will be on the bill as well, which is a project fronted by Ottawa’s own Hannah Judge. Since the release of her debut album “You Have Got To Be Kidding Me” last year, Judge has been making a name for herself across the province due to her catchy yet heartfelt songs about everything from the challenges involved in growing up to her battles with Crohn’s disease.
📅 September 30
⏰ 8:30 p.m.
📍 Club SAW
🎟️ Tickets
