sUp Here 4 is right around the corner and about to blow both our minds (and eardrums) with all the weird, wonderful and often surprising spectacles we’ve come to expect from their crew! Mark your calendars for August 17^th – 19^th because you are officially booked. One of the best things about Up Here is that the music selection, which runs the gamut from punk, electronic, hip-hop to just plain old experimental. With so much selection (not to mention overlapping show times) it can be tough to decide what acts to check out over the weekend. Lucky for you we’ve already done the grunt work and scoured through the line up to pick some of our favourites for you to check out. If you’re craving even more check out the Up Here 4  playlist on Spotify to hear even more of the artists performing this year. Happy concert hopping!

THE SORORITY

THE SORORITY / DONZELLE / UP HERE 4, DURHAM SOCIAL (80/82 DURHAM ST), AUGUST 17^TH 11PM – 2AM, $15 ADVANCE/$20 DOOR

Spitting fierce bars with grace, The Sorority is the definition of solidarity. pHoenix Pagliacci, Keysha Freshh, Lex Leosis, and Haviah Mighty found themselves at a cypher for International Women’s Day in 2016 and the four took turns spitting over what would become one of the biggest cyphers of the year. Mixing the new with the old, the classic with the progressive, with respect for the greats and blazing their own trail: The Sorority is one to watch.

PATRICK WATSON

PATRICK WATSON / JEREMY DUTCHER / BLOOD & GLASS / UP HERE 4, THE GRAND (28 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 18^TH 8PM – 11:30PM, $30 ADVANCE/$35 DOOR

Patrick Watson is a Polaris Prize-winning musical mad scientist. He’s an internationally acclaimed singer, composer, songwriter, and producer. Patrick Watson is also the name of this mad genius’ band, fleshed-out like Frankenstein by Robbie Kuster, Mishka Stein, and Simon Angell.

Approaching their first decade playing together, the four have made a name for themselves with their dreamy soundscapes, heart-on-their-sleeves attitude, and inability to do a bad live show. The band played to over 100,000 people at the Montreal Jazz Festival, performed with a full orchestra in Amsterdam, received the Polaris Music Prize for their critically acclaimed debut album Close to Paradise, and a Polaris long-list nomination for their most recent album Love Songs For Robots. This is the internationally acclaimed artist’s very first time in Northern Ontario.

DEBBIE TEBBS

MEMORIAL PARK, AUGUST 18^TH 2PM – 2:40PM, FREE

Looking for a fun party time? Look no further: Debbie Tebb’s electro-pop will transport you to the dancefloor, if not into the 22nd century. Half retro, half futurist, Debbie is ahead of her time, or a blast from the past, one of the two, or two of the one. Her multi instrumental production blends synth with silky smooth vocals for a trance-like effect. You won’t be able not to dance.

RANDOM RECIPE

MEMORIAL PARK, AUGUST 18^TH 3PM – 3:45PM, FREE

Formed by Frannie Holder (who’s back after her performance with Dear Criminals last year), Fab, Vincent Legault, and Liu-Kong Ha, this band has seen the world thanks to extensive touring. Random Recipe is a journey from folk-hip-hop to groovy pop that hits all the right notes. They’ve come a long since their start jamming in Montreal’s metro stations. After 10 years as band, they’ve just released Distractions, a new album with such collaborators as Prince’s bassist Rhonda Smith, and Up Here alumni Foxtrott and Marie-Pierre Arthur.

JEREMY DUTCHER

PATRICK WATSON / JEREMY DUTCHER / BLOOD & GLASS / UP HERE 4, THE GRAND (28 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 18^TH 8PM – 11:30PM, $30 ADVANCE/$35 DOOR

Jeremy Dutcher is a classically trained operatic tenor and composer who takes every opportunity to blend his Wolastoq First Nation roots into the music he creates, creating distinct musical aesthetics that shape-shift between classical, traditional, and pop to form something entirely new. Dutcher’s debut release, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, involves the rearrangement of early 1900s wax cylinder field recordings from his community. “Many of the songs were lost because our musical tradition was suppressed by the Canadian government. I’m doing this work as there’s only about a hundred Wolastoqey speakers left… if you lose the language, you’re losing an entire distinct way of experiencing the world.”

NYSSA

CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON / GEOFFROY / NYSSA / UP HERE 4, THE GRAND (28 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 19^TH 8PM – 11:30PM, $25 ADVANCE/$30 DOOR

Nyssa started her first band when she was 12. She spent her teens and early 20s honing her chops in Toronto-sweethearts, Modern Superstitions, working with members of Fucked Up, Holy Fuck, and Sloan along the way. She evades classification: Nyssa seems to inhabit some kind of enchanted forest-cum-trash palace where power-pop, punk, soul, glam, disco, and country all get doled out in equal, glitter-soaked measure. Nyssa is a singer, songwriter, producer, and performer for our age, and her new EP, Champion of Love, is the beginning of an era.

DONZELLE

THE SORORITY / DONZELLE / UP HERE 4, DURHAM SOCIAL (80/82 DURHAM ST), AUGUST 17^TH 11PM – 2AM, $15 ADVANCE/$20 DOOR

Back, even though she never really left, Donzelle blends rap, deadpan dancers, unrefined costume changes, and dirty bass. With more than 15 years in the Montreal music community, Donzelle is a devoted ambassador for kitsch heritage who brings a singular voice to the predominantly male Quebec rap scene through a disruptive project that serves up party beats, advocacy, and empowerment. Get ready for a pussy-core kitsch-hop trilingual rap party.

CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON

CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON / GEOFFROY / NYSSA / UP HERE 4, THE GRAND (28 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 19^TH 8PM – 11:30PM, $25 ADVANCE/$30 DOOR

Charlotte Day Wilson is a 25-year-old vocalist, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Toronto. With roots ranging from R&B to folk, her soulful, singular voice and timeless sound garnered global attention, leading to tours and collaborations with acts like BADBADNOTGOOD, Daniel Caesar, Local Natives, Angel Olsen, and Thundercat throughout 2016 and 2017. The November 2017 release of single “Doubt” marked her first new music in more than a year, an intimate yet accessible anthem for the unsure, driven by the strength and honesty of her voice. “Doubt” also represented the opening salvo of Charlotte’s second project, Stone Woman. The release of Stone Woman marks a new chapter for Charlotte, one defined by clarity, vulnerability and strength. It is a clear statement of intent, a stirring demonstration of Charlotte’s power and poise and her certain emergence as an essential voice in 2018 and beyond.

GEOFFROY

CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON / GEOFFROY / NYSSA / UP HERE 4, THE GRAND (28 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 19^TH 8PM – 11:30PM, $25 ADVANCE/$30 DOOR

In Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist Geoffroy’s most recent works, a familiar folk background gives way to a more downtempo, electronica/trip-hop inspired sound, following the path of artists such as Chet Faker, SOHN or Sylvan Esso. Geoffroy’s Polaris Prize long-listed debut album “Coastline” features a solid mix of percussions, guitars, analog keyboards, synths, and woodwind instruments. Since its release, the album’s first single Sleeping on My Own has garnered over 6 million streams on Spotify.

BLEU NUIT

CHANDRA / BLEU NUIT / TV FREAKS / UP HERE 4, THE TOWNEHOUSE TAVERN (206 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 18^TH 11:00PM – 2AM

Bleu Nuit crafts french post-punk that blends spectral sounds with tension-packed lyrics for a truly haunting experience. Strong, fuzzy melodies back chant-like vocals that hearken back to the ‘80s.

BLOOD & GLASS

PATRICK WATSON / JEREMY DUTCHER / BLOOD & GLASS / UP HERE 4, THE GRAND (28 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 18^TH 8PM – 11:30PM, $30 ADVANCE/$35 DOOR

Montreal-based duo Blood and Glass (also referred to as The Blood & Glass Quartet) has been described as “Industrial Sade meets Tom Waits” by international music festival POP Montréal. Odd prospect? You bet! Their new album, Punk Shadows, keeps up with the group’s eccentricities by indulging in playful and cinematic moodiness, while balancing it out with the right amount of freakiness.

MAUNO

MAUNO / VICTIME / BOYHOOD / UP HERE 4, THE TOWNEHOUSE TAVERN (206 ELGIN ST), AUGUST 18^TH 11:00PM – 2AM

Mauno (pronounced Mao-no) is ironically named after bassist/vocalist Eliza Niemi’s completely unmusical Finnish grandfather. They have a wandering sound that refuses to be pinned down. They strayed from twisting grunge-pop to raw, guttural, emotional punches. Their tales of botched romance and misdirected dreams play out above a bed of crunchy guitars and crashing cymbals. They’re charming af.