Hit List
Cormac Rea
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Hedley at the Hot Air Balloon Fest
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THURSDAY 2Israeli painter Tami Galili Ellis opens her Elements exhibit with a vernissage at Blink Gallery (Major's Hill Park) tonight from 6 to 9 p.m. An experienced instructor and member of the Blink Collective, Ellis's work is rich in colour and inspired by combinations of mythology, biblical iconography and reality. Exhibit runs until Sunday... Basement Artists' shows are always a good time, with their brilliant expos of up-and-coming local artists in local clubs (in this case Zaphod's) and the addition of usually great bands and DJs, with The Start, Boombonic Plague and Dellinguent Grubs on this night ($10).
FRIDAY 3
The Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival is back again, running until Monday. Yes, there will be lots of balloons, but the big draw at the fest is the extras, namely 60 hours of show programming including Our Lady Peace and Hedley. Info: montgolfieresgatineau.com.... Elsewhere, long-time Ottawa electronic group Jokers Of The Scene have their farewell party with DJ Drastik at Babylon Nightclub (11 p.m.), while Mercury Lounge presents Rommel Ribeiro in Rommelera TromBassDrums (doors at 7 p.m., $10). Also, world famous prog-house/trance DJ Markus Schulz is at Parliament Supper Club ($25/$35; 10 p.m.).
SATURDAY 4
Ottawa Lumière's Evening of Light occurs at Stanley
Park from 5 to 10 p.m. Everything gets going with a parade from the adjacent Crichton Community Centre into the park, where all the light fixtures are set up and ready to be ooh-ed and ahh-ed at. Three separate stages also offer up loads of entertainment, featuring fireweavers, plays and dancing. All info: lumiereottawa.com.
SUNDAY 5
Go to the cottage. Sit by the lake (maybe Meech Lake?) and then come back and hit up one of the best Sunday nights in the city: Mod Club at Babylon Nightclub. With the long weekend, this usually packed-to-the-rafters evening will be a gong show. So bring your gongs.
MONDAY 6
Frosh Week (a.k.a. 101 Week) kicks off at the University of Ottawa today with - you guessed it - a massive party. Taking place at Confederation Park, 30 Seconds To Mars, Les Trois Accords, The Balconies, Songs From A Room and Lucky Uke comprise the lineup for the event known as Fedstock. Basically, expect 5,000 drunken students going mental in the downtown core.
TUESDAY 7
It's plugged mercilessly in this edition, but Kid Koala + Wolfmother = The Slew at Babylon Nightclub tonight. A really top act, it's also the best thing happening on a Tuesday - especially if you're looking to continue the long weekend party train. Info: babylonclub.ca.
WEDNESDAY 8
The documentary Restrepo opens at the ByTowne Cinema, 7:15 p.m. tonight. A vivid and unsettling experience, Restrepo is the work of a journalist (Sebastian Junger) and a filmmaker (Tim Hetherington) embedded with the 173rd Airborne Brigade in an Afghanistan outpost coined "Restrepo" by the troops. Every effort has been made in Restrepo to strip the production down to the raw product - this is all undiluted interviews with the soldiers and locals, as well as straight-up battles. It's one of the most revealing films about contemporary war you could ever see. Until Sept. 12; tonight at 7:15 p.m.
