What's On in Kingston

Jenn Grant at The Broom Factory Doors 7pm Show 7:30pm This a SEATED concert All Ages Jenn Grant is a three-time Juno-nominated singer, songwriter, and internationally acclaimed recording artist whose music has been described as “the aural equivalent of a warm embrace” (Pop Matters), “majestic vocals” (Consequence of Sound), and “dreamy, harp-and-woodwinds folk, the work of a painter born in paradise” (The Age, AU). With eight studio albums to date, she has become one of Canada’s most distinctive voices, earning East Coast Music Awards, a Polaris Prize long-listing, and widespread recognition for her ethereal sound and evocative storytelling. Her forthcoming album, Queen of the Strait (2026), is her most personal work yet. Co-produced with Joshua Van Tassel (Bahamas, Christine Bougie, Doug Paisley) and longtime collaborator Daniel Ledwell, it is a modern-day classic of country and Americana, elevated by Jenn’s unmistakable pop-infused charm. Written in part from her childhood experiences growing up on Prince Edward Island and traveling across the Northumberland Strait with her brother after their parents’ separation, the songs explore life’s deepest thresholds: childhood wonder, love, abuse, aging, childbearing, loss, survival, and resilience.

May 12th at The Broom Factory All Ages General Admission Doors 7pm Show 7:30pm Every band worth its salt has a member who worked in a record store. In METZ, the fearless noise rock trio who released five full-length albums on Sub Pop between 2012 and 2024, it was singer and guitarist Alex Edkins. Slinging indie rock and hardcore records in his hometown record store while attending university, Edkins became an ardent student of rock ‘n’ roll; from the psychedelic 1960s to the DIY 1990s and beyond. Hoopla, the catchy, melodic second LP from Edkins’s solo project Weird Nightmare, mixes and matches these influences in fun and exhilarating combinations, displaying his sophisticated musical mind. Bursting to life with hooks and earworms, Hoopla is that one tape that never gets ejected from the car stereo, but plays on repeat, soundtracking the summer. New and nostalgic at the same time, Hoopla will perk up your ears. Weird Nightmare’s self-produced, and decidedly lo-fi, self-titled debut was recorded at home during the pandemic and released by Sub Pop in 2022. Weird Nightmare displayed Edkins’s indie rock sensibility, with a penchant for undeniable hooks and massive sing-along choruses. His skills at writing and performing only tightened on a series of singles that followed. On the new studio album Hoopla—co-produced with Spoon’s Jim Eno and recorded at Seth Manchester’s Machines with Magnets—Edkins expands Weird Nightmare’s dimensions even further. Gilded onto the direct emotions of his straightforward songwriting, new musical textures such as piano, bells, and castanets give these well-wrought tunes a shiny luster. It’s like a beloved indie director leveling up to their first studio feature. If Weird Nightmare’s debut was an underground crowd pleaser akin to Richard Linklater’s Slacker, then Hoopla is Edkins’s Dazed and Confused, or even better, Before Sunrise. Hoopla represents a huge leap forward in his sonic palette and emotional vulnerability.