andPOP - Pop Culture With Substance

Canadian icons the Tragically Hip and the newly reformed Stone Temple Pilots will headline Calgary’s first-ever Virgin Festival this summer.

Other acts scheduled to take the stage include the Flaming Lips and Canadians the New Pornographers, Stars, Matthew Good, City and Colour, Three Days Grace and the Constantines.

The lineup was in part created from the requests of Calgarians, who were asked by promoters to name their performers of choice through email, snail mail and Facebook.

“When we announced Virgin Festival Calgary, I promised that we’d continue to make music a huge part of people’s lives,” said Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson in a press release. “Who knows better what music Calgary wanted to hear at their first festival than Calgarians themselves?”

Limited early bird tickets went on sale Wednesday, while general ticket sales begin April 12.

The festival will take place at Fort Calgary from June 21 to 22.

Toronto’s V Fest is set for Sept. 6 and 7, while the dates for the Vancouver edition have yet to be finalized.

Here are the starting lineups for Calgary’s Virgin Festival:

Sat., June 21:
- Stone Temple Pilots
- The Flaming Lips
- Three Days Grace
- Corb Lund
- Face To Face
- The Dudes
- Pride Tiger
- Crash Parallel

Sun., June 22:
- The Tragically Hip
- Matthew Good
- City And Colour
- Stars
- Constantines
- The New Pornographers
- Attack In Black
- Ten Second Epic
- The Spades
- The Whitsundays
- Said The Whale

Actor Eugene Levy will receive a lifetime achievement award and veteran band The Tragically Hip will be presented with the National Arts Centre award at a ceremony hosted by Governor General Michaelle Jean on May 2.

Levy, who has appeared in such movies as “American Pie,” “Father of the Bride” and “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” was among six recipients announced Wednesday for what’s described as Canada’s most prestigious artistic honour, the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award.

The annual honour, worth $25,000, is given to Canadians for achievement in theatre, dance, classical music or opera, popular music, film or broadcasting.

Meanwhile, the Hip will receive the National Arts Centre Award, also worth $25,000. The award “recognizes the work of an extraordinary nature and significance in the performing arts by an individual artist and/or company in the past performance year,” according to the Performing Arts Award website.

The Kingston, Ont. quintet will add this award to their many accolades, which include nine Junos, a place on the Canadian Walk of Fame and induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2005.

Not ones to rest on their laurels, the band is currently recording a new album. They will also perform at a gala event at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre on May 3.

A bevy of musicians, including a few big Canadian names, are throwing their support behind Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.

The grassroots environmental charity released “At The Barricades: Volume 1” last week, the first of three planned benefit albums featuring artists assembled by Canadian musician and producer Chris Brown. Among those contributing new and exclusive tracks to the compilation are Stars, Sarah Harmer, Broken Social Scene and the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie.

Volume 2 and Volume 3 will be released in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

“‘At The Barricades’ reflects the efforts of musicians committed to the fight for clean air and water,” said Brown.

To celebrate the release of Volume 1, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper will hold two shows in Ontario this week. Toronto’s Dakota Tavern will host the first one on Thursday, featuring performances from Citizen’s Band, Tony Scherr, drummer Anton Fier and other artists who appear on the compilation album.

On Friday, the artists will perform at the General Wolfe Hotel on Wolfe Island near Kingston, Ont. The show will be accompanied by a live taping of Waterkeeper’s weekly radio show and podcast, “Living At the Barricades.”

Created in 2001, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper is one of 160 chapters of the Waterkeeper Alliance. The group aims to take back the public’s right to safely swim, drink and fish in local waterways.

Here is the tracklisting for “At The Barricades: Volume 1”:
Edgar Mitchell — “Introduction”
Broken Social Scene — “Until It’s Dead”
Bruce Cockburn — “Beautiful Creatures”
Boi Brasiliero De Itaquitinga — “Toada De Cavallo Marinho” (Scotty Hard Mix)
Interlude
Chris Brown — “Oblivion”
Sarah Harmer — “Escarpment Blues” (Live)
Interlude
Sex Mob — “I Like It A Whole Lot”
Gordon Downie — “Nothing But Heartache In Your Social Life”
Mads Mouritz (Mouritz/Hoerslev Projektet) — “Paa Et Kontor”
Kate Fenner — “Old Man”
Pete Seeger — “Walking Down Death Row”
Stars — “1st 5 Times” (Remix)
Dave Bidini with The Scribbled Out Man — “The Monct On Hellraisers”
Tony Scherr — “Natural World”
Interlude
Bill Frisell — “Across The Universe”

Following the recent announcement of a string of club dates, The Tragically Hip has unveiled a new set of shows for January and February 2007.

The band will cross half the country from west to east with 19 stops along the way, reports JAM! Music. Tickets for all dates will be available starting on either October 27 or 28. A presale for members of TheHip.com begins Tuesday.

Kicking off in Victoria, BC, the band will play dates in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba before winding up with 10 shows in Ontario.

Fans should expect to hear lots of material from The Hip’s latest album, “World Container.”

Catch Gord Downie and Co. on the following dates:

January 8th — Save On Foods Memorial Centre, Victoria, BC
January 10th — Interior Savings Centre, Kamloops, BC
January 12th — CN Centre, Prince George, BC
January 13th — Canada Games Arena, Grande Prairie, AB
January 14th — Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB
January 16th — Enmax Centrium, Red Deer, AB
January 17th — Enmax Centre, Lethbridge, AB
January 19th — Brandt Centre At Ipsco Place, Regina, Saskatchewan
January 20th — Mts Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba
January 22nd — Fort Williams Gardens, Thunder Bay, ON
January 23rd — Steelback Centre, Sault St. Marie, ON
January 25th — Barrie Molson Centre, Barrie, ON
January 27th — Sudbury Arena, Sudbury, ON
January 29th — Memorial Centre, Peterborough, ON
January 31st — General Motors Centre, Oshawa, ON
February 2nd — Scotiabank Place, Ottawa, ON
February 5th — John Labatt Centre, London, ON
February 6th — Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, ON
February 8th — Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON