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Urban Planner: January 17, 2011
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
Local actor and bluesman Raoul Bhaneja hosts the 14th Annual Maple Blues Awards tonight. Detail of a photo by Claire Binks.
In today’s Urban Planner, Canada’s blues community celebrates the best of 2010, The Dining Room is seated once again at Campbell House, local vocalists Thom Gill and Felicity Williams play unplugged at the cozy Common, and fresh-faced Brooklynites Cloud Nothings and Oberhofer plug in at the Drake.
BLUES: Many of Canada’s best blues musicians will be gathered tonight for the 14th Annual Maple Blues Awards, celebrating the year’s achievements in the art form, be they albums, live shows, festivals, or anything else. Saskatoon’s Gord MacAulay (chair of that city’s Blues Festival) will be on hand to receive the Blues Booster of the Year award, and the entertainment will be provided by such luminaries as Matt Andersen, Shakura S’Aida, Jack De Keyzer, and more, all backed by the Maple Blues. Koerner Hall (273 Bloor Street West), 7 p.m., $20–$28.
THEATRE: It’s been a great month for theatrical remounts so far—Birdland Theatre‘s Assassins and Theatrefront‘s The Mill are both on stage again—and another popular show from 2010 is returning tonight—although it’s not on a stage, exactly. A.R. Gurney’s The Dining Room is being performed in an elegant upstairs salon at the historic Campbell House, with most of its Dora-nominated ensemble returning. Due to the unorthodox venue, space is limited to forty audience members per night, so buying your tickets in advance would be wise. Campbell House Museum (160 Queen Street West), 8 p.m., $25.
FOLK: West end cafe The Common is premiering an acoustic showcase series with Thom Gill and Felicity Williams tonight. Gill (who plays as Thomas as well) and Williams will be playing with just their voices and a guitar; host Lisa Bozikovic hints that Alicia Keys covers will be on the playlist for the shortish (think an hour, more or less) show. The Common (1071 College Street), 9–10 p.m., PWYC.
ROCK: Two much-hyped Brooklyn-based bands, The Cloud Nothings and Oberhofer, are stopping into town on tour. Both acts have been garnering buzz from Pitchfork,