Iskwe - Our Home On Native Land festival, at Harbourfront.
Our Home On Native Land
Did you catch that? Our Home On Native Land? Through story and song (from Kinnie Star, Digging Roots and others), a family-friendly festival looks to spark questions, encourage conversations and, ultimately, bring about a rethinking of what it means to be Canadian. June 30 to July 3. Free. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W., or 416-973-4000 or harbourfrontcentre.com.
Pokey LaFarge
The old-timey Pokey LaFarge is so retro that one expects to find a gramophone hand-crank protruding from his back. But if the Missourian's style of Appalachian folk, moonshine blues and ragtime what-have-you is rustic, there's no dust on this guy. LaFarge's music zips, rips and catches ears – he's wound up always. July 2, 8 p.m. $22.50. Horseshoe Tavern, 370 Queen St. W., 416-598-4226.
Vimy
One hundred years after the horrific Battle of Vimy Ridge, Soulpepper mounts Vern Thiessen's gripping 2007 story about four soldiers recuperating in a field hospital after the bullets stopped. Christine Horne (The Stone Angel, Hyena Road) stars as the nurse who looks after their wounds (both obvious and concealed.). In repertory with Billy Bishop. July 11 to Aug. 5 (previews begin June 29). $32 to $89. Young Centre, 50 Tank House Lane 416-866-8666 or soulpepper.ca.
Army of Shadows: The Films of Jean-Pierre Melville
Film school? As a young man, Jean-Pierre Melville fought as part of the French Resistance. The crime-film maestro and trench-coat-and-fedora aficionado, whose films should come with second-hand smoke warnings, gets a retrospective treatment. Highlights include the fun noir of 1959's Two Men in Manhattan, the 1970 heist classic The Red Circle and the assassin-y masterpiece Le Samouraï, from 1967. June 29 to Aug. 13. $10 to $14. TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W., 416-599-8433 or tiff.net.
City and Colour
A little musket love on Canada-Day weekend. The singer-songwriter Dallas Green (who makes earnest, intimate music under the moniker City and Colour) takes over historic military grounds, with help from Blue Rodeo, the Strumbellas, Stars and Dear Rouge. July 2, 4 p.m. $69.50 to $99.50. Commons at Butler's Barracks National Historic Site, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ont., 855-985-5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
Brad Wheeler