briefs

Lineup announced

for Burt Block Party

The annual outdoor concert series held outside the Burton Cummings Theatre has announced the bands for the four nights of the Aug. 13-17 event.

As usual, the Burt Block Party is grouped by genre: Thursday, Aug. 13, will see metalcore act Killswitch Engage perform; Aug. 14, features female indie-pop acts Beaches, Lights and Lolo; Saturday features Canadian classic acts Colin James and Streetheart; and Sunday it’s a ’90s flashback with Collective Soul, 54-40 and Paul Langlois of the Tragically Hip.

Opening acts for each night have yet to be announced. The site will be licensed and include food trucks and vendors.

Tickets go on sale on Friday at Ticketmaster and start at $69.50 per night (plus fees) for the first 1,000 tickets sold for each date. VIP tickets offer access to the VIP viewing deck, exclusive bar service and washrooms, two complimentary beverages, popcorn and a souvenir laminate. Regular and VIP full-festival (four days) and two-day passes, which offer savings over buying individual nights, are also available.

Bahamas bringing

new album to town

Bahamas returns to the stage this fall with a North American tour in support of My Second Last Album; the tour brings Toronto singer-songwriter Afie Jurvanen and his band to the Burton Cummings Theatre on Sept. 25.

My Second Last Album was nominated for Best Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the 2026 Junos, marking the 10th nomination for the indie artist.

Tickets go on sale Friday at Ticketmaster. Prices have not been announced.

Sounds of Cuba

coming to the Burt

The Buena Vista Orchestra — which features a revolving lineup of musicians from groups including the Buena Vista Social Club, AfroCuban All Stars, and the bands of Celia Cruz, Omara Portuondo, Chucho Valdés and Willie Colon — will bring the sounds of Cuba to the Burton Cummings Theatre on Oct. 25.

The ensemble will be led by Cuban violinist Rolando Morejón Reyes.

Tickets go on sale Friday at Ticketmaster; prices have not yet been announced.

Schwarzenegger

wants to play Conan

Arnold Schwarzenegger is plotting his return to the Conan the Barbarian franchise.

The 78-year-old action hero first played the part in the 1982 movie named after the muscle-bound warrior before reprising the role in 1984’s Conan the Destroyer.

Schwarzenegger talked about revisiting that part during the Arnold Sports Festival in Ohio, where he seemed excited about joining writer and director Christopher McQuarrie in Conan the King.

According to the movie star, the role can be written to reflect the years that have passed for him and the film’s title character.

“I’ll still go in there and kick some ass, but it will be different,” Schwarzenegger said. “With King Conan it’s a great old story that Conan was 40 years as king and now he gets forced out of the kingdom and there’s conflict, of course, but somehow he comes back and there’s all kinds of madness, violence, magic and creatures and stuff like that.”

He believes modern-day special effects and “plenty of money” can make such a project work. It was reported Monday that 20th Century Fox is in the early stages of producing a new Conan movie.

Schwarzenegger also told fans in Ohio that he’s had discussions about doing sequels to some of the other action flicks that made him a star — such as 1985’s Commando and 1987’s The Predator.

Long list released

for Carol Shields prize

Books by Amanda Leduc, Megha Majumdar and Katie Kitamura are among the 15 titles long-listed for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction, named for the late Winnipeg author of The Stone Diaries.

The US$150,000 award is the world’s largest literary purse for English-language books by women and non-binary writers, and it’s open to American and Canadian authors.

Hamilton-based Leduc made the list for her novel Wild Life, while Majumdar is longlisted for A Guardian and a Thief and Kitamura’s book Audition is in the running.

Also on the long list are The Edge of Water by Olufunke Grace Bankole, Sea, Poison by Caren Beilin and Milktooth by Jaime Burnet of Halifax. Suddenly Light by Toronto’s Nina Dunic is long-listed, along with Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards, Hellions by Julia Elliott and Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma.

Rounding out the list are The White Hot by Quiara Alegría Hudes, Cannon by Montreal-based Lee Lai, The Morgue Keeper by Ruyan Meng, The Sea Gives Up the Dead by Molly Olguin and Lion by Sonya Walger.

The short list will be announced April 21, and the prize will be handed out at a ceremony in Toronto on June 2.

— staff/wire services