All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her through Instagram or X.
Photo Gallery: Black Label Society, Zakk Sabbath, And Dark Chapel At Toronto’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre On March 29, 2026
The 61st ACM Awards Week Just Got Bigger With Lauren Alaina, Rodney Atkins, Randy Houser, Ashley Cooke, Dasha, and More Added to Las Vegas Events
The 61st ACM Awards Week is adding names fast. Lauren Alaina, Rodney Atkins, and Randy Houser are now confirmed to join headliner Riley Green at ACM Lifting Lives Country on the Green: Riley Green & Friends, taking place at Topgolf Las Vegas on Friday, May 15. Tickets are $200 for VIP Early Access and $150 for General Admission at AXS.com, with all proceeds benefiting ACM Lifting Lives.
On Saturday, May 16, ACM Next Wave: Country’s Beach Bash at Mandalay Bay Beach gets even stronger with the addition of Ashley Cooke, Dasha, Flatland Cavalry, Braxton Keith, and Tucker Wetmore, joining previously announced members of the Opry NextStage Class of 2026, including Willow Avalon, Graham Barham, Tyler Braden, Alexandra Kay, Vincent Mason, Emily Ann Roberts, and Hudson Westbrook. Ashley Cooke and Dasha co-host the event. Tickets start at $150 for VIP and $75 for General Admission at AXS.com.
The 61st ACM Awards returns to its Sunday night timeslot, continuing a legacy that stretches back to 1966 and includes history-making moments like the first major awards show to exclusively livestream on Prime Video. Additional performers, nominations, presenters, and the host will be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets for all ACM Awards Week events are on sale now at AXS.com.
National Canadian Film Day Returns April 15 With 2,000 Free Screenings Across Canada and 150 More in 49 Countries Around the World
National Canadian Film Day returns on April 15, and the 2026 edition is the biggest the event has ever been. This year brings 2,000 free screenings in every province and territory across Canada, plus nearly 150 screenings in 49 countries internationally, a 62% increase over last year. The theme is Let’s Dream Together, and the programming assembled under that banner is genuinely remarkable in its range and ambition.
National Canadian Film Day. April 15th. Free movies. Everywhere. For everyone.
Programming highlights across the country include:
- A tribute to incomparable Oneida actor the late Graham Greene, with screenings of his work taking place across the country, including at the Woodland Cultural Centre in his home community of Six Nations.
- Over 40 film premiere and sneak preview screenings of 11 films, including a pre-release launch of Mile End Kicks in theatres across the country, plus participation from filmmakers and stars such as Chandler Levack, Allan Hawco, Bretten Hannam (L’nu), Robert Bateman, and many others.
- 30th anniversary screenings of Hard Core Logo across the country, including a three-day retrospective at the Calgary Underground Film Festival with director Bruce McDonald and star Callum Keith Rennie in attendance; and a screening in Toronto with Victoria Beard, Peter Dreimanis, and Thyrone Tommy, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
- A two-week Canadian Film Showcase by the Vancouver International Film Festival, with more than 50 screenings, and special guests Carl Bessai, Sook-Yin Lee, and Bruce Sweeney, among many others.
- A massive event hub at the Scotiabank and Carlton theatres in downtown Toronto, featuring over 20 screenings, and special guests such as Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (Mohawk), Philippe Falardeau, Sherry White, Colm Feore, 2026 Oscar winner Chris Lavis, and many more.
- RCtv, our annual livestream for over 10,000 high school students, will showcase the brand new release Youngblood, and an interactive Q&A with director Hubert Davis and star Ashton James, hosted by programmer Aisha Jamal.
- 150 international screenings in nearly 50 countries around the world in partnership with Global Affairs Canada and film festivals and cultural organizations worldwide.
- Over 150 screenings of 23 of this year’s Canadian Screen Award nominees, including all eight Best Picture nominees.
Other special guests confirmed to participate in this year’s CanFilmDay include:
Neil Affleck, Eric K. Boulianne, Miryam Charles, Richard Crouse, Miranda de Pencier, Mathieu Denis, Sophie Deraspe, Jayne Eastwood, Ann Marie Fleming, Piers Handling, Ali Hassan, Andy Hines, Kaniehtiio Horn (Mohawk), Emma Hunter, Zacharias Kunuk (Inuk), Micheline Lanctôt, Ron Mann, Graeme Manson, Diana Matheson, Stephen McHattie, Don McKellar, Kevin McMahon, Michael McMahon, George Mihalka, Moze Mossanen, Jennifer Podemski (Anishinaabe), Alison Reid, Mary Beth Rubens, Eva Thomas (Ojibwe), R.T. Thorne, Auden Thornton, D. W. Waterson, Larry Weinstein and Mary Young Leckie.
National Canadian Film Day is free, it is everywhere, and it is one of the most straightforward expressions of what Canadian culture looks like when it decides to show up for itself. Visit canfilmday.ca to find screenings near you or to register your own free community event.
Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore Deliver a Breathtaking Live Studio Session for KEXP
Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore brought their singular combination of harp, vocals, and keys into the KEXP, performing “Perpetual Adoration,” “The Four Sleeping Princesses,” and “Melted Moon” in a session hosted by Cheryl Waters that is as quietly stunning as anything either artist has put their name to.
J-Metal Powerhouse BABYMETAL Announces World Tour 2026 and Deluxe Edition of ‘METAL FORTH’ With Halestorm and Violent Vira in Support
Today, the renowned J-metal group BABYMETAL celebrates Fox Day with the announcement of their World Tour 2026 across North America and Latin America, as well as details of a Deluxe Edition ‘METAL FORTH’. Supporting them on their North American tour dates will be Halestorm and Violent Vira.
Tickets for dates in the US and Canada will be available starting with an artist presale that begins on Monday, April 6th at 10am local time, and you can sign up now until April 5th at the LINK HERE. A Citi presale will begin on April 6, with additional presales running throughout the week ahead of the general onsale starting Friday, April 10 at 10am local time. Tickets for Latin American dates will be available starting with an artist presale on Monday, April 20th at 10am local time through April 21st at 11pm local time. Tickets go on sale to the general public starting on April 22nd.
BABYMETAL is also thrilled to share that METAL FORTH (DELUXE EDITION) will be released via Capitol Records on June 26, 2026. The deluxe edition will be available digitally and on vinyl which will feature a zoetrope design, with ten icons from the record brought to life in motion. It will feature three live performances off the record and two remixes from Major Lazer and Jordan Fish of the standout track “from me to u (feat. Poppy).”
Meaning “beyond metal,” METAL FORTH made its debut last year at #9 on the Billboard 200, marking the band’s first-ever U.S. Top 10 album. This is the first time in history that an all-Japanese fronted group has made this list. The project amassed over 200 million global streams and sold 36,000 equivalent album units in its first week.
METAL FORTH also debuted at #10 on Spotify’s Top Albums Debut U.S. Chart and #2 on the U.S. iTunes Download Album Chart. In Japan, the album entered at #1 on the Oricon Rock Chart, #1 on the Digital Albums Chart, and #3 on the overall Oricon chart. Internationally, the album landed Top 10 in Germany, a career-best after charting at #24 with THE OTHER ONE and #18 with METAL GALAXY. It also broke the Top 20 in the UK, where it hit #2 in the Rock Charts, remaining in the top 40 for 5 consecutive weeks, and achieved career-high positions in the Netherlands and France.
The news comes ahead of their highly anticipated Main Stage slot at Download Festival, which takes place at Donington park June 10th – 14th.
Disc 1, Side A
1. from me to u (feat. Poppy)
2. RATATATA (BABYMETAL, Electric Callboy)
3. Song 3 (BABYMETAL, Slaughter to Prevail)
4. Kon! Kon! (feat. Bloodywood)
5. KxAxWxAxIxI
Disc 1, Side B
6. Sunset Kiss (feat. Polyphia)
7. My Queen (feat. Spiritbox)
8. Algorism
9. METALI!! (feat. Tom Morello)
10. White Flame ー白炎ー
Disc 2, Side C
1. from me to u (Major Lazer Remix)
2. from me to u (Jordan Fish Remix)
Disc 2, Side D
3. from me to u (live from The O2)
4. My Queen (live from Intuit Dome)
5. Algorism (live from Saitama Super Arena)
North America Tour Dates
August 30 – San Diego, CA* – Petco Park
September 2 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
September 4 – Chicago, IL – Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
September 5 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
September 7 – Toronto, ON – RBC Amphitheatre
September 9 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
September 10 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
September 12 – Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
September 13 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
September 15 – Charlotte, NC – Truliant Amphitheater
September 16 – Alpharetta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
September 18 – Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
September 19 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life**
September 21 – St Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
September 23 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
September 25 – The Woodlands, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Sponsored by Huntsman
September 26 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
September 29 – Albuquerque, NM – First Financial Credit Union Amphitheater
October 1 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre
October 3 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival**
*Supporting My Chemical Romance
**Festival
Latin America Tour Dates
November 28 – São Paulo, Brazil – Espaço Unimed
December 1 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – Movistar Arena
December 3 – Santiago, Chile – Arena Movistar
December 7 – Lima, Peru – Costa 21
December 12 – Mexico City, Mexico – Estadio Fray Nano
Formed in 2010, BABYMETAL quickly gained popularity in Japan for their explosive live shows. By 2013, they had become a force of their own — opening for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn, and Lady Gaga, and bringing the ferocity of metal to a global audience. With over 15 years of history and a diehard international following, BABYMETAL isn’t just a band — they’re a movement redefining what heavy music looks and sounds like. Fronted by three dynamic women — SU-METAL, MOAMETAL, and MOMOMETAL — BABYMETAL has helped reshape the face of metal, inspiring a new generation of women and girls who see themselves in this sound and on these stages.
SiriusXM Canada, Nissan Canada Inc. and Nissan Canada Extended Services Inc. announce three-year Extended Service Subscriptions
SiriusXM Canada, Nissan Canada Inc. and Nissan Canada Extended Services Inc. (NCESI) today announced that customers who purchase a Platinum Added Security Plan (ASP) for any new Nissan or INFINITI vehicle will receive a three-year Extended Service Subscription to SiriusXM.
This enhanced offering provides Platinum ASP customers with access to a broad range of SiriusXM audio entertainment programming, featuring commercial-free music, live sports, exclusive talk and comedy, news, and original programming.
The three-year SiriusXM Extended Service Subscription is available on Nissan and INFINITI vehicles equipped with standard SiriusXM satellite service or with SiriusXM’s with 360L, where supported, SiriusXM’s most advanced audio entertainment platform.
SiriusXM with 360L delivers a more personalized and immersive listening experience by combining satellite and streaming technology. The platform offers a wide selection of additional music channels curated to match every mood, access to on-demand shows and performances, live sports content that is designed to make it easier for listeners to find games and sporting events, personalized “For You” recommendations, intuitive content discovery tools, and the ability to create custom Artist Stations based on favourite artists or bands.
SiriusXM with 360L is available on select Nissan and INFINITI models, including the 2026 INFINITI QX60 and QX80, and Nissan Ariya, Armada, Kicks, LEAF, Murano, Pathfinder, and Rogue.
In addition, each eligible three-year SiriusXM Extended Service Subscription included with the Platinum ASP features SiriusXM streaming outside the vehicle, allowing subscribers to listen wherever they are – at home, at work, or on the go – through the SiriusXM app on smartphones, tablets, computers, and connected devices. This ensures customers stay connected to their favourite SiriusXM content beyond the drive.
Customers who purchase a Platinum Added Security Plan for vehicles not equipped with SiriusXM satellite capability will receive a three-year subscription to SiriusXM’s All Access streaming plan. The All Access streaming plan includes access to 425+ channels of ad-free music, sports, talk, news, comedy, video, podcasts, exclusives, and other programming.
“This collaboration underscores our shared commitment to delivering exceptional value and premium experiences to Nissan and INFINITI customers,” said Rob Keen, Senior Vice President, Customer Lifecycle, Marketing & Partnerships, SiriusXM Canada. “By pairing SiriusXM’s most comprehensive entertainment package with Nissan’s Platinum Added Security Plan, customers receive long-term peace of mind and world-class audio entertainment.”
“Providing customers with added value throughout their ownership journey is central to Nissan Canada’s customer-first approach,” said Denver Pinto, President Nissan Canada Extended Services Inc. “This new SiriusXM Extended Service Subscription enhances the ownership experience by offering premium entertainment both inside and outside the vehicle.”
For more information on all the programming that SiriusXM offers and all the ways subscribers can listen, visit siriusxm.ca.
Los Angeles Jazz Masters Black Nile Drop Video Game-Inspired Single “Skyrim” Ahead of Album ‘Indigo Garden’
Los Angeles brothers Aaron and Lawrence Shaw, performing as Black Nile, have dropped “Skyrim,” the latest single from their forthcoming album ‘Indigo Garden’, arriving April 10 on MASS MoCA Records. The track is a full-on jazz love letter to the seminal video game, and it makes complete sense coming from two musicians who grew up in Inglewood absorbing everything from RuneScape soundtracks to the city’s red-hot jazz scene. Lawrence Shaw explains the connection directly: “Video game music is huge. It’s huge in the way that the game is shaped, in the way that it’s felt. You wouldn’t have a smooth jazz track on Skyrim. It’s just not the vibe.”
Both GRAMMY-nominated artists, Aaron and Lawrence Shaw came up rubbing shoulders with Kamasi Washington and Thundercat while building careers that took them across the full spectrum of modern music. Aaron’s saxophone work has appeared alongside Saul Williams and Carlos Niño, he has played with Tyler The Creator and Herbie Hancock, and gave André 3000 flute lessons. Lawrence has held down bass for John Legend, Booker T., Aminé, Nubya Garcia, and Raphael Saadiq, and is currently touring with Andy Grammar. Black Nile was born from their shared desire to pull jazz into a new century, adopting sampling and modern production techniques absorbed from hip-hop to create something combustible and completely their own.
‘Indigo Garden’ was recorded at Studio 9 in North Adams, MA and Harlan Steinberger’s Hen House Studios in Venice Beach, CA, with Steinberger producing. The album features cover art from renowned conceptual artist Charles Gaines and brings in keyboardists Luca Mendoza and Brian Hargrove alongside drummer Myles Martin. Invited as artists in residence at MASS MoCA in 2025, Black Nile has built an album that is equal parts homage to their LA roots and a bold step forward for the city’s jazz tradition.
For Black Nile, Los Angeles has always been a city of improvisation, fresh ideas, and jazz, and ‘Indigo Garden’ proves exactly that. April 10 cannot come soon enough.
Impressionist Jim Meskimen Takes Jackson Browne’s “The Pretender” on a Wild Ride Through Celebrity Voices
Impressionist Jim Meskimen settled into a lounge chair and delivered one of his most entertaining performances yet, running Jackson Browne’s classic “The Pretender” through a remarkable lineup of celebrity voices including Christopher Walken, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Ian McKellen, Colin Firth, George W. Bush, and Burgess Meredith, and the result is exactly as delightful as it sounds.
Red Hot Chili Peppers Drummer Chad Smith Is Putting Kids on Stage Through a Major New School of Rock Scholarship Push
Chad Smith has never forgotten what it felt like to get his first shot at music, and now he is making sure more kids get that same chance. At School of Rock’s recent bi-annual Overdrive conference in San Diego, the Chad Smith Foundation announced a partnership with the Play Without Limits Project to fund scholarships for students across the country who might not otherwise have access to music education. The conference brought together 549 School of Rock community members from 12 countries and raised more than $17,500 from over 165 donors, with the Chad Smith Foundation committing up to $25,000 in matching funds.
Students from Illinois to Texas, New York to Florida are already in rehearsal rooms and on stages because of Play Without Limits scholarships, which cover approximately one season of School of Rock programming including weekly lessons and group rehearsals. Smith, whose own path led from playing on makeshift drums as a kid to performing on some of the world’s biggest stages, has made expanding access to instruments and education for underserved youth the Foundation’s central mission. “Music changed my life, and it all started with having the chance to learn and play,” he says. “The friendships and shared experiences are what make it so powerful.”
School of Rock President Stacey Ryan points to the organization’s own Social Impact Study, surveying more than 1,400 parents, as proof of what this kind of access delivers: “Music has the power to build confidence, unlock creativity, and strengthen essential social and emotional skills.” Play Without Limits Executive Director Ian Hamilton puts it simply: “Every kid should have the chance to find out what music can do for them.”
This partnership is the kind of thing that actually moves the needle. Real scholarships, real stages, real communities built around music. To support student scholarships or learn more, visit playwithoutlimits.org and chadsmithfoundation.org.
Liverpool Metal Outfit Cut Short Confront the Weight of the Mind on Fierce New Single “Malcontent”
Cut Short are one of the most emotionally direct metal bands working in the UK right now, and their new single “Malcontent” makes that case without hesitation. Out now, the track is a hardcore-rooted gut punch about feeling trapped inside your own head, written from a place of genuine self-awareness. Vocalist Matthew Kean describes it plainly: “Malcontent is a raw, introspective track about feeling unheard and trapped inside your own mind and body. In life, we often know what will help us but when motivation is short, relief can feel out of reach.” That kind of honesty is exactly what makes Cut Short worth paying attention to. The Liverpool outfit draws from hardcore, metalcore, and progressive metal, and has already earned support from BBC Radio 1, Metal Hammer, Kerrang, and Rock Sound while sharing stages with Wargasm UK, Dream State, and Heart Of A Coward. “