By Will Yannacoulias
Under several different names, the team at the Coors Event Center has been bringing touring artists to perform upon their Saskatoon stage for a decade. On August 1st the Event Center made an exciting announcement via social media; the launch of the Vizzy Stage, a new 400 person venue geared towards supporting local artists. The announcement was paired with even more exciting news; for the entire month of September, the Vizzy stage would be hosting a different local indie artist every single night, with the performers taking home 100% of the ticket sales. NSMZ reached out to some of the performers for their thoughts on the new stage and the dynamic lineup for the Vizzy Concert Series.
Whether performing solo, with his partner Jen Lane or fronting his band Smokekiller, John Antoniuk has spent much of the last two decades as a respected figure in the local music scene, making Smokekiller a fitting choice to appear during the first week of the Vizzy Concert Series on September 8th. As Antoniuk told NSMZ, “16 months ago the band and I were supposed to be celebrating the release of the new album Chiba with a voracious live performance at a local venue. But as we all know 18 months ago the world changed on a dime. As the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter, we couldn’t be more excited to jump back up on stage and do what we love to do. I’m thankful for the support of the Pulse Music Journal and Coors Event Centre teams. They kept new music relevant in Saskatoon and surrounding area, including helping me to promote the release of my album last October. I was honoured to be asked to be a part of their September run of awesome shows on the new Vizzy Stage and the lineup looks amazing. I hope people are as excited to see some live music in a safe setting as much as I am excited to play again!”
At the opposite end of the spectrum is Regina’s Zayd, an exciting new hard rock solo artist who launched his career in 2020 and will be performing his first ever live show under the Vizzy’s bright lights on September 23rd. Zayd excitedly told NSMZ that “when I launched my project, I thought of doing some performances here and there but it just wasn't an option. During the lockdown, I spent time crafting my idea of what a Zayd concert would be like, how my stage should be set up and how to make a unique concert experience. All these thoughts and ideas have been in my mind for years and finally, I can bring it to life because of this amazing opportunity! I can't imagine any other place then the Coors Event Centre to do my first performance and being on their new Vizzy Stage is the icing on the cake. I'm so honoured they asked me to play. How could I say no to that? I responded within a second with a big YES! This concert series in September is going to be amazing. Each night you'll get to experience different genres, different musicians and different styles. This brings the music community together and celebrates the return of the live music!”
Tickets for each of the 27 shows in the Vizzy Concert Series are available at www.coorseventcenter.com