5 & 6:45 PM | 2 PIANOS, NO RODEO:
BOB WISEMAN & MIKE BOGUSKI
This isn’t a concert. It’s a piano séance in two acts. Two of Canada’s most unpredictable keyboard minds are taking turns dismantling and reimagining what a solo piano set can be. One piano. Two artists. Zero cowboy hats.
Bob Wiseman Founding member of Blue Rodeo. Punk pianist. Lo-fi provocateur. Think Monk meets Burroughs at a Toronto dive bar. Expect sound collage, biting satire, sonic left turns. Nothing’s off limits.
Mike Boguski Current Blue Rodeo pianist. Ambient soul explorer. A master of restraint and reverie. Piano as landscape. Melody as memory. Quiet storms and cinematic swells. Musical cliff jumping.
Each artist takes the same piano and launches in opposite directions - solo, stripped down, wide open. One piano. Two deeply personal journeys. No safety net. No genre crutches. No rodeo. Come for the clash of styles. Stay for the communion. This is piano as protest, as prayer or as whatever they feel that night.
"Two Pianos, No Rodeo" is for those who like their art live, unexpected and slightly dangerous. Think of it less like a show and more like two sonic postcards from different planets sent through the same grand piano.
6 pm | ELISA THORN
Elisa Thorn (pronounced eh-lee-sah) is a versatile harpist, vocalist and composer known for her distinctive and contemporary approach to the harp. Her music weaves together elements of folk, indie, jazz, experimental, and ambient music, and she aims to create music that balances the abstract and accessible, and sensitivity with boldness.performs in many contemporary contexts from pop to jazz to experimental. Interested in the intersection between composed and improvised music, she is involved with many projects including HUE, The Giving Shapes, and Gentle Party, and works alongside many artists such as Mauvey, Tonye Aganaba, Loscil and Mother Mother. Finding genre labels sometimes lacking, she jokingly calls her work “minstrel-core.”
HAMILTON ROOM
FREE Admission
(Donations appreciated but not mandatory)
In collaboration with HPL – Central Library
2026 Something Else! Festival at-a-glance
In our 13th year of operation, as Zula Presents Something Else!, we are most grateful to Department of Canadian Heritage, and The City of Hamilton for their financial support to make these festival events possible. We would like to acknowledge and thank our partners Hamilton Public Library for their kind support and enthusiasm. Much gratitude goes to our media partner CFRU.