The Complete Guide to St Patrick’s Day 2012 in Peterborough

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St. Patrick’s Day 2012 is coming this Saturday, and pretty much anywhere that serves alcohol is getting ready to have a party. And pretty much everywhere that has a stage will feature live music. With rock shows, club nights, sit-down concerts, pubs with a guy playing music on stage, and everything in between, there should be something out there that keeps you interested, and it’s almost all local!

To help you out a bit, Electric City Live has marked our selections for the best events out there, with a clover ().

And as we get closer to the day, bars are continually releasing new info about events, so we’ll be updating this page as details come in. As always let us know via Facebook, on Twitter @ElectricCityON, or in the comments below if we missed anything!

UPDATED: Now includes Dobro, Junction, Red Garnet, Riley’s, and Spanky’s. Also more info for the Pig’s Ear, Showplace and The Venue.

Black Horse Pub

The Black Horse has two bands for St. Patrick’s Day. At 4:00pm, you can catch veteran of the Peterborough music scene and local oddity Washboard Hank. (Hank will then move onto the Pig’s Ear for an evening show, so have a look at that section for a full explanation of his particular musical style.) The evening show is singer-songwriter and Black House regular performer Charlotte Melby (CBC), starting at 9:30pm. No cover.  more info

Dobro Bar and Restaurant

Dobro will be opening at 11:00am on St. Pat’s. There will be an Irish dance troupe in the afternoon, and then live music until 2:00am, closing off with Dobro’s regular Saturday night performers, Phil And the Parkways (Facebook), a local group who play classic rock covers.  more info

Junction Nightclub

The Junction will be opening early, at 4:00pm. Regular Saturday cover applies. (Thanks Tim for the help!)

Market Hall

If you’re interested in a quieter night, Market Hall will be hosting Scott Driscoll (official site, Myspace), a local singer-songwriter who has been touring Ontario with various bands for the last twenty-odd years and has just released his debut album. He will be playing solo, and with his band The Heartland Levy (Facebook, ReverbNation), a Tom Petty tribute band. Tickets are $20, and are available in advance.  more info

 Montreal House

The Montreal House is hosting music pretty much all day, starting at 1:30pm, with Ken Ramsden (a.k.a. Reverend Ken), a singer-songwriter who’s been playing Peterborough for years and years, on his own and with his band Freshwater Trade. Then it’s Curve Lake’s Bob Taylor Band, playing country music. At 9:00pm, local alt-country band Levon (official site, Facebook) are playing, and then from 10:00pm onwards, Misfits In Action a.k.a. M.I.A. (official site, Facebook) finish off the night with their particular brand of silly of 80s songs (The Cars, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and whatnot). No cover.  more info

Pig’s Ear Tavern

The Pig’s Ear is opening at noon, and will be featuring a live show from Washboard Hank (official site, Myspace) at 9:00pm. If you haven’t see Washboard Hank, he plays mostly country music using a modified washboard as a musical instrument (here’s what that looks like). He has been known to play cute kids’ shows and he has been known to play drunken, foul-mouthed adult shows, so… take your pick. It is a drunken St. Pat’s show. Cover is $4 for the evening.  more info

 Red Dog Tavern

The Red Dog’s bringing in some heavy hitters of the local music scene, all of whom fall somewhere along the spectrum of country rock, or alt-country, or southern rock, or roots rock, or whatever you want to call it. There’s Colt Harley (Facebook, Myspace), Levon (official site, Facebook) (also playing at the Montreal House later in the evening), The Muddy Hack (Facebook, Myspace), and Melissa Payne (official site, Facebook). No cover.

Red Garnet

During the afternoon, the Red Garnet will have a “kid-friendly” show by local singer-songwriter Dave Tough (Bandcamp) and friends. The evening brings a concert by local rockabilly group The Lohrwoods (Facebook, ReverbNation). And they have Irish stew.  more info

Riley’s Pub

Riley’s will be opening at 11:00am, and featuring live music all day, including Josh Gontier, a local rock cover singer and regular feature at Riley’s. No cover. (Thanks Tim for the help!)

Showplace

Another venue you can go if you’re looking for a quieter day, Showplace is having a St Patrick’s Day Irish Tea from 12:00pm to 4:00pm, as a fundraiser for Showplace. There will be food, dancing, and musical performances by a pair of local folk singers: Tim Rowat and Dan Fewings. Tickets are $25, and are available in advance.  more info

Then in the evening, Showplace will feature The Carlton Showband (official site), a group who toured Canada extensively between the mid-1960s and the mid-1990s, and are in the middle of their reunion tour. Tickets are $48, and are available in advance.  more info

Spanky’s

The only information Spanky’s has released so far is this poster, which indicates they’ll be opening at 11:00am, and serving “green beer and all that shit,” which is so very helpful. Thank you, incredibly helpful Spanky’s marketing team.

 The Spill

In typical overachiving fashion, The Spill will be having a ton of local bands playing live all day, starting at 2:00pm and ending at 2:00am. Among the bands playing are: blues-rock band No Pussyfooting (Facebook), singer-songwriter CL McEachern (official site, Facebook), punk band Mokomaki, country band Nick Ferrio & His Feelings (official site, Facebook), hip-hop group Bears Beats (official site, Facebook), punk band The Holy Bolts (Facebook, Myspace), singer-songwriter Mark Harris, and rock band The Venisons (Facebook, Myspace). And apparently that’s not a complete list! No cover until 9pm.  more info

 Splice

Splice is having their a St Patty’s DJ Bonanza, featuring six DJs - The Muddler, Marc Noir, DJ Dilly Bar, Scullen, DJ Hancock and DJ Andy M. It gets started at 6:00pm with a three-hour Happy Hour. Prizes available. $10 pays your cover, and gets you a pint and some Irish stew, which is awesome.  more info

Tank House / Sin City

The Tank House is getting things started early, with country band The Wolfgang Brothers (official site, ReverbNation) playing from 11:00am to 2:30pm. After that, from 2:30pm to 6:00pm, it’s local group The Cadillacs, who play covers of songs from the last 50 years or so. No cover.  more info

After The Cadillacs finish, Sin City opens its doors at 8:00 for their St. Patrick’s Day Bash. So far no details on what the evening entails, besides the slogan “Why go anywhere else?”, which I don’t really have an answer to. Presumably, there will be some degree of music, alcohol, and dance floor grinding.  more info

The Venue

The Venue is having an all-day party, including cheap, green-themed drinks, live music during the day, and club music in the evening. Live music will be at the wine bar, starting at 11:00am. Performers include local classic rock cover group The Rick and Gailie Trio (Facebook) and local singer-songwriter Tony Silvestri (CBC, Myspace).  more info

In the evening, The Venue re-opens as a club, and two DJs will be on hand to toss some Celtic music into The Venue’s normal mix of house music and Top 40s. There will be the local DJ Chef and DJ Alco-Helek, who’s described as the “master of celtic and country music.” Cover for the evening is $5.  more info

So where are you headed on St. Pat’s? Let us know in the comments below, on Twitter (@ElectricCityOn) or on our Facebook page. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!