SIDE BY SIDE WEEKEND

Hello everyone, We wanted to take a moment and provide an update on our plans for 2026. After much discussion and deliberation, we have decided to press pause for this year. We will not be organizing a festival in 2026, and we’re taking a break from producing and promoting shows. We didn’t come to this decision lightly. The festival means a lot to us and we know this kind of thing means a lot for Ottawa. We presented the 5th edition of the festival in 2025 and while relishing that accomplishment, we’ve also been thinking about how to balance the capacity of a small team of volunteers with how we want to continue operating Side By Side to participate in the music scene and contribute to the community; so we’re going to get some rest and regroup. It’s a humbling and rewarding experience to build something for people to connect and participate. We are so grateful for the privilege of serving the community, for everyone who has been part of the festival and our events in any way, and for everyone who has reached out so far about working together this year. This is not “goodbye”, this is a “see you around the scene”. Tony plays in the band @crisis.party , Fabien performs as @hug.mosh and organizes @perpetualengine Social Club, and Eric goes to a ton of shows all over town. Come say hi! Please continue supporting local events, artists, and organizers. Keep it up, Ottawa. We’ll be right here. With peace and love, Tony, Fabien, and Eric PS / ICYMI: We’ve working with a great group of students at @sidestepcarleton for their upcoming event April 18th at @fono.613 Give them a follow and join us at the event!

Tonight 🚨 @lydia.lunch.official & @marchurtado_official perform the music of Suicide with special guest @nathan.placertill co-presented with @firstcrush613 @sidebysidewknd 📅 Tonight! Feb 15, 2026 📍 Club SAW @saw_centre ⏰ doors open at 8 / music starts at 8:45 All ages / licensed Club SAW is an accessible venue, with automatic doors and gender neutral wheelchair accessible bathrooms. Show may contain flashing lights and haze Contact [email protected] to request seating for accessibility purposes, or other accommodations 🎟️ Get tickets online (link in bio) or at the door Poster by @zones.online

Tomorrow! @lydia.lunch.official x @marchurtado_official realize the music of Suicide at our anti-Valentine’s Day show with @nathan.placertill at @saw_centre 🥀 When teenage Lydia Lunch first crossed paths with Suicide at the end of the 1970s, she was struck by their raw, confrontational energy and radical sound ⛓️ Years later, the band’s profound influence lives on through Lunch’s performance of their music, alongside longtime mutual collaborator @marchurtado_official 🖤 Doors at 8pm | Tickets at the link in bio 🔗

Enter the void 🔷😵‍💫 4 more sleeps until @lydia.lunch.official & @marchurtado_official descend on #Ottawa @saw_centre this Sunday February 15, with special guest @nathan.placertill Don’t miss a chance to see this no wave legend in Ottawa 🎟️ tickets are on sale now at the link in our bio. Get in touch if price is a barrier - no one turned away for lack of funds 🤝 co-presented with @firstcrush613 & @sidebysidewknd Poster designed by @zones.online 🌀 Presented with the support of @ontariocreates 🫶🏻

Hi we’re sidestep! When music spaces become commercialized, local artists often lose room to be seen and heard. We’re a group of students planning an event with @sidebysidewknd to support Ottawas local hip hop music scene. More coming soon…

A pivotal figure in the late-‘70s no wave scene, a punk poet/actor devoted to making confrontational art for the past *50* years, @lydia.lunch.official is an unmissable live force 💥 She appeared in the New York music scene in 1977 with the project Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, has collaborated with Karen Finley, Hubert Selby Jr, Nick Cave, William Burroughs, Virginie Despentes, and Suicide/Alan Vega. On February 15 at Club SAW @saw_centre Lunch and her collaborator, musician, performer and poet @marchurtado_official will perform music by legendary proto-punk electronic duo Suicide and its cofounder Alan Vega. “Anyone expecting a set of Suicide covers [will be] at the wrong gig as Lydia and Marc deconstruct the music into thrilling new shapes in the spirit of the classic evolutionary New York duo” Lydia Lunch has crossed paths with Alan Vega and Martin Rev of Suicide upon arrival in New York at age 16. They became friends and collaborators, and Lunch later performed on stage and on a record of “Frankie Teardrop” by Suicide. Marc Hurtado has also worked with both Vega and Lunch since 1999. Don’t miss this iconic performance, with support by special guest @nathan.placertill Co-presented with @firstcrush613 and @sidebysidewknd 🎟️ Tickets available at the link in our bio or at debaser.ca Poster design by @zones.online

Guest reveal ‼️ Noisy hometown reveller @nathan.placertill will be setting the stage for @lydia.lunch.official x @marchurtado_official at our February 15 show at @saw_centre 🤖 Influenced by 2010s technoise, Placer Till arranges self-recorded drum and pedal noise samples on an SP404 and routes the signal through a chain of oscillation, feedback, and filtering [certified farm-to-table]. Fragmented textures are anchored by familiar techno patterns and high-energy polyrhythms. Rebels of all tastes: get your tickets at the link in bio 🎟️ Unreal poster by @zones.online

💥Announcing💥Lydia Lunch & Marc Hurtado play Suicide and Alan Vega songs on Feb 15 at Club SAW 🧷 No wave icon Lydia Lunch and @marchurtado_official unite for a ferocious tribute to Suicide and Alan Vega. From Lunch’s first life-altering Suicide show in 1970s New York to collaborations with Vega himself, this performance channels raw history into a visceral show that is confrontational, theatrical, and utterly uncompromising. 📆 Sunday, February 15 📍 Club SAW @saw_centre 🎟️ tickets on sale now - link in bio! Co-presented by @firstcrush613 and @sidebysidewknd ✨

Hello buddies 🫡 Incredibly stoked to announce this wild show ! @truckviolence from Montreal released one of my absolute favourite albums of 2024 and I’m so happy to finally have them in our city. @thatbandpublichealth also released “Minamata” last year, it’s absolutely wild. Very excited to have them back. Joining them are Ottawa’s very own @malinovka.666 and @airgun___ (who are about to release some 🔥) Finally, really happy to be co-presenting this show with longtime buddies @sidebysidewknd ! See ya there gang :) tickets in the bio Beautiful poster by @hannahisntdead

HUG MOSH, is a Ottawa based multidisciplinary artist in every sense of the word; a producer, vocalist, DJ, event coordinator, and visual artist. Her music, spanning hip hop, hyperpop, breakcore, and ghetto tech, is a self produced diary of intrusive thoughts, aptly described as “candy coated intrusive thoughts.” This tagline is captured in her debut album, ONTARIO HYERPUKE. ᯓ★ As a key organizer for @sidebysidewknd , HUG MOSH, with her “queer audacity,” has been instrumental in shifting its focus towards a genre agnostic model, championing marginalized genres and creating space for queer and POC artists also urging artists to connect and share resources. You can find the artist’s music primarily on Bandcamp (new releases include: ‘trust you decent’ and ‘coolest girl in the world’), follow @hug.mosh for updates! <3

⭑.ᐟ @sidebysidewknd we chatted with @los3333r , an electronic pop trio from Ottawa. The group blends melancholic, emo-esque lyrics with the experimental edges of folktronica and glitch ⭑.ᐟ ⭑.ᐟ Despite knowing zero music theory, their sound is a fusion of their different listenings - from Oneohtrix Point Never and Drain Gang to Dntel and Daniel Johnston - resulting in music that is both heartfelt and high-energy. 𝄢 With recent solo projects such as @thomaskhalil2 ’s ‘polka-dot perfect uniform’ and @22ulien ’s latest album, ‘Clipo,’ out now, the trio is hinting at an upcoming album. Not sure when, but soooOoooon ♪♫♪ ⊹ ࣪ ˖

We got to chat with @wtfiamma @sidebysidewknd 🦉 FIAMMA describes her music as “the feeling you get after looking in the mirror for a little too long.” It’s an exploration of the unexpected - jarring and expressive. ‧₊˚♪ 𝄞𝄢₊˚⊹ Currently obsessed with Death Grips’ “Hacker” for its unrelenting energy, FIAMMA is also focused on learning techniques and the power of consistency in everything from sound engineering to cooking. A self-described late bloomer, FIAMMA is joyfully coming into her own, supported by the uplifting and special community of Ottawa #<3