This year is a leap year this year, and with Feb. 29 falling on a Saturday, that means an extra night of live music and then some.
 The Owl Acoustic Lounge has a busy week ahead of them with an eclectic set of shows scheduled.

 They have a rare Thursday night show, Feb. 27 with Red Deer roots /folk band Boots and The Hoots and Broken Brothers aka Eric Laroque and Ben Caldwell, performing after the Owl’s monthly poetry open mic hosted by Teri Petz at 7:30 p.m.
 They turn things up a notch, Feb. 28 with Calgary soul and funk band God Spilt the Milk plus local bands the Cayley and 21st Avenue. Admission is by donation.

Lethbridge Musical Theatre’s Broadway open mic returns to the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Feb. 29 from 3-5 p.m. So come on out and belt out your favourite Broadway hits. Live piano accompaniment will be provided. Feel free to bring you own sheet music or choose from the music available.
 Later on, Jay Bowcott’s new band Rooks return to the Owl Acoustic Lounge stage at approximately 9:30 p.m.

 The Geomatic Attic brings back Calgary indie rock/ folk band Reuben and the Dark to Southminster United Church, Feb. 29. Local band Ghost Woman open the show at  at 8 p.m. sharp.  Tickets cost $36.50.

 That corner of downtown will be packed Feb. 29, with three big shows happening.
 Ammena Dance presents An Explosion of World Dance in the Yates Theatre beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Explosion of World Dance are $31 for adults,  $26 for children.

While right next door in the Sterndale Bennett Theatre, the Quaint Quirky and Queer cabaret begins at 8 p.m.. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door.

 The Slice rocks as usual this week. On Feb. 28, Red Deer based power pop group The Pits Planet Earth plus local alternative rock band MTBC play the Slice beginning at around 9:30 p.m. There is a $10 cover for the show.

The next night, the Slice features local Led Zeppelin tribute Tangerine beginning at 9 p.m.

The Elim Village features a special  Leap of Faith Dessert Night, Feb. 29 at  the Grand Hall (275 Lettice Perry Road north) beginning at 7 p.m.
Deanna Storfie and Nathalie Snijder will be entertaining throughout the event, 7-9 p.m.

Reuben Bullock and his band the Dark return to play the Southminster United Church for the Geomatic Attic, Feb. 29.
 They are touring in support of their most recent album un/love, which was released in October and are currently making inroads in the United States.

“ It’s been good so far. We’ve had some sold out shows,” said Bullock, just leaving Minneapolis en route to Winnipeg.
“ American audiences are a lot different that Canadian audiences. A lot of them  know me from bigger projects,” said Bullock, who has had a nice run of having his songs placed in TV shows like “Breaking Bad, The Handmaid’s Tale and Movies like Robert Downey Jr.’s  film “ Dr. Doolittle.”

 “I spend a lot of time in Los Angeles writing for movies and television,”  said Bullock, adding he has been working with a team for the past eight years who help his songs get placed in movies and television.

So a lot of American fans want to hear those songs then they go back into the band’s back catalogue,” he continued, adding it’s like starting from scratch.
 “We‘re playing small clubs in the U.S. And it’s really interesting only having 80 people in the audience, but all 80 know every word of the songs,” he observed.

“Its a really cool feeling.”
 While he has a lot of soundtrack cuts, he doesn’t expect to play many of them.

 Theatre Outré is excited about their new collaboration with Calgary’s Sage Theatre for Bryden MacDonald’s Whale Riding Weather. It is the generation spanning story of a  love triangle between three gay men in their 60s, 40s and 20s.

“ It fits right in with this year’s Theatre Outré theme of intergenerational relationships,” said Theatre Outré artistic director Jay Whitehead.

The play features Marek Czuma, Allister MacDonald and Theatre Outré artistic director Jay Whitehead.
 It runs in Calgary, Feb. 18-22, then in Lethbridge at Didi’s Playhaus, Feb. 24-28.

“It’s about a couple who have been together for 15 years. The older man is starting to decline mentally and his partner is  being a caregiver, but he’s starting to check out until a younger man comes into his life who is excited and full of life,” summarized Whitehead, who plays the man in his 40s. 

Gail Hanrahan is directing the production.

“’I’ve formed a relationship with Sage Theatre artistic director  Jason Mehmel and wanted to work with them because they create a more experimental style of theatre,” Whitehead said.