More fuel, more fire: Up Here’s second wave takes the beaker and blows it up
Get ready for your own emotional eureka moment: Inuk artist Elisapie leads the charge with award-winning ballads, in the mix with punk wrecking crew The OBGMs, and genre-defier Ouri.
We warned you more was coming. Up Here 11 has a second wave of artists, and it’s equal parts mind-melt and mosh pit. From psych-punk and electronic body music to cinematic folk and cello-fuelled chaos, we’re tossing a few more elements into the test tube and watching what smokes, sparks, and sticks to the ceiling.
Up Here 11 comes to downtown Sudbury August 15–17, 2025, and we guarantee you won’t experience the same moment twice, even though you’ll want to.
First and foremost? Our headliner, Elisapie. We can barely contain our excitement over this one. Her new album Inuktitut—a collection of ten classic rock and pop songs from the 1960s to the 1990s, reimagined in her mother tongue—just earned her the 2025 Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year. Since winning her first Juno in 2005 with her band Taima, Elisapie’s body of work has been celebrated for its emotional depth and cultural resonance.
Elisapie
The multitalented and multidimensional Inuk musician, broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, activist, and actress is currently on a globe-spanning tour from New York to Osaka before landing in Sudbury. Presented in partnership with our friends at La Slague, Elisapie is Sudbury’s don’t-miss artist of the summer.
That’s just the catalyst. Need your face melted? The OBGMs are here to do exactly that. Toronto’s punk-rock juggernauts slam punk and hip-hop together so hard you forget to breathe. From Afropunk to Pitchfork praise, they’ve become one of Canada’s most exciting musical exports. Then there’s Miesha and the Spanks, Calgary’s riff-laden riot-grrrl revival. Fronted by Miesha Louie, a mixed-Secwépemc artist, the band brings blazing Indigenous femme power to the stage.
Or maybe something gentler? Enter Bells Larsen, a rising voice in Canada’s indie scene whose queer folk-pop ballads burn slow and warm like a Ramsey Lake sunrise. After facing tour cancellations in the U.S. due to discriminatory trans policies, we’re proud to welcome him to a stage where every voice matters.
We continue the experiments with Montreal-based multi-instrumentalist and sonic shapeshifter Ouri, who blends classical cello, industrial edge, and deconstructed electronics into something soft but gut-punching.
If you’re into full-blown musical chaos with tentacles in every direction, get ready for Octopoulpe. Born in France, forged in Seoul’s underground scene, and now based in Mexico, this shirtless math-punk controls a full AV universe with his drum kit alone. Right behind him, BÖ.SENBERG dials into a stripped-back trance with nothing but a drum kit and a pile of effects pedals; it’s Berlin’s industrial heartbeat.
Wouldn’t you know, there’s more! Belly Hatcher throws techno, punk, and theatre into a blender. And Torontonian via Ottawa via Mattawa via US of A, Akeem Oh delivers lush, emotional indie-pop straight out of your daydreams. Allô Fantôme serves up French-fused glam rock melodrama, fresh off being named a Révélation Radio-Canada 2025 and proudly presented by our pals at Ici Radio-Canada. Sudbury’s got its own experiments, too. Will Powers returns with psych-punk anthems, while TRIN delivers glitter-drenched art-pop rock.
Individual tickets drop this Friday, July 11 at noon at uphere.com. But don’t wait until then to get in on the action. Weekend passes are already for sale and flying fast. Hit up uphere.com/passes and secure your spot in the maddest science experiment Sudbury has to offer.
Huge thanks to our incredible supporters, including the Government of Canada, Government of Ontario, Ontario Arts Council, City of Greater Sudbury, Sudbury Tourism, Downtown Sudbury, Barrydowne Paint, Equipment World, Greater Sudbury Utilities, Gateway City Brewery, Collective Arts Brewing, Ici Radio-Canada, CBC Sudbury, Northeastern Ontario Tourism, Hot 93.5 FM, Rewind 103.9 FM, Desjardins, La Slague du Carrefour francophone, NORCAT, Dr. Clean, Beacon Lite, Leuschen Transportation, Collège Boréal, RBC Royal Bank, Artsvest, Glencore, Galerie du Nouvel-Ontario, Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario, Exclaim!, Range, Studio123, Duplicators, Sudbury Theatre Centre, YES Theatre, YMCA of Northeastern Ontario, Quality Inn, Agilis Networks, Appless, Johnny’s Transportation, and many more. Want in? Visit uphere.com/partnerup.
