Music News
Vancouver Rise FC Joins Northern Super League: A New Era For Women’s Soccer
Vancouver’s latest addition to the sports scene comes with a bold vision and a name that embodies ambition and empowerment. The city’s Northern Super League franchise has officially been unveiled as Vancouver Rise FC, signaling the dawn of a new chapter in professional women’s soccer.
“I think it has that sense of empowerment, that sense of feeling,” said sporting director Stephanie Labbe. “I get goosebumps, still, thinking about how much the word ‘rise’ and this team, Vancouver Rise, can embody and can be connected to.”
The announcement on Monday also introduced the team’s logo: a teal shield featuring three snow-capped mountains and a radiant golden sun. For Labbe, Canada’s former Olympic gold medal-winning goalkeeper, the logo holds personal significance.
“Personally, I really like having gold in there,” she shared. “It has a special place in my heart.”
Creating a name and logo that resonated wasn’t an easy task, according to Rise president Sinead King.
“You’ve got so many ideas and you want to get it perfect. You start to overthink absolutely everything,” King explained. The goal was to capture the essence of being a woman in professional sports—to elevate and celebrate the opportunities available to them.
“We feel like Rise really brings that to life,” she added.
The Northern Super League’s inaugural season is set to kick off in April, featuring six founding teams based in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Other franchises, including Ottawa Rapid FC, Halifax Tides FC, and Calgary Wild FC, have already revealed their identities.
Each team will play a 25-game schedule, but Vancouver Rise FC still faces significant logistical hurdles, including determining where they will play. While B.C. Place—home to Major League Soccer’s Vancouver Whitecaps—is a possibility for select games, King emphasized the importance of establishing a unique home for the team.
“We want to have our own home and our own stadium,” she said.
Despite sharing ownership with the Whitecaps under Greg Kerfoot, Rise FC will operate as an independent entity.
Labbe, now tasked with constructing the team’s roster, sees the challenge as an exciting puzzle.
“One good thing is I love doing puzzles, and so I feel like every time I’m doing something, I’m adding another piece to the puzzle,” she said. “It doesn’t scare me. It’s really, really exciting. And every time I get a new piece, it just brings more excitement and makes it feel more real.”
The club is actively searching for a head coach and aims to make an announcement within the next month. News of their first player signing is also expected soon. According to Labbe, the roster will feature athletes with experience in the World Cup, Olympics, and youth national teams.
Labbe, who has competed in Europe and the NWSL, highlighted the depth of Canadian talent waiting to be tapped.
“The amount of talent that comes out of this country is unbelievable. And to me, it’s a lot of untapped talent right now,” she noted. “I think giving these players a place where they can actually pursue these opportunities … really dreaming of this and being a part of this.”
The Northern Super League has set its sights high, aiming to become one of the top five women’s soccer leagues globally, rivaling established leagues in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Spain.
Although updates may be slow, King reassured fans that progress is steady.
“The Northern Super League is incredibly organized. It’s really collaborative through all the clubs. We all want to make sure we’ve got a sustainable and successful league,” she said. “There might be some hiccups along the way because launching a league is a massive undertaking, but we’re not looking to push (the start date) back.”
As the countdown to April begins, Vancouver Rise FC stands ready to inspire, empower, and elevate the sport of women’s soccer in Canada.
Music News
Steve Lacy Announces 27-Date Fall Tour Behind Oh Yeah?
Steve Lacy is hitting the road this fall with a 27-date tour in support of his upcoming album, Oh Yeah?
The tour kicks off September 27 in Minneapolis and will take Lacy across North America, with stops planned in Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and New York. The run will wrap up in Vancouver.
Oh Yeah? marks Lacy’s first album since 2022’s Gemini Rights, the record that helped further establish him as one of R&B and alternative music’s most distinctive voices. The new album features appearances from SZA, Erykah Badu and Cecile Believe.
The upcoming tour will be Lacy’s first major run since the 2022 Give You the World Tour, which supported Gemini Rights. Four years later, he is set to return to the stage with new material and a string of dates across North America.
Steve Lacy Oh Yeah? Tour Dates:
09-27 Minneapolis, MN – The Armory
09-30 Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
10-03 Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill
10-05 Toronto, Ontario – Coca-Cola Coliseum
10-06 Laval, Quebec – Place Bell
10-10 New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
10-13 Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
10-15 Camden, NJ – Freedom Mortgage Pavilion
10-18 Washington, DC – The Anthem
10-20 Virginia Beach, VA – The Dome by Rutter Mills
10-22 Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
10-23 Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater
10-26 Miami, FL – FPL Solar Amphitheatre
10-28 Tampa, FL – Yuengling Center
10-30 Atlanta, GA – Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park
11-02 Nashville, TN – Nashville Municipal Auditorium
11-05 Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
11-07 Austin, TX – Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park
11-08 Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
11-11 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
11-13 Las Vegas, NV – The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas
11-17 Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
11-19 San Diego, CA – Gallagher Square at Petco Park
11-21 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
11-24 San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
11-28 Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater
11-30 Vancouver, British Columbia – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
Music News
Tyla Announces 34-Date Global Tour in Support of New Album APOP*
Fresh off the release of her new album APOP*, South African singer-songwriter Tyla has announced a 34-date global tour that will take her across Europe, North America, and Africa.
The tour kicks off in Paris, France, in October before moving through the UK and Europe. Tyla will then begin the North American leg in San Francisco on November 13, followed by a stop at Vancouver’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre on November 15.
The singer will return to Canada later in the run for a November 26 performance at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum. From there, she’ll continue through the United States before heading back to Africa for shows in Lagos, Cape Town, and her hometown of Johannesburg, where the tour will wrap up.
The run marks Tyla‘s longest stretch of North American shows to date. She had originally planned a world tour in support of her 2024 self-titled debut album, but the trek was cancelled after she suffered an injury.
Tyla‘s breakout single “Water” became a global hit and earned her the inaugural Grammy Award for Best African Music Performance in 2024. The song later received a remix featuring Travis Scott.
The upcoming tour follows the July 24 release of APOP*, Tyla‘s latest full-length project and the follow-up to her self-titled debut.
Presales for the tour begin Wednesday, July 29, at 10 a.m. local time, with tickets going on general sale Friday, July 31, at 10 a.m. local time.
Tyla 2026–2027 Tour Dates:
10-12 Paris, France – Zenith Paris
10-13 Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
10-15 London, England – O2 Academy Brixton
10-18 Glasgow, England – O2 Academy Glasgow
10-19 Manchester, England – O2 Apollo Manchester
10-22 Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
10-24 Dusseldorf, Germany – Mitsubishi Electric HALLE
10-25 Frankfurt, Germany – Stadthalle Offenbach
10-27 Berlin, Germany – Uber Eats Music Hall
10-29 Stockholm, Sweden – Annexet
10-30 Oslo, Norway – Oslo Spektrum
11-01 Copenhagen, Denmark – K.B. Hallen
11-12 Wheatland, CA – Hard Rock Live
11-13 San Francisco, CA – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
11-15 Vancouver, British Columbia – Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre
11-17 Seattle, WA – WAMU Theater @ Lumen Field
11-20 Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
11-22 Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
11-25 Boston, MA – MGM Music Hall at Fenway
11-26 Toronto, ON – Coca-Cola Coliseum
11-28 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
12-02 Washington, DC – The Anthem
12-05 Tampa, FL – Yuengling Center
12-06 Atlanta, GA – Coca-Cola Roxy
12-09 Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
12-10 Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
12-11 Austin, TX – Moody Center
12-14 Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
12-15 San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena
12-16 Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater
12-19 Las Vegas, NV – Fontainebleau Las Vegas
12-22 Lagos, Nigeria – TBA
01-04 Cape Town, South Africa – Green Point Track
01-09 Johannesburg, South Africa – Expo Centre, Nasrec