BACKCOUNTRY FRIDAYS
2025-01-17 21:00 - 2025-01-18 02:00, 2025-01-24 21:00 - 2025-01-25 02:00, 2025-01-31 21:00 - 2025-02-01 02:00, 2025-02-07 21:00 - 2025-02-08 02:00, 2025-02-14 21:00 - 2025-02-15 02:00, 2025-02-21 21:00 - 2025-02-22 02:00, 2025-02-28 21:00 - 2025-03-01 02:00, 2025-03-07 21:00 - 2025-03-08 02:00 (America/Vancouver) and 4 more dates | The Duke Saloon, 502 Discovery Street, Victoria, BC, V8T 1G8, Canada
Backcountry Fridays
Featuring Whiskey Business
Every Friday
Doors: 9PM
Close: 2AM
Kickstart your weekend with a bang at Victoria’s favorite country bar. Whiskey Business will be taking the stage to bring you incredible live music all night long.
Happy Hour Hoedown: From 9PM to 10PM we will be offering $5.75 highballs, $5.75 Coors, and $5.75 Arizona!
In accordance with government regulations, we are required to review two pieces of valid identification upon entry. These pieces must be physical, not digital, and one of them must be a piece of government issued photo ID. We are members of the BarWatch Program.

OUTLAW SATURDAYS
2025-01-18 21:00 - 2025-01-19 02:00, 2025-01-25 21:00 - 2025-01-26 02:00, 2025-02-01 21:00 - 2025-02-02 02:00, 2025-02-08 21:00 - 2025-02-09 02:00, 2025-02-15 21:00 - 2025-02-16 02:00, 2025-02-22 21:00 - 2025-02-23 02:00, 2025-03-01 21:00 - 2025-03-02 02:00, 2025-03-08 21:00 - 2025-03-09 03:00 and 3 more dates
Outlaw Saturdays
Featuring The Tumblin’ Dice
Every Saturday
Doors: 9PM
Close: 2AM
Enjoy Victoria’s premier live music venue on its busiest night. Our flagship band, The Tumblin’ Dice, will take the stage for an evening of amazing tunes.
Happy Hour Hoedown: From 9PM to 10PM we will be offering $5.75 highballs, $5.75 Coors, and $5.75 Arizona!
In accordance with government regulations, we are required to review two pieces of valid identification upon entry. These pieces must be physical, not digital, and one of them must be a piece of government issued photo ID. We are members of the BarWatch Program.

THROW DOWN THURSDAY VOLUME VII
2025-01-23 19:00 - 22:00
THE DUKE SALOON PRESENTS
THROW DOWN THURSDAY VOLUME VII
FEATURING POPPA DON GERNIE & ÉLISE LEBLANC
Thursday, January 23rd, 2025
Doors: 7PM
Close: 10PM
19+
Outline: Throwdown Thursday is The Duke’s monthly showcase featuring Victoria’s favorite bands with new and upcoming acts. Come on down and support local music!
Poppa Don Gernie: Poppa Don Gernie plays certified bluegrass bangers with Americana inspiration. A multi-instrumental unit, with kazoos, banjos, mandolins and more, Poppa Don Gernie wants to take you on a foot-stomping journey, so get those hands clapping, and get ready for a knee slapping night of ass-kicking acoustic action.
Élise Leblanc: A poet at heart, Canadian singer-songwriter Élise LeBlanc (She/They) is inspired by the romance of wild things. Heavily influenced by classic country, Appalachia, and western swing- her songs explore queer desire, betrayal, hope, and nature lore. Her gentle twang and rich, expressive vibrato nods to classic crooners Patsy Cline and Peggy Lee.
Her 2024 record “The Fiddle & The Fire” – produced by Leeroy Stagger (Canadian Folk Music Award-Winner whose roster includes: Corb Lund, Joel Plaskett, Mariel Buckley), was listed in the top 10 “Best Country Records on Bandcamp” review in 11/2023 and featured in a CBC Radio-Canada interview on “Culture et Confiture”.
As per government regulations, we require two pieces of valid ID for entry, including one piece of government issued Photo ID. We are proud members of the BarWatch Program.

DAWSON GRAY
2025-02-08 21:00 - 2025-02-09 02:00
THE DUKE SALOON PRESENTS
DAWSON GRAY
FEATURING WHISKEY BUSINESS & GUESTS
Saturday, February 8th, 2025
Doors: 9PM
Close: 2AM
19+
Outline: Dawson Gray is back on the island! If you missed out on his incredible performance at our Annual Block Party, now is your chance to see him live! He will be joined on stage by Whiskey Business and our very own Megan & Freddy!
As per government regulations, we require two pieces of valid ID for entry, including one piece of government issued Photo ID. We are proud members of the BarWatch Program.

THROW DOWN THURSDAY VOLUME VIII
2025-02-27 19:00 - 23:00
THE DUKE SALOON PRESENTS
THROW DOWN THURSDAY VOLUME VIII
FEATURING KING BOB WITH CORDUROY ASPECT & DEAD SUMMER
Thursday, February 27th, 2025
Doors: 7PM
Close: 11PM
19+
Outline: Throwdown Thursday is The Duke’s monthly showcase featuring Victoria’s favorite bands with new and upcoming acts. Come on down and support local music!
King Bob: The debut album “Rookie” from King Bob was released October 18th, 2024. Produced by Evan Matthiesen and self-released through Last Marmot Records, Rookie contains 14 brand new songs as well as three previously released singles, including local favorite Figure It Out.
Jackson McDonald AKA King Bob has been a semi-regular fixture in the Victoria music scene since moving there from Parksville in 2012, most notably as the frontman in synth-punk duo Timing X. After releasing his debut EP as King Bob, 2023’s Depresh Mode, he assembled a backing band consisting of several decade-plus Victoria music scene vets: Evan Matthiesen (The Projectors) on drums/production, Jes Matthiesen (Fall Fair Car) on lead guitar, Reid Blakley (The Plodes) on rhythm guitar, and Jeremy “Jimbo” Rai (The This) on bass.
Since officially forming last year, the band has played several sold out shows in their hometown as well as traveling across the water to Vancouver.
On Rookie the “eccentric but oddly relatable” King Bob offers up a plethora of “catchy hooks and riffs [with] lyrics that are easy to sing along to” (Destroyed Victoria) that evoke the nostalgia of ‘90s/late aughts alt-rock and pop-punk. The songs cover a wide range of topics familiar to any downwardly mobile Millennial or Gen Z’er: poverty, depression, mental illness, housing insecurity, and arrested development.
The album cover— a send-up of classic era O-Pee-Chee hockey cards— serves as the perfect visual representation of the songs contained therein. King Bob is battered, bloody, missing a tooth, but still sporting a big, dumb grin.
Corduroy Aspect: Corduroy Aspect is a 4-piece pop-punk, sometimes emo, sometimes hardcore, very occasionally folky band from Victoria BC.
Dead Summer: Dead Summer is a modern rock duo that focuses on punchy riffs, catchy hooks, and high energy performances. Formed in 2024 by Nate Prevedoros1 and Michael Wilford in Victoria, BC, Dead Summer’s sound is reminiscent of bands like Royal Blood or The White Stripes with added pop sensibility as seasoning. As Victoria’s newest rock band, Dead Summer made their debut to a packed Capital Ballroom in October opening for Canadian pop rock group Cold Fame. This show immediately generated buzz around town and labeled them as a “band to watch”. Since their debut show, Dead Summer has retreated to the studio to record their first two singles and to prepare for what promises to be a busy 2025. Dead Summer writes rock music that demands attention; from the earworm choruses of “Melodramatic” to the raucous full-on assault of “Bloom”, these songs are built for sweaty audiences and powerful sound systems. Utilizing every tool, they have to turn two musicians into a layered and dynamic sonic experience, Dead Summer already put on an impressive live show, and they’re only just getting started. For fans of: Royal Blood, The White Stripes, Nothing But Thieves, Arctic Monkeys.
As per government regulations, we require two pieces of valid ID for entry, including one piece of government issued Photo ID. We are proud members of the BarWatch Program.

GABE LEE
2025-03-13 19:00 - 23:00
THE DUKE SALOON PRESENTS
GABE LEE
Thursday, March 13th, 2025
Doors: 7PM
Close: 11PM
19+
Outline: Gabe Lee has been collecting stories for years, both onstage and off. “I used to bartend,” says the Nashville-based songwriter, “which means I was also a cheap therapist for whomever happened to be sitting on the barstool. Whether they were there to celebrate or drink away their problems, I heard about whatever they were going through. It was my job to have that face-to-face interaction — that connection. Being a full-time musician isn’t much different.”
With critically acclaimed albums like 2019’s farmland, 2020’s Honky-Tonk Hell, and 2022’s The Hometown Kid, Lee created that connection by delivering his own stories to an ever-growing audience. His fourth record, Drink the River, takes a different approach. This time, Lee isn’t offering listeners a peek into his internal world; he’s holding up a mirror to reflect their own.
Rooted in the bluegrass influences that have always simmered beneath the surface of Lee’s music, Drink the River is an acoustic album about the shared human experience. These songs are true-life tales of heartbreak, love, overdoses, and resilience. They’re stories about the highs and lows that bind us all together. Lee collected some of those stories from his family and friends, while others arrived as he crisscrossed the country over the past decade, playing show after show, meeting characters from all walks of life.
“There’s a lot of raw, personal emotion on my first three records,” he explains, “but I love
singing about other people’s stories, too. On Drink the River, I’m drinking from the river of
human experience, through which all our collective stories flow. That river is probably a little dirty — it isn’t purified or sanitized — but that means it’s real, too.”
Arriving on the heels of The Hometown Kid — whose robust, amplified sound earned praise
from outlets like Rolling Stone and Billboard — Drink the River marks a back-to-the-roots
return to the folksy, stripped-down music that Lee created during the beginning of his career. He captured these nine songs with a series of live-in-the-studio performances at Sound Emporium Studios, accompanied by three of his longtime bandmates: dobro player Lucciana Costa, bassist Tim Denbo, and drummer Dave Racine. Fiddle player Jason Roller and mandolinist Eamon McLaughlin also contributed to the sessions, with both musicians taking a break from their regular gig as members of the Grand Ole Opry house band to join Lee in the studio. The group worked fast, finishing the bulk of Drink the River in two days. The instrumentation may have been acoustic, but the energy was electric.
“Merigold,” with its minor-key melody and gorgeous vocal harmonies, sketches the picture of a married couple ripped apart by cancer. Lee first met the couple’s widowed husband at a showing Merigold, Mississippi, and was moved by the story of his late wife’s passing. Mortality weaves its way throughout much of Drink the River, showing up once again in songs like “Lidocaine” (a gorgeous folk song inspired by an Uber ride in which Lee learned his driver hadean diagnosed with dementia at 40 years old) and “Even Jesus Gets the Blues” (whose deceptively bright textures are contrasted by darker lyrics about a friend’s overdose). Drink the River also offers moments of humor. Lee took inspiration from his girlfriend’s father — a deer farmer in Alabama, eager to keep trespassers off his private land — for the light and limber “Property Line,” which he describes as “a salty-old-redneck, country-justice type song. “Finally, the title track reaffirms Lee’s status as a classic songwriter, pairing nimble fretwork with a timeless storyline about love, loyalty, and the people who lure even the most dedicated road warriors back home again. “I can’t drink the river to dry the land / Bury the ocean beneath the sand / But I can love you until the tide pulls me under, by and by,” he sings, his voice flanked by mandolin and acoustic guitar.
Storytelling has been an anchor of Lee’s music since the very beginning. Raised by Taiwanese parents in Nashville, TN, he left home during his teenage years and headed to Indiana, where he obtained college degrees in literature and journalism. Lee launched his career as a genre bending musician after returning to Tennessee, quickly progressing from dive bar gigs to high-profile opening slots (including shows with Jason Isbell, Los Lobos, Molly Tuttle, and other artists who, like him, blurred the lines between roots-rock, country, and other forms of American folk music) to his own headlining shows. Throughout it all, he drew upon the narrative skills he’d sharpened as a student. If albums like Honky-Tonk Hell and The Hometown Kid often unfolded like autobiographical entries from his road journal, though, then Drink the River shows an even broader range of his storytelling abilities. Lee isn’t just writing songs about himself; he’s writing songs about all of us. And maybe, in doing so, he can bring us a little closer together.
“People need a reason to connect right now, more than ever,” he says. “The common ground between us seems to be fading rapidly. If there’s a fundamental aspect to that proverbial common ground, it’s human spirit and raw emotion. We’ve all experienced joy, despair, love, hurt, and loss. We all understand how those things feel, and I believe it’s a responsibility for people like me to share those stories. I’m feeling very inspired by the shared experience of others. I just want to pass it down the line.”
**Tickets are refundable up to 7 days prior to the event – Eventbrite fees are non-refundable**
As per government regulations, we require two pieces of valid ID for entry, including one piece of government issued Photo ID. We are proud members of the BarWatch Program.

BRAYDEN KING
2025-03-14 20:00 - 22:00
THE DUKE SALOON PRESENTS
BRAYDEN KING
THE STAYIN’ WILD TOUR
Friday, March 14th, 2025
Doors: 8PM
Show Wrap-Up: 10PM
19+
Outline: Meet Brayden King, the 6’9″ dynamo whose larger-than-life stage presence is turning heads across North America. Hailing from Weyburn, SK, and now proudly reppin’ Alberta, Brayden rocked his way to stardom after snagging the legendary “Golden Ticket” on Season 21 of American Idol. In 2023, he unleashed three singles that cracked the Top 100 on Canadian Country Radio. Luke Bryan dubbed King “The Perfect mix between Ed Sheeran and Stapleton”.
Brayden King isn’t just another face in the country music crowd; he’s the powerhouse standing at the intersection of Rock ‘n’ Roll and Country, proudly embracing the edgier side of the genre. But where he truly thrives is on the road, where he’s a relentless force, gracing audiences with over 100 shows each year. His performances are nothing short of a high-voltage, in-your-face party — an unforgettable experience that defines the term “energy.” Whether he’s rocking notorious festivals like Boots & Hearts and Country Thunder or tearing up dive bars and Honky Tonks, King brings the same electrifying show to every stage.
In just two short years, Brayden King has earned the title of the literal LARGEST Rising Star in Canadian Country.
As per government regulations, we require two pieces of valid ID for entry, including one piece of government issued Photo ID. We are proud members of the BarWatch Program.

ANDI STEWART ALBUM RELEASE PARTY
2025-03-27 19:00 - 23:00
THROW DOWN THURSDAY & THE DUKE SALOON PRESENT
THE ANDI STEWART ALBUM RELEASE PARTY
FEATURING EVAN MILLER & HARVEY MOON
Thursday, March 27th, 2025
Doors: 7PM
Close: 11PM
19+
Outline: Throwdown Thursday is The Duke’s monthly showcase featuring Victoria’s favorite bands with new and upcoming acts. Come on down and support local music!
Andi Stewart: Andi Stewart is a singer songwriter originally from Edmonton, Alberta. Having released her debut EP “Jetlagged” in 2017, she has since found west coast inspiration on Vancouver Island.
With her newly released EP “Songs from September”, Andi Stewart brings a new feel to a classic genre. Lush with memorable progressions, virtuous hooks and an edgy but soulful vocal approach, the record boasts the aesthetic of indie folk anthems. Though the songs are diverse from one another, there is a glue that holds it all together much like a concept album would. Most importantly, the record never loses sight of the emotional platform that every great song is built from.
Evan Miller: Evan Miller is freshly solo but from his time spent with The Wild Romantics to Ocie Elliot, he has proved time and time again that he belongs on the stage.
Harvey Moon: Harvey Moon is a folk/ rock artist. Heavily influenced by musicians like Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and The Teskey Brothers. He strives to create authentic music that resonates with a wide audience. Singing about everything from simple pleasures to the complexities of navigating the mysterious journey of life. He’s a seasoned musician with a strong passion for his art.
As per government regulations, we require two pieces of valid ID for entry, including one piece of government issued Photo ID. We are proud members of the BarWatch Program.
