By Will McGuirk

As well as the many music venues downtown, the Robert McLaughlin Gallery also hosts music performances. Each first Friday of the month, the Gallery presents two acts along with exhibition openings, pop-up vendors, activities, and screenings by the Durham Region International Film Festival. Events begin at 7 p.m.

This first Friday, May 5, two-time OMA award winner Delon Om will be performing. Delon, from Pickering is the real deal, a soul man who has also been nominated for three Canadian Latin Awards. His 2022 album ‘Theatre of Cruelty’ begins with recordings of news reporters announcing the discovery of residential school gravesites. This is a statement of intent and a frame for his music: R&B with generosity of spirit at the centre.