Whoa! The listings on the right have exploded with some pretty cool recent additions... indeed... yup. And I don't think it would be stretch to say that a good handful of the bigger (and even smaller!) acts might not have bothered to stop by Ottawa as recently as one or two years back.

So what's with the sudden (ahem) sonic boom? I don't know what Guile would say (he'd probably just keep repeating SONIC BOOM!), but it It's most likely thanks to a fast-growing crop of promoters that started popping up (or getting noticed, at least) not so long ago, who complement the long-existing venue bookers in town (like Black Sheep Inn's Paul Symes and Zaphod's Eugene Haslam).

Even though there are a bunch of major promoters, they each cover their own niche, not really stepping on each other's toes (in true Ottawa fashion).

dial613 categorizes them into 3 groups:
1) the "official" promoters, Revolution Rock and PRSconcerts, whose sole purpose is to bring in the bands. Revolution Rock has especially been on fire lately, settings dates including buzz-band Beirut, kinda local Belle Orchestre, and part Wolf Parade/Pony Up hybrid Sunset Rubdown. PRS are responsible for the more "mainstream" names coming around, like the ever-happy Ben Lee, The Weakerthans, and Billy Bragg. Oh, and All-American Rejects... come on,I know I'm not the only one with a man-crush on that dreamy Tyson Ritter.

2) the indie record stores, represented by the once-alive re:Organised Sound and the newly-alive End Hits, the latter which also hosts shows in its delightfully tacky, yet unrefined(NSFW?) unfinished basement. End Hits has stepped in and hosted all sorts of underground/hardcore acts, upping the scene's profile in Ottawa.

3) and the local bloggers: i(heart)music, who brought Born Ruffians to town, a band that just signed to deals with indie monsters Warp and XL, and Mocking Music (who just put on their first show the other night) have both gotten into the fray, and keep their bills nicely Ottawa-centric (so far including Kingston Fog and Liar's Rosebush, to name a couple).

Think of all the gas money you're saving from not having to go Montreal or Toronto!

And hey, with that said, you might just want to frequently check those (613)shows listings on the right, because, much like that little space between the backside of your washing machine and the wall, you never know what you might find. They update (almost) without fail every day, and dial613 brashly proclaims them as the best and most thorough for all of Ottawa.
...the theme of this whole thing is promotion, isn't it?

BONUS!: b-side link to sonic boom.