Saturday, Jan. 23

AfriKeleKtro

Though the space has been up and running since New Year’s Eve, today is the official grand opening of North Star, the pinball bar in the old Korova space on St-Laurent. Restored made-in-MTL machines the Seabreeze and the Richelieu will be in the house and playable on that day/night only — the old man on the sidelines for the first hour is their designer Montreal pinball pioneer Jacques Tremblay — plus a special guest DJ, French avant garde theatre actress/producer/writer/director Marie Brassard, and pinball-themed cocktails. 3908 St-Laurent, 12 p.m. to 3 a.m., free entry

Finnish artist Jaana Kokko is in town to launch her exhibition Days and Ideals at Optica with an artist talk discussing her political and philosophical video-based work, followed by a vernissage for the gallery’s two new shows — Kokko’s and a series of sculptural installations by Philippe Caron Lefebvre. 5445 de Gaspé, #106, artist talk 2 p.m., vernissage 3 p.m., free

Never Apart launches their winter programming with a vernissage for the exhibition No Gender by Sylvain Tremblay, who will be live-painting during the opening. The event also promises the big reveal of the space’s Sun Room, an installation created by Kelly Nunes and Adam Hummell (aka DJ A-Rock) that features heliotherapeutic SAD light boxes. 7049 St-Urbain, 6 p.m., free

Street art enthusiasts will want to head to le Sino in the ‘chlag for the launch of BBB: The Collection, an art anthology from Bizarre Beyond Belief featuring works by 123Klan, Astro, Five8, F.one, Meor, Scan and more, complemented by an exhibition of new works by several of the featured artists from Montreal and Toronto. 2817 Ontario E., 7 p.m., free

Théâtre Sainte Catherine welcomes award-winning Toronto sketch troupe Elephant Empire to bring the lols to this month’s edition of the Sketch Republic, where they’ll be joined by locals Employees of the Year and Dink Floyd for an epic comedy show hosted by Danny Belair. 264 Ste-Catherine E., 8 p.m., $8/$6 students

High-energy trio AfriKeleKtro brings their danceable fusion of Central African sounds with western funk, disco and rock to l’Alizé to launch their five-song EP with a little help from friends Engong Endong and DJ Sugarface. 900 Ontario E., 8:30 p.m., $10

Head to the SAT for immersive dance party Dômesicle – Hivernale Edition, taking place inside the always trippy SATosphère with DJ Glyder and live sets from H u G and Kroy, with VJs Push 1 Stop and Diagraf behind the 360-degree projections. 1201 St-Laurent, 10 p.m., $8

See our Event Listings for more concert, nightlife, theatre, comedy and community event options. See our Art Listings here.