BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: Hair Metal Legends Rock 50,000 in Edmonton
Let’s do a little music history lesson involving Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett, shall we? How many times do you think these bands have played Edmonton? Any guesses? Well, Def Leppard and Motley Crue have played here 14 times each – 14! – plus seven appearances each by Poison (or frontman Bret […]
REVIEW: John Fogerty Rocks Edmonton – With His Kids
A packed lower bowl down at Turtle Island was transported through time and space to a psychedelic 1960’s influenced evening of peace and love in the presence of a surprisingly hard-rocking old man named John Fogerty. It’s hard to imagine the 77-year-old CCR founder rocking out harder than he did at Rogers Place on Wednesday […]
LIVE REVIEW: Winter in Summer a perfect little folk fest
It was the perfect day for a festival – the intense summer heat dulled by a cool breeze, the city spread out across the horizon in the near distance. Last as the opening evening of the Winter in Summer festival sponsored by Steamwhistle at the Edmonton Ski Club (more or less the site of the […]
Steve Hackett’s Genesis Masterclass Makes Grown Men Weep at the Winspear
“Progressive rock” is that quintessentially English breed of music that you either love or hate. There’s not a lot of middle ground. It’s safe to say that for the 600 people who attended Thursday night’s show with Steve Hackett of the band Genesis at the Winspear Centre, it was pure magic. It was a criminally […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Renewed Alexisonfire Rocks Edmonton
The pit was packed for Alexisonfire in Edmonton – but keep your hats to yourself! That was just one of the messages from this very accessible Canadian post-hardcore band, which played Rogers Place Wednesday night – just two months after its singer Dallas Green was in same building with City and Colour. While their initial […]
REVIEW: City and Colour pretty mellow and moody for an arena concert
Rogers Place was surprisingly packed and loud for City and Colour on Tuesday night – but the arena atmosphere didn’t really lend itself to the cozy intimacy of the performance. Singer Dallas Green has a beautiful voice, truly melodic. His songs are by turns the haunted notions of a wounded spirit and the hopeful opining […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Morrissey Shows Up in Edmonton
The joke here is that people were taking bets on when Morrissey would cancel his Edmonton show – again. This guy is George “No Show” Jones-famous for cancelling concerts. But no! Although he’d postponed the previously scheduled April show here, the Pope of Mope fulfilled his contract for the make-up date Thursday night in Edmonton, […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Elton John Crocodile Rockin’ in Edmonton
In 1973, it was still OK to leave 10-year-olds in the car by themselves as the adults went to the grocery store or whatever – so one day I was alone in the car and had the radio on for amusement. Until that moment, music was just a thing in the environment I never thought […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Iron Maiden Keeps Beast Alive in Edmonton
Iron Maiden proves that even if one doesn’t have a new album, a band can still go out on tour and everything will be just fine – as long as they have a solid collection of greatest hits, flashy stage effects, charisma, and an energetic performance. Bonus if they’re all over 60 years old. The […]
FOLK FEST REVIEW: Hozier gets hosed, hardy fans party to Church in the rain
At the first night of the 2019 Edmonton Folk Music Festival on Thursday, almost everyone had one thing on their mind: the weather. Organizers especially had their eyes on the weekend’s forecast – and they weren’t happy. Fortunately, the heavens held their gates closed (mostly) on Night One for an incredible variety of surprises from […]
REVIEW: Billy Idol shows off his age in short River Cree concert
It’s a shame that Mythbusters isn’t running on the telly these days, because if there’s one popular fabrication that needs to be debunked, it’s that being a sexagenarian has absolutely nothing to do with sex. All they have to do is trot out Billy Idol as Exhibit A – and silence those age-shaming social media […]
REVIEW: Corey Hart does the time warp
There was no room for cynicism at the Edmonton stop of Corey Hart’s “Never Surrender” tour on Friday. More than 5,000 in Rogers Place lapped up a 17-song set peppered with teary-eyed soliloquies about family values and gratitude towards his fans. Factor in all the cringe-worthy statements about love and peace that wouldn’t have been […]
