MUSIC PREVIEW: Endless Bummer Showcases Edmonton Talent
This weekend features the return of the Endless Bummer festival, a diverse collection of gigs, featuring the best of the best of local and regional bands, taking place at a variety of venues throughout the city. There are two kickoff shows on Thursday night. There’s an all-ages gig at The Aviary, featuring art rock quartet […]
INTERVIEW: Checking in with Sum 41 and their depressing new album
There are two schools of thought about rock artists who express negative feelings in their songs. On one hand, maybe it’s healthy to get that stuff out there. “Name it to tame it,” the therapists say. But then it all might get to you. The lyrics of Chris Cornell, Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington, and Kurt […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Maiden tour named for video game
The legendary Iron Maiden are in town Friday as part of the North American portion of their “Legacy Of the Beast” Tour, which shares the name of a mobile game the group released in 2016. The turn-based RPG game features Iron Maiden’s infamous mascot Eddie; players collect combatants and fight infernal foes. The band’s last […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Edmonton honoured to host Edmonton Music Awards
It’s an honour just to be nominated – but it’s better to win. That’s what most award nominees say (or at least think secretly) – and the musicians vying for trophies at the annual Edmonton Music Awards are surely no exception. The gala taking place Thursday at the Winspear Centre features seven performances: Ben Sures, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Surf in Turf
Thursday night finds Australia’s Ocean Alley performing at Station On Jasper. The Australian psych-reggae-surf band has gained a lot of popularity and critical acclaim in their home nation, and are now hoping to explore the world, buoyantly looking to expand their sonic reach. Led by vocalist-guitarist Baden Donegal, the band formed in 2011, and has […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Godsmack, Tea Party, Sweater Kittens!
Godsmack is smack dab in the middle of a North American tour that lands Friday night at Rogers Place. The Massachusetts quartet, founded in 1995, has found their sound labelled a few different things – certainly in the metal category, but they’ve also been described as nu-metal, post-grunge, and alt-metal. Whatever you call them, they […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Is Erin Costelo’s new album named after a candy bar?
Nova Scotia soul-Americana Erin Costelo shows a soaring energy and a steadfast resolve in her work, as she pushes back against the world, and sometimes even the industry that seems to want to fight against her. She plays Thursday, April 4 at The Almanac on the back of her second full-length, Sweet Marie, recorded in […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Streetheart survivors pay tribute to their fallen leader
Some classic rock bands get grief from fans for continuing under their old name after the loss of their lead singer. But put yourself in their shoes: You work hard your whole life, share all the good times, the bad, help make your band much more than the sum of its parts – and then […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Young the Giant loved for both ‘Body’ and mind
This is what music freaks live for: A new rock band that shows way more depth than the over-saturated radio hit that brought them to the mainstream to begin with. Imagine! Young the Giant is such a band. These Californians made a splash in 2011 with the fairly straight-ahead rocker My Body – which hit […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Lutra Lutra so nice they named it twice
Like their namesake – the Eurasian otter – Lutra Lutra is cute, but is just as likely to crack you open and eat you. If you happen to be a mussel. Or perhaps a poor koi in a Vancouver koi pond. No, the culprit there was a common Canadian river otter, also known as Lontra […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: USS growing on us
From humble origins as a two clever dudes from Toronto who were hated for daring to mix alternative rock with electronic dance music, USS is starting to grow on us. The signs are all there: Cool hits in high rotation on the radio, on Sonic 102.9 at any rate, and a show at the Ranch […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: UP+DT takes a stand
A quick recap of the controversy leading up to this weekend’s Up + Downtown Music Festival: On Sept. 19, after organizers caught wind that former Misfits singer Michale Graves had allegedly shared and written some controversial things on social media, his appearance was cancelled. “Upon review,” a statement read, “his views expressed do not align […]
