INTERVIEW: Corb Lund Calls Cultural Appropriation on Commercial Country
Corb Lund sounds as country as country ever was – all while criticizing some of the mainstream country stars he shares airspace and some of his audience with. Sound familiar? I think George Strait’s 2003 song Murder on Music Row deals with this. Also almost every story about Corb Lund. It might be tempting to […]
WHAT’S GOING ON: Here are Some Live Entertainment Listings!
Is it safe to go out and be live entertained again? Who knows?! Make your own decisions. We’re all grown-ups here. Too bad for the real Jason Kenney that Jason Kenney’s Hot Boy Summer has SOLD OUT its entire run at the Grindstone Theatre Nov. 10-21. I’m sure they could sneak the Premier in to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: The Stream Must Go On!
Alberta’s own Corb Lund (below, right) is still scheduled to play live and in-person at the Jubilee Auditorium on Monday, May 4. They’re still selling tickets – but like many events upcoming, no one really knows what’s happening and what’s not. Meanwhile, undaunted, our cosmic cowboy is staging a live-stream concert on Instagram Live – […]
Streaming a Good Outlet for Artists and Fans – But Where’s the Money?
It seems darkly ironic that the primary escapes so many of us are anchoring to during these uncertain times as more and more of the nation becomes house-bound – be it movies, televisions, books, and music – are proffered to us by those in the so-called “gig” economy, whose incomes have been most impacted by […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Tanya Tagaq to Perform New Music With ESO
Tanya Tagaq, the eminently lauded composer and throat singer, is in town this weekend performing a pair of shows with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. The featured work is her newest and epic effort Qiksaaktuq. Translated as “grief,” it is an emotion-laden and driven work paying testament to the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women. […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Bedouin Soundclash reformed, renewed, returning to Edmonton
Next Tuesday the venerable Starlite Room hosts the almighty Bedouin Soundclash. This reggae-ska-pop band out of Kingston, Ontario, recently returned from a nine-year hiatus with a monstrous creation of an album, 2019’s Mass. It’s the fifth album in their catalog, and the return was anything but assured, with lead singer Jay Malinowski writing a novel […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Colditus Winterruption
The biggest gigs this weekend are all part of the inaugural Winterruption festival, which stretches from Thursday all the way through Sunday, with some pretty big names in some common, and some not so common, venues. Opening night – Thursday – sees Toronto’s Weaves (above) headline a monster lineup at the Starlite Room. The indie […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Don’t hand me no lines and keep your hands to yourself!
Best known for Keep Your Hands To Yourself, the Georgia Satellites land in Edmonton Saturday night to play a gig at the River Cree Resort & Casino. Since that hit, off the band’s 1986 eponymous release, the band has seen three of its four members move on, with only Rick Richards remaining from the roster […]
LISTEN HERE: Tales of the Tomb keeps it real
“David Koresh, the master, the one who would save them all, destined to be a disaster, for he watched the buildings fall. The compound burned down. No one alive was found.” It’s weird to hear a death metal band be so literal. Then again, there’s plenty enough real horror in the world – why in […]
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 […]
STARLITE, STAR BRIGHT: 94-Year-Old Building the Place to Be for Underground Music in Edmonton – 30 years later
In my first year as the woefully unqualified music critic for The Edmonton Sun, circa 1992, I visited the Starlite Room for the first time. It was called “The Bronx” in those days. It had a scary reputation, one of these dark dingy downtown “underground” bars we’d heard rumours about. Nirvana played there. There were […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: WE LOVE 1990s CANADIAN ROCK!
Big Wreck is another one of those bands that’s become exceptionally well-known across the great nation of Canada – and pretty much forgotten South of the border. Or rather, were never really known, so couldn’t even be forgotten. It’s America’s loss. It’s a little more unusual in this case, because the band was actually formed […]
