PREVIEW: Il Divo stick with the winning formula
Il Divo’s Sebastien Izambard does not know the meaning of the words “novelty act.” Seriously. He’s French, and there doesn’t seem to be a comparable idiom in his mother tongue for a group of singers whose style outweighs their apparent substance – in this case a poperatic quartet of Armani-suited man candy bellowing Nights in […]
REVIEW: A spoonful too much sugar from Mary Poppins
Would it be unbearably clichéd to say that Mary Poppins just wasn’t my cup of tea? Yeah, it probably would. But I’m going to use it anyway, because that’s the best way I can describe the Broadway Across Canada production of the hit musical playing at the Jubilee until July 29th. There’s nothing actually wrong […]
PREVIEW: Just don’t expect an abominable show, man
In a city that is positively overrun with festivals and things that call themselves festivals, the Sasquatch Gathering probably leaves, ironically, the smallest footprint. That’s OK with festival organizer John Armstrong. It is now the 17th year of the music festival you’ve never heard of — an event that is, pardon the cliché, a labour […]
Steve Martin’s second love didn’t put him on stage
There’s something disturbing about Steve Martin coming to Edmonton – because he’s not here to do comedy. He’s going to play bluegrass. Oh, joy. Sure, you can expect humour when Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers perform Sunday at the Jubilee Auditorium. They’ll probably do an a cappella number called Atheists Don’t Have No […]
PREVIEW: Sam Roberts, Grimes top busy fair weekend
Weekend Music Preview: Cats Pandas And A Train Of Musicians It’s a busy weekend in live. Not only does the Capital Ex get underway (featuring AWOLNATION, USS, and Sam Roberts on Friday and Saturday night), but the Full Flex Express Tour hits town on Friday, featuring the likes of Skrillex, Diplo, and Grimes. And then […]
PREVIEW: Hot Panda bamboozled by wonky wheels
If you’re a band from Vancouver, but spent considerable time plying your trade in Edmonton as well, the question beckons: who gets the release party? Well…. why can’t you have a release party in both? A shaker on the west coast and another in the festival city as well? So says Hot Panda, performing Friday […]
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings book Winspear date
Blackie And the Rodeo Kings, a venerable alt-country-folk trio of three storied musicians, are on their way to Edmonton later this fall, playing Winspear Centre on Nov.21. Founded in 1996, the band is comprised of Tom Wilson, Stephen Fearing, and Colin Linden. The three originally got together to record a one-off tribute album to Willie […]
Summer Solstice offers world-class chamber music lineup
Three of the continent’s finest classical musicians will grace the lineup of the Edmonton Chamber Music Society’s 2012 Summer Solstice Festival, running Friday through Sunday at Convocation Hall in the Arts Building of the U of A. Joining the three-day event will be Edmonton-born violinist Jessica Linnebach, currently associate concertmaster of the National Arts Centre […]
Kevin Hart brings soaring standup career to Edmonton
He didn’t get nominated for standup of the year at the Comedy Awards — much to the chagrin of Chris Rock — but Kevin Hart gets the last laugh: a Canadian extension to his hit tour, including a stop in Edmonton July 26. The standup, whose Comedy Central concert videos on Netflix have helped vault […]
k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen in imaginary Edmonton poetry slam standoff
k.d. lang vs Leonard Cohen in a no-holds barred poetry slam. Well, that WOULD be something, wouldn’t it? It’s not going to happen, but it would be something. With the great man here on Nov. 18 at Rexall and lang here Sept. 12 at the Jubilee Auditorium with her Siss Boom Bang band, this is […]
Slash returns to Edmonton July 16
Axls? He don’t need no stinkin’ Axls! With apologies to the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, the high priest of gargantuan Gibsons, the top-hatted terror, the 40 ounces of fuzzy hair that is Slash is returning to E-town for a show at the Jube on July 16. Slash and special guests Monster Truck are here […]
