The Weeknd, Band of Skulls to play Edmonton in September
The Twitter-sphere, Blog-o-verse and Facebookopolis are abuzz today with news that one of Canada’s hottest new indie acts – The Weeknd, a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye – is coming to town.
His cinematic music, which has been “going viral” on social media, performs at the Edmonton Event Centre on Wednesday, Sept. 26. Tickets are $40 and go on sale Friday. “Trending heavily” is another phrase being used to describe the Toronto R&B artist and producer’s rise to fame, not hindered one bit, of course, by being taken under the wing of established Toronto R&B artist Drake. The Weeknd’s debut recording, House of Balloons – called a “mixtape” – came out in 2011 and was promptly shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize. A more recent mixtape, Echoes of Silence, is up for the prestigious Canadian award again this year.
Next up on the announce queue is a British band that got a big boost not from social media, per se, but modern rock radio – Band of Skulls hits the Starlite Room on Wednesday, Sept. 12. Tickets are $22 and go on sale Friday. Blues-rocky in the vein of the Black Keys or the White Stripes or somewhere in between, Band of Skulls is perhaps best known for the hit single, “I Know What I Am,” which can be heard in at least one TV show and in a video game. They’re touring North American in support of their latest album, Sweet Sour.
