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 in the Boston area, around Ian Thornley, Brian Doherty, and Dave Henning, who were all students at the world-famous Berklee College of Music.
After two initial albums – In Loving Memory Of … and The Pleasure And the Greed – the band dissolved, with Thornley moving to the Toronto area and kicking off a solo career in 2005. In that short span, the band filled the radio and their adoring fans’ ears with songs such as Blown Wide Open, That Song, and The Oaf (My Luck Is Wasted). It wasn’t until 2010, when Doherty filled in on guitar at a Thornley gig, that Big Wreck was re-ignited.
The band has recorded four albums since then, including this year’s … but for the sun, which they are now touring to support, and will play gigs Thursday and Friday night at the Starlite Room. Tragically, the gigs will not include long-time guitarist Doherty, who passed away in June from cancer.
The Texas Kings will open both evenings.
Shows at 7 pm, advance tickets $42.50 (BUY Friday, BUY Saturday)
Thursday 7
Tanya Tucker – This outlaw country superstar released her first album in 10 years in late August, titled While I’m Livin’. It is the 25th studio album in her catalog – which includes hits all the way back to 1972’s Delta Dawn, from the album of the same name. River Cree Resort & Casino, 8 pm, $80 and up. BUY
Paige Drobot – This Winnipeg project dropped its debut four-track release Zero Thought earlier this year. Part psychedelia, part funk, part rock, all amazing. With Days and Tyra Whitson. Sewing Machine Factory, 8 pm, $10.
Haviah Mighty – This Canadian rapper started gaining notoriety in 2016 as a member of the hip hop group The Sorority. In May she released her debut solo album 13th Floor – which would go on to win this year’s Polaris Music Prize. Rec Room South, 8:30 pm, $15. BUY
Friday 8
Grapes Of Wrath – This Kelowna-based alternative rock band rose to prominence in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s on the back of one of the best but often overlooked albums at the time, Now and Again. Both spirited and spritely, its monster tracks forged the still burgeoning alternative world with folk and rock influences. The band never saw the kind of success one would have expected at the time, but they stayed together through 1991’s These Days, when Kevin Kane departed and the other members stayed together under the moniker Ginger. It wasn’t until 2010 three of the members – Chris Hooper, Tom Hooper, and Kane – reunited, and have released a couple more albums since. Pure Casino Yellowhead, 8 pm, $33 and up. BUY
Saturday 9
Barney Bentall – This Toronto rocker-singer-songwriter started out as the frontman for Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts, which accumulated such hits as Something To Live For, Crime Against Love, and Gin Palace in the late ‘80s and throughout the ‘90s. The Hearts’ last album was in 1997, after which Bentall started a cattle ranch – only to come back to the music world in 2006 with a solo career. His most recent album is 2017’s The Drifter and the Preacher. Arden Theatre, St. Albert, 7:30 pm, single tickets only from $48. BUY
Jann Arden – This Alberta favorite continues to tour supporting her 2018 release These Are the Days; she had an incredible run of hits on the Canadian charts in the ‘90s that included Insensitive, Wonderdrug, and Could I Be Your Girl. River Cree Resort & Casino, 9 pm, $80 and up. BUY
Sunday 10
Grizzly Trail – This local punk quartet has returned from the road after releasing their nine-track album Chesterfield in September. With Sessions and The Morons and Western Frontline. Buckingham, 8:30 pm, $10. BUY
