TRUE STORY: This is Not the First Time Don Cherry Has Been Fired!
Here’s a hint to anyone aspiring to land a career somewhere in the public forum. Never preface any point with “you people.” It surfaced last Saturday on a Sportsnet Coach’s Corner segment where Don Cherry took aim at immigrants who apparently refused to wear poppies to commemorate Canada’s war dead. After a fierce social media […]
FRINGE 2019: What is your BUSINESS in Canada?!
Border Breakdown Venue 34 (Varscona Hotel, Thomas Bennett Room) Any notions that Canada is becoming Snowflake Central for travelling millennials is a myth – especially if you try to get across the border. Never mind the Syrian refugees for whom Prime Minister Justin Trudeau swung open our doors for “illegals” from the U.S. trying to […]
FRINGE 2019: Arrogant Worms song comes ALIVE in kids play
The Last Saskatchewan Pirate: A Play Venue 14 (Holy Trinity Anglican Church) So here’s a nifty way to get kids introduced to taxes and the inner workings of the federal government. First, find a suitable kid-friendly, politically-charged ditty clocking in at around three minutes and morph it into a half-hour play. And to boost the […]
FRINGE 2019: Darwin not mentioned in play about Darwin
Darwin vs. Rednecks Venue 38 (Sue Paterson Memorial Theatre) If you show up expecting a send-up of Jeff Foxworthy one-liners about crimson-scorched knuckle draggers, you’ll be sadly disappointed. Instead, Kentucky-based standup comedian Stewart Huff has crafted a deeply-layered set of triggers pitting Right against Left and North against South – ever since the U.S. tore […]
FRINGE 2019 WARNING: 4 Political Plays
7 Days Venue 36 (La Cite Auditorium) You’ll find plenty of ambiguity around which to wrap your head in this dramedy from the Egyptian theatre troupe named East-Voice. But if you’re studious enough to read between the lines, deftly delivered by the onstage trio in both Arabic and English, you’ll find there’s plenty that playwright […]
Backstreet Boys karaoke schtick a porcine makeover
On Thursday night, The Backstreet Boys proved that you can put makeup on a pig and that such a porcine makeover can work wonders. The lads (Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson) who cornered the boy band industry with their take on spit-shined gawkery and nabbed the teen market […]
REVIEW: Billy Idol shows off his age in short River Cree concert
It’s a shame that Mythbusters isn’t running on the telly these days, because if there’s one popular fabrication that needs to be debunked, it’s that being a sexagenarian has absolutely nothing to do with sex. All they have to do is trot out Billy Idol as Exhibit A – and silence those age-shaming social media […]
REVIEW: Corey Hart does the time warp
There was no room for cynicism at the Edmonton stop of Corey Hart’s “Never Surrender” tour on Friday. More than 5,000 in Rogers Place lapped up a 17-song set peppered with teary-eyed soliloquies about family values and gratitude towards his fans. Factor in all the cringe-worthy statements about love and peace that wouldn’t have been […]
REVIEW: Alice in Chains pleases several generations with grunge metal mayhem
You can’t argue the success that Alice In Chains has enjoyed of late – with the group’s latest album Rainier Fog earning a Grammy nomination, and summit positions on the Billboard and iTunes charts. But to more discerning ears, how a band that earned much of its notoriety in the grunge-fueled 1990s could still be […]
REVIEW: Colin James shows effortless blues-rock mastery in Edmonton
It’s been more than 30 years since Colin James made his debut – and he still remains a musical mainstay in Canada with his ability to blend gritty blues with hook-happy mainstream rock. It’s a schtick that’s worked well enough for him to pack the Jubilee Auditorium with 2,700 faithful fans on Thursday night. When […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Mother Mother thrills, challenges Edmonton in sold out show
There’s no logical reason why Mother Mother should prosper in a cookie-cutter music industry bent on presenting the Next Best Thing, only to dupe listeners with yet another derivative result of generic engineering. But then, this Vancouver quintet has been clogging the cogs of the starmaker machinery for the last 15 years with an eclectic […]
REVIEW: Arkells open Rally Cry tour with a bang in Edmonton, at home in Oil Country
It was hard not to feel empathy for Arkells – who chose frigid Edmonton as the launching point of their current 11-city Canadian tour. But it made sense, given that the Steeltown stereotype of the band’s Hamilton origins is a match for the blue-collar reputation that’s worn on the sleeves of hardy Edmontonians. More significantly, […]
