MUSIC PREVIEW: Best of the folk fest
The dominant event across most genres this weekend of course is the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, a veritable staple of the city’s music scene since 1980. In fact, there’s usually a dearth in gigs over the weekend because most venues don’t want to schedule anything against this juggernaut, certainly the largest music festival in the […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Mission to Mars
The incredible Bruno Mars is in town this weekend for a pair of shows, Sunday and Monday nights at Rogers Place. With a wide range of musical talents, from writing to singing to playing guitars and the keyboards, he is currently touring to support his 2016 album 24K Magic, although it’s his debut from 2010, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: A different kind of ’90s love
Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows were at the very pinnacle of the music scene in the 1990s, and the latter were particularly popular in Canada, with three songs reaching the top 3 during that time – Mr. Jones, A Long December, and Hanginaround. Round Here was another popular anthem that received significant airplay during that […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Canada Day with Sarah
As far back as high school, Sarah McLachlan’s yearbook predicted she was destined to become a rock star – and that’s exactly how her life played out. Her pair of albums from the 1990’s, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy and Surfacing, remain as powerful as ever, spawning such Canrock hits as Good Enough, Building A Mystery, Sweet […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Blitzen Trapper keeper
While tagged with a variety of labels, from alt-country to indie folk, Blitzen Trapper has been going strong since the turn of the millennium, and seem to get stronger with every album. The Portland quintet self-released its first three albums, including their opening salvo, an eponymous release in 2003. After their most recent effort, 2015’s […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Surf from turf
There’s a somewhat surprisingly good surf rock scene burgeoning across the Canadian provinces – and one of the cities leading that charge is Saskatoon. One of their notable surf acts, the Garrys, will be playing Mill Creek Café (aka Sewing Machine Factory) this Thursday. Interestingly enough, the reverb-soaked trio doesn’t have anyone named Garry in […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Good Qawwali!
If you’re looking for something completely different this weekend, or you’re totally into Bollywood movies and their music, then this weekend holds a treat for you. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a Pakistani musician primarily of the Qawwali genre, will play a show at the Jubilee Auditorium on Sunday night. Following in the footsteps of his […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Descendents upon us
The famous Descendents clamber out of the punk trenches to spread their raucous tribute to local fans at the Union Hall Sunday night. The California punk rock act was formed back in 1977 by guitarist Frank Navetta, bassist Tony Lombardo, and drummer Bill Stevenson. They became an integral part of the early 1980s hardcore punk […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Downtown Mr. Browne
Jackson Browne has turned his early success into an epic career now spanning six decades and 14 studio albums. The most recent of those, 2014’s Standing In the Breach, still, after all these years, found its way to No. 15 on the US chart. Playing Monday night at the Winspear Centre, Browne originally came to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Local aces play Graceland tribute
The Going To Graceland show at the Royal Alberta Museum Theatre on Saturday night will be one of the last gigs played at the venue, and it’s celebrating what many believe to be one of the best albums of the 1980s, if not the entire Century. A nine piece ensemble – featuring locals aces like […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Tea Party still getting oolong
While the Tea Party’s heyday was definitely in the 1990s, with such hits on alternative radio as The River, Temptation, Psychopomp, Heaven Coming Down, and The Messenger, the band broke up in 2005 and went their separate ways – but then finally reunited in 2011, much to the delight of their fans. That reunion met […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Garth still here
Unbeknownst to many (ha ha), Garth Brooks continues his epic stand in Edmonton with more shows this weekend, including gigs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Rave reviews abound from anyone and everyone who saw any of last weekend’s efforts, not only for Garth himself, but the entire band as well. Check for ticket availability here. For […]
