CONCERT REVIEW: Elton John Crocodile Rockin’ in Edmonton
Posted on September 28, 2019 By Mike McDonald Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, music
In 1973, it was still OK to leave 10-year-olds in the car by themselves as the adults went to the grocery store or whatever – so one day I was alone in the car and had the radio on for amusement. Until that moment, music was just a thing in the environment I never thought […]
REVIEW: Bob Dylan blowin’ in the wind
Posted on July 20, 2017 By Mike McDonald Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, music, news
Aside from the cool duds the band wore, nothing was dressed up for the Bob Dylan show at Rogers Place Wednesday night. The stage had a candlelit ballroom type of look, and there were no coloured lights. Just varying intensities of white. Of course, that was all that was required. Dylan is his own gimmick […]
Stiff Little Fingers fires up old punks in Edmonton
Posted on October 23, 2016 By Mike McDonald Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, news
The day the Stiff Little Fingers 2016 Canadian tour was announced on social media was an incredibly happy day for thousands of Canadian punks, old and young. The notion of the Belfast band playing anywhere in Canada other than Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal never came up. It was just silently assumed it would never happen. […]
The Who bids farewell to Edmonton Coliseum
Posted on May 9, 2016 By Mike McDonald Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, news
It almost escaped me that The Who on Sunday night was likely the last time I’d see a band at Rexall Place … or rather, the Coliseum. It’s always been the Coliseum to me, regardless of whatever corporate entity owned it. I’d been going there since I was a kid, when my mom would take […]
Cheap Trick review: We’re all alright
Posted on April 24, 2016 By Mike McDonald Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, news
Rock ‘n’ roll took a devastating blow a few days ago, leaving fans heavy with sadness at the abrupt shock of it all. But, the rock has got to roll. For a couple of hours Saturday night at the River Cree Casino, fans respectfully traded purple for black and white checkerboard – because Cheap Trick […]
REVIEW: Edmonton Nerds love Weird Al
Posted on September 13, 2015 By Mike McDonald Comedy, Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, music, news
Weird Al has been funny for so long that people take it for granted. I remember hearing Another One Rides The Bus on K-97 all the time. In 1981. Every now and then I’d see one of his videos and was aware of his 1989 movie UHF, but I never really paid close attention until […]
REVIEW: Brian Wilson ‘reimagines’ Gershwin, Beach Boys
Posted on June 27, 2011 By Mike McDonald Front Slider, Music
I’ve read the books and reviews that say Brian Wilson is a weird guy, but Sunday night at the Jubilee Auditorium, he wasn’t any weirder than anyone I know. Here is a man who is quite comfortable calling his own material good without seeming arrogant or like a braggart. It’s just a fact. He seemed […]