TRUE TALES OF THE ART: Juan Martin plays Picasso
Pablo Picasso gave the young guitar player a wink – the only reward for an unusual performance at the great painter’s 90th birthday party. The 16-year-old Juan Martin had been asked to ditch his prepared music and “improvise the paintings on the wall, just look at the paintings and interpret them.” He says he thought […]
INTERVIEW: There is life after suicide for Emerson Drive
Suicide is not painless, not for friends left behind. It’s been four years since Emerson Drive’s bass player Patrick Bourque took his own life, and only now can Brad Mates bring himself to talk about it so openly. The singer was interviewed recently to promote the band’s show Saturday night at the Edmonton Expo Centre […]
Is classic rock really the best music ever made?
The best answer to the question of why classic rock is something that deserves preservation is found in Joe Queenan’s hilarious generation-bashing book Balsamic Dreams: “Baby Boomers have deluded themselves into thinking that what once mattered to them should now matter to others.” Or maybe this is too much deep thought for what was, after […]
Firefighters to do the Wiggle Man at Fashion on Fire
Edmonton firefighter Bob Murray says he would “rather go into a burning building” than get up on stage and dance for hundreds of screaming women. He is a brave man, however, so he will do his duty and perform as part of this weekend’s Fashion on Fire. The event he helped found happens Saturday at […]
REVIEW: Big Sugar almost too cool for its own good
It may be possible to read too much into what was really a pretty decent rock show, but the members of the Big Sugar Collective on stage at the Edmonton Event Centre on Thursday night were trying too hard to be too cool for their own good. This is disturbing. They didn’t need to prove […]
Playwright David Belke takes love of film to the stage in Bless You Billy Wilder
For a guy who loves movies so much, you’d think David Belke would be itching to make one – but no, he’s content keep writing plays ABOUT movies. “I’ve certainly thought about making a movie,” he says, “but I must admit my first love is theatre. There’s something about the energy, the life, the connection […]
WHO NAMED THE BAND: Big Sugar returns, sweet as ever
You usually don’t get to pick your own nickname – so you better hope it’s a cool one because you’re going to be stuck with it until you die, or at least kill the people who gave you the nickname. Being stamped with a name against your will can even happen to a rock band, […]
