Godsmack to smack Edmonton another time
A band so heavy as to challenge the Almighty Himself is returning to Edmonton. Godsmack comes to live up to their name at least every three years, and this time it’s in the big building: Rogers Place on Friday, May 3. Volbeat will open. Tickets will go on sale Friday (the presale starts Dec. 11) […]
Metric, July Talk team up for Edmonton spring show
It’s always nice when artists put a little thought on who they’re going to tour with – and it sounds like Metric and July Talk are a perfect match made in Canadian modern rock heaven. The two bands team up for the Art of Doubt tour, named for Metric’s latest album, in case there was […]
PLAYBOT: Weird story behind The Nutcracker
Everybody knows The Nutcracker – the 100-plus-year-old ballet with music by the great Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But what is this thing really about, anyway? In a nutshell – do you see what I did there? – someone seems to have spiked the kids’ eggnog on Christmas Eve. Either that or the story’s creator Ernst Theodor […]
Judas Priest added to Edmonton Summer of Metal
Edmonton is certainly going to fill its bucket list of classic heavy metal next summer. The latest announcement comes from Judas Priest, which is mounting an extensive North American tour behind their latest album Firepower. The band, with its original lead singer Rob Halford, will play Rogers Place on Tuesday, June 11. With fellow British […]
Corey Hart returns to Edmonton on arena tour
The time is ripe for a Corey Hart comeback. Enough time has passed, there’s been enough water under the burned bridge, the generational cycle has ticked over, and the man who wore his sunglasses at night has been out of the spotlight long enough that his fans truly miss him. Corey Hart! Man, that takes […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Yukon Blonde got the Knack
Contrary to popular belief, there are just two kinds of rock ‘n’ roll. One is the kind to which you bang your head up and down, as when attending a metal show. The other one causes you to bob your head from side to side with a smile on your face, like the Peanuts Gang. […]
PLAYBOT: Last call for Carol!
You will be visited by three ghosts! The first will arrive when the clock strikes one. The second … hey, what? Where are you going? Come back here! You’re not supposed to flee the visitation! … damn it, he got away … curse these chains. Aaaaand … scene! You think the Citadel Theatre would give […]
Shakey Graves returns to headline Winspear Centre
With a name like Shakey Graves, it’s no wonder he went into show business. OK, so it’s not his real name, but the story of one Alejandro Rose-Garcia is still remarkable: Just another dude from Austin, Texas with a guitar and some cool country-like songs becomes the darling of the folk fest circuit, and a […]
PLAYBOT: Fallen Angels high class comedy
It’s becoming clear in hindsight that women had a raw deal in the 1920s. Expected to be obedient housewives and mothers, they were assailed by prejudice and hobbled by double standards, and that wasn’t the worst of it. On the plus side, women just won the right to vote, so everything was about to change […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: USS growing on us
From humble origins as a two clever dudes from Toronto who were hated for daring to mix alternative rock with electronic dance music, USS is starting to grow on us. The signs are all there: Cool hits in high rotation on the radio, on Sonic 102.9 at any rate, and a show at the Ranch […]
Captain Tractor sails into classic rock waters
The lingering question of why on Earth an Edmonton band would channel sea-faring hootenannies 700 miles from the nearest ocean has a simple answer. “I’m probably mostly to blame for a lot of it,” admits Scott Peters, a charter member of Captain Tractor who was “born and raised” in Nova Scotia. He came to Edmonton […]
PLAYBOT: Theatre Network tackles birth control in edgy new play
It’s hard to believe that with the continuing struggles for women’s rights, there are still politicians who preach abstinence as the best form of birth control. Also Popes. Would they have us go back to the Stone Age? Or the 1920s, say, when women would have many unwanted babies; some mothers and their babies would […]
