INTERVIEW: Suzanne Vega in the alternative heart
The name of Suzanne Vega’s baby was part of an interesting coincidence that leads to some of the greatest alternative music albums ever made – including her own. Vega is one of the headliners of the Interstellar Rodeo in Hawrelak Park July 21-23. When she was married to the legendary producer Mitchell Froom, she had […]
Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows meet in the middle
“Wow, I got totally out of control at the Matchbox Twenty concert last night!” is probably not something you want to admit today. This is not a band – like White Zombie or Insane Clown Posse or something – whose music you’d think would incite uncontrollable behaviour. Unless you count 40-year-old guys dancing in the […]
PLAYBILL: Mirthful murder mystery mayhem
Things are lighter in the summer – clothing comes to mind. Now think of other things robbed of gravity with the addition of summer: Summer school, summer romance, summer theatre. Hey now: Would you accuse playwright Stewart Lemoine and his Teatro La Quindicina theatre company of being “light”? Certainly their work is often light-hearted. Also […]
Duran Duran wows Edmonton moms
Someone once said that video killed the radio star – and that Duran Duran was the first pop group to prove it. They were pioneers of MTV. Now the British group is a nostalgia act, while YouTube killed the video star and little kids are asking, “What’s MTV, Mommy?” But Mommy wasn’t listening. Mom was […]
EDMONTON: City of bad names
The $2 million rebranding of Edmonton as “Edmonton” may have made Edmonton the laughingstock of the world, but this is just the latest boneheaded move in the rich history of Edmonton’s embarrassing problem with names. Look at that: “Edmonton” four times in one sentence. Pay me now. Recall the last branding blunder: K-Days. Short history: […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Seven to rule them all
Every festival has its own “feel.” Now see if you can tell what the acts at the Seven Music Festival Saturday in St. Albert have in common: The Strumbellas, The Rural Alberta Advantage, The Provincial Archive, Paul Woida, The Elwins, Sykamore, Frazey Ford, and The Royal Foundry. Yes, they’re all white, but that sort of […]
Adam Lambert gives new life to Queen
Queen is never going to replace Freddie Mercury. He was one of a kind. But what about the rest of the guys in the band? What do they do when they want to keep the band going after their lead singer died? Life isn’t fair. And so, in their desire to give these great songs […]
PLAYBILL: Streetfest serious about silly
Jesters, jugglers, fools, clowns and buffoons … but enough about Edmonton City Hall. Bah-haha! That joke never gets old. Nor does the Edmonton International Street Performers Festival, for its 33rd year in Churchill Square July 7-16. Performers include the Mellifluous Mr. Bombo, Dan the Balloon Man, The Great Balanzo, Kamikaze Fireflies, Tianna the Traveller, Silver […]
EDMONTON RADIO: Morning men
The pairing of Scott McCord with Yukon Jack on The Bear’s new morning show promises to deliver your maximum recommended daily dose of testosterone. These are two of the manliest men on Edmonton radio. Their voices are deep and gruff, and they talk of manly things, like sports. They speak their minds. Sometimes they lose […]
CANADA 150: Two long strange trips
It looks like each of us is going to celebrate Canada 150 Day in our own way – or not, as the case may be. It’s a free country. Edmonton novelist Janice MacDonald is marking the occasion with a new book called Confederation Drive, detailing two cross-Canada journeys: One the author and her mom took […]
PLAYBILL: The Sterling Awards before the storm
It’s obviously now OK to say the f-word in polite company – because the Edmonton production of a play called Stupid Fucking Bird swept the 2017 Sterling Awards. Honouring the best in Edmonton theatre among polire company at the Mayfield Theatre Monday night, there were seven awards given to this spin on Anton Chekhov’s The […]
RACISM: Is it awkward yet?
To the woman who demanded to see a white doctor in Toronto, to the men who brandished Confederate flags in a Muslim neighbourhood in Edmonton, to the people who hurl N-bombs on the streets, the #MakeItAwkward campaign doesn’t want to hate you. They just want to talk. Meeting hate with hate isn’t getting us anywhere. […]
