REVIEW: July Talk, he said, she said
It’s clear the public prefers to hear both sides of the story when it comes to using music to talk about relationships. Just see how well the co-ed dual lead vocalist approach has worked for so many artists. They call this the “Beauty and the Beast Effect” – an especially apt description of July Talk, […]
Edmonton Journal arts section gutted
Arts journalism in print form in this city has taken a terrible hit with the sudden departure of two of the Edmonton Journal’s veteran columnists. Theatre writer Liz Nicholls and music writer Sandra Sperounes and have both taken buyouts and will leave the paper on Dec. 2. The owners PostMedia announced in October it was […]
PLAYBILL: Be like Scrooge
Life is so unfair. The central character in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol experiences an epiphany of goodness and a complete change of heart by the end of his harrowing ghost story – much like the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes that day – and becomes the most kind, generous, warm, “Christmasy” person you […]
A Tribe Called Red: We are the human beings
Chances are this was the first time First Nations pow-wow dancing was seen at the Union Hall – a room for sloppy rock shows and big drunken blowouts, much better suited to its previous name, The Thunderdome, literally like in the Mad Max movie. There’s a first for everything. A Tribe Called Red was in […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Make Something Different
Since the death of Steve Steffler from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning on Sunday, it’s become clear how important he was to Edmonton’s music scene – and how much he’s going to be missed. He was always looking for something different. He took risks when booked bands at Bohemia, a funky little club on 97th Street […]
PLAYBILL: Homosexual scandal rocks theatre scene
Shocking news, everyone: There may be gay sex occurring right under our very noses inside Edmonton’s live theatre community – and not the “lighthearted and carefree” definition of the word gay, either, though it could be both. Won’t someone think of the children?! Concerned citizens must pay heed to this menace that threatens the moral […]
Rebuild/Repair at war with stupid
We can argue about the dumb things the City of Edmonton does until we’re blue in the face – but sometimes all it takes is a song to cut through the BS. Such a song is Suicide Fence by the band Rebuild/Repair, referring to the anti-suicide barriers installed on the High Level Bridge that screwed […]
WEEKLY PLAYBILL: Mobile homophobia
You know you’re trailer trash when … … you own a home that’s mobile and five cars that aren’t. … your house doesn’t have curtains – but your truck does. … if anyone in your family has died right after saying, “Hey, watch this!” No, it’s not Jeff Foxworthy. Quite the opposite. These lines come […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
Maybe it’s time for a little distraction – and so we can look forward to a visit from one of weirdest and most wonderful artists in Canadian rock: Brad Roberts from the Crash Test Dummies. At the Almanac on Friday as a duo, with guitarist Stuart Cameron, Roberts and his old band reigned supreme for […]
NOFX a madhouse in Edmonton
Fat Mike is an unlikely catalyst for the furious blast of disturbing male energy that greeted NOFX at the Union Hall Monday night. He’s so laid back – but he seems to be holding a lot of anger inside. Turning 50 in January, Mike Burkett is a big hairy tattooed guy with a disheveled Mohawk […]
WEEKLY PLAYBILL: ABBA cadabra!
November is a huge month for live theatre in Edmonton – almost a dozen openings, at last rough count. At the top of the list of the songs you can’t get out of your head this week is Mamma Mia, at the Jubilee Auditorium for five shows Nov. 11-13. Short run, big bang. What’s this […]
Color My Boogie Wonderland
Hey, if all you guys take a solo, we’re going to be here all night! The crowd at Rogers Place wouldn’t have minded a bit on Saturday night. They’d come for a marathon mash-up of two of the greatest bands from the Easy Listening Era: Chicago and Earth Wind and Fire. At last count, for […]
