Bring out your Dead Merch
Imagine you used to be in a band – because everybody used to be in a band. You practiced in a garage, played a second hand guitar, a Stratocaster with a whammy bar. (Through a cheesy little amp, a Fender Champ.) You picked out a stupid name, had some cards printed up for a couple […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Local folk teen turns to rock
Edmonton artist Rebecca Lappa has put a lot of points on the scoreboard of her career so far – two albums, two EPs, three original folk operas, three major awards, and a claim of more than 200 songs written. And she’s only 19 years old. Are they all good songs? That’s for the fans to […]
Thieves try to sell Alfie Myhre back his own instruments
This one is going into the Dumbest Crooks file. The home of Edmonton music legend Alfie Myhre was broken into last week. Among the items stolen was a fiddle worth $12,000 and his 1929 banjo worth about $7,000 – two of his favourite instruments. It was a devastating loss. Fortunately, in a stroke of brilliant […]
Turandot is one messed up love story
Puccini’s Turandot is a maddening, brilliant mess that goes against every shred of decency, logic and common sense – but that’s opera for you. It was a crazy old story seen at Edmonton Opera’s spectacular season opener Saturday night: A strong-willed princess whose best friend was murdered by a man takes revenge against an entire […]
OLP + IME = the new classic rock
Late 1990s nostalgia has struck with a vengeance with the return of Our Lady Peace and I Mother Earth. At this rate, we’ll be reminiscing about the 2000s, and sharing fond memories about the day before yesterday. It doesn’t feel that long ago, but it’s actually been 20 years since these two bands turned up […]
Black Mourning Light to darken weekend
The question is not IF Edmonton can support such a narrow niche event as a “black and doom” metal festival – of course it can – but WHY. Dustin Ekman, producer of the Black Mourning Light Metal Festival happening this weekend, speaks from personal experience, “What else do you have to do when it’s 40 […]
Weird town to be less weird without weird artist
To mangle a line from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Planet Edmonton will be a very great deal less weird without Philip Alexander Jagger. The performance artist, experimental musician, filmmaker, actor, poet and distant cousin of Mick Jagger has spent 30 years Making Something Strange in Edmonton, but will soon be moving to an […]
Kenny Rogers knows when to fold ‘em
He can hardly walk, he can’t stand up for very long, his voice is a raspy shadow of its former self – but Kenny Rogers is making the most of what he’s got left, one last time. What a trouper. There should be something poetic said here about saluting the lion in his final victory […]
Roger Waters brings Us + Them to Edmonton
Remember how awesome that Roger Waters show was? KABOOM! Fwoosh! Kazam! All we are … is just another brick in the wall … whereupon a frickin’ airplane flies across the arena and crashes into the Wall, blowing it to smoking bricks. Wow. That was all in the first song, by the way. The show (at […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Kanye vs. Kenny
At least the Oilers won the home opener against the Godless Flames – so now can we stow all the crap about the new arena already? All is forgiven! Again Edmonton has two arena shows on the same night – and not very much crossover audience between Kanye West (at Rogers Place) and Kenny Rogers […]
Cowboy pianist steps into the spotlight
You know that saloon scene with the piano player in just about every Western movie ever made? Stewart MacDougall could be that piano player. He looks and sounds and has lived the part. It’s not often this dedicated local sideman gets a chance to headline in his own town, so it’s a special event he’s […]
The Science of Guitar Face
Guys make the funniest faces. We gnash our teeth, knit our brows, purse our lips, let our mouths hang open, contort our jaws, scrunch our eyes shut, stick out our tongues, breathe heavily, grunt and groan and moan and generally look ridiculous. Yes, Guitar Face is an occupational hazard when you’re playing a really good […]
