(RERUN): Soap-a-Thon to inspire imaginations
During an improv workshop held before last year’s Die-Nasty Soap-a-Thon, instructor Patti Stiles asked if there was anybody who had never improvised. I was the only one who raised my hand. Everyone else applauded! Way to make a newbie feel good, eh? All “guests” of the annual Soap-a-Thon – running this year from 7 pm […]
Photog plants roots in Edmonton Musician Project
It always seems surprising when an artist moves to Edmonton from somewhere else, survives a winter or two and still decides to stay. When music photographer Erin Walker moved here from Burlington, Ontario two years ago, her friends thought she was crazy. “My parents did, too,” she says. “Everyone thought I was crazy going to […]
The Fronts radio friendly ‘by accident’
Saved from a lifetime of playing other people’s music, it’s a brave leap to the original for any professional musician. Professional merely means making a living at it, no day job. In most places on Earth, you can’t do that without playing in a cover band. Only the very elite of original artists get to […]
EMO-BRO: Dierks Bentley brings feelings to Edmonton
Seriously, there’s another bro-country bro coming to town?! Which one of these bros is which, anyway? And which one of these articles about bro-country is which, for that matter? Like their subjects, they’re all the same. But let us not be so hasty as we examine the evidence in the case of one Dierks Bentley, […]
Beware the Invasion of The Voice judges!
What band at what festival recently had a song along the lines of “There is not any rest for the wicked?” We honestly can’t remember, because it’s onto the next thing already. Concert announcements are dropping like flies. This just in, the Invasion of The Voice Judges continues (Maroon 5 with Adam Levine just announced): […]
Maroon 5 returns to Rexall in early 2015
Recent news of the Maroon 5 world tour was met with great rejoicing amongst enthusiasts of finely-crafted pop music – because as anyone with an ear for music knows, for every 10 one-hit flavours of the radio this week, there is only one Maroon 5. Tickets go ON SALE Saturday, Sept. 13 for the band’s […]
REVIEW: The smalls go big at Sonic Boom
Fears that the smalls were going to be out of place – and out of their league – for their reunion show at Sonic Boom 2014 were banished soon enough. Greatness shines through. Performing a suppertime set at Northlands on Sunday, the smalls are different, no doubt about it. Next to a weekend sparkling with […]
Sound of Edmonton like one hand clapping
The problem with calling your music documentary Sound of Edmonton is that there isn’t one. No one sticks around long enough. Is there hope in the next generation? Most of the subjects in Evan van Ramshorst’s low budget short film are in their 20s: The oldest is probably Wunderbar owner Craig Martellica, and he’s over […]
FRINGE: Revenge of the Reviewed!
Fringe artists have had a tempestuous relationship with their critics since there was Fringe. It’s symbiotic. Artists need critics. Critics need things to criticize. As local theatre guru Kenneth Brown says, “Intelligent criticism is a vital part of theatrical culture.” Artists court the media’s favour to drum up ticket sales. They depend on favourable reviews […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Beverly to party like it’s 1929
Pull up a stump, children, grandpa’s got a story for you! Why, I remember back in Olde Towne Beverly on summer weekends, when after a hard week of lubricating coal seams, me and the boys would treat ourselves to a Carling Black Lung Label at the local speakeasy. The women could shop for frilly niceties […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: One Fringe to rule them all
There is a condition unique to Edmonton – or any other winter city, for that matter – called Seasonal Hyperactive Festival Exhaustion Disorder, or SHAFED, that results in such a manic rush of summer fun that events that would normally merit full attention get shafted. Such is the case with the Fringe – the biggest […]
Which Tom Petty song are you?
If you’re a chronic midnight toker considering teetotalment due to dementia or emphysema, or maybe dementia, Mary Jane’s Last Dance could be your anthem. Tom Petty’s 1993 hit starts by sketching the purported titular character as an independent, wanderlust-ridden woman who grew up tall and straight among Indiana boys and nights despite being effectively motherless, […]
