OPERA: The Merry Widow has legs
A good measure of any opera is to subject it to the grueling “Bugs Bunny Test.” The Merry Widow, which opens Edmonton Opera’s season at the Jubilee Auditorium on Saturday, Oct. 24, might not have an entire Looney Toon devoted to it like Figaro or The Ring Cycle, but there is a rich widow (Granny) […]
REVIEW: Chris De Burgh King of Easy Listening
Chris De Burgh fans got high on emotion at the Shaw Conference Centre Thursday night, witnessing a gifted yet largely critically neglected artist who blew the dust off a staggering back catalogue of music. He is the King of Easy Listening. A long time ago in a galaxy now since nuked into oblivion by Darth […]
What is Madonna going to do in Edmonton?
Expect a full press court when Madonna comes to Edmonton next week. A paparazzi red alert! She’s never been here before. How do we look? How do we look?! We just need a few more minutes, OK, days, weeks, months, OK, years. The place is a mess. The roads suck, construction everywhere, all those tacky […]
Billy Boyd: From Hobbit to Beecake
Actor, musician, surfer, martial artist, hobbit – these are just some of the things Billy Boyd has become rather good at. Known for his role as Peregrin “Pippin” Took in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Boyd has been making a name for himself as of late with his band Beecake. Along with his various […]
The Willy Nillies life of George Ireland
“If you ask a dragon, why does it fly? “You’ll get more file than reply, “If you ask a troll, good sir, what’s the toll? “It would probably most indefinitely cost your life.” Throw that verse underneath a Dark Ages circus folk sound and you may be able to imagine Edmonton’s very own outlandish troubadour, […]
COMICS: Heart of Wonderdick in Edmonton
A Torontonian taking the piss out of Edmonton? Break out the machetes! Relax, it’s just cartoonist Mike Winters, who may call the Centre of Canada home now, but his heart clearly resides in Dirt City. Winters’ weekly comic strip Cartoon Machine offers up caustic views on millennials, toxic relationships and … Edmonton Oilers draft picks? […]
COMMENT: WTF at the BVJ?
It was one of those weekends at the Big Valley Jamboree, the BVJ – a WTF weekend. As in, “WTF did I just hear? WTF did I just see?” And mostly importantly, in the words of one obscenely intoxicated youth, “Just what the f— is a Corb Lund, anyways?” It’s not surprising that the BVJ […]
INTERVIEW: Shakey Graves on Shakey Graves
Bullets of sweat drip down his face, soaking his classic white wife-beater shirt, and onto the stage. In his fist he clutches his gleaming sunburst guitar, as he leads the crowd in a rousing chant, “Yeah, you should’ve been a better friend of mine!” That’s Shakey Graves – aka 28-year-old Alejandro Rose-Garcia – during a […]
Edmonton’s finest at Interstellar Rodeo
Many festivals have come and gone: Boonstock, Open Sky, Rockfest, Jeff’s Magical Festival Of Smells (that last one never existed). They either dragged on too long, or were stretched too thin when it came to the quality of artistic content. Sometimes both. Interstellar Rodeo does neither. Even when it comes to the visual artists displaying […]
SNFU: And everyone wanted to play
We now have to call SNFU “The Band That Would Not Die.” So put your devil horns up, or extend your middle fingers in the universal punk rock language of “live long and prosper,” and let us salute these aging heroes of hardcore. Their stamina and persistence is inspiring – especially lead singer Chi Pig, […]
REVIEW: Steven Wilson far beyond prog
Steven Wilson represents something quite rare in today’s music industry: An artist who’s remarkably creative and actually writes interesting material – in case you thought they were all dead by now. More than 700 prog rock fans sold out the Myer Horowitz Theatre Monday night to see their hero perform his first-ever gig in Edmonton. […]
North Country Fair lineup Dunn like dinner
This weekend will be musician Mike Dunn’s sixth year at the North Country Fair – the annual indie music jamboree that happens on the shortest nights of the year near the shores of the mighty Lesser Slave Lake – and now he has a chance to level up. After several stints playing the event with […]
