REVIEW: Super Soul Sistas

REVIEW: Super Soul Sistas

In their unending forensic probing of pop music for discerning dinner theatre patrons, the Mayfield Theatre is trying something new – well, not really new, but something a little different. Instead of giving us a musical genre (folk music) or a group (The Beatles) or an individual (Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline), they have combined the […]

REVIEW: Beck where it’s at in Edmonton

REVIEW: Beck where it’s at in Edmonton

If you’re expecting the unexpected at a rock concert, is having it fulfilled still a special thing? What if the focus of your high un-expectations does something surprisingly normal – like rocking out four-on-the-floor with a great rock band for a rockin’ old school rock concert at the Jubilee Auditorium, for instance – and says […]

Metallica destroys Edmonton

Metallica destroys Edmonton

There was a lot of violent imagery on the big screens for the Metallica concert at Commonwealth Stadium Wednesday night. Couldn’t help but notice the icing on the cake: Wars, fights, death, destruction, fire and so on. Fitting. Just once it would be a hoot to see rainbows and butterflies accompanying such a massively brutal […]

REVIEW: Bunnymen get Edmonton hopping

REVIEW: Bunnymen get Edmonton hopping

With only two original members from their beginnings in late 1970s Liverpool, Echo and the Bunnymen lit up Union Hall in Edmonton on Saturday night – despite the dim lighting. Founding frontman Ian McCulloch was in fine form, with brooding vocals reminiscent of Nick Cave, or maybe Jim Morrison of the Doors, which they’ve been […]

Ed Sheeran hits Edmonton right in the feels

Ed Sheeran hits Edmonton right in the feels

Ed Sheeran is a force to be reckoned with. Opener, James Blunt, referred to him as the biggest male artist in the world which isn’t an exaggeration. All you have to do is take a look at the music charts and see Sheeran’s name everywhere. Sheeran is no stranger to Edmonton having played here multiple […]

Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows meet in the middle

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 […]

Adam Lambert gives new life to Queen

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 […]

Dated musical sparkles at Mayfield

Dated musical sparkles at Mayfield

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change is one of those small, Off-Broadway musicals that just keep coming back. They are inexpensive to produce and proven crowd pleasers. The show is the summer offering at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre. It runs until July 30. With book and lyrics by Joe DiPietro (Memphis, Nice Work If […]

Chili Peppers keep it fresh in Edmonton

Chili Peppers keep it fresh in Edmonton

When a band on its day off in Edmonton hangs out on Whyte Avenue, instead of, say, West Edmonton Mall, they’re more likely to get a favourable review. It’s a FACT. Because Anthony Kiedis and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers were spotted in our city’s arguably coolest district on Friday (on their way […]

BRIAN WILSON: Sand, sun and golden adolescence

BRIAN WILSON: Sand, sun and golden adolescence

He stopped touring with his brothers and cousins long before the Beach Boys were a nostalgia act at Klondike Days – but Brian Wilson is known as much for his elusive eccentricities as his musical genius. He is the stuff of legend. The median age for his show at the Jubilee Auditorium Wednesday night was […]

REVIEW: Starcatcher flies like Peter Pan

REVIEW: Starcatcher flies like Peter Pan

Avast there, matey, prepare to go aloft! And I abide that ye’ll have a crew of plundering picaroons at yer back. The Citadel’s current show Peter and the Starcatcher does briefly soar aloft, but that comes later. James MacDonald’s rollicking, inventive production starts small with what is known as “physical theatre,” or the more poetic […]

April Fool’s Day cancelled

April Fool’s Day cancelled

Because we have reached a tipping point in society where there is more fake news than real news – and not only is the fake news more popular but it often reveals more truth than real news, fiction being less strange than truth – April Fool’s Day has been cancelled by Order of the Government. […]