PLAYBILL: Bust goes boom
The good people of Fort McMurray have been an inspiration for strength and resilience in the face of the fire that devastated their town in May of 2016, and – with a few exceptions – remarkably patient with the parade of celebrities trying to make them an example for the perils of global climate change. […]
USS makes Edmonton happiest city on Earth
If you didn’t know any better, you might think USS was from Edmonton. The mutual love affair between this city and the Toronto duo officially named “Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker” has existed since at least 2008 when they first started playing here. USS got huge airplay on Sonic radio, which also launched the radio career of […]
AGLC lifts ban on underage musicians
Coming soon to a bar near you – younger bands. The Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission announced on Friday that the regulation prohibiting minors from performing in licensed taverns has been removed, effective immediately – and after only 10 years of being the biggest pain-in-the ass rule for musicians not old enough to drink but […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Incomparable Sam Roberts
Is the Sam Roberts Band a soul band with a rock groove, or a rock band with soul drive? Maybe they’re a soulful groove band that rocks, or a driving rock band that grooves. So confusing when you’re in the labeling business. It’s always been hard to rack these guys, returning to Edmonton for a […]
Walterdale cancels Othello over racial tempest
It’s clear that society isn’t ready to see a white woman play a black man on stage – if it ever will be. After an uproar that was said to include threats, the Walterdale Theatre has cancelled its upcoming production of Shakespeare’s Othello, which was to open Feb. 8. At the centre of the tempest […]
PLAYBILL: Fashionable Cinderella
Let’s face it: Most Cinderella stories do a bad job when it comes to the clothes. It’s usually set in medieval times, first of all, when muddy rags were all the rage. And trained magic birds can only do so much: Sewing her frumpy, froofy, glittery, totally unsexy gown in story after story. The pretty […]
Dinner party implodes in powerful Disgraced
Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced is a worthy member of a theatrical sub-genre that might be described as the “imploding dinner party.” A group of people gather in a living room for an evening of civil conversation, there are already tensions in the air when the evening starts and everything goes south from there. […]
Red Cannons unite band of brothers
There is evidence that brother bands are tighter than bands whose members are unrelated – in as many ways as you want “tight” to mean. There are exceptions, of course, but sometimes you can just tell. Hear the creative cohesion, for instance, on the Red Cannons’ new EP Always Something. The Spruce Grove band plays […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: January thaw
We’re in the depths of what’s usually the coldest part of the year, which scares off all manner of touring musicians – though you wouldn’t know it, of course, and with temperatures on the weekend expected to soar well into the single digits, you might just be tempted to leave your jacket in the car […]
Inside the song: That Damned Filthy River
You can tell that a songwriter is being honest when they get inspired by their own backyard. Hard to fake that. Local rootsmith Jake Ian has hit the mark with a worthy song of the land, or water, anyway, called That Damned Filthy River. It’s a dark and beautiful love letter to the North Saskatchewan. […]
