Kenny Rogers deals last hand at Northlands Coliseum
Posted on August 30, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music

You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table – there’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done. Oh, Kenny Rogers, leave it to you to sum up the Northlands foofarah almost 40 years before it happened. What are they goin’ to do with themselves? How fitting that the building now […]
Volbeat motors manic metal mashup
Posted on August 28, 2016 By Mike Ross entertainment, Entertainment, Front Slider, Music

Volbeat wears its influences on its sleeve – or would if frontman Michael Poulsen didn’t prefer to bare his arms to display his many tattoos. His vest. He wears his influences on his vest: Sewn patches of Motorhead, Johnny Cash, the Ramones, the death metal band called Death, and so on. Bursts of just about […]
How did our festivals do?
Posted on August 27, 2016 By Mike Ross culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, Theatre

Imagine you’re on the fence about going to Sonic Boom, Edmonton’s last proper outdoor festival happening Sept. 3-4 in Borden Park. Maybe you’re festival-ed out. Maybe you’re sick of summer. Maybe you’re tired of life. Then you find out Twenty One Pilots is playing – and that’s the deal maker. Sure, OK, let’s have one […]
WEEKEND MUSIC: Big hand for Fitz
Posted on August 24, 2016 By Michael Senchuk Entertainment, Front Slider, Music

In the middle of festival season, a rare weekend without one finds Edmonton with a cadenced assortment of gigs both big and small. From Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas, and Volbeat, at Rexall Place, to a couple of gigs at the River Cree, to the smaller but equally vital smaller venues, there’s a little something […]
INTERVIEW: Has Zakk Wylde gone myld?
Posted on August 22, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music

Zakk Wylde has been typecast as a metal dude for so long that it’s taken fans some time to get used to his somewhat mellower direction. On his “Book of Shadows II” solo tour, coming to the Ranch Roadhouse Tuesday night, one might even be tempted to call him “Zakk Mylde.” Not to his face. […]
FRINGE: 9 Best Shows
Posted on August 19, 2016 By Staff entertainment, Entertainment, Front Slider, Theatre

So we had a total of three (3) members on Team GigCity Fringe – and we still screwed up the schedule and reviewed the same play twice. Damn it! Still, let’s make the best of it and see how both Colin MacLean (ex-Sun, CBC) and Mel Priestley (ex-Vue) heaped praise upon 70 Scenes of Halloween […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: No bad blues
Posted on August 18, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music

One of the great things about the blues is that it can be played by musicians who’ve never met or who don’t even know the same songs. One of the bad things about the blues is that it can be played by musicians who’ve never met or who don’t even know the same songs. That’s […]
FRINGE: 6 shows about mental illness
Posted on August 18, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Life, Theatre

There’s a revolutionary new treatment for mental illness. It’s called Fringe Therapy. Here’s how it works: The patient reveals all the gory details of his or her disorder to a roomful of strangers in a one-man and/or-woman show at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival. Get it in the open. Tell the whole, true story. […]
FRINGE: 3 shows of physical theatre
Posted on August 17, 2016 By Mel Priestley Entertainment, Front Slider, Theatre

Edmonton has quite a robust contemporary dance scene. A few local groups are presenting their work at the Fringe, as well as some out-of-towners – which gives a nice juxtaposition of styles and themes for the audience to compare. Some people still complain that physical theatre and dance is inaccessible (or just plain weird), but […]
FRINGE: 4 comedies
Posted on August 17, 2016 By Colin MacLean Entertainment, Front Slider, Theatre

Laughter is the grease that keeps the Fringe rolling along. From sophisticated British burlesques to the pie-in-the-face American vaudeville farce, the comedy listing in the Fringe program is longer than any other – some 65 shows promise to get you laughing. Here are four wide-ranging productions that you might consider. There is a lively stand-up […]