FILM REVIEW: Martial arts doc a powerful Edmonton family story
Posted on August 30, 2012 By LH Thomson Film, Front Slider
Legend of a Warrior, a new National Film Board-supported documentary that premieres Friday at Metro Cinema, is ostensibly about a son trying to learn more about his father, a world-famous Martial Arts instructor based in Edmonton. But it goes beyond any preconceptions its viewers might have about a stereotypical tale of a driven father neglecting […]
SONIC BOOM 2012: Buzz bands, alt metal and modern rock goodness
Posted on August 30, 2012 By Michael Senchuk Front Slider, Music
This year’s version of Sonic Boom is probably the deepest line-up that’s been put together for the day-long festival yet. Thanks to a “sister” event in Calgary the day before Edmonton’s show at Northlands on Sunday, Sept. 2, Sonic Boom 2012 has at least two acts that could’ve been headliners, with Linkin Park and Silversun […]
Symphony Under the Sky: Cannons in the park
Posted on August 29, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Music
Like rock ‘n’ roll, classical music is measured by weight: Heavy or light. Unlike rock ‘n’ roll, almost all classical musicians aspire to perform the heaviest music they can get their hands on and still get paid for it. That’s what all that training and sacrifice was for – to play the heavyweights. Mainstream classical […]
ART ON FILM: Gerhard Richter doc reveals ‘secretive business’
Posted on August 24, 2012 By Barry Hammond Culture, Film, Front Slider, Visual Arts
Paint. The thickness of it. The sensuousness of its colours. The textures of its application. The weights and balances, lines of force, harmonies and dissonances of its composition on a plane. The resonances of emotions and ideas it leaves hanging in the eye and the mind. These are the subjects – foreground and background – […]
DEEP blues or FUN blues? Edmonton Blues Festival has plenty of both
Posted on August 23, 2012 By LH Thomson Front Slider, Music
In yesterday’s lecture on The Neuroscience of the Blues, we touched on the distinction between DEEP blues and FUN blues, though they sound very similar. Put simply, DEEP blues is about real suffering: from oppression, racism, poverty, addiction, disease, mental illness, heartbreak, desperation or despair – or all of the above. FUN blues is, well, […]
NEUROSCIENCE AT THE BLUESFEST: Blues is good for the brain
Posted on August 22, 2012 By LH Thomson Front Slider, Music
Muddy Waters famously sang that the blues had a baby, and they named it rock ‘n’ roll. Of course, that was a hell of a long time ago. His last hit CD, “Hard Again,” was back in ‘77 and Muddy died in ’84. Things have changed a bit. As we prepare for Edmonton Blues Festival […]
REVIEW: Village of the Fringe rocks past, present and future
Posted on August 21, 2012 By Barry Hammond Front Slider, Music, Theatre
“It’s all backwards causality. Cyclical time. The past is the future. The present is now. The future is the past.” That’s how Rocco Hercules Somershire – the greatest rock musician in the greatest British rock band in the world – explains how The Saints of British Rock could meet Merlin the magician, who gave them […]
MUSIC: Surfing on Black Mountain at the end of the world
Posted on August 21, 2012 By Michael Senchuk Front Slider, Music
You heard it from Black Mountain first – what may be a new genre of music called “apocalyptic surf.” Fans can check it out Thursday night when the Vancouver “psyche-rock” band plays the Starlite Room, promising to include music from its soundtrack to the indie film Year Zero – which has been described as an […]
FILM: Argentinean documentary leaves more questions than answers
Posted on August 17, 2012 By Barry Hammond Film, Front Slider
Watching the Argentinean-Canadian co-production, “A Place Called Los Pereyra” – opening at the Metro Cinema Aug. 18 – brings to mind a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, […]
Holy Batman! The real Batman to host Comic-Con in October
Posted on August 16, 2012 By Mike Ross Comedy, Front Slider, TV and Radio, Visual Arts
Gird your loins, adventurers, for an upcoming “Comic-Con” exhibition of pop culture is bringing in the REAL Batman – which, as everyone knows, is Adam West. The star of the popular TV 1960s series – and lately as Mayor Adam West on Family Guy – is just one of the special guests expected at Edmonton […]
Holy s—! Edmonton metal band Striker to open for Metallica
Posted on August 15, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Music
Striker – an Edmonton speed metal band very much in the vein of early Metallica – has won the opening spot for this weekend’s Metallica concerts in a contest sponsored by the Bear radio station. They’ll play Friday and Saturday at Rexall Place. The band wasn’t immediately available for comment, but posted this statement on […]
FRINGE CITY: The Return of the Borg
Posted on August 14, 2012 By Mike Ross Comedy, Culture, Front Slider, Theatre
It’s always nice when an ex-Edmontonian comes back to visit. Break out the good bong. And show your love for Wes Borg when he returns to this year’s Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival – running Aug. 16-26 at innumerable theatres around town – the first time since his friend and partner Joe Bird died suddenly […]
