MUSICIANS: Want to get paid fairly? Learn your business!
Posted on February 16, 2012 By Mike Ross Culture, Front Slider, Music
All this grumbling about how unfairly musicians get paid should sound awfully familiar to anyone who’s been working in the Edmonton music scene longer than 10 years – but no old-timer will disagree that musicians get paid a lot less than they did “back in the day.” Many feel that something has changed, that something […]
DUB’S PUB: Alberta Hotel bar will also be restored
Posted on February 14, 2012 By Rob Drinkwater Culture, Dining, Front Slider
Edmonton architect Gene Dub is so keen to preserve the bar in the newly reconstructed Alberta Hotel on Jasper Avenue that he’s made it a condition for his sale of the building to CKUA that he can lease the bar space from the radio station. The bar, which Dub says he hopes will be open […]
Wayne Shorter to headline Edmonton International Jazz Festival June 24
Posted on February 13, 2012 By Albert Smith Front Slider, Music
Last time Wayne Shorter came to town, he only played five songs – but boy, what songs! Experimental, huge, sprawling, languid solos that stretched past two minutes, five minutes, 10 minutes, to the point where you almost forgot what the original “head” was supposed to be. The man sure knows how to develop melody. Area […]
REVIEW: Laughter flies in the face of damage in beautiful Moving Along
Posted on February 12, 2012 By Adrian Lackey Culture, Front Slider, Theatre
“Nobody appreciates damage … at the time.” These are the striking words that started the public’s introduction to Chris Craddock’s magnum opus Moving Along back at the 2001 Fringe Festival. The play has resonated with audiences ever since. Moving Along has been remounted seven times over the years – and here it is some 11 […]
POINT-COUNTERPOINT: Love according to Jon
Posted on February 9, 2012 By Mike Ross Comedy, Film, Front Slider, Music
The punchline is that after spewing love all over Edmonton in the form of a blow-out multi-media variety show Monday night at the Garneau Theatre, stand-up comedian Jon Mick is moving to Toronto. He’s called the gig Edmonton, I Love You. “This is my thank you,” he says. “I love you guys.” Lies, lies, lies! […]
Elton John to play Grande Prairie for the first time on April 26
Posted on February 7, 2012 By Albert Smith Front Slider, Music
We may not be getting Madonna in Edmonton – the closest she’s coming is Vancouver on Sept. 29 – but at least Grande Prairie is getting one of her harshest critics. Yes, Sir Elton John will be making his first ever stop in the Northern Alberta town, playing solo at the Crystal Centre on Thursday, […]
Edmonton Opera pushes the limits of The Mikado
Posted on February 2, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Music, Theatre
“The politician who starts with a mission and promptly changes plans, he’ll be axed from his job with nary a bob and sent to the oil sands.” Oh, there’s more where that came from. Robert Herriot, director of Edmonton Opera’s production of The Mikado – opening Saturday at the Jubilee Auditorium – is such a […]
Why are we here? Waiting for Godot aims to find out
Posted on January 31, 2012 By Mike Ross Culture, Front Slider, Theatre
There may be a reason it’s been 40 years since a professional theatre company has attempted to mount Waiting For Godot in Edmonton – this thing is a real bitch. The creative team from Wishbone Theatre is working hard to “find the truth” in Samuel Beckett’s absurdist masterpiece before opening night at the TransAlta Arts […]
New art at airport to make airport experience less like an airport
Posted on January 30, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Visual Arts
There’s a cool million dollars in amazing new public art at the Edmonton International Airport (EIA) – but you have to buy a ticket to the United States to see it. How fitting that much of said art is near the security area that helps make modern air travel such a humiliating and disempowering experience. […]
EDMONTON RADIO: Primeau fights for truth, justice, the Canadian way
Posted on January 29, 2012 By Mike Ross Culture, Front Slider, TV and Radio
Lesley Primeau comes off like a hard-boiled, old-school journalist you don’t want to mess with if you know what’s good for you. She talks a tough game, takes a stand, doesn’t back down, champions the underdog, fights for justice, truth and the Canadian way. It’s a tough job in a cutthroat business where newsmen and […]
Strange Sounds in Edmonton Sky part of viral phenomenon
Posted on January 25, 2012 By Mike Ross Culture, Front Slider, TV and Radio
The only mystery about the “Strange Sounds in the Sky” videos is which synthesizer was used to make the sounds – aside from how these videos managed to capture the fears and imaginations of people around the world. “It’s definitely a synth,” says producer and recording engineer Phil Anderson, owner of Edmonton’s Powersound Studios, after […]
The Jezabels, big in Australia, return to headline Starlite Room April 26
Posted on January 24, 2012 By Michael Senchuk Front Slider, Music
The Jezabels are returning to headline the Starlite Room on Thursday, April 26, just a couple of months after opening for Hey Rosetta at the Myer Horowitz Theatre. The Australian quartet is fronted by Hayley Mary, who struck a chord with most attendees at that show, being compared by some to Metric’s Emily Haines, by […]