Does Edmonton need The Station?
Earlier this week it was announced that live music would finally be back on stage at the location of the former Needle Vinyl Tavern on Jasper Avenue, but under new owners – led by Greg Scott – and under a new brand – The Station on Jasper. Given the catastrophic and rapid demise of the […]
INTERVIEW: Eamon McGrath imagines ‘Maritime Gothic’
It’s tempting to think that This Town Dies When Festival Season Ends is a song about Edmonton – seeing as songwriter Eamon McGrath was born and raised here. You probably think this song is about you, don’t you? But it’s not. We think we have it bad; take a trip to a typical town in […]
Slayer kills at farewell show in Edmonton
Springtime in Edmonton. The trees are blooming, grass is growing, birds are singing, and the locals have shed the many layers to hit the great sunny outdoors. What better circumstances for this year’s metal juggernaut tour to roll through town? The four bands on stage at the Shaw Conference Centre on Sunday night have all […]
David Byrne doesn’t stop making sense
If the live concert experience has to be reinvented, and maybe it does, David Byrne is just the guy to pull it off. He’s got the credentials – a weird New York art-rock cat who became the intelligent face of the new wave movement with the Talking Heads. Ever since, he tries to do something […]
REVIEW: Robyn Hitchcock still surreal
If the name Robyn Hitchcock is mysterious to hit parade stalwarts, don’t worry – it’s not likely his rabid legion of followers quite “get” him, either. That didn’t stop some 70 devotees of the surrealistic singer-songwriter from trying to unravel the Matrix-like yarns he spun in song and banter on Sunday night in Sherwood Park’s […]
Johnny Reid puts the soul in country
There was feeling of a Sunday church “revival” at the Jubilee Auditorium on Thursday night – and Johnny Reid was the preacher. It was obvious that this Scottish-Canadian country superstar was back in Edmonton to show his audience a good time. No expense was spared when it came to production of his Revival tour, named […]
REVIEW: Bahamas pretty heavy for soft rock
There’s a keen musical mind lurking behind the dark wit of the man who calls himself Bahamas. Or maybe it’s the other way around. During his show at the Winspear Centre on Monday night, Bahamas picked out a couple in the front row who’d told him they just got engaged to his song Lost in […]
Jack Semple channels B.B. King
The late B.B. King revealed more personality in three notes than all of those wankers who made it to the cover of Look At Me I Play Guitar magazine. There was even a rumour going around that B.B. didn’t actually know how to play chords (like Thelonious Monk didn’t know how to play the piano). […]
REVIEW: Anthrax just wants to have fun
Anthrax is one of the founding fathers of the thrash movement that had its birth in the early ’80s, and reigned for at least a decade after that. Blending the speed of Motorhead with the melodic twin guitars and vocals of Iron Maiden and a huge dose of groove, Anthrax stood apart from the rest […]
Portugal. The Man. Greater. Than. That One Hit.
It’s always a interesting experience seeing a concert from a modern rock band known in the mainstream for only one massive radio hit. Seems like they’re all that way these days. You never know what you’re going to get. They could be a box of chocolates – or as has been witnessed once or twice, […]
K.Flay rocks hip hop and headbangers in Edmonton
The music of K.Flay can make you dance – but her lyrics can break your heart. Her music is almost enough to make you forget that the Union Hall is one of Edmonton’s least favourite concert spots – where she performed a sold-out show on Tuesday night. The pit is fun enough, but if you’re […]
Major Love takes the scenic route
Sometimes great things happen by accident. Singer-songwriter Colleen Brown was recently touring Europe by herself – again – and had been feeling a touch of “ennui,” as Europeans say, about her chosen career path. One night, at a club in London, England, Brown found herself quite by chance on the same stage as fellow Edmontonians […]
