REVIEW: Tom Wood stunning as tragic hero in Death of a Salesman
Even non-theatre people are familiar with Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s bleak tale of Willy Loman and his family that ends in Loman’s death and dissatisfaction all around. It’s part of the high school canon of literature, and with good reason: life hasn’t really changed much since the show’s premiere in 1949. The Citadel […]
Pains of Being Pure at Heart earns buzz from fuzz
The New York indie pop band whose name is so long its acronym is still longer than most other band names – Pains of Being Pure at Heart, or POBPAH – is being talked about non-stop not only in the Blogosphere and Twitterverse, but in some of the largest music magazines in the world like […]
Ninjaspy creates its own scene
It only makes sense that unconventional music should be released in an unconventional fashion. Ska/metal band Ninjaspy’s upcoming EP No Kata, a 10 ½-minute piece of music employing its trademark genre-hopping and warped time signatures, will feature an accompanying graphic novel in which the song’s lyrics make up the narrative and dialogue. The effort is […]
The Tea Party to rock Edmonton Nov. 18 – the band, not the political movement
No politics … just rock and roll. That’s what it says on the Tea Party’s website, so as not to cause confusion with the American right-wing political movement that’s sprung up since the last time the popular “Moroccan-roll” band toured Canada and which apparently wants the teaparty.com domain in the worst way. The Tea Party […]
GIGGLE CITY: Dummies take the heat for Damien James
It’s not the comic crossing the line – it’s his puppets! The peculiar art of ventriloquism may seem like a crutch, a prop, a gimmick that can hold you back from the true pursuit of comedy, but it’s actually very freeing. You can get away with murder up there – as long as you blame […]
EIFF: A Generation of Whine
Entries are being now taken to come up with a name for the new generation that recently came of age and hates Generation X as much as Generation X hates the Baby Boomers. They’re here … and even that reference is out of date (Poltergeist, 1982). Any ideas? Generation Y is lame, Next Generation is […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Pearl Jam rocks Twenty out of Ten
This concludes Pearl Jam Week in Edmonton. We hope you enjoyed the band’s spectacular show at Rexall Place on Friday night, and the Cameron Crowe documentary about how it all came to be so spectacular, Pearl Jam Twenty, celebrating the 20th anniversary of Ten, the band’s breakthrough album. Some numerology is at work here. The […]
EIFF ENCORE: Bob and the Monster turnaround
Bob Forrest is one brilliant guy. He’s funny, compassionate, talented, magnetic. Unfortunately, he credits all of it to the comfort he feels when he’s drunk or high. It’s not an uncommon story. But surviving it when you also happen to be a minor-league rock star with a big budget and lots of time on your […]
Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam documentary digs deep
Pearl Jam, has it really been 20 years? The latest film from director and former Seattle music journalist Cameron Crowe, Pearl Jam Twenty, recounts the story of the ‘90s grunge group’s origins and staying power. Crowe’s film is more than a documentary, more than a concert film – it’s a personal portrait and an unabashed […]
Local artist scores $5,000 commission from AGA
Dara Humniski is going to be covered in acrylic paint for an entire week – and you get to watch. The 29-year-old Edmonton artist has been awarded a $5,000 commission to paint two giant blank walls inside the Art Gallery of Alberta, a total of nearly 700 square feet on the West and North walls […]
INTERVIEW: Mudhoney also celebrates ‘Twenty’
It’s been 20 years since Seattle’s grunge scene hijacked the North American pop charts. Tributes have been pouring in all year for Nirvana’s iconic 1991 album Nevermind, while the documentary Twenty (which screened Thursday at Garneau Theatre as part of the Edmonton International Film Festival) celebrates the two-decade anniversary of Pearl Jam’s debut Ten. The […]
