Saga dominates Edmonton Rock Music Festival
Edmonton might have been covered in a thick blanket of asthma-inducing white acrid smoke, but none of that stuff was being blown during Saga’s performance down at Hawrelak Park as part of Friday night festivities at the Edmonton Rock Festival. Most Canadians are clueless how big this band was and still is internationally. Last time […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Rockfest scores SAGA
For music fans still in the outdoor festival spirit – and really, who isn’t – the action this weekend shifts upriver to Hawrelak Park for the annual Edmonton Rock Music Festival. This is classic rock at its biggest and brightest, and the organizers have done a commendable job putting together some impressive names throughout the […]
I SURVIVED THE FOLK FEST (almost)
Whoever came up with the saying “If you don’t like the weather in Alberta, just wait 10 minutes!” must have been at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. Diehard festival fans all have stories about the erratic weather over the years, some which resemble battlefields. They make sure they have all the necessary gear and protective […]
REVIEW: Heat on the hill at folk fest
Thursday evening at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival was likely one of the hottest folk fests on record. There was a heat warning as temperatures hit 34 degrees, and an air quality advisory due to drifting smoke from B.C. wildfires. There may have been discussions about climate change among the sweaty (but happy) crowd – […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: 4 folk fest acts expected to ROCK
You know how it is. You look forward to seeing a “buzz” act at the folk fest, perhaps a legend of folk music, or maybe one of these mighty famous new bands the kids today are into, what with their fancy “fire” and their “wheel.” But then it turns out he – or she or […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Deathcore takes a holiday
This weekend features two evenings of deathcore bands whose itineraries find them in our fair city. The first is Thursday night, when the Massachusetts band The Acacia Strain (above) lands in town at the Starlite Room. Ably supported by Left Behind, I Am, and Arrival Of Autumn, frontman and leader Vincent Bennett’s band has an […]
Carmen in the Badlands a mammoth undertaking for one night at the opera
Opera buffs have seen La Traviata in Chez Pierre, heard Nessun Dorma in a subway station, Un Bel di Vedremoon from a flatbed truck, and a full-blown Pagliacci at the Coney Island amusement park. Now it is time for another grand opera from the adventurous Mercury Opera company – in a location to end all […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Give K-Days a break!
Citizens of Edmonton have been bitching for decades about K-Days and how it sucks your wallet dry. It does. In these modern times, a family of four can blow $300 easy – and have nothing to show for it at the end of the day but another Pikachu stuffie crusted with cotton candy and grime, […]
First Nations acts big at stormy Interstellar Rodeo
Most of the people who attend Interstellar Rodeo are not fair-weather fans. They know that Mother Nature may not be on their side. Indeed, this year the festival almost lived up to the dreaded “Friday night curse” – as some call it – hearkening back to an earlier year when the Friday night had to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Interstellar life discovered!
Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park will once again host the Interstellar Rodeo this weekend. It’s a beautiful, open air venue, but still roofed so one need not concern themselves with the crazy whims of our prairie weather. This festival has become known for their eclectic yet buzzworthy headliners and supporting acts. This year is no […]
INTERVIEW: Nunavut singer inspired by #MeToo
Evidence that the #MeToo Movement has reached almost every corner of the globe can be found in Riit – aka Rita Claire Mike-Murphy, a recording artist from Panniqtuuq, Nunavut. The Baffin Island hamlet is closer to Iceland than to any major Canadian city. Music on Riit’s debut EP she accurately describes as “dreamy folk pop,” […]
The Cult of Corporate Cannabis
There’s a smell in air – of change. As we all know, as of October 17, 2018, our legislators will jump on the cannabis bus to cash in on some sweet, pungent tax revenue. Yes, we Canadians will join the Dutch in not getting arrested for possession of a plant, and there is MONEY MONEY […]
