Styx with Dennis DeYoung steps up to headline Rockfest
OK, Edmonton Rock Music Festival fans: the show must go on – no matter who’s playing and who’s in what band. Behold the stamina of classic rock. The version of Styx featuring original singer Dennis DeYoung will perform the Saturday closing slot in place of Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, who had to cancel due […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Nothing can stop Rock Festival
After a busy week of major gigs, with the folk festival now concluded and the Mumford & Sons show on Tuesday at Rexall – not to mention Foo Fighters Wednesday night – things settle in for a bit until the major fall tour season. But wait! There are two more music festivals for Edmonton music […]
CONCERTS: Hey Rosetta! and Andrew W.K. to hit Edmonton
How did the folk fest miss booking Hey Rosetta!? This Newfoundland group has all the right assets: Sorta rootsy, sorta rock ‘n’ roll, a large, multi-instrumental band with a Peter Gabriel-ish lead singer, political activist aspirations and a predilection for worldbeat-pop-folk fusions – and they even have some minor hits. Not too big (yet), not […]
A Taste of Edmonton Folk Fest
There are many things to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival besides the music. Jam thousands of people together in one fenced in area and you are going to find some unique situations. Here are a few samples seen on Saturday: First, the easy part … The Music Old Man Luedecke was one of many highlights […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Folk Fest Monsters
It’s that one weekend every year where if you’ve scheduled any other music event, you’re definitely taking your chances. Sure, you might have decent luck if it’s a metal show – but even then, with 20,000+ music lovers a day taking in the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in Gallagher Park, and with all the local […]
COMMENT: WTF at the BVJ?
It was one of those weekends at the Big Valley Jamboree, the BVJ – a WTF weekend. As in, “WTF did I just hear? WTF did I just see?” And mostly importantly, in the words of one obscenely intoxicated youth, “Just what the f— is a Corb Lund, anyways?” It’s not surprising that the BVJ […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: METZ next bezt betz
After a bowlful of festival-related gigs last weekend, this weekend turns back to the great indoors – including one of Canada’s biggest buzz bands of the past few years, METZ. The Toronto noise rock-punk band is touring to support their sophomore release from May, Metz II, as they embark on a whirlwind tour of Canada […]
Golden West Festival experiment a success
Just when the Golden West Music Festival has become a viable “thing,” yet another music festival, but one to get away from all the other music festivals, organizers are pulling the plug. The third and last annual event happens July 31-Aug. 2 near the hamlet of Ardmore, Alberta, on a farm owned by Kevin Bowman, […]
INTERVIEW: Shakey Graves on Shakey Graves
Bullets of sweat drip down his face, soaking his classic white wife-beater shirt, and onto the stage. In his fist he clutches his gleaming sunburst guitar, as he leads the crowd in a rousing chant, “Yeah, you should’ve been a better friend of mine!” That’s Shakey Graves – aka 28-year-old Alejandro Rose-Garcia – during a […]
Slipknot to impact Edmonton in October
Slipknot, the metal band so heavy they have to wear masks to protect themselves – that’s why they do it, right? – will be returning to rock the Big Building in Edmonton. The Des Moines band pulls into Rexall Place on Sunday, Oct. 18, with guests Suicidal Tendencies, and the new hardcore kids on the […]
Edmonton’s finest at Interstellar Rodeo
Many festivals have come and gone: Boonstock, Open Sky, Rockfest, Jeff’s Magical Festival Of Smells (that last one never existed). They either dragged on too long, or were stretched too thin when it came to the quality of artistic content. Sometimes both. Interstellar Rodeo does neither. Even when it comes to the visual artists displaying […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Yeehaw for Interstellar Rodeo!
This time of year is less about the individual “shows” than it is about festivals. The biggest and baddest of those this weekend is all about the music – as the Interstellar Rodeo takes place at the Hawrelak Park Amphitheatre on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Of course, if you’re in certain circles that don’t pay […]
