Fans raise a little hell with traveling bands
Musicians usually save their best stories for their songs. Tales of love, tales of mischief, tales of introspective existential awakenings. Write what you know! Some stories, though, are too ridiculous for song – thanks to ridiculous, often drunk, music fans who sometimes take their enthusiasm a little too far. These incidents become “Road Tales.” Robb Angus […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Rainmaker Rodeo to shine
All right, you Rainmaker Rodeo people – we need you to live up to your name! It’s dry as a popcorn fart around here. You can’t even make a good bonfire because of the fire restriction that’s been in place for weeks, and not only that, singing voices are hoarse throughout the land. We’re parched, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Sepultura cannot be stopped
The mighty metal men of Sepultura have been sighted and are expected to launch a monster assault on the City of Edmonton this weekend. Citizens are advised to take all the usual precautions. Playing Saturday night at the Starlite Room as part of the renowned act’s 30th anniversary tour, a five week barnstorming journey across […]
Road trip! Stevie Wonder to play Calgary
OK, Calgary, we’ll trade you Madonna straight across for your Stevie Wonder show. “Throw in McDavid and we’ll think about it,” came the reply from one Calgary entertainment journalist. Maybe not. Anyone up for a road trip? Wonder plays the Saddledome on Sunday, July 12 as part of the Calgary Stampede. Tickets are $90 to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Marystown wants it both ways
With the steel howling like a lonely train, a rough ‘n’ ready four-four wheel drive, a rasp of whiskey and smoke and sturdy like blue jeans on Ford trucks comes another worthy contender in the Edmonton indie folk country rock world: Marystown, playing Saturday night at the Pawnshop. One should look carefully at bands labelled […]
Dead Venues doc honours Edmonton’s fallen clubs
“One day your pet’s going to die. One day your club’s going to close. Nothing lasts forever, and that’s too bad.” Leave it to Jr. Gone Wild founder and Edmonton music legend Mike McDonald to deliver the stinging slap of truth – deftly summing up the heart of a new documentary about Edmonton’s music scene. […]
Kraftwerk kommt zu Edmonton!
Before electronic music became a thing, before DJs became “performers,” there was Kraftwerk – the famed German electronic group that set the bar for all electronic music to follow. Now there is great rejoicing that the group is coming to town. Kraftwerk launches a short North American fall tour in Edmonton, of all places, at […]
Ripoff artists who should be sued
The $7.4 million judgement against Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke for allegedly plagiarizing the late Marvin Gaye in the song Blurred Lines is very encouraging for fans of originality. And with Sam Smith rolling over and crying uncle after Tom Petty’s publisher pointed out that Stay With Me contains a similar chord progression and even […]
Edmonton braces for Invasion of the Tenors
Historians look back on the Invasion of the Tenors with interest. It started with Luciano Pavarotti, the late great Italian opera singer who sold his soul to Mephostopheles and led the way to the popularization of opera the world over, spawning a new genre: Popera. Tenors – considered the sexiest range of the human male […]
Jason Aldean to Burn It Down in Edmonton
The only things “country” about Jason Aldean are the hat and the twang. In all other respects he’s a pop star. He ain’t no Johnny Cash. That’s the word from old people shouting at the kids to get off their lawns. For the new breed of male country stars and their young, predominantly female fans, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Counting on Counting Crows
In the early 1990s amongst the stratospheric rise of grunge and alternative rock to the forefront of the North American music scene, many acts also found immense success using those elements as a subtle influence to their own sound, often staying more true to straight-up rock ‘n’ roll. One of those acts was the Counting […]
WHO NAMED THE BAND: Bipolar Two Bears North
Two Bears North is neither two bears, nor are they two. They are a celebrated Edmonton folk trio. The name comes from singer-bassist Melissa Walker’s father, who suffers from bipolar disorder. He remarked to his daughter one day, “I’m feeling a little two bears north today,” two meaning bi and bears north referring to polar. […]
