MUSIC: Looking forward to The Gay Nineties
Topping out a big list of awesome live original music in Edmonton this weekend and beyond is a band getting a huge buzz – BUZZ, we say – from Vancouver: The Gay Nineties, playing Monday at the Pawn Shop. It would be especially awesome of this band could go on David Letterman so it could […]
FOLK FEST 2014: Blue Rodeo headlines Four Days in August
With the announcement of Blue Rodeo as the closing main stage act at the 2014 Edmonton Folk Music Festival, we expect something a little extra special from a band that’s been here more times than winter. And so it is: The venerable Canadian country-rock band will be playing what is considered its folkiest and most […]
JOYCE SMITH: No leavin’ on her mind
If the life of Joyce Smith is a country song, it’s a happy one. No heartbreak. No cheatin’. No hurtin’. She’s still married to the same rodeo cowboy who stole her heart more than 52 years ago. Her one small regret is not fulfilling a childhood dream to be a country superstar in Nashville. “I […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Time’s up for Ten Second Epic
It’s last call for one of Edmonton’s most beloved modern rock bands, for Ten Second Epic is breaking up. Having just finished a cross-Canada farewell tour, the band is saying goodbye to local fans in grand style with three shows at the Pawn Shop this weekend. The duration of said epic turns out to be […]
Tom Petty returns for summer show, free album
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers promise that every fan who buys a ticket to their concert in Edmonton at Rexall Place on Sunday, Aug. 17 will get a free copy of their new album, Hypnotic Eye – because you’d be stealing it on the Internet anyway, right?! Quid pro quo, Clarice, quid pro quo … […]
John Fogerty to play CCR classics in Edmonton
When John Fogerty returns to Edmonton to play Rexall Place this fall, he will be playing the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival, circa 1969. Of course he will. The show happens Sunday, Nov. 23. Tickets – from $20 for a nosebleed! – go on sale Saturday May 24 at Ticketmaster. He wouldn’t be doing the […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Hot Plains, hot damn!
The Hot Plains Music Festival takes over a couple of local venues this weekend, with gigs Friday through Sunday all around Whyte Avenue, but primarily focused on two of the city’s most popular live venues, Wunderbar and Pawn Shop. Friday at Wunderbar features the “Heart meets Sabbath”-sound of the Secretaries with a new 7” release; […]
Your favourite band sucks: The secret shame of the ‘buy-on’
There are shady schemes going on behind the scenes of the concert industry that music lovers might be better off not knowing about. For instance, people are unpleasantly shocked to discover most major bands use pre-recorded backing tracks during live performances. It’s become noteworthy when they don’t. Have you wondered why concert tickets are getting […]
End of an era: Goodbye, Avenue Theatre
Edmonton music people are deeply bummed over news that the city is about to lose yet another live music venue. The Avenue Theatre will be closing its doors in the middle of June. The word came Thursday from general manager and talent buyer Steve Derpack, who explained on Facebook that it’s “primarily a decision to […]
Black Keys return to Edmonton in October
If you were to play only the Black Keys on a piano, it would sound like the blues – which says a lot for the thus-named band that cut such a wide swath through the modern rock landscape. In short, the Black Keys brought sexy back to rock ‘n’ roll just as Justin Timberlake did […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Use the force, Luke Bryan
Luke Bryan is one of country’s biggest stars right now, so it’s no surprise that he’s almost sold out two shows this weekend here in Edmonton, with gigs both Saturday night and Monday night. Originally getting his start writing songs for such country notables as Travis Tritt and Billy Currington, Bryan’s first solo album in […]
REVIEW: George Thorogood b-b-b-boring
Vigorously played classic rock sends some people into fits of screaming, shouting, foot stomping, rampant high fiving and lots of odd yelping, but for others, like me, it can send them deep into a catatonic state that lasts several hours and ends up in the middle of a field wondering where everyone went and just […]
