REVIEW: Great concert? Yes!
About 2,000 Edmontonians took a trip to a parallel rock ‘n’ roll universe for the duration of the Yes concert Monday night at the Jubilee Auditorium. Lucky for fans of the band – now spanning six decades since its inception in 1968 – this is exactly what they came for. How many bands in 2014 […]
Pax Arcana reunites after 20 years – for old time’s sake
A one-time band reunion can be just as sad as sex with your ex – great while it lasts, but you’re likely to feel just as empty afterwards because you have to break up all over again. “Hopefully we’ll be drunk after that,” says keyboardist Marek Forysinski on the expected mood after Pax Arcana’s comeback […]
WIN: Tickets to the Bedouin Soundclash dude
For anyone who finds the Bedouin Soundclash a little too, you know, “up,” not that there’s anything wrong with that if you’re in the right mood, you may be very interested in what the band’s frontman Jay Malinowski has been up to. That’s right – he’s gone solo. For a bit. And he’s making folky, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Covering the spread
The best this weekend has to offer is spread out over four nights, so if you have the time and inclination, you can take in a lot of extraordinary live music this weekend, beginning with a release party for Ann Vriend’s new album, and continuing all the way through the renowned talents of James Vincent […]
Hip hop knowledge is power
The meeting attracts about 20 young men and women from all races and walks of life. They take turns telling stories, asking questions, airing complaints. Some get emotional. I keep expecting a guy to stand up and say, “Hi, my name is Dave and I’m addicted to hip hop!” Because this is not a support […]
Backstreet Boys are back! In Edmonton!
How many times do we have to say “Backstreet’s back” until we don’t have to say “Backstreet’s back” anymore? They never left, did they? Not counting the warm feeling they left in our hearts. Say it at least one more time, because the Backstreet Boys are returning to Edmonton, Saturday, May 17 at Rexall Place. […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Siiines of Spriiing
This weekend features a whole host of can’t-miss gigs – but once again, you won’t be able to see them all. A couple of local bands host always-exciting release parties; one of the city’s most exciting electro acts is performing; the Black Dog continues its legendary Saturday afternoon bill; and a pair of well-known American […]
Legend has it: John Legend in Edmonton this summer
Before Auto-Tune made legends of us all, there was John Legend – one of the finest voices on the modern R&B scene who has yet to get his due. The Ohio crooner, who had been signed by Kanye West’s label, won a pile of Grammys before most people had ever heard of him, on the […]
MUSIC: Ann Vriend the next big thing – or is she already?
Ann Vriend sounds like Loretta Lynn singing Aretha Franklin songs written by Marvin Gaye and produced by Mitchell Froom. It is that weird – and wonderful. The sound of the Edmonton singer’s new record, For the People in the Mean Time, owes a lot to her Italian producer Tino Zolfo, whose Froomish style with all […]
Queen + Adam Lambert better than no Queen at all
Of course it’s impossible to fill the shoes of the late, great Freddie Mercury – but the flambouyant Adam Lambert gets the ultimate endorsement from the surviving members of Queen: They’re touring together as Queen + Adam Lambert, playing Rexall Place on June 24. Tickets go on sale next Friday, March 14. The unlikely combo […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Wake Owl a hoot
To have Vancouver claim the great band Wake Owl as its own may be a little misleading – because its singer-songwriter Colyn Cameron seems to be from a lot of different places. Raised in Southern California, he went off to study organic agriculture in England, then worked on various farms in the UK, Germany, Chile, […]
SkirtsAfire to burn glass ceiling
Whatever you think of grouping artists by gender first and by their art second, consider the all-female SkirtsAfire “herArts” festival – playing March 6-9 at venues around Alberta Avenue – as “theatrical affirmative action.” The stats on theatrical sexual equality in Canada are “grim,” says festival director Annette Loiselle, citing a 2008 study done by […]
