Don’t cry for New City, Edmonton, it’s the cycle of life
If you go back about 25 years to remember Edmonton’s best live music bars, the landscape is unrecognizable: People’s Pub, the Grinder, Boiler Lounge, Sidetrack Café – all gone, their very names meaningless to younger folk perhaps more familiar with places like the Starlite Room or the Pawn Shop. Point being that the recent closing […]
WEEKEND MUSIC: Order from k-os
With buzz from both urban and modern rock radio, k-os’s sold out show at the Avenue Theatre Friday night promises to be to be one hell of a party. Unlike many rappers, he prefers to perform with a live band – so that helps. The genre-crossing artist’s most recent single “The Dog Is Mine” can […]
HARPSICHORDIA! Antique instruments fight for cool factor at Early Music Festival
You won’t find a musical instrument as misunderstood and maligned as the harpsichord – not the doleful bassoon, not the dreaded dulcimer, not even the hideous pipes, the pipes, the pipes calling from glen to glen and down the mountainside are as hated as the harpsichord. Avant-garde composer John Cage compared the harpsichord’s buzzy chime […]
Rock and Folk Festivals working for the same weekend
The stakes in the Great Edmonton Summer Festival Poker Game just went up. The table is getting crowded. This year’s Edmonton Rock Music Festival happens on the same weekend as the Edmonton Folk Music Festival – and everyone is crossing their fingers that the crossover between classic rock and folk music isn’t too huge. The […]
Jason Aldean to bring big country show to Edmonton
These country dudes sure rise up the ranks fast. Where not too long ago one might’ve said, “Jason Aldean Who?”, the Georgia boy made good is playing the Big House in Edmonton. Aldean pulls into Rexall Place on Friday, Oct. 4, part of his “Night Train” tour after the smash hit album of the same […]
Mumford sells out, KISS does not, bots win again
It was a busy day at Ticketmaster in Edmonton on Friday morning as Mumford and Sons went on sale, promptly selling out, at the same time as Kiss, which did not. Shout it out loud: Modern rock 1, classic rock 0. In the case of Mumford, at Rexall Place May 22, it’s a lot of […]
WEEKEND MUSIC: Oowatanite(s) with April Wine, Yukon Blonde
If someone asked you what show this weekend was sold out, you probably wouldn’t guess April Wine at Century Casino on Saturday night, would you? You’d be wrong. The legendary Canadian band has had a huge number hits over its lifespan and remains a proven rock ‘n’ roll draw across Canada. But it’s been fraught […]
Richie Sambora off Bon Jovi tour ‘for a few months’
It’s not like Bon Jovi won’t be playing with Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi has always been about Bon Jovi, and by several reports from the Calgary concert on Tuesday, Richie Sambora’s absence was disappointing, but not a deal breaker. The 53-year-old guitarist has bowed out of all the dates on this leg of the Because […]
40 years later: KISS returns to rock Edmonton in July
It’s going to be one rowdy class of ’75 high school reunion when Kiss comes to town this summer. It was the year that Kiss Alive! came out, a formative album for many an area hoser with strong memories of those early thrilling, pyro-ridden shows in Edmonton – and all these years and lost hair […]
INTERVIEW: All but Bon Jovi, because they can
In the important work of journalism as the unofficial PR wing of the entertainment business, there is the dreaded “teleconference” – a great way for busy rock stars to polish off a big wad of interviews in one sitting. But do you get a good story? Hard to tell. So it was with Bon Jovi […]
WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: Depth behind Bend Sinister
Those of you who saw the disappointing Rihanna show on Wednesday can take solace in the fact that for the price of your one ticket, you can probably take at least half a dozen of your best friends to any of local show this weekend. Or maybe that doesn’t make you feel better. One of […]
REVIEW: Rihanna a rock star at Rexall Place
Rihanna would need the assistance of Iron Maiden to rock her way out of a wet paper bag – but she sure carried the attitude of a swaggering lifer to the hedonic world of rock ‘n’ roll excess at Rexall Place on Wednesday night. Led Zeppelin, Queen, Maiden, and yes, even you guys in Spinal […]
