NYE LIVE MUSIC PREVIEW: Which whine pairs well with giddy desperation?
Working musicians look forward to New Year’s Eve as the best payday of the year – yet the gig is fraught with annoyances. First, you’re playing second fiddle to the event itself; you’re expected to play Auld Lang Syne at midnight; and everything after is a drunken depressing anticlimax. Audience members can be distracted, giddy, […]
BEST OF EDMONTON THEATRE 2019: A Good Year
There were north of 15 live productions on Edmonton stages in November 2019 alone. A highly unscientific survey of local Artistic Directors suggests that Edmonton audiences are ignoring our seemingly endless economic difficulties, and continuing to support live theatre. In short, it’s been a good year. Here are some of the highlights: Best Production: Drama […]
Best Of Edmonton 2019 – Top 10 Albums
The local music scene continues to see deep wells of talent across the spectrum of genres, from folk to metal to punk to indie. Some genres have defacto leaders, others coalesce around a few bands, and others still have a bevy of grand projects orbiting their sphere. While any year-end listing of albums or music […]
REVIEW: Oklahoma! Oklahoma!
It was cool in New York on March 13th back in 1943. Over at the St. James Theater, a musical from the new writing team of Rogers and Hammerstein called Oklahoma! was opening. Right off the head, a laconic cowboy named Curly saunters to the front of the stage, plants his feet and sings, “There’s […]
ESO to use FORCE in Music of Star Wars
It can be argued that John Williams’ brilliant scores for the Star Wars movies will one day be remembered as widely as Beethoven’s Fifth, The Magic Flute, or even Adagio in G Minor – if they aren’t already. There is a great disturbance in the Force over the impending concerts by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, […]
Trevor Noah to bring TRUTH to Edmonton
Trevor Noah is one of these rarefied figures in show business who always tries to tell you the truth. Weird, isn’t it? We’re constantly being lied to: by politicians, advertising, the media, our teenagers – and so it falls to the damned comedians we have to trust to be honest. In fact, the latest host […]
Did Citadel Theatre Ruin A Christmas Carol in Bold New Production? Colin Says No
Last year, after a successful run of 19 seasons, the Citadel Theatre sent off its justly esteemed production of A Christmas Carol (originally written by Edmonton’s own Tom Wood, who was the first Scrooge) – to the special corner of Elysium that preserves the Ghost of Christmas Past. But this isn’t the end of Dickens […]
REVIEW: Walterdale’s Altar Boyz Pokes Fun at Boy Bands, Christianity
Was a gaping hole left in your soul when the Backstreet Boys went Main Street? Has the demise of N’Sync left you syncless? Well, don’t give up, boy band aficionados – hope is on its way. Apparently the unheralded Christian pop band Altar Boyz has been working its way across the North American bingo hall […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: HELLYEAH pays tribute to late drummer Vinnie Paul
The Texas heavy rock supergroup HELLYEAH has its origins in the 2000 “Tattoo the Earth” mega-tour – which featured such legendary bands as Slayer, System of a Down, Sepultura, Lamb Of God, Slipknot, Sevendust, Dropkick Murphys, and many others. It was just a glimmer of an idea at the time, featuring the guitarist from the […]
Maroon 5 to hit Edmonton with Funky Soul Goodness in Summer 2020
You can’t go five minutes without hearing a Maroon 5 song on the radio. They’re what you call a “hit machine.” Frontman Adam Levine is at least a triple threat. Behind yet another No. 1 single, the funky soul ballad Memories, Maroon 5 has launched a massive North American tour that will come to Edmonton’s […]
James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt come together in Edmonton in April
Here’s a show where you’ll want to come early to catch the opening act. The legendary James Taylor is bringing Bonnie Raitt with him on a cross-Canada tour in spring 2020. They come to Edmonton at Rogers Place on Friday, April 17. Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 6. Will they perform on stage together, […]
REVIEW: Experimental Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again hits the feminist nerve
Alice Birch’s Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again is an angry and passionate scream railing against the rape culture and violence toward women in general. The word “feminism” is not mentioned once in the (intermissionless) 90 minutes but it hangs over the production like the sword over Damocles’ head. Birch’s voice is ferocious and unrelenting in […]
