REVIEW: E-Day a frenzied political comedy – just in time for the real election!
In the political circus to the South and the attendant carnival in Canada, Edmonton’s adventurous independent company The Serial Collective has chosen to look backward at a time of political ferment in Alberta. E-Day is a comedy based on playwright Jason Chinn’s time as a volunteer with the NDP during those heady days of their […]
REVIEW: Baroness Bianka’s Bloodsongs a Delightfully Grisly Comedy
One always approaches Northern Light Theatre Artistic Director Trevor Schmidt’s new seasons with a sense of wonder. Where does he find these plays? He must spend a lot of time scouring dusty scripts from all over the world because he inevitably finds hidden treasures and spins them into theatrical gold. Perhaps it’s not the plays […]
LISTEN HERE: Black Mastiff goes to space
Coincidentally, the subject of Black Mastiff’s new video for the song Star Base 77 is a French Mastiff named Babette – who is not black. She’s yellow. Via “Rotoscope” animation (the technique of tracing over real footage, made famous by Ralph Bakshi in his 1978 version of The Lord of the Rings), the rescue dog […]
Experimental reality show at the Citadel reveals our true selves – and it’s not pretty
It’s Fight Night – and we’ve been conditioned to expect what comes next. It’s a boxing match. There’s a ring. A pool of light. A mic drops down from the darkness and a droll soft-spoken dude in a suit and bow tie announces the battle to come. What follows seems to be a random series […]
6 Things You Need to Know about the Edmonton Comedy Festival
1. Festival producer Andrew Grose is the only festival producer in town who performs at his own festival. Could you imagine Terry Wickham playing fiddle at the folk fest? Cam Hayden singing the blues at the blues fest? Todd Crawshaw rockin’ out at the rockfest? Well, maybe – but they probably wouldn’t. Andrew Grose will […]
IN IT FOR LOVE: Herb Alpert and Lani Hall Perform in Edmonton next Spring
Trumpeting legend Herb Alpert was the “A” in A&M Records, and when he and his partner Jerry Moss sold their company to PolyGram in 1992, they each wound up with several hundred million dollars. Then there’s the royalty and licensing fees for all that music by the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s, including that one […]
Scary Good Alice Cooper Returns to Edmonton in Spring 2020
Like all of us, the older Alice Cooper gets, the scarier he looks – which works out well for the original King of Shock Rock. Even if it’s more burlesque these days, as much laugh as scream, the 71-year-old rocker is still going strong – thanks to clean living in his senior years (a contrast […]
REVIEW: Richard III feels like Trump I
If ever a play was written for our times it is Shakespeare’s Richard III – even if it was penned in 1593. Now is a time when global politics seems to be sliding deeper into cynicism and gaslighting. “Don’t believe what you’re seeing and hearing – just believe ME!” This production is another in a […]
LISTEN HERE: Clayton Congregation Comes Together
Clayton Bellamy has been several things to many people: A solo act, a member of the highly-decorated country-rock band The Road Hammers, a short-lived CISN Country radio announcer, and now the leader of “The Congregation” – new project he says “doesn’t have a sniff” of country. Take him at his word. It’s more like the […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Morrissey Shows Up in Edmonton
The joke here is that people were taking bets on when Morrissey would cancel his Edmonton show – again. This guy is George “No Show” Jones-famous for cancelling concerts. But no! Although he’d postponed the previously scheduled April show here, the Pope of Mope fulfilled his contract for the make-up date Thursday night in Edmonton, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Shinedown, you crazy diamond
Florida act Shinedown blitzkriegs through the city Friday night as part of their “Attention Attention” World Tour, supporting their 2018 album of the same name. A concept album, it finds an individual in the throes of negativity and charts their course to becoming reborn as a new and positive one. The alt-hard rock band was […]
LISTEN HERE: Obsessions Octet flying high on classical octane
He plays sax and is head of composition at MacEwan University’s music program. She plays violin for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. They make beautiful music together – literally. The Obsessions Octet is one of Edmonton’s more unusual bands. It’s basically a string quartet combined with a jazz band, in the tradition of Argentine composer Astor […]
