MUSIC PREVIEW: Indie star Lissie stars at the Starlite Room
From her home base on her farm in Iowa, Lissie has become an indie sensation. The Indiana-born country-folk artist seen every one of her first four studio albums grab a spot in the top 15 of the US Folk chart, and the last two have accomplished the same feat on the US Indie chart. Many […]
Bill Nye the Science Guy comes to Edmonton
We should encourage scientists to become celebrities. Maybe then people will listen to them. Bill Nye is way ahead of the game. He’s already a household name in some households, inventor, TV host, comedian, educator, best-selling author, and above all, a SCIENTIST! Mechanical engineer, to be exact. He’s literally a rocket scientist. Now’s your chance […]
OLD MAN MIKULA’S CONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS: Guide to E-Scooters in E-Town
In mid-August, publicly available E-Scooters were dropped off by rival companies Bird and Lime in the dead of night. Scooters have finally been wrenched from the hands of feckless early 2000s pop punks, automated, monetized, and thrust into the clammy grip of the average consumer. They came with no instruction, save a lengthy user agreement […]
REVIEW: Million Dollar Quartet a superb show from the supergroup that never was
On December 4, 1956, four great rockabilly artists met in Sam Phillips’ primitive Sun Recording Studios in Memphis. Two of the four, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, were there laying down a recording under Phillips’ direction. Johnny Cash dropped in, as did Elvis, who by that time was becoming one of the top acts […]
LISTEN HERE: Juliet Ruin serves up a fresh bitter cup of Spite
Rock singer Jess Fleming would rather not hang out with narcissists. “They’re kind of like energy vampires,” she says. “They suck all the life out of the room. They make everything about themselves, they’re faultless, they don’t take ownership about anything, and when there’s a problem, it’s you, not them.” Jess is not alone in […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Sonic all over the sonic map at Field Day
It’s just a little wish: Sonic 102.9 FM could be, you know, a little “heavier” – ‘cuz we’re a HEAVY town, man – but you have to admit they consistently play the widest variety of the new music, the alternative, the so-called “modern rock,” which is all over the map, sonically. Hence the name. Some […]
REVIEW: AIDS-era musical RENT holds up because it’s about the people
It was 20 years ago that RENT premiered on Broadway. Perhaps a couple of decades have blunted the musical’s ability to shock us – but it still is able to pack a considerable musical and emotional wallop. For a while, the musical was the longest running in Broadway history – 12 years. It won a […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Iron Maiden Keeps Beast Alive in Edmonton
Iron Maiden proves that even if one doesn’t have a new album, a band can still go out on tour and everything will be just fine – as long as they have a solid collection of greatest hits, flashy stage effects, charisma, and an energetic performance. Bonus if they’re all over 60 years old. The […]
Cheech & Chong blow off Edmonton
Here we go again. Is it something we said? Something we didn’t buy enough of? Who knows – but yet another major Edmonton concert has been cancelled due to “an unforeseen scheduling conflict.” No further explanation was forthcoming from the Cheech & Chong camp – whose Oct. 7 “O Cannabis” show at the Jubilee Auditorium […]
LISTEN HERE: Everybody wants to be wanted in The Wanting, by Hewson Grey
Joe Paonessa sometimes switches out the pronouns in that song he sings about wanting love and never being satisfied. “It could be a guy looking for a guy, a girl looking for a girl. It doesn’t matter. It’s about people looking for that connection. Everybody wants something and everyone wants to be wanted,” he says. […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Maiden tour named for video game
The legendary Iron Maiden are in town Friday as part of the North American portion of their “Legacy Of the Beast” Tour, which shares the name of a mobile game the group released in 2016. The turn-based RPG game features Iron Maiden’s infamous mascot Eddie; players collect combatants and fight infernal foes. The band’s last […]
FRINGE 2019 HAT LINE: Street performers deserve our applause – and our money
So that’s it for the 2019 Edmonton Fringe Theatre Festival. One more day. We’ve seen the 250 plays, give or take a play, gossiped about two different yet strangely related scandals (long story), and sampled fare from least three different curry stands. Now can we give a little love to our underrated and often poorly-treated […]
