WHAT’S GOING ON: Road Trip!
Pack your bags, load up on the liquids, and gas up your truck – it’s time for a trip out of town. Not too far, what with gas prices what they are, eh. Let’s stick to Alberta. First up is the perennial favourite Blueberry Bluegrass Festival July 29-31, in Stony Plain, Alberta, just 41 km […]
REVIEW: John Fogerty Rocks Edmonton – With His Kids
A packed lower bowl down at Turtle Island was transported through time and space to a psychedelic 1960’s influenced evening of peace and love in the presence of a surprisingly hard-rocking old man named John Fogerty. It’s hard to imagine the 77-year-old CCR founder rocking out harder than he did at Rogers Place on Wednesday […]
INTERVIEW: Bif Naked Triumphs Over Adversity – Again
Bif Naked possesses superhuman optimism to go with her hard-won success. Like that time she got breast cancer – she was a little young for it when she was diagnosed in 2008 – and thought she might die. She says, “People were like, oh, the Grim Reaper’s in the air. And I’m like, phh, hey, […]
REVIEW: Hamilton Brings Fantasia of American History to Life in Edmonton
The experiment was to see if one could understand and enjoy Hamilton without knowing any of the backstory – other than that it was created by and stars a guy whose name I can never remember (Lin-Manuel Miranda, had to look that up) and has something to do with the American Revolution. The answer is […]
Our Lady Peace Helps Pussy Riot on Brave New Song
Putin’s got his hands full enough without having to worry about some Russian feminist protest band raising hell. After years of persecution, arrests, and even prison for their outspoken views, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova and the band Pussy Riot are currently and relatively safe in Los Angeles, USA, making a living in the music business, on […]
WHAT’S GOING ON: Festivals for the Rest of Us!
Big news about the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival: It’s back. Of course it is. The theme revealed for the 41st annual festival this week was “Destination Fringe” – a theatrical travelogue boasting 27 venues filled with 160 different productions, running Aug. 11-21. Tickets go on sale Aug. 3. This is by far my favourite […]
HOCKEY: In the Box with Brent Oliver
Flame On Round 2 after the Oilers (narrowly) dispose of the Kings in 7 and it’s off to Calgary for the Battle of Alberta. How will the Oilers fare against a very tough Calgary team and the first Battle of Alberta in 31 years? Let’s find out in this week’s edition of In the Box, […]
WHAT’S GOING ON: Arcade Fire Returns to Edmonton, Beck to Open
Contrary to some reports, Canada’s premier alternative big band has not broken up – Arcade Fire is still going strong. It’s just that Will Butler – brother of frontman Win Butler – has left the band. Don’t worry, there still seem to be lots of musicians left. Extra horn players, at least. The band returns […]
INTERVIEW: Corb Lund Calls Cultural Appropriation on Commercial Country
Corb Lund sounds as country as country ever was – all while criticizing some of the mainstream country stars he shares airspace and some of his audience with. Sound familiar? I think George Strait’s 2003 song Murder on Music Row deals with this. Also almost every story about Corb Lund. It might be tempting to […]
HOCKEY: In the Box with Brent Oliver
King Me Holy shit, we’re in the playoffs! With home ice advantage! On a crazy home winning streak! Can anything bring Brent and the City back down to earth? Well, probably a road win by the LA Kings. Brent Oliver is here to preview the series matchup with the Los Angeles Kings vs your Edmonton […]
WHAT’S GOING ON: Garth Brooks Coming, Country Music Taking Over
News that MacEwan University has launched “Distinguished Visiting Artist in Country Music” workshops within its music program, and that Brett Kissel will be the honorary campaign chair, has been met with some arched eyebrows among some MacEwan music alumni nerds – like me. Having attended (but not graduated due to going on the road with […]
WHAT’S GOING ON: Mother Mother Jube Jube
The plus side of the pandemic – hey, when life gives a gristle, just give a whistle! – is that many musical artists spent their isolation time making new music no one has yet heard live: Experiments, collaborations, remakes, reimaginings, you name it. Creativity flourished. Enter Mother Mother – one of the greatest modern Canadian […]
