Ray LaMontagne speaks softly, carries a big tune
Nobody goes to a Ray LaMontagne gig for the lightshow. Say what you want about the current crop of pop darlings, but it’s good to know that in the age of 50′ video screens and five-piece bands that require more computer samples than an Apple conference, LaMontagne is still carrying the torch for singer-songwriters. LaMontagne […]
GIGGLE CITY: Debra DiGiovanni laughs at herself
Comedians teeing off on themselves is a time honoured tradition. Black guys talk about being black, fat guys talk about being fat, women talk about being women – know yourself, write what you know, right? Debra DiGiovanni has especially made a career of self-deprecation, sometimes to the point, she says, that audience members feel sorry […]
TONIGHT: Santana brings greatest hits parade to Rexall Place
Back in the day, Santana was the real deal — we’re talking way back in the day, that period from about 1969 to 1974, when Santana was more than a guy’s last name. It must be said the Carlos Santana — who plays Rexall Place tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. (tickets) — is one very […]
WHO NAMED THE BAND: Tzadeka gets ‘righteous’
There’s a collective of music makers in this town who sound like they’d be right at home at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. They’re from the now-defunct Eshod Ibn Wyza, a multi-racial, multi-genre hip hop group that had curious connections to the punk rock scene. Vocalist Maigan Vandergiessen used to perform under the name Solar […]
Edmonton Sci-Fi fans boldly go where everybody knows their names
In the era of online, you don’t just join a group that likes science fiction. You find the group that obsesses about the particular “Star Trek” series or Ray Bradbury books that you yourself obsess over. After all, if you love “Doctor Who” (Russell T. Davies-written episodes only) but hate it when people quote Kryten […]
WEEKEND ROUND-UP: Russ Rankin, Hale Hale, Folk Thief and more
We’re still in that magical time of Edmonton summer when there are at least two festivals happening at the same time – on top of all the club gigs. One of the best deals for live music is the Open Sky Music Festival Saturday and Sunday in Hawrelak Park. On stage will be acts like […]
Area grandfather becomes living art installation at Latitude 53’s In/Stall/Ed
Nick Shostak Sr. may have not known what he was getting into when he agreed to take part in a performance art project with his granddaughter Amy – who, as the artistic director of Rapid Fire Theatre, gets up to all sorts of zany things. The 81-year-old patriarch of the Shostak Clan will become a […]
TONIGHT: Surf rocker Donavon Frankenreiter plays Open Sky Music Festival
No more festivals! The summer in Edmonton, such that it was, is just too packed. Well, OK, one more … The second annual Open Sky Music Festival, celebrating “surf rock” and its related genres, is set to go at Saturday and Sunday at Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre, which is at least a thousand miles from […]
Win Sonic Boom tickets!
Sonic Boom 2011 may have moved indoors – from the Northlands Grounds to the Northlands Expo Centre located conveniently nearby – but a festival it remains. The third annual event on Sept. 4 celebrates all that is modern rock with the headliners Jane’s Addiction, Social Distortion, Metric, Cake and the mighty Cee Lo Green, along […]
Madame Butterfly illustrates opera with nightly fireworks
OK, lesson number one in populism for the good folks at Mercury Opera: if you’re going to explain an addendum to your plot, don’t give away the ending in doing so. Of course, this is Madame Butterfly, not the line outside the Empire Strikes Back, so perhaps there’s an expectation that ye olde opera buffe […]
