LISTEN HERE: Mexican metal band unleashes The Midnight Terrors
Are you afraid of the dark? You’re not alone … except when you’re alone in the dark, of course. But lots of people get the so-called “midnight terrors.” Singer Paolo Belmar cuts an imposing stance with his metal band Hellnite, but admits, “I used to be afraid of dead people.” It figures. He grew up […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Festival season begins!
It’s a big weekend for festivals, but none in town are bigger than the Edmonton International Jazz Festival, which gets underway Friday. Once again the organizers have done a stellar job attracting a magnificent array of talent in a vast variety of sub-genres and instrumentation from around the world. You might think they’ve put together […]
WATCH HERE: Disturbing experimental music video took two years to make
Edmonton musician Brian Raine spent two years making a stop-motion video for his song Hurting Other People – an astounding labour of love whose result begs comparisons to those famously creepy Tool videos that used to get banned all the time. In this black and white film for Raine’s experimental project Ways in Waves, we […]
WEEKEND MUSIC: Take these broken wings and learn to fly again
Any injured bird or small animal in Northern Alberta is fair game for the WILDNorth Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Society – which throws its annual “Wildlife Festival” this Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm in Queen Mary Park (10844 117 Street). Admission is free – do you hear me? FREE! The good cause is […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Judas Priest rocks new generation in Edmonton
There are three things you can rely on in Edmonton in the spring: unpredictable weather, potholes and a proper heavy metal extravaganza from a classic band. When we found out that Judas Priest was coming to Edmonton in support of their No. 1 album FIREPOWER, I just had to share this local spring tradition with […]
ANNOUNCES: Walk Off The Earth, The Debaters
If video killed the radio star, then it follows that YouTube made the video star. The perfect case is Walk Off the Earth – the Burlington, Ontario band that parlayed their hobby of making videos of clever pop covers into fame and fortune and a No. 1 AAA hit (adult album alternative) with Red Hands. […]
REVIEW: New Lemoine a witty wise whimsical comedy
A Likely Story is a new play by Stewart Lemoine and starts the current season for Teatro La Quindicina. A few years back, his adventurous local company decided to upend their year. Never afraid of striking out into new waters, they decided to ignore the traditional pattern and spread their plays through the summer. It […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Surf in Turf
Thursday night finds Australia’s Ocean Alley performing at Station On Jasper. The Australian psych-reggae-surf band has gained a lot of popularity and critical acclaim in their home nation, and are now hoping to explore the world, buoyantly looking to expand their sonic reach. Led by vocalist-guitarist Baden Donegal, the band formed in 2011, and has […]
A Little Night Music goes a long way
A Little Night Music whirls to the rhythm of three-quarter time. Composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim wrote all the music – mazurka, polonaise, gigue, gallops, waltzes, etc. in different triplicate meters: The “one-two-three” of the waltz. The work is based on Ingmar Bergman’s film Smiles of a Summer Night. The composer was intrigued by the notion of […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Cardinal rule
Celeigh Cardinal has been called (OK, by me) the “Metis Sheryl Crow.” She doesn’t mind the label. She gets Adele a lot, too, plus Bonnie Raitt because she plays guitar. It’s not so much a comparison to Cardinal’s original songs, which span blues, rock, soul and adult contemporary in a style all her own, as […]
Green light for cannabis at the folk fest
Within today’s announcement for Hozier, Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile, Bruce Cockburn and other acts we already knew were coming to the 40th annual Edmonton Folk Music Festival was a big green light for marijuana. Oh, yeah, cannabis is legal now. Almost forgot. Producer Terry Wickham addressed the issue at the annual media launch, where there […]
REVIEW: Cher turns back a LOT of time in Edmonton
Among my late mother’s LP collection is Cher’s 1966 self-titled album. As a kid, I would stare at the album cover, mesmerized by this dark-haired woman who looked both exotic and mysterious. The album was produced by her then-husband and collaborator Sonny Bono, and was largely folk-influenced. My mom was a big fan of ‘60s […]
