THEATRE: Freewill Shakespeare Fest offers you Moor
Usually in Shakespeare, the less-reputable characters are the bloodsuckers. At the Freewill Shakespeare Fest this year? Well, it’s in Hawrelak Park, so you…(bzzz)…do the (thwack!) math on (smack!, damn skeeters!) that one. Oh, get over it. Bring bug juice to the shows from June 30 to July 24 and revel in the one reason good […]
You can’t take the gay out of the Pride Festival
You can take the “gay” out of gay pride, but you can’t … complete this sentence without getting into trouble. That the Edmonton Pride Festival doesn’t have the word “gay” in its title is a little bothersome. It seems like another step in the neutering of the English language – suggesting there may be a […]
Entertainment Today, June 10
Here are the top national, U.S. and international showbiz headlines from around the web. Gig City updates story links at least twice per day, so check back later for the latest hot links: Abrams humbled by Spielberg talk – Toronto Sun [New Window] JJ Abrams doesn’t wear his ego on his sleeve. Asked about TV […]
WHO NAMED THE GUY? Gurf Morlix gets fired
“My parents were eccentric,” explains Gurf Morlix on his unusual given name. There’s not much more to tell. Sure, there were problems. Not as much as the boy named Sue, but there was a bit of childhood taunting, maybe, raised eyebrows and dumb questions, and it’s hard to introduce yourself in a loud bar. But […]
Edmonton Rock Music Festival turns back clock Aug. 12-13
Question: when does something classify as “Classic Rock”? On South Park, it was suggested it took 22.3 years for AIDS jokes to become acceptable and, therefore, funny. And we know the half-life of a McDonald’s french fry is 17.6 decades. So how long does it take for a band to be considered “classic”? If you […]
True Love Lies tops Sterling Awards nominations
There are a few theories we can form from reading the 2010-2011 nominations for the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Awards – the closest Edmonton gets to the Oscars for the live theatre scene. 1. The Citadel Theatre remains the king of local theatre. 2. One of our brightest playwrights is Brad Fraser, who hasn’t lived here […]
Sam Roberts Band hits the Jube Oct. 29
Sam Roberts has so much Canadian soul in him that he ought to have come from Winnipeg – not Montreal. No offense to Montreal, but you already have far too many cool bands. Share, why don’t you? Roberts’ music has always been reminiscent of the “Wheatfield Soul” sound that is unique to the Canadian prairies, […]
Paul Oakenfold is the Boss of trance
Let’s examine this phenomenon of DJ as Rock Star. Edmonton’s Gig of the Night on this particular night (Wednesday, June 8) is one Paul Oakenfold, “performing” at the Oil City Roadhouse, those nasty quote marks suggesting that this British dance producer doesn’t so much as perform as basically play the recordings he already made in […]
