The Glamour Life On A Book Tour, Part IV: The end is near

Saskatoon Saskatoon starts well. It’s raining when plane lands. By the time I get my luggage, the sun is out. There’s a line up at the taxi stand (in Saskatoon? Really?) but one cab offers to take two of us to downtown. The cab driver is a stocky Romanian woman who has no trouble with […]

NEW MUSIC: Fusion in sound and pictures from Art Brut and Moby

How often do you get amazing art, and amazing music, from one album? Twice in one week! Art Brut will release its fourth studio album, titled “Brilliant! Tragic!” (Cooking Vinyl), on May 23. The English/German indie rockers take life as it comes to them, are known for their humorous lyrics and antics, and fill each […]

The Glamour Life On A Book Tour, Part III: Great big family

Stop 3 – Winnipeg In Winnipeg, a writer would describe Vancouver like this: “It’s big, it’s beautiful, but it’s empty of culture.” He captured my mood exactly. I like Winnipeg the instant I arrive. It’s not as warm as LA but the sun is shining, and the Bed and Breakfast I’m booked into picks me […]

TONIGHT: Geek Burlesque, Rap Battle and Accordion Concerto

“Twelve fabulous girls in a tribute to geekdom.” Yeah, baby – now we’re talking. There’s nothing sexier than a geek … said the geek. A local troupe of plucky young girls who dance for the entertainment and titillation of the gentlemen – and ladies, depending – Capital City Burlesque is premiering a new show called […]

Rammstein: Lieben sie ein gutes metallband!

Welcome to Fraulein Boomer’s German School of Rock! Repeat after me: Rammstein! Rrroll your R’s, get some phlegm in your throat, that’s right. Good. Again! RAMMSTEIN! Feels good, doesn’t it? This band makes Kraftwerk look like Flock of Seagulls – and they were in town on lucky Friday the 13th to destroy Rexall Place, second […]

Into Eternity tests its mettle

You have to admire Into Eternity guitarist Tim Roth for not losing sight of the fact that it’s the music that’s important. If he didn’t have that focus, going through a complete band membership turnover — and then some — could make even the most commited metalhead hang up his axe. The latest change has […]

The Glamour Life On A Book Tour, Part II: Van City Letdown

Stop 2 – Vancouver Vancouver is … Vancouver. It’s overcast, cool and raining. The Skytrain (above) from the airport is really nice. Can you imagine a relatively cheap LRT from the Edmonton airport to downtown? That would be fantastic. Even so, there’s an overriding melancholy to my day. When I was booking this tour in […]

Alberta Ballet does Sarah McLachlan

If there’s any pop star whose music is better suited to the ballet than Sarah McLachlan, we’d like to know. That’s right, another musical challenge is ON – inspired by the Alberta Ballet’s production of Fumbling Toward Ecstasy, tonight and tomorrow (May 13-14) at the Jubilee Auditorium. Odd to include the word “fumbling” in a […]

Politics without preaching on new Ben Sures album

Ben Sures would like people to know that he is not some angry protest singer, though he still wants to spread an important message: ‘We are all in this together.” This obvious but often forgotten truth could be the theme of his new album Gone to Bolivia – the CD release tonight at the TransAlta […]

The Glamour Life on a book tour

Wayne Arthurson’s latest detective novel Fall From Grace is available at Amazon and various other online locations — plus, at good old fashioned book stores. His recent book tour in Canada and the U.S. is recounted in an exclusive four-part series for GigCity. Part 1 starts in in Los Angeles. (Read: Part II, Part III, […]

South Park comes to Edmonton – sort of

It’s official – Edmonton is on the counterculture map….well, beyond being the home of Bioware and Christian Hansen and the Autistics: we’re a South Park reference. In this week’s episode, “Royal Pudding”  which aired Wednesday night on the Comedy Network,  the “Princess of Canada” is kidnapped at her Royal Wedding. A  secret message from the […]

YOU SAID IT: System of A Down in Edmonton

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