Idyl Tea reunion starts flood of late ’80s Edmonton indie-rock nostalgia
The much-anticipated Idyl Tea reunion this summer is hung on a filthy lie – the new album that was just finished will be called The Song That’s Not Finished Yet, which contains a song called The Song That’s Not Finished Yet. Which is finished. It’s terribly confusing if you think about it. Solution: don’t think […]
THEATRE: Quasimodo, fully satisfying
There’s music, dancing and Quasimodo — but there is nothing Disney about Catalyst Theatre’s take on Victor Hugo’s classic 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame. This is a tour-de-force examination of humanity’s darker traits. With Hunchback, playing at the Citadel’s Shoctor Theatre through March 27, Catalyst’s core team of Jonathan Christenson, Bretta Gerecke, Laura […]
TRUE TALES OF THE ROAD: Jeff Martin’s close call in Jordan
Jeff Martin’s entire life is a True Tale of the Road. We remember him as a guy who sings (and looks) like Jim Morrison and plays guitar like Jimmy Page, which worked out because Jeff’s first band the Tea Party was sort of a hybrid of both. He played strange stringed instruments from exotic places, […]
PREVIEW: Hugh Cornwell likes it when you’re moody
When Hugh Cornwell left The Stranglers in 1990 he’d gone as far as he felt he could with the veteran English rock band. Behind him he left a series of classic punk and new wave albums (The Raven, Feline, Gospel According To the Meninblack among them) charges of misogyny and a style that took as […]
Alberta Party leader ready to rumble at Roller Grrrls
You know that Bob Dylan song Blood on the Tracks? It’s all about the roller derby. OK, so there’s no such song (it’s the name of the album), but there ought to be – because it could be the theme for Edmonton’s first (and possibly last) roller derby team comprised of theatre people under the […]
STEVE-O: The crazy kid who will do anything
You know that kid in your class who will do anything, take any dare, jump from any height, eat any bug? Steve-O is that guy. He has: – Snorted his own snot – Stapled his scrotum to both of his thighs – Snorted a live worm and pulled it out his mouth – Allowed his […]
GIGGLE CITY: Marty Hanenberg knows when to duck
Nightclubs are ruthless, cut-throat, live-or-die comedian training grounds, but sometimes a worthy comic can come from a more gentle, nurturing place – live theatre. So let’s say “break a leg” to Marty Hanenberg, an Ottawa-born actor who came to Calgary 20 years ago to learn the fine art of improvisational comedy at the legendary Loose Moose Theatre […]
PREVIEW: At the Artery, Nu Sensae does it up Old School
Forget e-mail. Vancouver punk duo Nu Sensae is connecting with its fans the old-fashioned way. The band launched a fan club a couple months ago, and has already packaged and mailed out flyers, buttons and other goodies to fans all over the world. Nu Sensae will show you just how much noise two people can […]
Newfoundland wit and wisdom at the Westbury Theatre
Uncle Val has been grumping about life, the universe and everything since 1978, if you can believe it. Now, one of the favourite and quintessentially Canadian characters created by CodCo’s Andy Jones takes the live stage at the Transalta Arts Barns’ Westbury Theatre this week. An Evening with Uncle Val is a one-man show that […]
Messin’ With the Kid: Rock’s NAACP controversy
What was that we were just saying about bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy? They must be magic words! Utter them and Kid Rock will appear – playing Rexall Place Saturday, May 21. He’s touring with the Twisted Brown Trucker Band behind his new album, Born Free. Tickets are $29.50, $49.50 or $69.50 and go […]
REVIEW: A realist’s guide to the fruits of vegging out
There’s something telling about the media release that got sent out with How to Grow Food, a new book by Richard Gianfrancesco about harvesting your own vegetables and herbs in everything from kitchen flower pots to a mansion estate backyard. It states that 31 per cent of households participate, or desire to participate, in food […]
