INTERVIEW: Grandson plays the rage card
The artist who calls himself Grandson is only 24 years old – and he’s already talking about the legacy he’s going to leave behind. As if it weren’t depressing enough to hear such fatalist talk from a millennial, listen to his music. Jordan Benjamin has already made a huge impact with his hit song Blood//Water. […]
EDMONTON RADIO: Are we losing our voices?
The sudden departure of Melissa Wright from K-97 after 20 years of service is not going to be another one of these Disgruntled Former Employee stories. “I don’t want to trash anybody,” she says. “I’m going to have to start looking for a job.” People in Edmonton radio get fired all the time – but […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Fee Fie Foo Fum
Next Tuesday night the legendary Foo Fighters are in town – this time to promote their latest full-length Concrete and Gold, which was released last September. Like most of their albums, it reached No. 1 on charts around the world, from the United States and Canada to Norway and Ireland. Though probably a little more […]
PLAYBOT: Fringe held over!
Well, that was fun. More than 133,200 tickets were sold to Fringe plays this year. Imagine if we could see those numbers all year. Time now to plug the Fringe Holdovers – worthy, proven, curated productions that will enjoy a few more shows in the coming week, while giving Fringe fans much-needed relief from the […]
RADIO: That’s enough, Africa!
You thought getting “Rick Rolled” was bad – now we’re getting Toto-ed to death. Radio listeners who came of age in the ‘80s tremble in fear over which old hit will be next to reawaken their dormant malignant brain worms after decades of remission. Wang Chung? Huey Lewis and the News? Mr. Mister? It hurts […]
FRINGE: 2 plays that TAKE A CHANCE
One of the great joys of the Fringe is taking a chance. If you have an hour or two, just walk between the venues and choose a show at random. Turn to the right and you get something memorable – turn the other way and it may stink up the joint. Today, For Now (Stage […]
REVIEW: 1 more 5 out of 5 MASTER of the Fringe!
The Zoo Story (Stage 17), like Charlie Brown, Little Shop of Horrors and almost anything by Daniel MacIvor, is a hardy Fringe perennial that keeps coming back. And why not? It’s a challenging little gem written in his youth by Edward Albee (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) on his way to theatrical glory. All it […]
FRINGE: 3 captivating COMEDIES
The Red Bastard – aka Eric Davis – practices a form of audience participation called “bouffon,” in which an outrageous character engages the audience in an intimate exchange. He’s the archetypal clown, and because of our classic view of fools and jesters, he can be allowed anything. Davis’s new show is called RED BASTARD: Lie […]
FRINGE: 2 SCARY horror shows
Meet Daniel, a typical working man exhausted after a hard day at the office. Alone and sad, he tromps into his ratty apartment and slumps into his cheap armchair. He is lonely, restless, with only his memories to keep him company. So he has a cocktail, or two, as he does every night. He drinks […]
FRINGE: 4 plays for short attenti …
In the mood for a quickie? Not that kind of one, mind you, but Dentures (Stage 28) is a 32-minute square-on-the-nose production works well for those short in attention spans. This production is a comic farce of a tale of what happens when two homeless bros in their 20s move into an old folk’s home […]
FRINGE: 2 marvelous MUSICALS
Last year, a 100-year-old songstress was the best-selling recording artist of the year in Britain – beating Adele, among others. With her clear pop soprano voice, Dame Vera Lynn became inextricably woven into the matrix of defiance that sustained Britain in the gloomiest days of World War 2 – as the beleaguered country stood (mostly […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Blues, brothers and sisters!
Will it be possible to eat a green onion cake at the Edmonton Blues Festival while simultaneously listening to Green Onions performed by Booker T himself? Might we offer the visiting organsmith a sample of Edmonton’s favourite festival food? The answer is, sadly, no: No one’s selling green onion cakes down in Hawrelak Park this […]
