Dierks Bentley thrills beer-drinking, party-going, country-lovers in Edmonton
Edmonton threw a party at Rogers Place on Thursday night to welcome Dierks Bentley back to town for his “Burning Man” Tour – named for the song that’s been such a big hit on country radio for the past year. The arena was already buzzing with the opening lines of his tour- titled track even […]
Jim Gaffigan takes whitebread comedy to new heights at Rogers Place
Thousands of well-dressed suburban upper-middle class white couples in Edmonton decided to venture out in the cold for evening date Friday night in the company of fellow thoroughly white American comedian Jim Gaffigan – smack in the middle of his “Quality Time” Tour. They made a wise choice. Gaffigan reasserted his A-list status at Rogers […]
REVIEW: Tenacious D gets a C minus in Edmonton
As a rock star, Jack Black makes a pretty good actor – and that’s exactly what he’s doing in his band Tenacious D. He’s pretending to be a rock star. He’s as believable on a concert stage as he is in his movies, which are all exactly the same: Rollicking wholesome family blockbusters where the […]
REVIEW: Ed the Sock getting game back
Yes, Children of the ‘80s, it’s true – we’re old. But if we are at all like Ed the Sock was on Wednesday night at Union Hall, maybe, just maybe, we are still relevant – not to mention all these years later able to appreciate good, honest comedy. As part of Ed’s current “War on […]
REVIEW: Drake shares his feelings in Edmonton
There were certain moments during Drake’s concert in Edmonton where there were literally no live performers at all. Old person complaint: What is the world coming to?! All the music was tracked. No band. Ha! Live musicians are so quaint. The backing vocals were tracked. Even the lead rap was tracked during one of the […]
REVIEW: All work and no phones make Jack White a clever boy
You won’t see any selfies on social media from your buddy at the Jack White Canadian tour opener in Edmonton on Friday night – ditto for any video clips of precious moments. By completely banning all cell phones, the Detroit rocker and former White Stripes frontman ensured that the likes of Instagram, Twitter and even […]
Foo Fighters keep rock ‘n’ roll ALIVE in Edmonton
Dave Grohl is more than the leader of one of the greatest rock ‘n’ roll acts on the circuit today. He’s a soldier who’s gone to great lengths to demonstrate that the swagger and fury that goes into breastbone-palpitating four-chord anthems isn’t going away anytime soon. As he and his loyal crew of ear-bleeders best […]
UP+DT REVIEW: Weird wonderful walkabout
By far the weirdest and most wonderful thing witnessed during a walkabout at the Up+Downtown indie rock festival on Friday night was Tanya Tagaq. She makes Yoko Ono look like Britney Spears. At the storied McDougall United Church, a lovely space with cavernous acoustics, the Polaris Prize-winning Inuk throat singer took several hundred people on […]
Paul McCartney rocks Edmonton with marathon concert
The trouble with setting the bar so high is that you might never get over yourself again. This is now known as the “Paul McCartney Rule.” The British Rock God’s epic and self-worshipping marathon of a rock concert at Rogers Place on Sunday night was Beatleseque nostalgia lovefest of the highest order – from one […]
Smashing Pumpkins play Rock Gods Edmonton
Billy Corgan can be forgiven for his massive ego that on more than one occasion almost put the kibosh on the Smashing Pumpkins – the iconic alt-rock outfit that made waves during the dying days of the ‘90s grunge movement. The flamboyant frontman has always been more into glitter than flannel, and it’s not hard […]
REVIEW: Sonic Field Day winners and losers
The thing about attending a modern rock festival, as opposed to a classic rock one, is that you can be sure that most of the band members you see on stage are the original band members. From the blatting boom of the Arkells to the incendiary political nu-metal of Grandson to the groovy electro-rock of […]
REVIEW: Classic Canadians thrive at Rock Fest
Edmontonians waking up yesterday morning to head down to Hawrelak Park for Day 2 of the eighth annual Edmonton Rock Music Festival might have felt a bit of relief: While they knew they’d be losing a bit more of their hearing throughout the day, at least they’d be able to breathe without putting themselves at […]
