426-5050, whatever happened to the Lydo?
Four-two-six, five-oh, five-oh, if you’re hungry, call the Lydo! Never had such crappy Chinese food gained such a huge local reputation – thanks to the little jingle written to go with their phone number that remains an Edmontonian brainworm 10 years after the place went bankrupt. A lot of people who ordered Lydo vowed never […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Surrounded on all sides
The region is now in the epicentre of the perfect storm of festival season. Vast musical gatherings are surrounding the city on all sides. The long range forecast calls for more festivals of all kinds – at least until school starts – so the public is urged to take proper measures. Step 1: Which one […]
Fred Larose was a ‘musician’s musician’
Fred Larose didn’t live to see his own name in lights, but he probably wouldn’t have wanted it there anyway. His legacy will be as a prince among sidemen – the unassuming, rock-steady, hard-working bass player who holds down the crucial bottom end and puts his gifts to the service of making others sound great. […]
MUSIC: No soapbox on jazz crossover from activist folk singer
A folk singer has made a jazz record – is this news? Maybe it ought to be. It doesn’t seem to happen very often. Dale Ladouceur, Edmonton singer, songwriter, producer and the city’s chief practitioner of the 10-stringed “Chapman Stick,” says she didn’t plan for her latest album to be so, you know, “jazzy.” But what […]
FESTIVAL GUY: Interstellar Rodeo a triumph of Edmontonian proportions
“Eclectic” may be too generic a word to describe the mish-mash of musical genres thrown together for this year’s Interstellar Rodeo – everything from Americana from Steve Earle to the electronic art rock from Edmonton’s own Shout Out Out Out Out. There seemed little cohesion between the different artists at the weekend’s cosmic soundwave soup […]
The Full Mountie revives Klondike at Fort Edmonton
All days are Klondike Days at Fort Edmonton Park – and so it’s a natural that the first idea the new artistic director Dana Andersen came up with would be an improvised Klondike melodrama. Pity it comes AFTER Klondike Days is over. The Full Mountie, playing Aug. 1-3 at the Capitol Theatre and performed by […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Interstellar Rodeo a roots-rock spectacular
Think of it as a little “aperitif” to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival: The Interstellar Rodeo – featuring an ensemble cast of incredibly talented musicians Friday through Sunday in beautiful Hawrelak Park. Like the folk fest, this one is SOLD OUT, and you can expect future editions to follow suit, as this fledgling music festival […]
MAIMANN ABROAD: Ultra Europe Festival how raves should be done
SPLIT, CROATIA – Picture Kim Jong-un dancing in the grass, donning a North Korean flag next to Barack Obama, who’s all smiles as he hammers out a deal with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over a vodka-Red Bull. Despite Electronic Dance Music’s staunch apolitical nature, a party like this year’s Ultra Europe Festival in Croatia could be just […]
FESTIVAL GUY: Taste of Edmonton satisfies relish for adventure
Much like Edmonton’s weather, The Taste of Edmonton had become predictable these last few years. Green onion cakes? Can’t not have those. Chocolate covered strawberries? Big seller. Ginger Beef? Can’t miss it. I understand the need to play to the masses. Someone has to like Justin Bieber. But do organizers think that the same 500,000 […]
