CONCERT REVIEW: Elton John Crocodile Rockin’ in Edmonton

CONCERT REVIEW: Elton John Crocodile Rockin’ in Edmonton

In 1973, it was still OK to leave 10-year-olds in the car by themselves as the adults went to the grocery store or whatever – so one day I was alone in the car and had the radio on for amusement. Until that moment, music was just a thing in the environment I never thought […]

REVIEW: Bob Dylan blowin’ in the wind

REVIEW: Bob Dylan blowin’ in the wind

Aside from the cool duds the band wore, nothing was dressed up for the Bob Dylan show at Rogers Place Wednesday night. The stage had a candlelit ballroom type of look, and there were no coloured lights. Just varying intensities of white. Of course, that was all that was required. Dylan is his own gimmick […]

Stiff Little Fingers fires up old punks in Edmonton

Stiff Little Fingers fires up old punks in Edmonton

The day the Stiff Little Fingers 2016 Canadian tour was announced on social media was an incredibly happy day for thousands of Canadian punks, old and young. The notion of the Belfast band playing anywhere in Canada other than Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal never came up. It was just silently assumed it would never happen. […]

The Who bids farewell to Edmonton Coliseum

The Who bids farewell to Edmonton Coliseum

It almost escaped me that The Who on Sunday night was likely the last time I’d see a band at Rexall Place … or rather, the Coliseum. It’s always been the Coliseum to me, regardless of whatever corporate entity owned it. I’d been going there since I was a kid, when my mom would take […]

Cheap Trick review: We’re all alright

Cheap Trick review: We’re all alright

Rock ‘n’ roll took a devastating blow a few days ago, leaving fans heavy with sadness at the abrupt shock of it all. But, the rock has got to roll. For a couple of hours Saturday night at the River Cree Casino, fans respectfully traded purple for black and white checkerboard – because Cheap Trick […]

REVIEW: Edmonton Nerds love Weird Al

REVIEW: Edmonton Nerds love Weird Al

Weird Al has been funny for so long that people take it for granted. I remember hearing Another One Rides The Bus on K-97 all the time. In 1981. Every now and then I’d see one of his videos and was aware of his 1989 movie UHF, but I never really paid close attention until […]

REVIEW: Brian Wilson ‘reimagines’ Gershwin, Beach Boys

I’ve read the books and reviews that say Brian Wilson is a weird guy, but Sunday night at the Jubilee Auditorium, he wasn’t any weirder than anyone I know. Here is a man who is quite comfortable calling his own material good without seeming arrogant or like a braggart. It’s just a fact. He seemed […]