Posted on April 26, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
Putting aside the question of whether electronic music fans are crazier than rock fans – Northlands seemed to think so when they refused to allow alcohol to be sold at this weekend’s Elements Music Festival until a judge ordered the decision reversed – there are more basic questions for those who don’t know their “house” […]
Posted on April 25, 2012
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider
We know these jokers: Kenny Robinson and Darren Frost, two Canadian comics so foul-mouthed, filthy-minded and bereft of any shred of decent morals or values or good taste whatsoever that sheer decorum prohibits repeating their jokes here, unless parental discretion is advised. They return for the aptly-named “Rank and Vile Show” at Yuk Yuk’s Friday […]
Posted on April 24, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
We now have eyewitness evidence that things were better in the old days. For musicians. Tommy “The Senator” Banks remembers – age 75 and still going strong, he has a lot to remember – “In the 1960s, within one block of Jasper Avenue on either side, between 100 Street and 109 Street, there were 18 […]
Posted on April 23, 2012
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider, Lit, Theatre
The chief difference between stand-up comedy and performance poetry, according to noted performance poet Jem Rolls, is that “I don’t have to be funny all the time.” So it’s more relaxing for the audience if they don’t expect a punch-line every single time, he adds, and even better, “It’s more relaxing for me.” Appearing Friday […]
Posted on April 21, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music, Theatre
It’s fun to imagine what Ludwig Van Beethoven was like. There are so many depictions, caricatures and stories about this frowning old composer – some of it must be true. Ornery, given to wild experimentation, perfectionist, did great work and knew it, enjoyed his fame, went deaf, music was used to torture a criminal in […]
Posted on April 20, 2012
By Mike Ross
Comedy
It’s getting a little tiresome to see ethnic stand-up comics going on and on about their ethnicity time after time after time – but hey, write what you know, eh? Still, it seems a bit lazy. One of the best in Edmonton this weekend is the mono-named Landry, at the Laugh Shop in Sherwood Park. […]
Posted on April 16, 2012
By Mike Ross
Culture, Music, The Latest, TV and Radio
Garner Andrews can’t stand public speaking. He admits he even freaked out a little bit before delivering a toast at his brother’s wedding, and stresses “for months” over the prospect of doing a band introduction on stage – and yet he has no problem talking to 50,000 people on Sonic radio every morning. “That doesn’t […]
Posted on April 16, 2012
By Mike Ross
Lit
It has been said that you could gather the entire literary scene of Edmonton into one medium-sized bar – and they’d all know each other. This in fact happens on a regular basis at almost every book launch – maybe not always at a bar – as it will Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the […]
Posted on April 14, 2012
By Mike Ross
Music
The impending arrival of Coldplay has filled area rock fans with a level of joy not seen since the last time Coldplay came to town. So rarely do we get to see such a top-level British rock band in Edmonton, and it’s always a delightful treat. That’s because we still bow to the Queen of […]
Posted on April 12, 2012
By Mike Ross
Music, The Latest
The challenge in picking a really cool band name is that you have to live up to it. This shall now be known as the Nashville Pussy Impetus. The band plays the Pawn Shop Sunday with the like-minded Supersuckers. (Cussing below, reader discretion advised.) “You can’t call yourself something great and then suck,” says lead […]
Posted on April 9, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Theatre
Consider that the oldest story ever written in (Old) English is about a terrible monster and the monster’s even more terrible monster mother, who, after wreaking much destruction and death, are defeated by a magic sword-wielding fighter who is eventually killed by a dragon. You could make a couple of conclusions: 1. Man, we’re a […]
Posted on April 5, 2012
By Mike Ross
Culture, Music
Mike Wellensiek – better known as Mike the Posterman – estimates he’s popped off 10 million staples in 25 years of gig postering on the front lines of Edmonton’s entertainment scene. Do the math: At 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 staples per poster … I admit I had trouble counting while watching him work during […]
