WHAT’S GOING ON: Garth Brooks Coming, Country Music Taking Over

WHAT’S GOING ON: Garth Brooks Coming, Country Music Taking Over

News that MacEwan University has launched “Distinguished Visiting Artist in Country Music” workshops within its music program, and that Brett Kissel will be the honorary campaign chair, has been met with some arched eyebrows among some MacEwan music alumni nerds – like me. Having attended (but not graduated due to going on the road with […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: Mother Mother Jube Jube

WHAT’S GOING ON: Mother Mother Jube Jube

The plus side of the pandemic – hey, when life gives a gristle, just give a whistle! – is that many musical artists spent their isolation time making new music no one has yet heard live: Experiments, collaborations, remakes, reimaginings, you name it. Creativity flourished. Enter Mother Mother – one of the greatest modern Canadian […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: Roxy Rises After Seven Years

WHAT’S GOING ON: Roxy Rises After Seven Years

Time flies, doesn’t it? It doesn’t feel like seven years since the Roxy Theatre burned down one cold January morning in 2015 – leaving its resident company Theatre Network homeless. But the company survived, and at times thrived, mounting numerous shows on rented stages under the leadership of longtime artistic director Bradley Moss – all […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: Is the Concert Business Back to Normal?

WHAT’S GOING ON: Is the Concert Business Back to Normal?

It’s as if the pandemic never happened even though it’s still going on. That, plus a war. The area concert scene is heating up all the same, with a spate of recent announcements that suggest things are, could be, maybe, who the hell knows, getting back to normal. At the Jube Oct. 12-13 is the […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: It’s Dead Out There

WHAT’S GOING ON: It’s Dead Out There

The legacy of the Grateful Dead is well documented: * Heart of the hippie culture that emerged from San Francisco in the late 1960s, and still going strong around the world * Still performing in stadiums 27 years after frontman Jerry Garcia’s death, spawning numerous side projects and acolytes * Released more than 200 albums, […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: Lots

WHAT’S GOING ON: Lots

In the ongoing task of creating lists-as-articles, or “listicles,” to promote the local live entertainment scene, journalists have come far in two months – from scrounging for info on shows that turned out to have been cancelled, to there literally being too many live shows to list. You can’t win. Let’s start with music. The […]

Return of the Folk Fest is the Best News Ever! Who’s Coming? IT DOESN’T MATTER

Return of the Folk Fest is the Best News Ever! Who’s Coming? IT DOESN’T MATTER

As a spoiled music critic who’s covered the Edmonton Folk Music Festival (for The Edmonton Sun and GigCity) at least 25 times, I just want to apologize. Not to any specific person I may have probably offended, mind you – but to the folk fest itself, as if it’s a living entity. Poor thing. I’m […]

Ian Tyson ROBBED – of Winning Iconic Alberta Song

Ian Tyson ROBBED – of Winning Iconic Alberta Song

In the search for Alberta’s quintessential song in a Twitter poll launched by Senator Paula Simons, Constant Craving by k.d. lang was voted the winner – beating out the other finalist: Insensitive by Jann Arden. Both of these songs are problematic. Constant Craving is a great song by a great Alberta artist, but is this […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: Who the Hell Knows?

WHAT’S GOING ON: Who the Hell Knows?

If everyone and everything gets cancelled, at this rate, can we all get a Get Out Of Jail Free card and start over from square one? Cancellations are a literal reality in the live entertainment business lately. But while it’s true several major events have been postponed due to the ongoing pandemic – this weekend’s […]

LOVE YOU, BUDDY: Ben Sures remembers Harpdog Brown

LOVE YOU, BUDDY: Ben Sures remembers Harpdog Brown

We may pay our respects to the late Harpdog Brown on what would’ve been his 60th birthday – through one of his favourite bandmates: Ben Sures – who plays live on Jan. 28 at the Elks Lodge in Red Deer, which happens to be Ben’s second show to support his new album, The Story That […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: Primus to Stage Rush Tribute in Edmonton

WHAT’S GOING ON: Primus to Stage Rush Tribute in Edmonton

If there’s any legend of rock who would be really into the music of Rush, it would be Les Claypool – whose own band Primus set a new bar for weird art rock so distinctive only a few notes are necessary to tell who it is. Makes sense, then, that Primus would mount “A Tribute […]

WHAT’S GOING ON: Weird Al is Coming to Edmonton!

WHAT’S GOING ON: Weird Al is Coming to Edmonton!

“Weird Al” Yankovic is returning to Edmonton on America’s birthday – and he’s bringing his accordion. Of course he is. He plays the Winspear Centre on July 4 as part of “The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour.” Tickets start at $60 – and the event is expected to sell out. Emo […]