MUSIC PREVIEW: Waxing Half Moon Run
Posted on December 8, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music
One of the finest bands from the so-called “Montreal scene” is returning to Edmonton. Half Moon Run is the perfect group to take advantage of the subtle acoustics of the Winspear Centre on Wednesday, Dec. 14, being unconventional multi-instrumentalists with a special fondness for percussion. The “everybody gets a drum” rule is one of the […]
Double Lunch launches new Edmonton music
Posted on December 7, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music
It’s inevitable that Craig Martell would eventually launch a record label to uncover new talent. The man’s had both hands and feet in the Edmonton music scene since he was lured here by the Alberta oil boom less than 10 years ago. He comes from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where he went to university and […]
PLAYBILL: The Nutcracker is nuts
Posted on December 5, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music, Theatre
How in God’s name did we ever wind up with a Christmas tradition called The Nutcracker? And what’s The Nutcracker all about, anyway? Cracking nuts? Nope – no nuts are harmed in this fever dreamy ballet that’s become such a crucial part of our Christmas entertainment appetite. Presented by the Alberta Ballet and the Edmonton […]
The lonely death of Ricky Jordahl
Posted on December 4, 2016 By John Armstrong Front Slider, News
Whyte Avenue has lost one of its most beloved street characters. The body of homeless man Richard Lyle Jordahl was found early Thursday morning, on a pile of pallets in the alley behind a strip mall where he often slept. There was no report of the fatality on the Edmonton Police Service news release feed, […]
REVIEW: July Talk, he said, she said
Posted on December 3, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Music
It’s clear the public prefers to hear both sides of the story when it comes to using music to talk about relationships. Just see how well the co-ed dual lead vocalist approach has worked for so many artists. They call this the “Beauty and the Beast Effect” – an especially apt description of July Talk, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: July Talk all action
Posted on November 30, 2016 By Michael Senchuk Entertainment, Front Slider, Music
After playing a surprise “secret” gig on Tuesday here in the city, July Talk heads down for a quick gig in Red Deer before circling back for a second SOLD OUT show, on Friday night at Union Hall. The Toronto-with-the-Edmonton-connection indie rockers released their debut self-titled album in 2012 to critical acclaim, and followed that […]
Edmonton Journal arts section gutted
Posted on November 29, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, News, TV and Radio
Arts journalism in print form in this city has taken a terrible hit with the sudden departure of two of the Edmonton Journal’s veteran columnists. Theatre writer Liz Nicholls and music writer Sandra Sperounes and have both taken buyouts and will leave the paper on Dec. 2. The owners PostMedia announced in October it was […]
PLAYBILL: Be like Scrooge
Posted on November 28, 2016 By Mike Ross Entertainment, Front Slider, Theatre
Life is so unfair. The central character in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol experiences an epiphany of goodness and a complete change of heart by the end of his harrowing ghost story – much like the Grinch whose heart grew three sizes that day – and becomes the most kind, generous, warm, “Christmasy” person you […]
REVIEW: Embrace Anxiety with a brave heart
Posted on November 28, 2016 By Colin MacLean Entertainment, Front Slider, Theatre
Edmonton’s “Theatre Yes” is not a company to sit us in theatre seats while we watch thespians perform. It demands that audiences not just join in but give themselves to the experience. No, you will not be expected to create a character, read lines or engage in improve, but you are drawn into a shared […]
A Tribe Called Red: We are the human beings
Posted on November 27, 2016 By Mike Ross culture, Entertainment, Front Slider, Music
Chances are this was the first time First Nations pow-wow dancing was seen at the Union Hall – a room for sloppy rock shows and big drunken blowouts, much better suited to its previous name, The Thunderdome, literally like in the Mad Max movie. There’s a first for everything. A Tribe Called Red was in […]