Edmonton’s smallest festival is a family affair
Almost a week after the Edmonton Folk Music Festival wrapped up, the love lived on at a south-side park on Saturday where Edmonton’s Littlest Folk Festival marked two decades of celebrating its founder’s birthday. Dave Cunningham, who many people know as the interim executive director of the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta, hosts […]
NEW MUSIC: Features, Cancer Bats release are better late
Two U.S. artists – The Features from Tennessee, and the folkier Fruit Bats from Chicago, have recently released seasoned albums in what are exceptionally long paths to their musical fulfillment. Will they fulfill you enough to earn your hard earned cash as well? Tennessee rockers The Features are probably better known in the United Kingdom […]
The remarkable Louis O’Coffey provides inspiration on canvas
At 74, Louis O’Coffey would be remarkable even if he’d never become an artist who’s had his work displayed at numerous galleries. When he was born in Fort McMurray in 1937, the average person with Down syndrome didn’t survive into their 20s. Even nowadays they typically reach what is considered old age in their 50s. […]
Rusty Reed’s House of Blues to get facelift, new name
Area blues fans may have noticed that Rusty Reed’s House of Blues is GONE – the namesake of the local harmonica master stricken from the marquee as his beloved blooze can revamps itself as NOLA (as in New Orleans, Louisiana) Creole Kitchen and House of Music. The grand re-opening will be Aug. 25. New owner […]
GIGGLE CITY: J. Chris Newberg comes out from behind his guitar
Unlike rock musicians, stand-up comedians don’t have anything to protect them from the audience, no instrument or prop to hide behind. Well, unless they’re a prop comic or something. A guitar may be a prop, too, or a crutch. Either way, comedian J. Chris Newberg has been relying on his six-string less and less over […]
Pressure-wash graffiti gets a free pass
Fans of street art in Edmonton are accusing the city of hypocrisy over a decision to allow Octane Motorsports to promote the Indy with graffiti-style stencils on city sidewalks. The stencils aren’t made with paint. Rather, they were done with a pressure washer which blasts hot water over the stencils, effectively cleaning the message into […]
TRUE TALES: Edmonton’s Cap Ex, Wide Mouth Mason, and a Billy Gibbons bender
When Wide Mouth Mason opened for ZZ Top in 1997, they were treated as little more than fans granted a photo op at the backstage meet ‘n’ greet. It was a little different when the two bands toured together last summer. They went on a bender – which is the spark that created Wide Mouth’s […]
GIGGLE CITY: Comedian Paul Sveen helps those battling cancer
The healing powers of humour are well-documented. Laughter releases endorphins, nature’s opiates, and allows humans to face tragedy with a little less fear. It’s a cliché to say that comedy is just tragedy plus time, but like a lot of cliches, it’s true. Of the various “types” of comedy gigs Paul Sveen does, that every […]
Scalping tickets legal in Alberta, government has no plans to stop resales
Two years ago a firestorm erupted in the concert ticket business when complaints alleged that Ticketmaster, which had recently purchased the online ticket reselling business TicketsNow, was automatically diverting customers from its own website to the scalping one. The outrage over the perceived conflict of interest grew so loud that new legislation was drafted in […]
Living With Lions tells FACTOR where to stick their 13 grand
Now this is fortuitous. We were just having a friendly debate about government arts funding and along comes Living With Lions to play the Pawn Shop on Friday night. This is the Vancouver punk band at the centre of the storm of controversy surrounding its new CD, “Holy Shit” and its allegedly blasphemous artwork, which […]
