Air quotes optional at ‘live’ dance festival
How to be a “live” DJ: Step 1: Show up Step 2: Push play Step 3: Collect $50,000 Just kidding. Fifty grand might be a little low for Calvin Harris’s guarantee. But how diabolically clever. DJs are among the few recording artists who can still make a living by making records – i.e., making them […]
Marvelous Mumford in the merry month of May!
Ask and ye shall receive: Mumford and Sons are coming to Edmonton – and if you still think they’re still just a bunch of Muppets, you haven’t been paying attention. One of the buzziest buzz bands in the world plays its first Edmonton show Wednesday, May 22 at Rexall Place, part of some fresh dates […]
Where will Rihanna get her Canadian weed?
When Rihanna came to Edmonton in 2011, there was said to be distinct reek of pot backstage at Rexall Place. One Edmonton police officer on duty that night described a “fog” in the hallway outside the dressing rooms. The cops held their noses and looked the other way. Busting a headliner for weed 30 minutes […]
Raffi fights for the rights of the very young
For someone who “accidentally” became a children’s entertainer, Raffi sure has thrown himself into it with a passion. Playing at the Winspear Centre on Sunday, his work has ranged far beyond merely singing singable songs for the very young. Never mind Bananaphone. Raffi has become a global crusader for child welfare. A number of points […]
Bob Seger returns in May, marks spring in Edmonton
That was fast. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band have determined that it should be spring in Edmonton by Saturday, May 11, when they have rebooked Rexall Place after cancelling Thursday’s concert due to extremely crappy weather. The 67-year-old rock legend was concerned “about the safety and well-being of his fans.” Fans may even […]
Bob Seger Edmonton concert postponed until ‘spring’
So close and yet so snowy – Bob Seger’s historic first headlining appearance in Edmonton has been postponed “due to extreme weather conditions and road closures,” it was announced just hours before the legendary Detroit rocker was due to take the stage at Rexall Place on Thursday night. The press release reads, “Bob Seger is […]
WEEKEND MUSIC: Four horsemen of Canadian rock
Talk about bang for your rock ‘n’ roll buck. While it was a bummer that Bob Seger had to postpone his Thursday show due to the crappy weather, any of the four bands playing at the Shaw Conference Centre on Friday could be a headliner – maybe not at the Shaw, grant you, but somewhere. […]
P!nk comes to Edmonton in October
What did we say about 2013 being the Year of Young Women following 2012 being the Year of Old Men? That it would be the Year of Young Women, er … that’s what we said. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Anyway, P!nk has been on our wish list for a long time, […]
WEEKEND MUSIC: Monsters of musical history
Wishbone Ash is a band known more for its influence on others than its own music, the Mudhoney of its day – holding a place in music history in the vanguard of the progressive rock movement that developed in the late ‘60s. In short, right place, right time. Luck was with these lads. When the […]
WHO NAMED THE BAND: Captain Tractor sails 20 years
It’s hard to be taken seriously when your band name is a joke. “Captain Tractor” was coined 20 years ago by an actual comedian, one Neil Grahn, current TV guy and former member of Edmonton’s legendary comedy troupe Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie. He was playing on the “superhero” idea for his friends, a […]
Boonstock 2013: From Limp Bizkit to Benny Benassi
Boonstock 2013 has finally announced its line-up! It’s going to be That Band All Over the Radio, ‘80s Band With One Member Left, Generic Folk Band and Two Dudes with a Macbook, plus many more. It will take place at the Three Hottest Days of Summer in a Really Inconvenient Location. Tickets go on sale […]
Mike Plume performs tribute at Stompin’ Tom memorial
Last Wednesday, Canada lost the great Stompin’ Tom Connors, King of Canadiana, everyman chronicler of Canadian history and life, the Johnny Cash of his country. A nation mourns. On Thursday morning down in Nashville, former Edmontonian Mike Plume was lamenting the loss of what he called a “father” figure when he was struck by a […]
