Cheap Trick review: We’re all alright

Cheap Trick review: We’re all alright

Rock ‘n’ roll took a devastating blow a few days ago, leaving fans heavy with sadness at the abrupt shock of it all. But, the rock has got to roll. For a couple of hours Saturday night at the River Cree Casino, fans respectfully traded purple for black and white checkerboard – because Cheap Trick […]

Rihanna shines bright like a diamond

Rihanna shines bright like a diamond

Funny how Rihanna didn’t talk about playing Edmonton on 4/20 – seeing how it’s no secret she’s into weed. Maybe because in such a tightly-scripted Cirque du Diva spectacular there’s no room for empty patter about ridiculous redundant weed holidays. Maybe for some people, every day is 4/20. Who cares? Can’t we be mature about […]

Iron Maiden blows mighty wind in Edmonton

Iron Maiden blows mighty wind in Edmonton

Aside from sports, there is no better place for male bonding than a heavy metal concert – and there is no band with a bigger testosterone cult following than Iron Maiden. Why this is so remains a mystery. Perhaps it has something to do with nerd culture. Maiden is basically a horror comic set to […]

Twenty One Pilots a stress relief in Edmonton

Twenty One Pilots a stress relief in Edmonton

The huge impact Twenty One Pilots has made on young people was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt in Edmonton on Thursday night. These guys are the new real deal. It behooves old people to pay attention. A full house of teenagers and 20-somethings at the Jubilee Auditorium know this music by heart and […]

Marianas Trench not so deep

Marianas Trench not so deep

Hearing the high-powered candy-coated pop-rock-hyphenated anthems of Marianas Trench at Rexall place Friday night and finding it all so strangely familiar, it’s easy to imagine there exists a sinister cabal of songwriters responsible for every hit you hear on the radio. Not so far fetched, is it? Linda Perry, Max Martin, Paul Anka, and Diane […]

Metric makes manic musical magic

Metric makes manic musical magic

Metric has become a strangely serious band since its roots in the fun times – when the new wave of the old new wave was new again, back in the good old days of the late 1990s, before 9-11, before radio hits thrust this Canadian synth-rock band to medium level stardom. They were merely giddy […]

The Offspring gets off on Edmonton

The Offspring gets off on Edmonton

Well … it looks like somebody had a good time at The Offspring concert on Thursday night. Everybody was stinking drunk, the floors were all sticky, there was vomit in the bathrooms, and two arrests were witnessed before the show even started. Drunk and disorderly. Good gig. The band had the best time of all. […]

Queens of Sheba also Queens of Rock

Queens of Sheba also Queens of Rock

It’s a mystery why Heart decided to end its show at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton on Sunday night with three Led Zeppelin songs. Much appreciated, but weird. Maybe because Ann Wilson is the female Robert Plant? She sure can hit those high notes – at the age of 65. It’s not like Heart doesn’t […]

REVIEW: Megadeth makes manic metal magic

REVIEW: Megadeth makes manic metal magic

Megadeth has been cranking out its brand of speed metal for so long that there’s no way they can mess it up, as long as they still have the stamina to pull it off. It’s like cooking a good hamburger: Well done, burned on the outside, a little blood in the middle. Served fresh and […]

REVIEW: Black Sabbath goes out like a lion

REVIEW: Black Sabbath goes out like a lion

Is there a man whose heart beats so cold that he cannot cheer the lion in its final victory lap? Something poetic is called for to honour The End of Black Sabbath – witnessed in Edmonton by more than 12,000 fans at Rexall Place on Wednesday night. They will never come again. Some bands wait […]

REVIEW: Matt Andersen thrills Edmonton

REVIEW: Matt Andersen thrills Edmonton

Great singers sure are in love with their slow songs – and Matt Andersen’s got it bad. Ballads ruled the evening at the New Brunswick bluesman’s show at the Jubilee Auditorium Sunday night. More than 2,000 fans were thrilled as he unleashed his mighty pipes in folky acoustic blues, rockin’ blues, funky uptown blues, and […]

REVIEW: Drinking has a country music problem

REVIEW: Drinking has a country music problem

Making a drinking game out of one of these pop country fun concerts would be redundant – but commercial country music is nothing if not redundant. So down the hatch! Especially when Brad Paisley had an actual functioning bar at Rexall Place on Friday night. Lucky fans sat right there on stage drinking beer, watching […]