REVIEW: The Book of Mormon a sacrilegious joy

REVIEW: The Book of Mormon a sacrilegious joy

In a world of the ridiculous, satire is king. The Book of Mormon proves it. There are a million ways to describe this big production musical, playing at the Jubilee Auditorium through March 29. You could call it a lampooning of a religion. You could call it a story on the power of metaphorical belief. You […]

Ask a Mormon about The Book of Mormon

Ask a Mormon about The Book of Mormon

Ask a Mormon about The Book of Mormon and you’ll discover they’re not exactly falling all over themselves to see the satirical musical by the creators of South Park (update: returning to the Jubilee Auditorium Sept. 13-18) They say it makes a mockery of their religion. They say it’s disrespectful. They say it misses the […]

MUSIC PREVIEW: Singing Christmas Tree a BIG deal

MUSIC PREVIEW: Singing Christmas Tree a BIG deal

So it’s a set of risers shaped like a gargantuan Christmas tree with people dressed like Christmas tree ornaments standing on it, singing Christmas carols, this “Singing Christmas Tree”? Short answer: Yes. Long answer: Oh, but so much more! A venerable and uniquely Edmonton holiday spectacle, as far as we know, the Singing Christmas Tree […]

Sam Roberts on the Cult of Montreal

Sam Roberts on the Cult of Montreal

Montreal has become such a fount for all that is cool in Canadian rock that it’s hard to imagine it ever wasn’t. Westerners imagine this ancient, exotic city teeming with culture and sophistication, a place where Leonard Cohen hang outs at the bilingual open-mic poetry night, and where every original band that draws more than […]

Barber of Seville: Where’s the wabbit?

Barber of Seville: Where’s the wabbit?

If Bugs Bunny could use Gioachino Rossini music without permission, then any opera company doing The Barber of Seville should be able to use Bugs Bunny to help sell tickets. Right? It’s only fair, to heck with public domain. Opening Saturday at the Jubilee Auditorium, Edmonton Opera’s production of The Barber of Seville ought to […]

REVIEW: Boz a mixed bag

REVIEW: Boz a mixed bag

Full disclosure – we were all brought in by the promise of Silk Degrees. Okay, that might be making too much of an assumption on behalf of the audience who came out to see Boz Scaggs at the Jubilee Auditorium Monday night, but not by much. Silk Degrees, after all, was a monster hit, an […]

MUSIC PREVIEW: Pixies return, done Deal

MUSIC PREVIEW: Pixies return, done Deal

The busy fall touring season continues, with notable gigs from Winnipeg’s Royal Canoe, Trust (TR/ST) and Swedish death metal act Amon Amarth on tap this weekend, revving up towards the fall’s big music festival, Up + Downtown, which takes place over the Thanksgiving weekend. Pixies are back for a show at the Shaw Conference Centre […]

Theory of a Deadman to rock Jube in November

Theory of a Deadman to rock Jube in November

What true Edmonton rock ‘n roll fan hasn’t thought: Theory of a Deadman, now THERE’s a band I’d like see in the Jubilee Auditorium! Your wish is granted. The band plays the acoustically superior Jube on Monday, November 17, with tickets going ON SALE Friday. Once tarred and feathered as a Nickelback clone, the B.C. […]

Sam Roberts Band at the Jube in November

Sam Roberts Band at the Jube in November

Sam Roberts is a slippery fellow. Just when we thought he was turning into another one of these heartland hit machines like Bryan Adams, he zigs and zags and dips and turns until we don’t know what to call him anymore. A soulman in rock clothes? Or a rock ‘n’ roller with depth and groove? […]

WICKED: Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

WICKED: Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Which witch is which? Which witch is wicked? And which wicked witch switched with which witch’s wicked sister? Say that five times fast. These are difficult questions posed in the Broadway musical Wicked, the touring show coming to the Jubilee Auditorium July 2-20. This is the story behind the story in The Wizard of Oz. […]

Melissa Etheridge to test ‘This Is Me’ in Edmonton

Melissa Etheridge to test ‘This Is Me’ in Edmonton

Just a little late for the folk fest, a Melissa Etheridge “solo” show would’ve been perfect – and it still is expected to be a breath of fresh air when the 53-year-old rock icon takes it intimate and unplugged for a tour she calls “This is ME Solo,” coming to Edmonton’s Jubilee Auditorium on Wednesday, […]

REVIEW: George Thorogood b-b-b-boring

REVIEW: George Thorogood b-b-b-boring

Vigorously played classic rock sends some people into fits of screaming, shouting, foot stomping, rampant high fiving and lots of odd yelping, but for others, like me, it can send them deep into a catatonic state that lasts several hours and ends up in the middle of a field wondering where everyone went and just […]