MUSIC PREVIEW: John Mayer’s split personality
We all know John Mayer has a gift for writing beautiful, heartfelt pop songs to make strong men weep. That’s why he’s famous. We know that he likes to say outrageous things to reporters from time to time. That also makes him famous. Romantic involvements with women like Jessica Simpson, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Local aces play Graceland tribute
The Going To Graceland show at the Royal Alberta Museum Theatre on Saturday night will be one of the last gigs played at the venue, and it’s celebrating what many believe to be one of the best albums of the 1980s, if not the entire Century. A nine piece ensemble – featuring locals aces like […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: The Lumineers keep it lit
Now that Mumford and Sons have ditched folk, it is the sacred duty of The Lumineers to carry on the trend of funny stringed instruments, odd drums and fashionable hats in popular music. We just can’t get enough. At Rogers Place Friday night for their first proper headlining show in Edmonton, The Lumineers came to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Tea Party still getting oolong
While the Tea Party’s heyday was definitely in the 1990s, with such hits on alternative radio as The River, Temptation, Psychopomp, Heaven Coming Down, and The Messenger, the band broke up in 2005 and went their separate ways – but then finally reunited in 2011, much to the delight of their fans. That reunion met […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Jaunty Plume array
The Prodigal Son returns! After a long sojourn in Nashville, Mike Plume has moved back to Edmonton. He’s from Bonnyville, actually, but close enough for rock ‘n’ roll. At the Almanac Saturday night, the singer-songwriter has been keeping a fairly low profile since he and his family moved back last summer. Why? “Trump,” he explains. […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Women have the power
We definitely need more than one day to celebrate International Women’s Day – seeing as it’s surrounded by the 364 Days of Men. How about a week, better yet, a month? Make it six months, or hell, the whole damned year. Women deserve no less for what they’ve done. Meanwhile, the unofficial spillover from the […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Outstanding in their field
It’s a marriage made in Americana heaven – Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt, together again, helping America achieve the greatness it never wasn’t. By touring Canada. These two old friends play Friday night at the Jubilee Auditorium in what is expected to be a right proper schooling in the fine art of the singer-songwriter genre. […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Billy Talent braves the Shaw
Something has to be done about the horrible sound in the Shaw Conference Centre. It hurts the ears, and more importantly, it hurts the bands that hurt the ears. Unless they have a good soundman, a rock band that likes to play loud can sound like a wall of mud. The kick drum echoes off […]
Jazz marries classical in Obsessions
So a string quartet and a jazz combo walk into a bar, hit it off, fall in love, and spend the rest of their lives making beautiful music together. It happened almost exactly like that for the Obsessions Octet, a uniquely original Edmonton group playing the release for its third CD, Steppin’ Up, Thursday at […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Hoyer homecoming
Unless you’re Blue Rodeo, big acts seem reluctant to schedule tours at this time of year, especially through our part of the country in what is supposed to be the depths of winter. So while it’s a pretty light weekend star-wise, there’s a little bit of everything going on somewhere: Reggae, some metal, some hip […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: January thaw
We’re in the depths of what’s usually the coldest part of the year, which scares off all manner of touring musicians – though you wouldn’t know it, of course, and with temperatures on the weekend expected to soar well into the single digits, you might just be tempted to leave your jacket in the car […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Bye Bye Bunny
Everyone’s favorite year-end album list starts as a blank slate. Which way will the winds blow in 2017? Where will this year’s standouts come from? What genres will they play? It certainly seems like the most interesting local projects these days are those that blend a bunch of sounds into one, but isn’t that really […]
