MUSIC PREVIEW: Magnetic Mangan
The audiophiles’ favorite venue, the Winspear Centre, hosts an act who can definitely use all of its offerings – as alt-folk artist extraordinaire Dan Mangan performs there Friday night. His precision guitar work and crooning voice and poignant lyrics should use the space to its utmost.
Mangan is touring to support his newest album from last year, titled More Or Less. The album is his fifth full-length, and is perhaps his most earnest, featuring songs like Just Fear and Troubled Mind. Not one to shy away from politics with his writing, the Vancouver artist has also been busy recently producing albums and songs, and in fact produced a pair of tracks for both of the last Astral Swans albums, and also performed some of the instruments, too.
Perhaps still best known for a pair of songs off his 2011 album Oh Fortune, the title track and Rows Of Houses, Mangan also saw significant airplay for his incredibly catchy track Robots from 2009. His most recent single is a cover of REM’s Losing My Religion, which was released just this year.
The show is at 8 pm, advance tickets $33 and up, BUY.
Thursday 7
Justin Timberlake – This little-known pop star concludes his two night run at Rogers Place. Lots of tickets still showing available on Ticketmaster, though it seems like said organization is getting even more obtuse about which tickets are originals and which are re-sales. Francesco Yates opens. 7:30 pm, $111.50 and up. BUY
Mean Jeans – This Portland punk act has been delivering chaos across the continent since they were formed in 2006. Their latest release, 2016’s Tight New Dimension, is a series of 12 short fast-paced crazed biscuits. They’ve been talked into flying into Alberta to do a series of three shows, including this one here in Edmonton. Mandates (Calgary) and The Real Sickies open. Buckingham, 8 pm, $18 advance.
Friday 8
Daniel Wesley – Performing on the same night as the other Dan, this White Rock singer-songwriter began his musical career singing in choirs at a young age. Since 2006, though, Wesley’s been putting out sensational folk-rock solo albums. His most recent is a live album from 2017, after having recorded a show at Vancouver’s famed Commodore. Station On Jasper, 7 pm, $19. BUY
Saturday 9
Steadies – This Saskatoon “island rock” trio, who combine pop-rock with a significant reggae influence, experienced a major tragedy in 2017 when their guitarist died suddenly from a brain aneurysm just before they were to embark on an Asian tour. They somehow persevered and are back in the city once again, thanks to the strength of frontman Earl Periera, who you might also know from his previous project, Wide Mouth Mason. Station On Jasper, 7 pm, $15. BUY
READ: Interview with Earl Periera (May 2012)
Darryl Saves Lives – This local alt-rock band hosts an EP release party for their newest effort. Soul Speaker and Dead City Casuals open. Aviary, 8 pm, $10 advance.
Sunday 10
Lauren Mayell – This Calgarian country artist spent the first half of 2018 touring and performing on the festival tour, then hunkered down in Nashville and also in her home city to write new material in the latter half. She did release a couple new singles during the year, and fans are expecting an album announcement to be in the offing ever so soon. Station On Jasper, 6:30 pm, $10. BUY
