Posted on January 6, 2012
By Albert Smith
Front Slider, Music
Van Halen is coming to Edmonton this spring, as predicted. The reunited band announced dates on its official website on Thursday for its 2012 tour, which includes Rexall Place on Friday, May 11 with opening act Kool and the Gang. The announcement was made on the heels of an intimate and interactive gig in New […]
Posted on January 1, 2012
By Albert Smith
Culture, Music, The Latest
Who needs Kreskin? You can predict the future simply by studying the events of the past. For example: Beyonce won’t be coming back to Edmonton because promoters lost their shirts the last time she was here. Simple economics. Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen, on the other hand, did great business in this town. So it […]
Posted on December 26, 2011
By Albert Smith
Culture, Music
Admit it: Prince sucked. Oh, don’t get your panties in a twist. Someone has to say it. And someone has to respond that a bad concert from Prince is still better than most other concerts. Fine. But if you were there at Rexall Place on Dec. 13, the more you reflect on it, the more […]
Posted on December 21, 2011
By Albert Smith
Culture, Film, Front Slider
The Edmonton geek-o-verse has given a guarded thumbs-up to the new trailer for The Hobbit. The Peter Jackson film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s first successful novel comes to theatres Dec. 14, 2012. Kris Hansen, who says he has the word “geek” tattooed on the back of his neck and is manager of Warp 1 Comics […]
Posted on December 21, 2011
By Albert Smith
The Latest, Theatre
Poised to become a local Christmas “thing” on the order of A Christmas Carol or The Nutcracker or Handel’s Messiah or Candy Cane Lane or Peter Pan is play called The Best Little Newfoundland Christmas Pageant Ever! Playing through Friday at the Varscona Theatre, it is a Newfoundlander’s take on the classic Barbara Robinson tale […]
Posted on December 13, 2011
By Albert Smith
Comedy, Front Slider
You had to feel for the Amazing Kreskin during his appearance at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival this summer. Here’s this 76-year-old self-described “mentalist” doing his same old schtick – dealing with scraps of paper (including his paycheque) and torn-up playing cards on a windy day with poor sound and poor sightlines on an outdoor […]
Posted on December 8, 2011
By Albert Smith
Front Slider, Music
It’s always a treat when we get a visit from a British band – begging the question: Are British rock bands better than North American ones? Short answer: Yes. We’ll go to the scoreboard in a moment, but for now celebrate the return of Coldplay, playing April 17 at Rexall Place. The band has chosen […]
Posted on December 2, 2011
By Albert Smith
Comedy
Can we talk? No! Because we never got an interview with Joan Rivers. But does that stop us from having the legendary 78-year-old comedienne as our special guest star in another fascinating Giggle City expose? It does not! Rivers, who proved her status as the queen of insult comedy at the Jubilee Auditorium on Tuesday, has […]
Posted on November 15, 2011
By Albert Smith
Music, The Latest
After a hot summer of hot pop divas, a wave of winter waifs is upon us. Define waif? These are not rocker girls, nor pure folk singers. There are the kind of female singers whose poppy yet genre-bending songs do not generally contain references to alcohol consumption, explicit sexual acts or pleas for the DJ […]
Posted on November 3, 2011
By Albert Smith
Comedy, Music, Theatre
Interviewing Dave Brockie is not much different than talking to Oderus Urungus, his alter-ego front-demon in GWAR. One is a loudmouthed, opinionated alien monster that hates humanity. The other is a loudmouthed, opinionated artist that hates humanity. Other than that, they’re exactly the same. Of course Brockie doesn’t hate humanity. It’s satire. Playing Friday at […]
Posted on October 30, 2011
By Albert Smith
Music, The Latest, Theatre
Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil is a match made in heaven – literally, as some people might believe, since Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour probably wouldn’t exist if he were still alive. Drawing more than 20,000 fans to a two night stand at Rexall Place earlier this week, the $60 million production is […]
Posted on October 25, 2011
By Albert Smith
Front Slider, Music
After an entire exhausting week of comedy, it’s time to wipe that grin off your face and gird your loins for ROCK in the last week of OCTOBER. We shall call this combination ROCKTOBERFEST. There’s so much rock in town this weekend that even an attempt to render a joke in this usual spot would […]
