Motley Crue to commandeer Edmonton in April

Motley Crue to commandeer Edmonton in April

Edmonton has a special place in its collective heart for Motley Crue, and while it’s certainly no surprise the boys are back in town – playing Sunday, April 28 at Rexall Place – they’re in for a warm welcome. With Canada’s own reformed rock Gods Big Wreck opening, tickets go on sale Friday. Crue has […]

Bruno Mars announces world tour: Edmonton in July

Bruno Mars announces world tour: Edmonton in July

Bruno Mars has revealed the dates on his extensive Moonshine Jungle World Tour behind his second studio album “Unorthodox Jukebox” – which will include Edmonton, at Rexall Place, Thursday, July 18. With British singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding opening the show, the ticket on sale date will be announced shortly. Mars, aka Peter Gene Hernandez, is considered […]

MUSIC: From punk to politics, Joe Keithley rocks the vote

MUSIC: From punk to politics, Joe Keithley rocks the vote

Joe Keithley knows there’s no sense trying to hide 35 years of punk rock fury. When the legendary D.O.A. frontman announced last fall that he would run for the N.D.P. nomination in B.C.’s Coquitlam-Burke Mountain riding, he was well aware he had a spectacular rap sheet ripe for potential mud-slinging opponents to pick from. Keithley, […]

MUSIC: KingDoom to lead ‘industrial revolution’ from Edmonton

MUSIC: KingDoom to lead ‘industrial revolution’ from Edmonton

With one member who used to play with Marilyn Manson and another who played with Econoline Crush, Edmonton’s own KingDoom is hoping to lead a new “industrial revolution” for a genre of music that seems to be in a bit of a lull. KingDoom plays Saturday at the Pawn Shop, on the heels of a […]

Taylor Swift returns to Edmonton in June

Taylor Swift returns to Edmonton in June

It looks like Taylor Swift has made some room on her tour for Edmonton after all. The 23-year-old femme fatale will play at Rexall Place June 25 and 26 as part of an extensive tour in support of her latest album Red. With opening act Ed Sheeran – whose duet with Elton John was one […]

REVIEW: Krall’s sultry show all grace, no pretense

REVIEW: Krall’s sultry show all grace, no pretense

There’s a realness about Diana Krall that can’t be measured. Sure, she’s a multi-platinum-selling, Grammy and Juno award-winning artist who happens to be publicly married to another multi-platinum-selling, Grammy award-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame artist. Despite all that and more, there are no emanations of celebrity from her onstage. Maybe it’s the Canadian […]

Herbie Hancock to headline 2013 Jazz Fest

Herbie Hancock to headline 2013 Jazz Fest

For anyone old enough to remember the annual Playboy jazz poll, “Herbie Hancock on the piano” should have a familiar ring to it – and now he’s coming back to Edmonton, still going strong. The multiple Grammy winner is a headliner at the 2013 Edmonton International Jazz Festival, performing Thursday, June 27 at the Winspear […]

Boys club at the Edmonton Music Awards nominations

Boys club at the Edmonton Music Awards nominations

The nominees have been crunched and the numbers are in – and the 2013 Edmonton Music Awards seems to have delivered a healthy cross-section of names to represent Edmonton’s music scene. Corb Lund, Jay Sparrow (right) and Mitchmatic lead the pack with six nominations each – a bit of a boys club, but stylistically diverse, […]

CONCERT REVIEW: Derivative Muse bombards the senses

CONCERT REVIEW: Derivative Muse bombards the senses

There are plenty of adjectives one can use for Muse’s show at Rexall Place on Super Bowl Sunday: Bombastic, pretentious, overwhelming, dazzling, even stupefying – but in a good way. It was a fierce bombardment of the senses, a visual extravaganza that overloaded your auditory and visual faculties to the point of no return. The […]

REVIEW: Jacksons all about the groove, the love, in Edmonton

REVIEW: Jacksons all about the groove, the love, in Edmonton

The Jacksons showed us the love at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Ball on Saturday night – a slick, polished show, yet with lots of heart. The annual soiree at the Shaw Conference Centre began by having that big show feel, backlights coming up slowly to reveal two sets of two keyboards, drums, bass, big […]

OPERA: A carnival named desire in Les Contes d’Hoffman

OPERA: A carnival named desire in Les Contes d’Hoffman

This Hoffman is one messed-up dude. First he falls for a chick who’s clearly a robot and only finds out when her arm comes off. Then he falls in love with a woman who’s so frail she sings herself to death, then with some floozy who leaves him for a cowboy the moment his back […]

CONCERT REVIEW: Amy Grant show a musical Pentecostal service

CONCERT REVIEW: Amy Grant show a musical Pentecostal service

A full moon hovering over Shaw Conference Centre during Amy Grant’s performance at Break Forth 2013 brought no portents of imminent danger – and for a non Christian attending a Christian music concert, it was a new experience. This wasn’t your usual rock concert. After years of going to heavy metal shows, I was allowed […]