CONCERT REVIEW: The Wailers spread love at Open Sky

The skies sure opened wide Saturday evening at the Open Sky Music Festival – but that didn’t stop the revelry at Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre. Girls danced in the downpour, teenagers wrapped themselves up like ghosts in soaking sleeping bags, and dreadlocked students made friendly conversation while the weather howled through the festival grounds and […]

Stone Temple Pilots on sale Friday

Pearl Jam stole all that 20-year nostalgia mojo, but there is another … Tickets go on sale Friday for the return of veteran grunge rock band Stone Temple Pilots, at the the Shaw Conference Centre on Wednesday, Sept. 12. Featuring the flambouyant and occasionally unstable lead singer Weiland, the band was going to be working […]

Interview with a Wailer: High times and kindred spirits at Open Sky

You don’t have to smoke marijuana to play reggae properly – but it helps. “God knows!” declares Barrington Brown, aka Koolant, the new lead singer for the Wailers – who, at the age of 27, hasn’t been alive as long as Bob Marley has been dead. Koolant is nonetheless a stone-cold, real-deal Jamaican Rasta-man who […]

WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: High on Open Sky

It goes without saying that the biggest live event of the weekend is the Open Sky Music Festival down at Hawrelak Park – but we’re going to say it anyway. Some extraordinary talent takes the stages Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This is always a stellar event, with great music, food, and fun. The other big […]

Edmonton Pride Festival more than words

For those in the straightest quarters of Edmonton who don’t know, the word “Pride” in its proper form has come to mean “gay pride,” just as the word “gay” in all its meanings will apply to the big parade and subsequent party taking place Saturday at noon in downtown Edmonton. It’s the Edmonton Pride Parade. […]

Colin James to play the Jubilee Auditorium Nov. 15

He just came back to say … I’m back! Man, that Colin James joke never gets old, and yes, the multi-stylistic Vancouver veteran will return to perform at the Jubilee Auditorium on Thursday, Nov. 15. Tickets go on sale Friday. A man who never wears out his welcome in this town, James is touring with […]

Folk fest sells out in record time, Justin Bieber, too

Stop whatever has replaced presses: The Edmonton Folk Music Festival has sold out. Again. Like anybody didn’t see that coming. “It was crazy,” says producer Terry Wickham, who reports that 1,200 people showed up at the folk fest office to buy tickets in person at 9 p.m. Friday morning, where it’s usually around 400. Online […]

Area band Random Falter gets $10,000 boost from NOW! radio for new CD

Local alt-rock band Random Falter has been working toward its debut album for four years – but it would have been a lot longer if not for a generous cash prize from NOW! Radio 102.3. The band financed more than half of its upcoming debut with a $10,000 “10K20” grant it won last October from […]

WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: Deer Tick about to pop

What appears to be a quiet weekend for original live music is livened up by a number of highlights that include a CD release party for local favourites Scenic Route To Alaska, a 20th anniversary gig for punk veterans Chixdiggit, and perhaps the biggest draw of all, Deer Tick at the Starlite Room. Friday Fall […]

CONCERTS: Gotye to play Shaw Conference Centre Aug. 28

Wasn’t that just a song we used to know? Not yet – not until we can see it performed live. And of course Gotye is still going strong. With “Somebody That I Used To Know” hitting No. 1 in just about every country in the world, the Australian singer and his band are set to […]

FOLK FEST 2012: Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Emmylou and more – expect another sell out

The best things in life aren’t available online – like the first tickets to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. Last year sold out in two hours, leaving hundreds of disappointed fans. So to make it fair, this year – featuring Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Arrested Development, Corb Lund and many, many more – […]

CONCERT REVIEW: Roger Waters brilliantly reinvents The Wall

It’s quite obvious that Roger Waters was the smart one in Pink Floyd. The others may have been talented folks, but Waters was, and still is, the deep thinker. When the other version of Pink Floyd appeared in Edmonton several years ago, they had the bigger show in the bigger stadium. And it was all […]