REVIEW: A lot of love in the room for Melissa Etheridge

I have a confession to make: I used to have a crush on Melissa Etheridge. It was a little disappointing when she turned out to be gay, but then I’d just fantasize I was a lesbian and the infatuation continued. She is beautiful inside and out. Basking in her warm, open-hearted presence and grooving on her formidable […]

Morning man on a mission: Terry Evans takes on censorship

Terry Evans has worn many hats in his long radio career in Edmonton. Wasn’t he a clean-head for a while there? Maybe it was a shave-your-head-for-cancer-awareness thing. He even tried stand-up comedy (he wasn’t very good, sadly) but says he hasn’t had an act since 1993. He’s far too busy. In addition to wearing his […]

MUSIC: Lionize feelin’ irie about their odd stoner image

Fact: if you play in a band that blends reggae, classic rock and heavy, Black Sabbath-y grooves, people are going to assume you smoke pot. The stoner rock tag is slightly perplexing to Nate Bergman, who does vocals and guitar for Maryland band Lionize. After all, he ponders, doesn’t all rock sound better when you’re […]

MUSIC PREVIEW: from Motown to E-town to Downtown with the Pale Moon Lights

Pale Moon Lights, with Concealer, Jody Shenkarek and Fear and Worry Sat at 8 p.m. The ARTery, 9535 Jasper Ave It was almost like seeing the Pale Moon Lights for the very first time at last December’s CD release for Notebook Magazine’s Great Northern Revival compilation. They’d been around for years, but the three-piece – […]

MUSIC: Casino gigs all in the Temptations

On an average night, a casino lounge in Edmonton is a long way from the big time, when Otis Williams and his bandmates in the Temptations were cranking out hit after hit, eventually putting the Motown legends in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But when the lights go up, and the MC has […]

Music … and a few other gifts, besides

Edmontonian Rhea March isn’t just building a team of talented young musicians. She’s building a family. March has spent the past four years assembling a roster of gifted Albertan songwriters under age 22 for her non-profit U22 Productions. U22 shows youngsters the ropes of the music industry through mentorship, performance coaching, booking, management, promotion, recording […]

LPs? For the record, the aficionados are sticking around

Independent record stores are an endangered species. We must do our best to preserve these little music shops and their fragile natural habitat away from encroaching box stores and other predators. For without record stores there would be no more … Record Store Clerks. We need Record Store Clerks. Who else will tell us what’s […]

Rihanna gets Loud in Edmonton June 22

Poetic justice 101: Chris Brown proves himself a complete twit after he didn’t win a Grammy (complaining on Twitter: “This industry is based on politics and a**-kissing!”) – while the woman he was convicted of assaulting has turned into an even bigger star than ever. In the wake of collecting a trophy for best dance […]

Lil’ Wayne free at last, at Rexall April 28

Experience the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain – when Lil Wayne comes to town! Jail is worth its weight in hype for this particular rap superstar as he embarks on his I’m Still Music tour. The 28-year-old rapper performs […]

Death Cab for Cutie gets sensitive in Edmonton

Welcome to another episode if Who Named the Band? Our guest today is Death Cab for Cutie, which brings its breezy yet sensitive brand of morbidly artistic pop rock music to the Shaw Conference Centre on Tuesday, May 24. In addition to past sensitive new-age rockers like Soul Meets Body or I Will Follow You […]

Rammstein rams Rexall, Mother Mother moves up to Edmonton Events Centre

The concerts are really starting to pile up here. Now it’s Rammstein coming to Rexall Place on Friday, May 13 – a full-blown, flaming-phallus, exploding arena-rock spectacular from the German techno-metal band that makes Marilyn Manson look like Marilyn Monroe. Maybe because it’s all in German it sounds scarier. They could do The Beer Barrel […]

Jackson Browne Solo and Acoustic – at the Jube March 28

Music fans ought to be familiar with this old bait ‘n’ switch: Mr. Super Impressive Folk Rock Legend is coming to Edmonton! Yay! And he’s playing solo. Oh … First Chris Cornell and now this: Jackson Browne has announced the second leg of his Solo Acoustic Tour, which will bring his socially conscious folk-rock stylings […]