MUSIC PREVIEW: Danzig remains a heavy hitter
This weekend’s heavy hitter award goes to the one and only Danzig, which slams its way into the city with an appearance at Union Hall on Sunday night as part of the 25th “Anniversary Of Danzig” tour. Yes, Union Hall, formerly the Thunderdome, formerly Goose Loonies, formerly whatever else it used to be called. The […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Folk fest earns indie cred
The best action isn’t always on the main stage at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. Take, for example, Carolina Chocolate Drops. They performed at Interstellar Rodeo last year, and received rave reviews from everyone. The old-time string band from North Carolina, who perform with banjos, jugs, kazoos, bones, quills, a cello and a beatbox, perform […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Surrounded on all sides
The region is now in the epicentre of the perfect storm of festival season. Vast musical gatherings are surrounding the city on all sides. The long range forecast calls for more festivals of all kinds – at least until school starts – so the public is urged to take proper measures. Step 1: Which one […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: The Taste of Music
You may know it for the food, but this year’s incarnation of The Taste Of Edmonton is pulling out all the stops in its musical lineup as well. Thursday night starts off with a bang, as Vancouver’s Hey Ocean! takes center stage, whose catchy melodies will surely whisk you away to a laid-back beach. The […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Chains that bind us
The weekend begins with a bang Thursday, with a pair of standout acts slamming into the city. First, at Rexall Place, the legendary Alice In Chains. Born in the thick sludge of the Seattle grunge scene, the band rose to international fame in the early 1990s with songs like “Would?”, “Them Bones”, “Rooster”, and “Down […]
Promoters work to salvage flooded out Sled Island Festival
CALGARY – I woke up Friday morning to see downtown Calgary covered in brown water no more than a block from my vantage point at Hotel Arts, which was on evacuation order after power and water had been shut off. I’d spent the previous two nights getting soaked walking from venue to venue, trying to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Just a big list of cool stuff
There are some major events going on over the next week, including the Edmonton International Jazz Festival with bass-wielding urban-jazz Goddess Esperanza Spalding on Tuesday, June 25; and the one and only Herbie Hancock on June 27, both at the Winspear Centre. “Johnny Jazz Passes,” conferring free admission to a myriad of other jazz fest […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Sled Island Spillover Effect
NextFest continues through the weekend with a deluge of intriguing and diverse gigs, and we bow to their offerings for much of the weekend as summer festival season starts to kick into full gear. The big upcoming date in the music calendar is next Wednesday, June 19th, as the “Sled Island Spillover Effect” takes hold […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Nextfest best bet
Edmonton’s first major arts festival of the season – Nextfest – takes over the city for the next week and a half, featuring almost every art form you could imagine, from theatre to dance, from visual arts to film, and of course music. The most interesting option amongst its many offerings may be a combination […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Cowpunk high school reunion
Jr. Gone Wild is performing its long-awaited comeback show in southwest Edmonton on Friday night that will undoubtedly go down in the annals of local music lore. It’s going to be a cowpunk high school reunion! This band is legendary in local music circles, having been founded in 1982 after a false start in Calgary, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Primus to get trippy
It turns out you didn’t actually have to decide whether to see Mumford and Sons or “xx” on Wednesday night – you could’ve gone to both shows, what with the Rexall curfew and a late set time for xx. Though maybe your bank account would’ve said differently. This weekend there’s a few shows worthy of […]
WEEKEND MUSIC: Dostoyevsky ghosts haunt indie folk from Seattle
There’s an intriguing suite of live music choices this weekend – from album releases to music about chocolate to an after-party for a craft fair, the one can’t-miss show is an early gig Friday at the Pawn Shop featuring Seattle’s Ivan & Alyosha. The wondrous spirit of his indie folk quartet is matched if not […]
