by Sheldon Birnie
Hockey is fun. Music is great. It’s a pretty simple formula. Continue reading “Junos 2014 :: JunoCup a winning format for fun”
Junos 2014 :: Q Live at the Burton Cummings
by Matt Williams
The impeccably tailored, and always undeniably charming Jian Ghomeshi opened his live taping of Q in Winnipeg on Thursday with a joke that seems simple at first, but more telling upon a little bit of thought:
“It’s awesome to be back in Calgary,” the Persian prince exclaimed.
An obvious, and pretty funny one, but as the saying goes, there’s some truth to every joke. The host of one of Canada’s coolest radio shows went on to refer to the venue of his last live taping here as “the garage” (in fact, The Gas Station Theatre), despite referring to our fair city as his “second home.” But I’m not here to rip on Jian, who does a fantastic job week in, week out (just try to tell me you can do that amount of work and stay standing). And venue name slip-ups are to be forgiven. This isn’t his town, and we shouldn’t be offended he flubbed. But there is a bigger problem that comes to light here, and that is the fact that the decision-making part of this country has no idea what goes on in our region of it, and in some cases may or may not even acknowledge its existence. Continue reading “Junos 2014 :: Q Live at the Burton Cummings”
Teenage Kicks :: All Through The Night
by Matt Williams
Last night, Power 97 hooked up Winnipeg’s hungry rock ‘n’ roll fans with three bands and a St. Patrick’s Day party. It was about exactly what you’d imagine if you picked up on the key words there – dudes in “Keep Calm and Chive On” and Dropkick Murphy’s shirts, young longhairs and aging rock star wannabes, women with short, edgy haircuts in faux leather, Bud cans and Jager on special. Most of the crowd looked underage, like it was their first time seeing live music in a bar, and that sentiment was reinforced tenfold when a fat drunk in shamrock sunglasses knocked my beer out of my hand and fell flat on his ass. Neither him nor his Neanderthal buddy in Mardi Gras beads offered to replace it. Kids should learn the rules. Continue reading “Teenage Kicks :: All Through The Night”