New Music Revue: WISH’s psychedelics best left aloneWISH WISH (Hand Drawn Dracula) 2/5 After a couple of mugs of coffee I sat down to listen to WISH’s self-titled and self-described “alternative/psychedelic” album. I quickly became irritated by the excessively grungy sound of feedback from heavily distorted guitars going off on unending solo jam sprees. Perhaps the coffee had made me overly sensitive […] Continue Reading |
Derriere redux: The return of Victoria pop-punkers BumThis is the story of a ’90s Victoria pop-punk band that got pretty huge in faraway places like Spain and Japan, and put out records on labels based in places as distant as Australia, but never really got enough respect in their hometown. Now, almost 20 years since they disbanded, Bum are back for at […] Continue Reading |
Wonderheads delights Fringe with fast-paced comedy adventureBecause its shows are selected by lottery, the Victoria Fringe Festival is a real hit-and-miss affair where you can come across amazing shows and, well, not-so-amazing shows on your theatre-going travels. Portland-based Wonderheads is a young theatre company with a pretty great reputation in Victoria, due to their two previous hit shows, Grim & Fischer and Loon. So […] Continue Reading |
Wonderheads return to Fringe with comedy-adventure The Middle of EverywhereSometimes it takes some time and experience to realize some of your earliest ideas. Kate Braidwood, co-head of Wonderheads Theatre, first began development of her company’s new show, The Middle of Everywhere, as a thesis project while she was studying at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in Northern California. The BC-born theatre writer […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Mastodon’s Once More ‘Round the Sun a motherload of richesMastodon Once More ‘Round the Sun (Reprise Records) 4/5 Atlanta technical metal juggernaut/unlikely success story Mastodon have a rich, varied discography well worth spending lots of time with. Here on album six, they hit a mean median middle ground of all the elements that makes Mastodon Mastodon: technical and expansive progressive metal, swarming and disconcerting […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: HaverfordHaverford Alaskan Summer (independent) 1.5/5 Long Island, New York is known for iced tea and being the most populated island in the United States. It is also home to the dreary alternative indie band known as Haverford. Haverford does not disappoint on their latest EP… unless you were expecting music that was actually worth listening […] Continue Reading |
Martin Popoff’s new hair metal book looks at a rockin’ eraEven though the hair metal scene of yesterday is alive and well, it’s not quite the same: you don’t see Poison videos going viral or tweets from members of Cinderella all over the place. But, once upon a time, they were on every television and radio station across North America. It was the ’80s, and […] Continue Reading |
The Belfry’s The Bomb-itty of Errors mixes Shakespeare and hip hop, with hilarious resultsWhat do you get when you mix Shakespeare with old-school, down-and-dirty hip hop? Probably either a laugh riot or a train wreck. Thankfully, Belfry’s The Bomb-itty of Errors is the former. Set in modern-day New York City, Bomb-itty loosely follows the plot of Shakespeare’s original Comedy of Errors, plus some of the writer’s own flair. […] Continue Reading |
Victoria Fringe Festival all about community, discoveryWith 54 shows spread across multiple venues during 11 jam-packed days of live theatre, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by Victoria Fringe Fest. But, according to festival organizers and those who are mounting live theatre productions during Fringe, the best way to embrace the organized chaos of the annual live theatre festival is to jump […] Continue Reading |
Bubba Sparxxx to bring country rap to Rock of the WoodsNow that it’s had some time to settle in, the announcement that country rap artist Bubba Sparxxx is headlining the first night of this year’s Rock of the Woods festival, taking place on farmlands just outside of Duncan, is surprisingly fitting. Farms, music, and country rap? Seems like a perfect match. Sparxxx (real name: Warren […] Continue Reading |
