Play uses Charlie Brown to remind everyone to be happyWhat is happiness for you? Or perhaps a better question is always this: what is happiness for Charlie Brown? “Charlie Brown says happiness is a happy pencil, because the girl he loves has nibbled on a pencil,” says Fran Gebhard, director of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. “Happiness is sharing sandwiches and a friend.” […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Billy BraggBilly Bragg Tooth and Nail (Dine Alone Records) 3.5/5 Tooth and Nail, Billy Bragg’s first studio solo album in five years, is definitely a lot more listenable and thoughtful than past albums, but it doesn’t quite stand up next to the three Mermaid Avenue albums he did with Wilco, where they used Woody Guthrie […] Continue Reading |
Concert review: Leonard Cohen stuns Victoria crowd at Save-on-Foods Memorial CentreWhen Leonard Cohen climbed to the stage of Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre on the night of Thursday, March 7, a packed arena of fans stood as one and wrapped him in a roar. Cohen opened with “Dance Me to the End of Love” and sealed his connection with us by dropping to his knees while he […] Continue Reading |
Theatre: Ghosts of the Plaza looks at Victoria’s Plaza Hotel historyThe play Ghosts of the Plaza has elements of comedy and drama, and it also has a musical number. However, that’s not all it has to offer. Between all that, it manages to incorporate a part of Victoria’s history into the show. “A history that hasn’t really been looked at,” says play co-writer Sarah Smith, […] Continue Reading |
Belfry presents Let’s Make an Opera to Victoria theatre audiencesMost people have never thought about being in an opera. Now, everyone walking through the Belfry’s doors can have a chance to do just that. Let’s Make An Opera & The Little Sweep is a unique piece by Benjamin Britten, a main player in 20th-century British classical music. It’s a play about the making of […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Hollerado, KEN modeHollerado White Paint (Royal Mountain Records) 3.5/5 Sharing the stage with both Weezer and Jack White, Ottawa-based indie-rock band Hollerado have been sweeping the globe since debuting Record in a Bag back in 2010. Building steam over the past two years, their hit single, “Pick Me Up” from latest album White Paint does not […] Continue Reading |
Victoria artists flock together like birds of a featherStar-crossed artists Julien Loiselle and Aram Heinze are teaming up for Birds of a Feather, an art exhibition about women, birds, the conflict between beauty and inner demons, and taking flight. The luck of the draw brought Loiselle and Heinze together when they started working together at Spinnakers Brewpub. “Once we realized we were both […] Continue Reading |
Book: Clarke Champniss returns with Republic of Rock ‘N’ Roll ’80s music tome via WarnerFor some, the music of the ’80s was as cheeseball as it gets. But for music journalist Kim Clarke Champniss, it was a revolution. The former MuchMusic VJ details what he says was one of the most important decades in rock in his new e-book, The Republic of Rock ‘N’ Roll, due out in March […] Continue Reading |
Reasons to Be Pretty tackles sensitive issue of beauty with successHow do you know the reason someone is pretty? Perhaps a few things pop into your head; perhaps nothing does. The play Reasons to be Pretty handles a sensitive and controversial topic. The advantages of beauty are the issue; obviously, the heated discussion is ongoing. At the beginning of Reasons to be Pretty, the audience […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: February 20, 2013 issueAlan Jeffries Coffee ’til Midnight (Forward Music Group) 3.5/5 Alan Jeffries brings his award-winning bluegrass guitar playing to his debut album, Coffee ’til Midnight. Full of traditional bluegrass tunes and originals penned in the same vein, Jeffries and his band keep the energy levels high throughout. If you like bluegrass, this album will put a […] Continue Reading |
