Labour Day Events
The Labour Day weekend. Always a tough one.
It’s great to have a long weekend, but this September holiday also means summer is ending. We might as well enjoy it. (And there is supposed to be nice weather.)
The Labour Day weekend features one of Edmonton’s most musical summer festivals. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s annual trip to Hawrelak Park for Symphony Under The Sky.
Tonight, Saturday, and Sunday, there are Movies on the Square. This weekend’s films are Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, and Kung Fu Panda.
A few music notes for you (no pun intended)…Tonight, Mass Choir is at the Pawn Shop…and Paul Bellows releases a CD, at the Haven Social Club, with James Murdoch, Nathan Carroll, Stew Kirkwood, and Peter Hendrickson…Saturday, there’s a non-stop dance party called Metropolis, at the Edmonton Event Centre…Sunday, Sonic Boom is back for another long weekend at Northlands.
In sports…the NSC Minnesota Stars are taking on FC Edmonton Saturday – FC Edmonton 2012 season tickets are already on sale…Sunday, the Edmonton Wildcats are home to Winnipeg Rifles in Prairie Football, at Clarke Stadium…
And on Saturday, International Bacon Day is celebrated at Lux, with a 3-course family-style meal featuring bacon.
End of August Events
Yes, Edmonton, summer is winding down. But, don’t worry, there’s still plenty of great stuff going on to lift your spirits. (And pretty good weather recently too.)
On the festival circuit this weekend, there’s DEDfest, In/stall/ed, East Meets West, and Open Sky.
DEDfest is Edmonton’s annual horror film fest. In/stall/ed is is a unique performance and visual art display, happening in the McCauley neighbourhoods in parking spaces. Yeah, public art baby! Latitude 53 is running this, and there will be 17 performances and installations on Saturday. East Meets West continues up in Little Italy and the McCauley neighbourhood, and there’s Mercury Opera performing Madame Butterfly in Giovanni Caboto Park. The Open Sky Music Festival is packing Hawrelak Park with bands and bands and musicians and more musicians.
If you’re into walking, the Highlands neighbourhood is kicking off their walking map this weekend. These maps are great ways to get to know an Edmonton neighbourhood.
I haven’t heard a whole lot about MEAET but it sounds like a cool idea. A bunch of people get together, have some food, enjoy themselves, then vote on who to give some money to for a project.
You can also Show What You Grow, at Fort Edmonton Park.
In music, there’s the earlier mentioned Open Sky Music Festival, with plenty of bands and artists down in Hawrelak Park…Wunderbar’s got Fire Next Time tonight and The Joe and Doug Hoyer triumphantly returning to Edmonton (after a national tour) on Saturday night. Also on Saturday, Hale Hale, Southroot, and Zero Something play the Starlite Room. Back to Friday night, Warped Tourers Inner City Elegance are at Expressionz Cafe. Now back to Saturday (surely I should have done this in chronological order) there’s live music at Ricky’s in Mill Woods (with Consilience and Tyson Skakun).
Oh, and if you walk by CKUA on Jasper Avenue tonight and it seems like something cool is going on it’s because they’re celebrating their amazing record library and have a live performance from 100 Mile House.
Down in the river valley, the Edmonton Capitals host the Calgary Vipers through the weekend.
And over at Clarke Stadium (beside Commonwealth) the Edmonton Huskies are home to Saskatoon Hilltops in Prairie Football.
Fringe Events
Alright, so there’s no getting around the big event happening right now in Edmonton. The 30th Edmonton International Fringe Festival; Fringeopolis is on this weekend and until August 21. Almost all of the 180 plays will be happening in the Old Strathcona neighbourhood, but watch for venues in other parts of the city, like the Edmonton Public Library, downtown, and 118 Avenue.
We’re posting videos for Fringe plays, so keep your eyes on our “From the Web” category.
Now, that is not the only thing happening in Edmonton. A couple of smaller festival/street party items this weekend:
- Art in the Alley – art, music, an outdoor movie, and more, all happening in the Alley of Light. That’s the backlane that runs from Beaver Hills House Park, past the Sobeys, across 104 Street, over to the U of A’s downtown campus.
- Eastwoodfest – Back for another summer, this celebrates all things Eastwood (118 Avenue, betweem 85 and 87 Street)
- There’s a tea party at the U of A’s environmental students group naturalized site, which was top community garden in the Front Yards in Bloom contest.
In sports…the Edmonton Capitals are back home, hosting the Yuma Scorpions this weekend…FC Edmonton is home to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers…the Oil City Derby Girls’ rookies are taking on the Yukon Roller Girls…northwest of Edmonton, the St. Albert Heavenly Rollers take on the Cold Lake Lakeland Lady Killers (such a good name), on the 76th anniversary of roller derby…this weekend is also the kick off to the Prairie Football Conference season, with the Edmonton Wildcats home to the Calgary Colts, at Clarke Park (beside Commonwealth Stadium)…
In Friday music…it actually kicks serious butt…The Edmonton Show is back for a VIth run (that would be 6th), with Ann Vriend and Liam Trimble leading the way…Whiskeyface kicks off their tour at Brixx with The Sorels…Michael Rault and Sans AIDS are at The ARTery…Romi Mayes is releasing a CD tonight at the Haven Social Club…Carrie Day is at The Carrot (don’t forget about The Carrot!)…All Time Low is at the Edmonton Events Centre…
Saturday…The AwesomeHots get the day going with a Hair of the Dog afternoon show at the Black Dog…Paperplanes and Dragonboats release an EP, with The Paronomasiac, at The ARTery…
You'll be screaming with excitement over The Room.
All weekend…the Edmonton Rock Music Festival, a collaboration of The Rock and Roll Society of Edmonton and K-97, takes over Hawrelak Park. There will be plenty of, uh, rock.
You can always catch a movie in the cool confines of a theatre. And The Room is at Metro Cinema tonight at 11:20pm. If you haven’t seen The Room yet, YOU NEED TO SEE The Room. (Metro Cinema is now in the Garneau Theatre.)
You can hug your way to donated peanut butter, at West Edmonton Mall.
Oh, and if you’re using the LRT this weekend, remember that the train will not stop at Coliseum station because of work on the station platform.
Weekend Events
If you happen to look at Gallagher Park and wonder what the heck all those people are up to, it’s cool, it’s Folk Fest.
But that’s not the only festival in Edmonton this weekend. Heck no! It’s also Cariwest, so expect Jasper Avenue to be flooded with colour for the parade tomorrow, and then party all day at Churchill Square.
It also happens to be Animethon weekend.
And today is International Beer Day! So, drink some beer.
Now, outside of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival there’s still music to be had.
You can’t much more opposite folk than metal. The Starlite Room and Brixx are hosting Metal Fest 2011 tonight. Down at Hawrelak Park tonight you can help raise money for the Canadian Liver Foundation at a concert with Sister Gray and The Apresnos. Also tonight…The Secretaries, Hellfire Special, Throttle, and Nature are at the Pawn Shop…Over at Wunderbar, you can help Hang Loose raise money for a “Solidarity Rock” trip to Cuba. They’re playing with with Service:Fair and The Frolics.
Tomorrow night at Wunderbar it’s Field + Stream, Extra Happy Ghost, and Lab Coast…Dragonette is at the Edmonton Events Centre, with Dirty Radio…and The Weekend Kids, with Old Sins, Liv, and The National Security Council are all at Brixx.
This weekend also officially opens the Garneau Theatre as the new home of Metro Cinema. (For non-Metro movies, Gregg’s got some thoughts.)
FC Edmonton is home to the Puerto Rico Islands Saturday night, at Foote Field.
And a reminder: The LRT does not stop at Coliseum station this weekend, but still runs Clareview to Century Park.
July 5 Edmonton Headlines
There is a fist joke here. But I'm taking the high road.
Good morning Edmonton. All caught up after the long weekend, are we?
Canada Post’s strike and lockout can be blamed for delaying at least one hearing at City Hall. Though, the councillors and staff who put the matter over should be thanked for doing so, since they probably could have gone ahead.
MacEwan’s got a neat summer program. They run a “get ready for post-secondary school” week for aboriginal students making the transition to college and university.
More bike lanes! (And paths. And connections.)
Edmonton’s Big Brothers, Big Sisters, and Boys & Girls Club are all the same organization now.
The U of A’s first chair of Islamic Studies has died while overseas.
An Edmonton school, and a Beaumont one, is off to England for some Shakespeare.
Triathletes heading down to Hawrelak Park this weekend might not be swimming in bird poop. Well, not as much bird poop.
*****
For the public healthcare supporters (which is most of us, I presume) you can’t get a better example of private healthcare than a bunch of seniors being evicted.
The province’s top cancer doctor (top as in head the head of administration) is retiring after four decades in medicine.
Yeah, an oil spill would probably hurt support of an oil pipeline. Speaking of spills…Alberta’s got a nice big role in the ones that happened on federally-regulated lines…
A new deal between the federal government and the provinces should bring more than $150-million to Alberta to build affordable housing.
While a couple of the Progressive Conservative leadership candidates (Alison Redford and Gary Mar) are stacking up the money, Doug Horner is showing off his Tory MLA supporters.
If you don’t want to get hit by lightning, stay out of Thorsby.
Long weekend…driving blitz…lots of tickets… You’d think that since it’s always the same story on long weekends police would just enforce the rules of the road in full-force all of the time. Instead of every couple of weekends.
There’s a shortlist for the team to build the new Royal Alberta Museum.
*****
Edmonton’s got some serious tacos going on now.
Family Day Weekend
We’ll kick things off for this holiday weekend with a look at some live music in Edmonton.
Tonight the Uptown Folk Club kicks off Winterfest 2011, which means a busy weekend for folkies…There’s the Rogers Media Battle of the Bands at NAIT. I fear N.N. may destroy The Nest with rock…The Joe (THE JOE!) is holding an all-ages show for his newest release, Float or Flail. He’s gonna have a lot of performing friends along for the evening (Speaking of all-ages, the Jubilee is hosting Art Music Play tonight.)…Cygnets is at the new New City…KeysNKrates at the Pawn Shop…The Haven Social Club is hosting another Friday The Sound of Edmonton…
When’s the last time you put on your skinny jeans and hung out at the Hydeaway? This Saturday Xplosionation is there, releasing their new EP, and they’ve been kind enough to give us a track for your listening pleasure. Says bassist Nathan Woodward: “This EP is the culmination of 4 years of jamming and writing from three guys who love to have fun and rock out. It is our second release, but our first set of professional, sellable music.” Doors at 7, tickets 8$, EP can be purchased on iTunes. Also, there’s even more Xplosionation over at @mikeatqazam‘s excellent blog, New-Music-Michael.com .
We are Xplosionation – Xplosionation
If that’s not enough for your Saturday, The James T Kirks and Manraygun should blow it up real good. Boogie Patrol’s at Blues on Whyte too.
Heart and Melissa Etheridge are also in Edmonton this weekend.
Rexall Place will be bouncing with sportiness, as the Oil Kings, Oilers, and Rush all play at home. In other sports, the Oil City Derby Girls are hosing a rookie smackdown of Alberta proportions.
WinterLight don’t stop until, well, until spring is just about here. This weekend you get a double-dose with the Silver Skate Festival in Hawrelak Park and Family Day fun in Churchill Square. You can also Skate, Rattle & Roll Saturday at City Hall. To coincide with the holiday weekend and the NHL’s Heritage Classic, between Calgary and Montreal, the Glenora Community League’s got Family Fun Day and outdoor hockey at 10426-136 Street, 2-7pm.
Until the 26th Fringe Theatre Adventures and Edmonton Opera present The Barber of Barrhead. It’s the Barber of Seville in Barrhead, Alberta.
I totally forget to mention this (but am now including it by way of some Internet magic), but the Edmonton Symphony is getting all Bugs Bunny with great music from Warner Brothers and Hanna Barbera that subtly made us all listen to the classics.
And, my favourite, the World’s Hottest Commercials are back at the Empire City Centre Monday-Thursday, with a couple of lunchtime 45-minute runs for the downtown work crowd. It’s also a fundraiser for the Edmonton International Film Festival.
Oh, and watch out for LRT disruptions. Why they schedule this stuff for long weekends is beyond me. Except when you consider my conspiracy theory that the Edmonton Transit Service is actually run by the city’s top car dealers.
Symphony Under the Sky
As we mentioned Friday, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) kicked off its 2010-2011 season with the annual “Symphony Under the Sky,” at Hawrelak Park over the long weekend.
It’s a great way to put your feelers out for the ESO, since it’s in such a relaxed environment. (Check our Friday preview of the season for other “relaxed” options for the new symphony-goer.)
We were happy to be invited back to the Symphony Under the Sky to blog about it. Here’s some of what we saw: (more…)
Beautiful Music
Thanks to The Choir Girl I found this video with conductor Bob Bernhardt.
As we head into the Labour Day long weekend, we recognize the end of festival season here in Edmonton.
There are still festivals to be had through the fall and winter, it’s just not the same as our end-to-end festivals of the summer. This weekend, however, we get one more summer festival. It’s the Symphony Under the Sky (SUTS).
The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) kicks off its 2010-2011 season with SUTS tonight. There are performances all weekend in Hawrelak Park (which is pretty much the summer festival park), including two with fantastic violinist Karen Gomyo, and everything culminates Monday with artillery fire (and the 1812 Overture).
I figured this would be a good time to talk about the entire ESO season, so I dropped an e-mail to Philip Paschke, the ESO New Media Specialist.
There’s plenty of choice in the new season. So I asked what would be of note. First, for those of us that aren’t necessarily regular symphony-goers. (more…)
Edmonton Events
Boring headline aside, this weekend has the potential to blow your mind.
Sometimes all you need is a good beer, a place to be, and a phone. The phone is in case you need to find a better party.
East meets West is this weekend, which is where you get the best of Edmonton’s Chinatown and Little Italy. And this year kicks off with Karibuni Afrikafest (happening now!). Three days, three cultures, three times the fun.
Good thing I check ShareEdmonton for events. I’d have never heard about the Outdoor Nite Market otherwise. That’s tonight (Friday), on 107 Avenue, and it’s got a little of everything. The best item it has is a reason for people to be out on the street at night, which encourages good things.
This weekend, Hawrelak Park has the first-ever Open Sky Music Festival. It’s all about surf rock, island rock and reggae. The weather may not say summer, but that music sure does. (If the festival’s website isn’t working for you, there are details at ShareEdmonton’s event page.)
Telus Field will be hosting a music event Saturday too. Rock The River hits our city.
Saturday night I’ll likely be checking out Bohemia for the first time. N.N., Touch it and you will say ow, and The Mystery Ponies are playing.
Eamon McGrath is at New City. That’s Saturday too.
Lady Gaga is still here. If she’s still in Edmonton this weekend I’m going to start getting worried we won’t be able to get rid of her. And I’m going to borrow her wardrobe.
Since it looks like we might have already tapped out the good weather you can always head inside to see a movie.
FC Edmonton gets its final kicks at its warm-up season Saturday. The team is hosting Miami FC. I wonder if they’re playing for the right to have FC in their name? There can be only one!
The Eskimos are home to the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Shouldn’t we be going to the games this season, so as to not appear as bandwagon jumpers if they get good again?
Over at the River Cree Casino there’s also the All-In for Diabetes Poker Tournament. Buy-in is $250 and you can claim $100 for knocking out bounties, such as CTV’s Daryl McIntyre. If you bring a bag of clothing as a donation you can get extra chips too.
Fast, Football, Festivals, Free, and Fantastic
Longboarders are going to have to be brave to tackle the race through our river valley. Yikes!
As for our headline…when the alliteration shoe fits…
This weekend sees the end of another year of fringing. But, fret not, the 29th Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival lives on in our hearts.
Oh, and in these holdover plays.
Hope this smoke clears out because there are a few outdoor movies this weekend. Finding Nemo (another F!) is playing tonight at the Valley Zoo. (Oops! It was last night. Thanks for the heads up, Mike.)
Movies on the Square is back too, with Diary of a Wimpy Kid tonight, and Fantastic Mr. Fox Saturday night. Stony Plain has an outdoor movie too.
It’s Free Cookie Friday at Luzarra. Get over to Whyte Avenue and buy a coffee so you can get a cookie. That caffeine and sugar will only help you start the weekend better.
The tune-ups are done and the Prairie Football Conference is into the real stuff this weekend. The second-best team in the country, the Edmonton Wildcats, begin their season home to the Regina Thunder. Sunday at Clarke Park (beside Commonwealth Stadium).
The winless Edmonton Huskies also begin the regular season this weekend. They’ll take anything they can get after going 0-8 last season. They host the Calgary Colts Saturday night at Clarke.
This is actually quite a decent level of football if you can’t bear to watch the Eskimos embarrass themselves anymore. Tickets are also reasonably priced.
Another non-Eskimos option is the Edmonton Capitals. Tonight’s game is also chock full of diabetes info, courtesy of the Canadian Diabetes Association. (The Capitals are ALSO showing a movie outside, after their Saturday game. It’s The Rookie.)
DEDfest is back to scare the crap out of you, and generally make you squirm.
DEDfest may get you thinking about Hallowe’en, which may get you thinking about fall, which may get you thinking about farmers harvesting their crops, which leads me to mention the Corn Maze is open.
Let’s dip into the ShareEdmonton calendar for some fun.
Clearer air would also help the participants in the Edmonton Dragon Boat Festival, happening at Louise McKinney Park.
As mentioned earlier this week, Saturday is the Canadian Derby at Northlands. It’ll be all fancy hats, fast horses and…bikini girls…
Hawrelak Park’s got the blues. Dun, dun, dun da, dun…The Edmonton’s Labatt Blues Festival…Dun, dun, dun da, dun…
Don’t forget you can always seek shelter from the smoke in a nice, cool movie theatre. Gregg can tell you what’s likely worth your money.
And on Monday, we’ll be celebrating our first year alongside another one-year-old, The Unknown Studio. Come on out to Wunderbar, throw us a toonie, enjoy some fine beer, and hear life-affirming passages from celebrity autobiographies. Party pants not required.
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While messing up the Finding Nemo showtime I also forgot to mention The ARTery’s kick-ass weekend. The Get Down is playing Friday night (there’s still time, it’s still good) and Saturday is an artists’ garage sale/pancake breakfast/bbq/block party. Told you it was kick-ass.
The Fringiest Events
Of course it’s the Fringe!
The 29th annual Edmonton International Fringe Festival is all the arts pages will be talking about for the next week. There’s also lots of stuff happening around Old Strathcona that doesn’t take place in a theatre or on a stage. This is the big one, Edmonton.
Morgan had a good point, don’t just try to see the 5-star shows. Ask people what’s good, what’s interesting, what they think you might like. You can always poke around Twitter, and try #yegfringe, for just such questions and inquiries.
Hawrelak Park is busy again this weekend, with the Celtic Festival. BluesFest is next weekend (in Hawrelak Park)…so get warmed up at Rusty Reed’s with Dave Babcock and the Night Keepers
EastwoodFest is Saturday, in the Eastwood neighbourhood. (118 Avenue, 85-87 Streets.)
Churchill Square, which the City has been trying to fill with more events and happenings, in between festivals, has the Latin Festival this weekend. Cha-cha-cha.
There’s Tomoto Fare too. That’s about tomatoes.
West of the city, it’s the Stony Plain Cowboy Gathering Society get-together. You can expect cowboy art, culture, poetry, and music.
Lots of new movies are out this weekend, like Eat, Pray, Love and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Gregg’s got your lowdown.
In music…N.N. plays an EP release show at the Starlite Room tonight, with Van Gohost and I.E.D. Sunday night at the Starlite Room it’s Fran Healy from Travis.
Falklands are at Wunderbar Friday night.
The Black Dog has some Hair of the Dog Saturday afternoon.
Over at Lyve on Whyte, Friday is Soul Train (with Crowded City Skyline and Hot Hand Phenomenon), Saturday it’s Rocky Mountain Rebel Music (with Brash Tax and The Party Martyrs).
Eddie Shorts has The Frolics Friday and Gaye Delorme Saturday.
Cirque du Soleil is in Edmonton, with Alegria.
In sports…The Prairie Football Conference (PFC) kicks off this weekend. 
Edmonton’s got two teams in that league. The Edmonton Wildcats are coming off a season in which they were western champs, and fell in the Canadian junior football championship. The Edmonton Huskies stunk it up last year, winning no games, and are looking for redemption in 2010. Those games are Saturday and Sunday, at Clarke Park.
From ShareEdmonton: FC Edmonton is hosting the Spokane Spiders (that means we could see Edmonton on all the Spokane affiliates! I hope Ana Cabrera talks about Edmonton.)
Whew!
A real taste of Edmonton
As I’ve been mentioning again and again, this weekend was my first trip down to Hawrelak Park for the Heritage Festival.
A trip worth taking.
Since I didn’t want to crack the ETS code of when the shuttles left and how frequently they were leaving I decided to bike down to Hawrelak. (more…)
Long weekend = One more day of fun
It’s the Heritage Day long weekend, Edmonton, so get out there and soak in all that summer.
Over the next four days (counting Friday night) there’s a lot to do in Edmonton.
Capital Ex continues at Northlands. A Taste of Edmonton is still at Churchill Square. (Both run until Sunday.)
And, of course, Heritage Day means Hawrelak Park becomes the Heritage Festival. It’s the 35th go-round for Heritage Fest, with more than 60 countries and ethnicities represented. There will be culture and food, all three days of the weekend, in the park. Plan your adventures with the map.
The winless Eskimos play tonight. Meh.
Friday night is a really good music night. Juliette Lewis is playing the Starlite Room, Metric (and Hot Hot Heat) are at Capital Ex, Fred Eaglesmith is in Stony Plain at the Blueberry Bluegrass and Country Music Festival, and there’s that little thing called the Big Valley Jamboree over in Camrose.
On Sunday, The Old Wives are playing at Lyve on Whyte and Audio/Rocketry is at the PawnShop.
And Capital Ex has more music at the Telus Stage Saturday and Sunday. Plus, The Be Arthurs can be found at Centre Stage.
There are dinosaurs!!
ShareEdmonton had an event that really caught my eye. (What can I say, I have a soft spot for chess.) This weekend is the Edmonton Chess Festival. Checkmate.
I also keep forgetting to mention Saturday as a great farmers’ market day. You’ve got the year-round Old Strathcona version, or summer’s City Market Downtown.
It’s the end of the month, so you can check Gregg’s July movie preview and his new look at the August releases, if you’re hitting the movie theatre.
Don’t tire yourself out this weekend, since Folk Fest starts Wednesday night, and the Fringe is on the horizon.
And, because I’m going to mention it all of the time, the edmontonian and Unknown Studio will be celebrating their first birthday(s) Monday, August 23.
Free Willy
The Freewill Shakespeare Festival is winding down for another 
summer.
Macbeth (a personal favourite) and Much Ado About Nothing have been taking over the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park for nearly one month. And you’ve got just about one week left to catch the plays.
Tuesday night (why, that’s tonight…) and Saturday matinees are also “Pay-What-You-Will” so you don’t need to even pay the usual $22.50 ($15 for students and seniors) to see one of the great plays.
This reminds me, Romeo + Juliet was on the other night. Transferring the words of Shakespeare into modern day locations just seems weird.
Some stuff going on in some places
I really thought my photo was going to make the poster.
And a good day to you, fair Edmonton.
All excited for the weekend, are we? Well, other than sleeping in, perhaps you’d like to try one of these out…
Again, I’m peering into the goody bag of ShareEdmonton this week. They’ve got one of the biggies of winter; The Silver Skate Festival goes this weekend in Hawrelak Park. And it’s not even freezing cold.
Speaking of skating, the revamped Bill Hunter arena opens this weekend and the city is offering some free (free!) skating.
Carey Hart is signing autographs at the West49 in WEM. That’s pretty cool.
Also cool is the Royal Winnipeg Ballet doing “Moulin Rouge,” at the Jube.
Seeing that The Hat has a brunch on Saturdays. Anyone been? Is it just breakfast burgers?
The Fray could show you how to save a life (*groan*) at the Winspear Centre on Sunday.
I’m out.
Success under the Sky
You won me over, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.
I’m not against classical music (Dvorak’s “From the New World” is a favourite, since high school), I’ve just never been one to head out to an evening at the Symphony. Which makes me probably the exact kind of person being targeted by the ESO’s annual Labour Day venture into Hawrelak Park.
Well played, orchestra.
Symphony Under the Sky was a lot of fun. I had the pleasure of checking it out Friday night, Day One.
Earlier storms couldn't keep people from the music.
The park amphitheater is a great setting. Everyone (except me) remembered to bring a chair or blanket if they didn’t have reserved seating. The ESO was selling blankets and seats for people just like me. Some of the proceeds of those items fund the ESO.
One of the things I do find neat about classical music is how often a piece will be introduced and I’ll have no idea what the person is talking about. Once the music starts, however, I’ll say “Oh, THAT song.”
Such was the case Friday evening when conductor Robert Bernhardt (a visitor to our city who keeps coming back for this big event) talked about playing Modest Mussorgsky‘s “A Night on Bare Mountain.” Instantly recognizable (probably a lot of that due to Fantasia).
There were also parts of the night’s closing Concerto in F (by George Gershwin) that I recognized. ESO Music Director William Eddins hit the piano for this finale.
I hope others who took in the event for the first time found it worthwhile. I know I’ll be checking into what’s on tap for the rest of the symphony’s season.
Please note that staff of the mini donut tent are wearing TUXEDOS.
GO LONG!
My attempt at mixing our pending long weekend and football catch phrases aside, we do have a three-day weekend ahead of us. That means lots of stuff to do in the city we call Edmonton.
We wrote about it this morning, but it’s worth mentioning again; the Sobey’s Symphony Under the Sky happens Friday, Saturday, Sunday AND Monday. Every day has different concerts. That’s a lot of symphony! (Follow all the action on Twitter if you’re not going to be in Hawrelak Park.)
Did you miss the big Blues Festival in Hawrelak? Well, blues fans, you are in luck. The Beaumont Blues Festival is on this weekend. I had no idea Edmonton was such a hotbed of blues before coming here.
Our Weird Canada friends are presenting The Wicked Awesomes!’s LP release party at Bonnie Doon Bowling Lanes. They sell it best: “Music and bowling.”
He will be 18 ’til he dies, questioning if he’s ever really loved a woman. Bryan Adams plays Telus Field TONIGHT.
The Shaw Conference Centre is hosting the Metropolis Electronic Music Festival. Not usually my scene, but I recognize MSTRKRFT as a big deal.
British rock-blues group Band of Skulls plays Brixx Saturday night. Could be a good time indeed.
Speaking of music, radio station Sonic 102.9 and The Union present SONiC Boom; a modern rock festival up at Northlands with such guests as Franz Ferdinand, Metric, Billy Talent and Edmonton’s own The Wet Secrets. Get your rock on.
The Citadel Theatre begins its season this weekend. Its first show is The Drowsey Chaperone.
The Labour Day long weekend also means summer is coming to a close. Have you tried to get lost in the Corn Maze yet? For the long weekend, you can save $1 off the admission price with a donation for the Edmonton Food Bank.
Symphony Under the Sky
I have never considered myself smart or cultured enough to enjoy something as high end as the symphony. I envision any attempt I make to go to the symphony as being received about as well as Julia Roberts shopping for clothes in Pretty Woman.
“I’m sorry, Samsonow, We have nothing for you here. Please leave.”
But this weekend, there’s an event that may change my mind.
First off, “Symphony under the Sky” is in Hawrelak Park. So tuxedos and evening gowns (or whatever people wear to such events) are out. It’s a park, the weather is supposed to be decent (it better be, Classen!) and the atmosphere is casual. Interested? You’re interested. (more…)
