There's going to be so much art here.

But there’s still plenty of good stuff around. And don’t you even think this signals a slowdown. The Capital Ex, Indy, Heritage Days, Taste of Edmonton, Fringe run is going to test your festival abilities.

As Sally brought to our attention earlier today, ArtWalk takes over Whyte Avenue this weekend. And a little rain isn’t going to stop the art.

Rain also hasn’t stopped the Street Performers Festival, wrapping up this weekend.

Angela reminded us that FAVA is partying today.

In music…Lily Fawn and her Lullaby band are at at The ARTery.

SOS Fest participants Wool on Wolves are playing Brixx, Saturday night. Jazz is at Wunderbar. It’ll be like you didn’t even miss them last weekend.

Blue Oyster Cult‘s at the Century Casino, Saturday night. Peter Frampton is tenting it up at River Cree.

The Pawn Shop is holding an undiscovered singing competition. Don’t forget about the Party Tent. (How could you though?) And Edmonton has a new blues bar. Rusty Reed’s opens with Big Dave McLean.

Gregg will probably be seeing Inception this weekend. It’s one of this month’s more anticipated films.

In sports…the Capitals play ball. (That means fireworks Friday night.)

Photo quality suffers when snapping pics on the fly.

As promised, here’s a little more on Conan. (The camera had been temporarily misplaced and we are back on track now.)

I’d mentioned previously that I was trying to avoid reports of “The legally prohibited from being funny on television” tour, so that if there were repeat gags I wouldn’t be bored. I’m glad I hid under my rock.

The Conan O’Brien live show was way better than I had expected, and after paying $100 for a ticket I was expecting a lot.

While I had missed the opening comic’s name, many, many people smarter than I had caught that information and passed it along after the show. Reggie Watts is worth a little of your Internet time, as he’s funny, drops mad beats and has a lot of hair. Not that I judge people on their amount of hair.

Things were kicked up with a couple of songs from the band, with LaBamba coming so close I could touch him. But I wouldn’t, since he was playing his trombone. That didn’t stop the jerk across the aisle from slapping him on the back.

An hour or so later, Conan would lick LaBamba's face. He tastes of Funions.

I call him a jerk not just for that, but for talking through most of Reggie Watts’ set. And running around taking photos, while “security” hassled me for tweeting pre-show.

Which might as well lead me to the real important fact of the night. The Venue at River Cree is a tent.

Classy.

It’s a tent.

A giant tent, in which they give you folding chairs to sit on.

Only the classiest for world-class performances.

I didn’t know it was a tent. I probably still would have paid to see Conan O’Brien (And freakin’ Andy Richter! I was really amped about Andy being in the tent.) but I would have been prepared.

Thankfully, the tent zings were flying, so I knew I wasn’t taking crazy pills. People in the crowd (so much Twitter action Saturday night…) Reggie Watts, Conan, Andy, everyone was making fun of the fact we were in a giant tent.

Eww, a tent with folding chairs.

I don’t know if the River Cree Resort & Casino throws more money at acts to book them in their “Tentue,” but it’s sort of embarrassing. I mentioned to one guy that I’d be all over a downtown arena if it meant Edmonton would book great acts in great venues. Or at least, not tents.

Anyway…Conan was great. It was a perfect mix of him talking with the crowd, changing costumes, familiar gags and bits and characters from the show. Andy’s commercials about West Edmonton Mall (a place where you can find a Disney store AND a gun range) and the oilsands (forget about the coming oil wars of 2013) were great riffs on local spots. I won’t go on and on about the whole show since you’ve probably already read about it. Or you were there.

It’s also worth noting this is a pretty genius idea. He may have known about the possibility of a new TV deal (I guess it would be odd for nobody to be trying to land him.) but to capitalize on the NBC fiasco, to give your fans something different, and to create a variety show that doesn’t suck is something special.

He also thanked the “young kids” for all their online activism to try and keep him on The Tonight Show, and supporting him throughout. Good luck with your old people who won’t be watching whatever we call TV in five years, NBC.

I hope there’s a DVD after the tour so I can get me a little more Coco. That might be especially needed if we don’t end up with a chance to see his new TBS show in Canada.

Just worry about the weekend. Don't look at Tuesday.

The weather is hot and sunny, Conan O’Brien is here, NHL playoffs are on TV, and the Edmonton Rush are home tonight (7pm) and trying to secure some Rexall Place playoff action for the spring.

I’m always a sucker to mention Winnipeg bands coming through town. Nathan is one such band that is worthy of your ears.

Buddy Guy, the dude who calls Eric Clapton in that cell phone commercial, is playing the Jubilee.

I’m grooving to some We Are Wolves as I tell you they’re playing the Pawn Shop. What did we do before YouTube?

Ghostkeeper is at Brixx. The Old Wives are at New City.

And there’s more!

You won’t believe all the good stuff ShareEdmonton has for you.

It’s time for the Edmonton Women’s Show. Which I predict will, predictably, have some soap opera star in attendance. Yup.

Saturday offers the rare treat of seeing inside the Edmonton Law Courts, cells, courtrooms, and more. Without a summons to appear.

The Winspear Centre will be pop-y with A Chorus of Hits.

And Edmonton celebrates Earth Day this Sunday, April 18. It’s not in Hawrelak this year, it’s at the City Centre Airport. Fort Edmonton Park. (I have no idea why I thought this was at City Centre Airport. This is my bad, not ShareEdmonton’s.)

I’m already tired.

p.s. If you didn’t see it already, Nikki “I Believe” Yanofsky is returning to the Edmonton International Jazz Festival this June.

Weekends are a time for good friends, good times and good cupcakes.

You smell that? That’s the weekend. And dead leaves. But mostly weekend.

Yes, fall arrived to remind us that we are but playthings in Mother Nature’s world. Enjoy the crisp mornings though, since they shall soon turn to frigid beginnings of days that are much too short.

And we can all rejoice, since this weekend is full of awesome.

Apologies for the random order of events. But, hey, it’s Friday and spending an extra minute trudging through possible fun options is way better than work.

Way better.

Let’s start with an event that will likely not be something you can do on a whim (stretching is not always enough, practice helps) the CIBC Run for the Cure, Sunday. Sounds like it will be a chilly start to the race. Cheering squads: bring some mitts.

The Handmade Mafia is back at it, Saturday. Let’s go buy mitts together.

For the outdoorsy among you, Mountain Equipment Co-op is doing a gear swap, Sunday. Bring your old stuff (or stuff from the activity that broke your leg and you hate now) and get some new stuff.

Pure Speculation 2009, is all weekend at the Shaw Conference Centre and Happy Harbour on 124th Street. Science Fiction, comics, fun.

The latest Homeless Connect is Sunday. This is where services and help are provided to the homeless. Things like haircuts too. Seems like a practical idea when I mention haircuts, doesn’t it?

The Edmonton Wildcats take on the Edmonton Huskies in the Prairie Football Conference regular season ender, at Clarke Park. Saturday. 7pm.

Speaking of sports, the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas have another busy weekend.

Oh, and a little thing called the NHL is underway. And fantasy hockey.

The Anarchist Bookfair runs Saturday and Sunday. Which seems very orderly.

Friday night is Pecha Kucha 5. The “chit chat” goes Old School.

Some friends of the website are playing at Wunderbar on Whyte. Come check out Van Funk & the Lebarons, and say Hi.

Also Saturday night, in the party column, CJSR is having its Fundrive wrap party at The Artery. Do it. The catering is going to be excellent.

Kenny Rogers is playing at the River Cree Casino, Sunday. Kenny F’n Rogers.

Saturday, momstown.ca is doing mom and tots stuff at Bonnie Doon.

West Edmonton Mall has roller derby and a dive-in movie. Let’s just hope the kid at the top of the water slide doesn’t hold things up while engrossed in the film. But roller derby down a water slide, that’s something to see. (It’s actually going to be in Phase 4.)

Oh, and something I’ll likely be dragged to, Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D. For two weeks only!

This nearly ended up being the hot dog report.

I don’t think it’s out of line to say this shiznit is bananas. Are you kidding me it’s going to be sunny and 26 degrees? Yowza!

With that kind of heat the Mill Creek Pool will be open about the latest its ever been open.

We’ve already talked about the Community League membership kick-off happening Saturday.

Speaking of free hot dogs…the Bonnie Doon Community League is dishing them out to celebrate their new playground…and the St. Albert Steel have them before the AJHL season kicks off tonight. Which reminds me, the AJHL season kicks off tonight.

Hot dogs aside, if you like improv (and you do) you may want to check out Die-Nasty’s 50-hour marathon at the Varscona Theatre. There are prime-time, non-prime-time and full weekend passes available.

The Eskimos host the Stampeders in a rematch of the Labour Day Classic (drubbing).

Your elderly aunt’s favourite artist is playing the Shaw Conference Centre.

Meanwhile, Keane plays Somewhere Only We Know.

The Odds play River Cree’s Live lounge. Huh.

The Alberta Provincial Racewalk Championship is tomorrow in Hawrelak Park. Seriously.

That should give you a starting point. Have a good weekend!