Edmonton arts goings-on

In the last couple of days I've had a chance to get my pasty buns out of hibernation and over to a couple of very Edmonton-y  events which, thanks to our 8-month-long winter, have invigorated me with the confirmation that there is indeed a world outside of my apartment, my office, and the liquor store. Since even I'm tired of hearing about our fantastically incompetent provincial government, I thought I'd mix it up a little bit and talk about something that doesn't involve, say, entire flocks of ducks dying horrible deaths in massive poisonous cesspools.   

photo: http://dawn.cbcr3.com/nmc/16/16916/Images/CadenceWeapon.jpg

1. On Thursday night, I ambled over to the McDougall United Church for a show by Edmonton's own Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon), who was opening up for Nova Scotia's own Buck 65. I think that they must have been advertising the concert in the church's congregation newsletter or something, because it was the most literally all-ages show that I've ever had the pleasure of attending. The crowd truly ran the temporal gamut, from the 3-year-old girl near the water-cooler who informed me that the holy-water-holder-looking-thing wasn't a garbage can so I shouldn't throw my used cup into it, to the 70-ish grandmas who were milling about the back of the church and apparently held a meeting of some sort in the basement between the opening and headlining acts.

This provided an unpretentious and, as I said, very Edmonton-y backdrop for what was a very entertaining performance by Edmonton's most noted musical export of late. Pemberton is an engaging performer who's not afraid to get really, really sweaty while doing his thing, which includes multiple trips onto the floor and into the crowd, and creative and hilarious variations on the "clap-your-hands" admonition that is typically issued to a concert-going crowd. A particularly good example of this occurred during his performance of "Black Hand." During the first chorus he issued the fairly typical "put your fist in the air" command, but on the subsequent chorus he pantomimed a Fightin'-Irish type motion and told the crowd to "move your fist like this, like you're punching someone." Ha!

His sense of humour is quite evident in his music, and it definitely made it's way into the performance. Ever a proud Edmontonion, I would like to think that growing up in a city that didn't take itself too seriously (I say "didn't" here because it seems this is changing) has contributed to him not taking himself too seriously. Whether or not this is actually the case or simply me trying to somehow claim a small fraction of credit for his success, I don't know, but in any case it certainly contributed to my enjoyment of the proceedings.

image: http://www.fifteen.ca/theroyalbison/

2. Emboldened to again leave my house, this morning I headed over to the Royal Bison Craft & Art Fair put on at the Cosmopolitan Music Society building in Old Strathcona by local illustrator Raymond Biesinger. After paying a $2 admission fee, I had a chance to rationalize spending way too much money on all manner of things that could generally be described as "neat." There was quite a selection of wares for sale, including paintings, drawings, clothing, soap, magazines, yo-yos, records, weird guitar amps, and a large smattering of general knick-knackery, all made locally and vended* by very friendly vendors. I made a few purchases, but the one I'm probably the most excited about was a sort of illustrated dance-move drawing from a series done by Sean Borchert. I plan on studying it intensively to enhance my repertoire for the bevy of weddings I'll be attending this summer. 

"The Bison" runs today until 5 and tomorrow from 10-5 -- I'd urge anyone interested to check it out.

*I can't actually believe "vended" is a word, but I didn't get any red underlines when I typed it...

Comments

[DMFB]

Though Mr Borchert's dance moves are quite nice, my favourite has always been his "Walking Fingers" buttons, though I don't know if he still makes those.

His George Orwell magnets are snazzy, too.