When thinking outside the box just isn't enough
English songsmith Frank Turner landed in Metropolis recently as part of his North America Canada tour. With him for the ride were his band the Sleeping Souls and support acts Into It Over It and Andrew Jackson Jihad. Turners shows tend to get a lot of attention as word of energetic, heart-felt performances grew after his previous tours…
Those of you who like their songwriting with more than a dash of hearfelt honesty and dissilusioned maturity could do much worse than check out this songwriter when he plays Montreal tomorrow. English songwriter Frank Turner will play Theatre Corona and without a doubt it will be an amazing performance and a moving show. Frank Turner was previously known as the frontman of the British post-punk band Million Dead who disbanded in 2005. Moving onwards and upwards Turner then focused his attention on his solo career. Having written and performed…
Rum Socialism is the recently self-published e-book by Kris Romanuik. It chronicles the author’s booze filled misadventures in Cuba while also touching on communist society and politics. Taking the form of a short travel diary, Rum Socialism follows our Canadian protagonist as he stumbles through the kind of vignettes which are typically relayed in the pub after a drink filled man holiday…
Zoofest is back for the third year running, carrying in its large clownish arms an assorted mash of comedy, music, satire and performance. It’s the crazier, slightly cooler little cousin of the Just for Laughs festival and looks to be even bigger and busier than before. The idea for Zoofest was originally conceived by Gilbert Rozon, founder of Just for Laughs, who traveled the world’s festival circuit for 25 years, examining different approaches to making festivals. Amalgamating everything eclectic he had learned, Rozon created Zoofest. The festival is a diverse bi-lingual event…
It was announced to me shortly before the Montreal Infringement Festival started that Anal Pudding were coming to stay at our apartment. Images of this large Buffalo band ripping the shit out of my place were haunting to say the least. Luckily when I eventually met this quirky feacaly themed group, they were ambassadorial in their attitude and friendly-ness. We all hung out and I got a chance to speak to lead singer Kurt who is the main dude when it comes to Buffalo Infringement…
Sometimes intentions get shot to shit. What was supposedly a bi-daily article on the Infringement Festival quickly became derailed as the momentum swept us all up and threw us down a flight of stairs. But alas, it was my fault. I seriously underestimated Infringement’s power to bend somebody’s life around it for the duration of 10 days. Ah yes, it has been an interesting and frequently hypnotizing event, and as it draws to a close this weekend, I’m left with a sore liver and a headful of craziness. Opening weekend came to a dramatic and controversial boil as Infringement went mano-a-mano with the Fringe’s appropriation of Parc Des Amériques…
It’s been one of those mornings where, upon waking and peeling open bloodshot eyes, the first logical step is finding some sunglasses and liquid. Ah yes, Infringement Festival is underway and the first few moments of my days are beginning to form a pattern…
Of all the festivals happening this Spring/Summer, it was the Fringe festival which was top of my hit list. Ireland, being relatively close to Scotland, made word of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival pretty common place. The idea of an anti-establishment and reactionary festival was somewhat enchanting to somebody with no Fringe experience. So it was much to my surprise and disappointment when I learned a little about the commercial aspect of Montréal’s Fringe TM…but I need not have feared…
What happens when we put our heads together? According to Toronto-based performance group Frenzy, we trip balls and have to scramble to escape our own chaotic creations. Frenzy Saves Your Brain is a fast, funny and creative show which swings from clowning to sharp dialogue, and twists through a variety of surreal vignettes. For the show playing at the Montreal Fringe Festival, the audience has become a hive-mind through scientific experimentation, while the performers intermittently appear through the maddening haze as they try to pull us back to reality. This unique approach to narrative…
