Calatrava comes to Calgary

Well...after much debate (Ald. Rick McIver) and much money (24.5 million) plans for the Peace Bridge construction have been finalized and designs have been released.
World renowned and prize winning architect Santiago Calatrava has designed an incredible pedestrian bridge that bypasses the use of supports, a concept relatively new to both the designer and bridge engineering. Calatrava has been known for his innovative use of support towers and cables, twisting and curving to bridge (no pun intended) the gap between form and function.
Calgary officials asked Calatrava to eliminate any structure in the river and the result is a design similar to a footbridge he designed in Venice.
Taking into account the ever drastic seasons here in Calgary, the bridge is covered and lit at night, making it a pleasant transfer for pedestrians and bicyclists in the winter.
It aint cheap, but Calgary officials are obviously dipping their toe into the innovative architecture pool. First the Bow, designed by Pritzker prize winner Norman Foster...now a Calatrava bridge...what's next? My vote...get me some Gehry!

Sled Island Saturday

Busy day!

Market Collective's one year anniversary was big, big, big! Moving from Carpenter's Union Hall to the Ant Hill building turned out to be a really good decision. The road front windows and music provided by CJSW lured people in who otherwise may not have known what the Market Collective was! Congrats Angel and Angela!



Myke Atkinson of Beneath These Idle Tides put together a beautiful blend of 8 cd's on random and repeat with a film of various visuals playing simultaneously. The room was equipped with bean bag chairs, cushions and a futon. Absolutely fantastic.

Markus Michel.

Onto the Warehouse!

Women. King Khan gave a humorous and, probably, surprising intro. He should really start a heavy metal side project. Women are total dream boats...the band that is...admittedly...our gender can be somewhat of a nightmare sometime. 4 out of 5 for Women (the band!)
Colin Newman. Githead. Awesome. 5 out of 5.

Distillery briefly for The Bronx


At times throughout the weekend I was wondering "where is everybody?" and it turns out...they were all at the Distillery! 4 out of 5 for The Bronx.

And finally to Vern's for the one show I was absolutely not going to miss...
TRICKY WOO!


As soon as I saw Tricky Woo was playing on Saturday at Vern's I knew it was the place to be. Vern's has a small stage and is in general a pretty small place so I was really looking forward to seeing Tricky Woo pack the place to the brim. And that they did!! They blew a fuse twice. They played a killer encore, after fixing a guitar string. They were a highlight. No doubt. 5 OUT OF 5!

Royal Canadian Legion #1 - Thursday

Well, well, well.
Last night was a big night here in Calgary. The Royal Canadian Legion #1, one of Western Canada's absolute best venues, saw a slew of major talent including Anvil, Andrew W.K. and King Khan and the BBQ Show.

Personally, I stuck around the downstairs to catch some Earth shattering rock n roll courtesy of New York's Japanther, Vancouver's Japandroids, the always partying Andrew W.K. and Canada's own Anvil - who haven't hit Calgary since 1981.



Japanther sufficiently warmed up the crowd with their usual Telephone-microphones and a couple of Ramones covers that maintained the energy of Joey, DeeDee, Johnny and Tommy while not losing any of the vibe that Japanther fans have grown accustomed to and, no doubt, expected from their show. Solid. Four stars.

Up next were Japandroids who served as a good "palate cleanse" before the two "Surprise Guests" hit the stage. Hint: they weren't exactly surprises by the time Thursday rolled around...it was Andrew W.K. and Anvil. Three stars for Japandroids.

Is there really much you can say about Andrew W.K.? This dude knows how to party and knows how to put on a wicked live show. With a five minute keyboard intro the crowd's energy was nearing complete explosion and, after his trademark "inspirational" speech, he got straight to business - mashing the keyboard, wearing on an understandably ecstatic girl's denim jacket, surfin' the crowd and pretty much giving everyone in the crowd exactly what they wanted: a night to party with Andrew W.K. Five stars!

Welcome home guys! Drummer Robb Reiner is too much awesome to get a photograph. Which is totally a good excuse...right? His mega solo near the end of the set (which was at 2:30 by the way...long show!!) was absolutely magical...impeccable...one of those "life-complete" kind of things. Steve "Lips" is on top of his game and seemed somewhat surprised at the amount of people who still give a shit about Anvil. The crowd had thinned out quite a bit by the time they hit the stage...sort of understandable considering it was that late on a Thursday. Five stars!!

All in all...Thursday at the Legion downstairs for Sled Island was the perfect kick-off for a Friday, Saturday and Sunday that is sure to be packed with more rock and more roll.

Stay tuned!