ISSUE #232 – MARCH 22 TO MARCH 27
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CULTURE
HEADING NORTH STARS
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A NEW ERA Cam Broten, and the future of the NDP THE POET’S DEAD Q+A with Rah Rah ADMISSION + ON THE ROAD Films reviewed
PHOTO: COURTESY OF SIMON WONG
CONTENTS
NEWS + OPINION
ENTERTAINMENT
CULTURE
Q + A WITH RAH RAH
LISTINGS
Erin Passmore on making a masterpiece. 12 / Q + A
Local music listings for March 22 through March 30. 18 / LISTINGS
A NEW ERA
SAID THE WHALE
Cam Broten talks the NDP’s future.
Vancouver indie rockers punch above their weight. 13 / ARTS
ADMISSION + ON THE ROAD
4 / LOCAL
The latest movie reviews. 20 / FILM
NIGHTLIFE PHOTOS
INAPPROPRIATE BEAUTY
We visit Prairieland Park and Louis’.
The Performative Lens. 13 / ARTS
22-25 / NIGHTLIFE
VERBNEWS.COM @VERBSASKATOON FACEBOOK.COM/VERBSASKATOON
EDITORIAL PUBLISHER / PARITY PUBLISHING EDITOR IN CHIEF / RYAN ALLAN MANAGING EDITOR / JESSICA PATRUCCO STAFF WRITERS / ADAM HAWBOLDT + ALEX J MACPHERSON
ART & PRODUCTION
IN DEFENSE OF WOMEN
DESIGN LEAD / ROBERTA BARRINGTON DESIGN & PRODUCTION / BRITTNEY GRAHAM CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS / PATRICK CARLEY, ADAM HAWBOLDT + ISHTIAQ OPAL
Exploring a women’s self-defense course. 6 / LOCAL
BUSINESS & OPERATIONS
PRISON BREAK
NEW SPIN ON OLD FAVOURITES
Our thoughts on lowering our province’s incarceration rates. 8 / EDITORIAL
ON THE COVER:
STARS
On doing what they do best. 14 / COVER
ON THE BUS Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 26 / COMICS
It’s Szechuan Kitchen! 16 / FOOD + DRINK
COMMENTS
MUSIC
GAMES + HOROSCOPES
Here’s what you had to say about changing airport security. 10 / COMMENTS
The Escorts, Two Hours Traffic + MGMT. 17 / MUSIC
Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 27 / TIMEOUT
OFFICE MANAGER / STEPHANIE LIPSIT ACCOUNT MANAGER / NATHAN HOLOWATY SALES MANAGER / VOGESON PALEY FINANCIAL MANAGER / CODY LANG
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PLEASE RECYCLE AFTER READING & SHARING PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
2 MAR 22 – MAR 27 VERB MAGAZINE
CONTENTS
LOCAL
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VERBNEWS.COM
VERB MAGAZINE
LOCAL
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE SASKATCHEWAN NDP
A NEW ERA
Cam Broten looks to the future in his first weeks as Saskatchewan NDP leader BY ALEX J MACPHERSON
I
n the 2011 Saskatchewan general election, Brad Wall’s Saskatchewan Party dealt the New Democrats a devastating defeat. The venerable party was left with just nine seats in the legislature and — when Dwain Lingenfelter failed to retain his Regina constituency — no leader. After a lengthy interregnum under acting leader John Nilson, the party recently elected Saskatoon MLA Cam Broten to take the party into the next election. Broten, who is 34 and a veteran of two terms as the MLA for Saskatoon Massey Place, defeated Saskatoon medical doctor Ryan Meili by just 44 votes. Now, he must repair rifts within the party and rebuild its support base,
which was eroded in the last election. I caught up with Broten to chat about building bridges in a party divided.
ple. It was a very young convention and membership in the party for youth has gone up 350 percent, which is really positive.
Alex J MacPherson: Looking back, what’s your assessment of the race and convention?
AJM: At the same time, the number of ballots cast was down by more than 1,000 from the last convention.
Cam Broten: Obviously I’m very happy to have won, but I’m happy more importantly about how the leadership race went, and the feeling that is in the party right now. The race was competitive, but in a healthy way; it wasn’t destructive, and that’s a positive thing. What we need to do now is to continue to welcome in all the people that got involved in a variety of ways, especially a lot of young peo-
CB: We know we have work to do. I’m not kidding myself about that. And I want to carry on that work. I think we made some really good strides in the race. Numbers did go up from where they were, and we had good, vibrant, dynamic teams working. And now we have a good, vibrant, dynamic party, and I mean to carry that on right now. AJM: There appears to be a split in the party between yourself and Ryan CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »
4 MAR 22 – MAR 27 NEWS + OPINION
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ARTS
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FOOD + DRINK
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LISTINGS
FILM
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COMICS
TIMEOUT
VERBNEWS.COM
Meili. How are you going to repair that divide? CB: My take is that I want people involved, whatever role it may be. If they wore a button, if they made some phone calls, gave some money, put their “X” down on the ballot — whatever role they had I want them to be involved in the party and have a significant and meaningful way of contributing to what we’re doing. Through the campaign I was talking about how we can modernize our policy process, and I think that’s a key way how we can have people involved in the team on an ongoing basis, and not just on a one-off basis at conventions. AJM: Will you encourage Dr. Meili to seek a seat of his own? CB: I absolutely want Ryan involved in a way that suits him best, and suits his family best. I don’t want to comment about what he personally wants to do, but absolutely we need the people involved in all the campaigns involved in the party now.
AJM: When you talk about letting people get to know you, what do you mean? How would you characterize your own politics? CB: My politics are guided by my core beliefs as a social democrat: the idea that we want a society that is more fair, the idea that we achieve more by working together, the idea that there’s a constructive and positive role to play in society, through crown corporations for example. My personal motivation, of course, are my two girls, and that’s what gets me to be involved in politics and give it my all. And as an elected politician having served, I understand what the concerns are of Saskatchewan families. I think they want us to be coming forward with common sense ideas and common sense solutions to their problems. AJM: Can you give me an example of that common sense approach? CB: When families know that the class sizes are very large and their kids maybe don’t have as
My politics are guided by my core beliefs as a social democrat: the idea that we want a society that is more fair … that we achieve more by working together… CAM BROTEN
AJM: The NDP was badly hurt in the last election. What can you do to improve the party and the party’s performance next time? CB: My approach will be to listen to good ideas, wherever they come from and whomever they come from. That is the long-term thinking we want, as a province and as a party, and I’m optimistic. Yeah, it’s a big job, and I’m not kidding myself about the job I have to do in getting to know people better and let people get to know me better, but I’m up for the job and thrilled to be in this role. And I want to work really hard and do a good job of it.
much attention as they once did in the classrooms because the EA isn’t there, to me we can tie that to a philosophical idea of what we think about politics, but it’s also just a practical, common sense approach: if it’s too crowded, maybe we need to have some limits on class sizes or talk about that. Maybe we need to reinstatethe educational assistant to free the teacher up to do more teaching and better teaching. It’s a combination of the two. AJM: In terms of policy, what other areas do you want to focus on in the months to come?
CB: Our three main areas of focus are: increased accountability and transparency by the Sask. Party, admitting when mistakes have been made like the film employment tax credit; stronger and better K-12 education for our children; and better long-term care options and choices for families as we care for our loved ones. Those are three key areas we’ll be putting a lot of energy into, and we’ll see what the budget holds. AJM: At the same time, how do you propose to position the party for more electoral success next time? CB: Obviously we need to do things better. We’re in opposition and we have nine MLAs, and if we’d been doing everything perfectly that wouldn’t be the situation. We still have to ask ourselves the tough questions and ask ourselves how we’re bringing issues forward, and how are we connecting with Saskatchewan people. We need to be doing a better job than what we’ve been doing. AJM: You’re 34. Is this a time of renewal for the party, a changing-ofthe-guard? CB: My goal, from a party perspective, is to connect the generations within the party. I think right now this is a new generation of leadership within the party, and that’s very good. I’m representative of that by my age. And there are many other young people, students or young families, who are involved, and that needs to continue. But we also need to respect the things that have been done. AJM: At the same time, there are hundreds of people out there who don’t know or care about Tommy Douglas and Allan Blakeney and Roy Romanow. Can the party move ahead while still embracing its history? CB: I think it’s about writing the next great chapter, and when you think of it that way you can still have a huge fondness for the chapters that came before, and be appreciative,
but this is a new era and I’m a new leader and we’re a new team. It is about now how can we best be a modern, dynamic political party here in the province.
Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com
5 MAR 22 – MAR 27 @VERBSASKATOON
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
COVER
FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
NEWS + OPINION
LOCAL
IN DEFENSE OF WOMEN
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ADAM HAWBOLDT / VERB MAGAZINE
With Saskatchewan’s rate of violent crimes against women the highest in the country, some people are taking matters into their own hands BY ADAM HAWBOLDT
T
he arm wraps slowly around my neck, the crook of the elbow pressed against my Adam’s apple. With a jolt the arm constricts and cuts off my air. I gasp for breath. It’s not there. I gasp again. And again. My eyes snap shut. Stars burst in the blackness. I reach up and tap for the arm to let go. When it does, I fall forward, taking deep breath after deep breath. My lips are tingling, and from behind me selfdefense instructor Clay McNally is saying something about how the way to make sure your arm is in the right position is to “snake it around the neck.” He says something about bones and carotid arteries and making sure your elbow is perfectly centred. I swallow hard and rub my neck. It’s a Monday night, just after 7pm. Where I am is at the In Charge Self Defence class. As for what I’m doing here, well, I’m getting the ever-loving s**t kicked
out of me, that’s what. Chokes, take downs, knees, you name it. They’re all thrown my way. “Make sure your hip is next to his and put your leg behind,” says
McNally’s partner at In Charge, Jessica Hamel, pipes up and tells the class, “Oh, and don’t forget, you want to guide them by the head. Make sure their head hits first.”
Be aware of what’s going on around you, so you won’t put yourself in … harm. CLAY MCNALLY
McNally, showing the women in class how to properly take down an assailant. “The next thing you want to do is go for the throat. What I like to do is take my elbow and place it in their throat, like this.” Here, McNally bends his arm and thrusts the inside of his elbow into his volunteer’s throat. “Then I reach out and grab their hair at the top of their head.”
“Yeah,” adds McNally, “you really want to drive their head into the ground.” And at this point I’m asking myself one simple question: why in the name of all things holy did I sign up to be a tackling dummy?
Clay McNally first started offering his services in teaching self-deCONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »
6 MAR 22 – MAR 27 NEWS + OPINION
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
COVER
FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
VERBNEWS.COM
fence courses back in 2009. “When I got back out of depot in Regina [the RCMP training program] I was showing some girls a few self-defense techniques,” explains McNally, who, it bears mentioning, also happens to have a 3rd Dan black belt in Taekwondo. “They told me there were no self-defense courses for women.” So a light went on, and he created In Charge Self Defence, a program that is designed specifically for women. In Charge takes the best from Taekwondo, karate, kick boxing, Krav Maga and the RCMP training program, and fuses them together to form a unique and practical selfdefence course. As for why I was attending a program like this, well, it’s because of some unsettling news that I read about Saskatchewan. In case you haven’t heard, recent reports from Statistics Canada say our province has the highest rate of violent crimes against women in the country. How high? Well, according to police reports, there were 11,294 female
victims of crime in 2011, giving Saskatchewan a rate of 2,681 per 100,000 residents. The national average was 1,207 per 100,000 residents. In case your math skills aren’t up to par, that’s over double what the rest of the country sees. So I went to In Charge to see what women were doing to defend themselves against this heinous and unnecessary problem. And as it turns out, some are doing quite a lot. Not only are these women learning how to kick butt and take names, at In Charge — and other self-defence courses around the province — they’re also learning how to spot danger and avoid it if possible. “We teach them to keep their heads up while walking,” explains McNally. “Be aware of what’s going on around you, so you won’t put yourself in a situation that may bring harm.”
body. A small, but feisty woman with brown hair and a pink shirt puts her right foot behind mine and rams her arm into my throat. Grabbing me by the hair, she lunges forward, driving me hard into a thin, blue crash mat. Oomph! My head smashes against the ground as the air in my lungs makes an unscheduled exit. I groan, roll to my stomach, get to my feet. The next time she tackles me, my back cracks hard against the ground. An electric shock jolts from my lower spine, down my leg, and into my feet. And in that moment, lying there on the floor, teeth clenched in pain, I pity any person who would attempt to attack a woman who’d been through McNally’s self-defence course. He’d be in for a world of hurt. Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
And speaking of harm, back at the self-defense class the participants are inflicting serious harm on my poor
@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com
7 MAR 22 – MAR 27 /VERBSASKATOON
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
COVER
FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
NEWS + OPINION
EDITORIAL
PRISON BREAK
Lowering Saskatchewan’s incarceration rate will require a massive change to our penal system
I
f you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you’ll know one thing is certain: it’s about time we did something about the incarceration rates in this province That’s because, according to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan has the second highest incarceration rate in the entire country (195.2 per 100,000 people), behind only Manitoba. Our prisons are overwhelmed with a population that just keeps growing, and the current system is clearly failing. So change needs to happen. And you know what? The province’s 2011 Building Partnership to Reduce Crime strategy is a proactive measure, and a good place to start. Dealing with high-risk factors in the community as a means of preventing crimes before they are committed is admirable, and may very well end up doing some good. But it’s not enough. To us, simply trying to prevent crimes only takes us halfway — the
fact of the matter is, some people are going to end up in jail, no matter how many preventative measures are in place. And let’s face it — our current prison system is not designed to aid inmates in transitioning back to society. Jails are a grown-up version of detention: you pay for your crime, but that’s pretty much it. In fact, in The Effects of Prison Sentences on Recidivism, a study out of the University of New Brunswick and the University of Cincinnati, researchers found that a stint in prison should not be expected to reduce criminal behaviour. All of this leads back to our belief that in order to lower our province’s bloated incarceration rates, we need to fundamentally adjust our prisons. So what we’re proposing is a twopronged approach, the first of which would involve putting non-violent, non-dangerous prisoners to good use. We’ve already advocated for doing away with mandatory minimum sentences, which overwhelms our
jails with people who don’t belong there, so why put those schmucks that get busted with one-too-many grams of marijuana, or those white-collar criminals who embezzle handfuls of cash, behind bars when you can put them to work bettering themselves and their communities? So for those non-violent offenders who are young and healthy but clearly lack discipline: offer a stint in the army. If you’re a person with a penchant for stealing cash, give them an option to enrol in a work-release program (shovelling snow, anyone?). You get the idea. We need to make a better distinction between the people that actually deserve to be in jail, and those that do not. Now of course there are certain individuals who commit acts that cannot be excused, and they must face jail time. But it’s already been proven jail doesn’t equal less crime. Oh, and also that excessive use of incarceration has enormous cost implications. So: CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »
8 MAR 22 – MAR 27 NEWS + OPINION
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
COVER
FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
VERBNEWS.COM
cramming people into prison not only doesn’t stop crime, it costs us a ton of money. And we should keep on keeping on why? So it’s here where we would like to unpack the second prong of our approach: building better prisons. And we’re not talking about better hi-tech security. No, what we’re talking about are prisons that are more humane. The way we see it, at the moment our prisons are too focused on punishment when what they should really be concerned with is rehabilitation. Our current system seems adept at one thing — creating more criminals. In fact, The Effects of Prison Sentences on Recidivism determined that there was a “tendency for lower-risk offenders to be more negatively affected by the prison experience.” So if we really want our incarceration rates to drop, we should empower people who do end up in jail to not become repeat offenders. And while determining the number of inmates that will reoffend is notoriously difficult, not to mention that the means of calculating such a number differs from country to country, Public Safety Canada estimates Canada’s federal offenders’ recidivism rates hover around 44%. The Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics pins Norway’s rate at 20%. So what is Norway doing right? Well — Halden. Dubbed the most humane prison in the world, and based on a model that believes repressive prisons fundamentally do not work, Halden Prison is nestled in 75 acres of forest complete with jogging trails. The cells feature flatscreen
televisions, and every convict gets his or her own toilet, shower, desk, minifridge and cupboards. And while this may sound more like a Holiday Inn than a jail, the reasoning behind it is actually quite logical. See, the Norwegian government feels that life behind bars should be as much like outside life as possible — that way people will be better able to readjust to society when they get out. To help facilitate this, prisoners at Halden are encouraged to go to work and participate in educational and self-betterment activities every day, from music programs to cooking classes. Officers who work at Halden frequently eat and play sports with the inmates, fostering a greater sense of community. And prisoners are asked for feedback on what would make their jail experience better — sounds a little touchy-feely, but it’s a finding backed up by Public Safety Canada . The goal at this revolutionary prison is to build these inmates up, preparing them to re-enter the workforce when they’re released. That way, the chance of them returning are slimmer. And while unconventional, this approach has been wildly successful — in fact, the country boasts an incarceration rate of just 69 per 100,000 people (roughly a third of Saskatchewan’s), so obviously they’re doing something right. Saskatchewan’s prisons are stuffed to the brim, that much is clear. And plowing on with our crime-and-punishment approach, the way we have been, is clearly not the answer, since the problem is only getting worse. Reducing incarceration rates is better
for the community, and revising our province’s approach to crime and punishment is a necessary step towards achieving that goal.
These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.
Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
@VerbSaskatoon feedback@verbnews.com
9 MAR 22 – MAR 27 @VERBSASKATOON
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
COVER
FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
NEWS + OPINION
COMMENTS
ON TOPIC: Last week we asked what you thought about changing airport security. Here’s what you had to say: – Yes, profilers would be an asset to add to the boarding process. But, they should not be counted as the only way to catch suspected criminals. I do not mind going through 4 hours of trying to board a flying bomb. Safety first people! If a person thinks that full body scans and searches are too excessive, f**k you. My life and the peoples lives on the ground are worth it. If you don’t like it, walk or take a bus. (Hope you don’t lose your head.)
– Flight of fancy Well where to start tearing apart your dream world airport fantasy!! Now you really left out a whole lot of facts and a whole lot of information. I’m appalled that this article was actually even printed with such lucid undigested knowledge. I’m really curious to know that in Tel Aviv how on earth do they even have a secure area? can anyone just walk on the plane? obviously they have more screening involved then You’re letting on. I believe that people feel more comfortable and less paranoid being able to truly prove their innocence. And that they do not have anything to hide. And if that includes a few random pat downs, body scans and x-ray’d bags And a walk-through metal detector, So be it. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But it has kept us safe this far. And I’m confident to say that it will continue in doing so.
– Been to Ben Gurion airport, and it’s a wildly efficient enterprise. For the number of people they deal with I have to say the bigger Canadian airports (Pearson comes to mind) just can’t compare. Assessing people, and not items makes sense.
Text yo thoughtsur to 881 VE R B 8372
– Interesting about behaviour profiles. Remember reading about this, but more from the States after 9/11. There’s a lot we could learn from how other, less paranoid countries do things. Pretty sure noone wants a picture of my naked bod from one of those scanners LOL
– Flight of fancy Sorry you’re so inconvenienced by losing your water bottle and taking your shoes off.. I really like how you used the example : No airplanes have ever been hijacked from the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. That one airport, wait to go for them! Now how many airports in Canada have airplanes been hijacked from? I don’t see your congratulations for them in your article. I think what your census is missing is that in Canada we do, do things differently And thus far air travel has been safe. And Why are you so sure that behavior profiles are not in place already? You could Blame the Saskatoon airport for missing a paring knife because perhaps we are a little more laid-back here, or you can respect the fact that you still have privilege of trust. I must also note that you wrote that this incident was years ago. Just wanted to express my opinions on something you clearly know nothing about. (Maybe do some more research, And provide a little more facts, actually a lot more facts)
– Behaviour profilers sounds like a smart addition to our current security measures. You’ll have a hard time convincing people about that though part of the security process, no matter how invasive/ impractical/incomplete it may be. It can’t catch everything as you noted to. Is that is gives reassur CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »
10 MAR 22 – MAR 27 NEWS + OPINION
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
COVER
FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
VERBNEWS.COM
ance to fliers. It makes them feel better and safer though whether they actually are or not is debatable.
ball. There are some civic leaders who would knock down Notre Dame and put up a strip mall if they were on Paris city council
OFF TOPIC – Vote for West! Great to support local filmmakers and an interesting bit of history to boot :) In response to “A Little Slice of History,”
– Read in the SP that Atch thinks the propsed federal electoral boundaries would be detrimental.. maybe a term as mayor of Smuts would change his view
Local page, #231 (March 15, 2013)
– Motorcycle trip around world would love to but have to live through others LOL is he blogging it would love to read that? In response to “The Long Haul,” Local page, #231 (March 15, 2013)
SOUND OFF – To the 2 women on the bus sitting beside me. BUY HEADPHONES!!! Just cause you think your music tastes are amazing, doesn’t mean I do. And when your playin it loud enough I can hear it over my music, you might wanna invest in hearing aids too
– Too many religious people sing this tune..”My god is bigger than your god; my god can kick your god’s ass.”
– Crackerheads texting you pictures of their poo at 3 AM is DOWNtown!
– 1st Day of Spring! I have a new game Verb textures can play. Things you’re not supposed to do! Tell us something you did in this area. I’ll start. I made Massey Ferguson tractor and discer fly once. My dad made a grader fly. I saw a guy make a buggy fly. They’re really not supposed to fly!
– Cheers to Stoon city councillor Darren Hill for suggesting that the city inest in Stoon history by ensuring that the Third Avenue United not go under the wrecking
– Thinking “I worked hard today. I deserve a good meal.” and going to a restaurant is making you fat. Restaurants don’t care about your health. All they care about making you come back. They do it with flavor, sugar salt and grease. If you deserve a good meal go home and cook a healthy one.
– i see a problem with the way our mayor thinks hes saving money by not removing snow. its all going to melt and we’ll have major water problems. not to mention flooded basements. good job. WH
– Bud dropped a hit of microdot LSD kitchen floor. Kinda high dim light. We swept the floor with paper towels. He ate the 5 or 6 bits the right size. It worked.
– YA Jonny Cash was 0k But Stompin Tom Conners IS CANADIAN RIGHT 0N T0M Right on MBC
– Into The Night Ah those night moves Night Moves!
NEXT WEEK: What do you think about revamping our prison system to lower incarceration rates? Pick up a copy of Verb to get in on the conversation: We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.
11 MAR 22 – MAR 27 /VERBSASKATOON
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
COVER
FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
NEWS + OPINION
Q+A
THE POET’S DEAD
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CHRIS GRAHAM
Rah Rah makes a masterpiece BY ALEX J MACPHERSON
T
he Poet’s Dead is a masterpiece, a poignant and powerful album from Regina’s preeminent musical export. After years spent recording and playing lo-fi garage rock, Rah Rah returned last year with The Poet’s Dead, which weaves together strains of bookish intellectualism, lowbrow rock aesthetics, and a fierce determination to look beyond their own musical and emotional horizons. I caught up with singersongwriter Erin Passmore, who was in a van bound for Boston, to find out more. Alex J MacPherson: The Poet’s Dead was pretty widely hailed as a breakthrough album for Rah Rah. Have any of those predictions borne out? Erin Passmore: I mean, I’ve only read one or two reviews. I get excited to read them, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. I like it, and to me that’s a success. If I’m happy with it, if I don’t get tired listening to it or playing it, then that’s something I take as a success. But it’s nice that people like it, obviously! AJM: Perhaps the standout thing about this record — and the band itself — is the sheer number of voices. Does it ever get chaotic? EP: I think that we’re fortunate enough to really trust each other’s songwriting. Marshall’s obviously really poetic, and can write these amazing stories that you’re not sure if they’ve happened to him or not, whereas I write more from my own
perspective, but I think in a way that leaves people guessing … Kristina’s songwriting, too. Being in a band for this many years, we’ve just converged on how we write songs.
you get something that’s sonically really interesting. You’re interested when you’re listening to it: you want to find out … how it was done. At least, that’s how I listen to music.
AJM: The songwriting is still classic Rah Rah, but this album is so much smoother.
AJM: I think the record is fantastic, but I also think this band’s greatest strength is most apparent onstage. It feels like a big party, and while instrument-switching and chaos create challenges, it seems like there are advantages, too.
EP: I think it was a conscious decision. We had made these more lo-fi records, because that’s what we did and that’s
You have to give the audience something else to hold on to. ERIN PASSMORE
what came out, but we had this opportunity to work with [producers] Gus Van Go and Werner F., and they work in such a way that it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be really slick-sounding. The way they record, and their process, is to get the sound right before you hit record. It’s almost like it’s a really full-sounding record instead of this post-production edited, produced record. We wanted to give it a shot, and I’m really glad we did.
EP: I always tell people that that’s how I keep from getting bored, basically. We are multi-talented, and I think to limit ourselves in that respect would be kind of a disservice to the band. There are definitely disadvantages with the live show, but I think it’s definitely something we like to do just because it adds that visual aspect. And honestly, the live show has to be something a little more than the record. You have to give the audience something else to hold on to.
AJM: It strikes me that the market is so saturated with lo-fi stuff that there’s a real yearning for clarity.
Rah Rah April 3 @ Amigos Cantina $10 @ Ticketedge.ca
EP: Well, I think you can definitely take from both schools of thought and make an interesting-sounding record. I think people nowadays are sort of crossing the lines; they’re not necessarily just taking from one pop sound or anything like that, which is really neat because when you combine the two
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12 MAR 22 – MAR 27 CULTURE
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ARTS
SAID THE WHALE
Vancouver indie rockers punch above their weight
T
yler Bancroft tried not to think about it. He knew Little Mountain might win a nomination. He knew what it felt like to win a Juno Award — Said The Whale, the band he fronts with Ben Worcester, won Best New Group in 2011 — and he knew the band’s latest collection of snappy rock songs had been praised by fans and critics alike. But he was still shocked when the news arrived. “Every band’s management submits their record to be nominated for a Juno, so you know that you’ve submitted,” Bancroft says, speaking from a tour stop in Los Angeles. “But it’s also not the kind of thing that as an indie band you go and do with any sort of expectations. Winning that first time, even being nominated for the first time, was a huge honour for us, and so another nomination, especially alongside those calibre of bands, is pretty f**king ridiculous.” But it’s not all that ridiculous. Since 2007, Said The Whale have carved
BY ALEX J MACPHERSON
out a reputation for writing songs that straddle the line between conventional pop structures and indie aesthetics. Little Mountain, their most polished release to date, is a sampling of breezy west coast pop. Unfolding across a musical landscape shaped by their home in Vancouver, and pushed to the horizon by their restless ambition, Little Mountain captures the band at a pivotal moment — shedding the brash exuberance that propelled its predecessor, Islands Disappear, and embracing a more expansive musical vision. From the opening crescendo of “We Are 1980” and the infectious “Loveless” to the sombre strains of “Seasons,” Little Mountain feels like a major accomplishment for one of Canada’s hardest-working bands. It feels like the sort of album that can only be born from hundreds of long days and longer nights — a fact of which Bancroft, who spent the past couple of days retching in the back of a van and feeling like “grim death,” is acutely aware.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF JONATHAN TAGGART
“It’s not like this just happened overnight,” he says. “It’s more like an opportunity to take a step back and look at how our hard work has paid off, and led us to have our band name alongside such quality names and such big talent.” And while it is difficult to imagine a scenario in which Metric’s Synthetica doesn’t take home the trophy, it’s equally difficult to conceive of an album that deserves it more than Little Mountain. Said the Whale March 29 @ Odeon Events Centre $30 @ Ticketmaster
INAPPROPRIATE BEAUTY
The Performative Lens at Paved
B
art Gazzola sidesteps a pothole overflowing with brown slush and darts across Avenue D, a black scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. “One of the few things I really pride myself on is that I can usually pull any gallery viewer in with my work,” he says, his eyes bright behind a pair of steel-rimmed glasses. “I do feel it’s important to make beautiful works, and that can be a great way to be subversive. You pull them in, and then they’ll be like, ‘Oh my, what am I looking at?’” Gazzola is talking about his contribution to The Performative Lens, an exhibition of photographs that documents carefully scripted performances and examines the gulf between disinterested photography and deeply personal portraiture. The
BY ALEX J MACPHERSON
show, which features images from Gazzola’s Prophet series alongside several works by Evergon, a prominent Montreal photographer known for making controversial images of a predominantly male gay culture, is also a continuation of the working relationship between the two artists. “I always joke that I make inappropriately beautiful images,” Gazzola says, capturing in a single phrase the crude physicality and tension embedded in his massive photographs, which depict a faceless man wearing nothing but a pig skin. “There’s something about presenting a monumental image that gives it an incredible power,” he adds, noting that life-size prints were far less effective than the enlargements hanging in the gallery. Unlike Evergon’s images, which attempt to unravel the twin mysteries of
sexuality and attraction by presenting photographs laden with contradiction and taboo, Gazzola’s work documents a collision between the primal and the sophisticated. The sinewy threads of the pig skin and the nude model clash dramatically with the complex and technologically advanced method he used to create the works. “There’s a fleshiness and physicality to them that’s really wonderfully symbolic,” he says. “And that’s where that contradiction, in terms of working digitally, comes back.” Gazzola cheerfully admits that his work, unlike Evergon’s more pointed photographs, lends itself to multiple interpretations, from the profound and the political to the irreverent and the humorous. But one idea is inescapable: The Performative Lens shows that the most compelling
images are often the most beautiful and the most inappropriate. The Performative Lens Through April 20 @ Paved Arts
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13 MAR 22 – MAR 27 @VERBSASKATOON
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THE NORTH Stars do what they do best BY ALEX J MACPHERSON
A
my Millan has two families. One shares her blood, the other her spirit. One is a group of people threaded together by the great arc of history, the other a group of people tied together by an impossible dream. The former consists of people she is related to. The latter consists of a rock band. “When I go into the room with the guys to make music, the people I’m trying to impress are them,” Millan says of her colleagues in Stars, Canada’s preeminent indie pop orchestra. “If they like the song, then I can trust that the people who have been with us for so long are also going to fall in love with the music. We all kind of keep each other in check, and that’s what’s pretty amazing about having that kind of collaboration.” Millan believes the band’s collaborative approach is its own reward, but it is impossible to overlook the fact that Stars have become one of the most important pop groups in the country. Today, almost fifteen years after cutting their first record, their identity is indivisible from the sparkling, kaleidoscopic pop sound they helped create; their 2004 masterpiece, Set Yourself On Fire, has since its release been the yardstick against which aspiring bands are measured. And the Montreal-based band is as relevant today as they were ten years ago. The North, which was released late last year, feels like a new beginning: a musical evolution rather than an attempt to recapture the magic of Set Yourself On Fire. Unlike 2007’s In Our Bedroom After The War and 2010’s The
Five Ghosts, The North was nominated for a Juno Award. It deserves to win. “It’s a great day for us,” Millan says before emphasizing that winning awards was never the goal: “What matters to me is that Evan and Chris and Paddy and Torq like the songs.” When I ask how the nomination affects the band’s perception of themselves with regard to the ever-expanding landscape of Canadian music, Millan dodges the question. “I think we’re fools,” she laughs. “And that’s why we’re still here. It’s a foolish thing to do, to get together with your best
survived massive highs and crushing lows. From the beginning Millan knew she was part of something special. “I knew right away,” she says. “The first time the four of us were in a room together — Torquil, Chris, Evan, and I — I had a very good feeling about how it was going to turn out.” She was right. Stars were embraced as a potent antidote to a decade of boilerplate alt-rock. By replacing thundering amplifiers and thoughtless clichés with unusual arrangements and dense, poetic lyrics, they stripped down and rebuilt the framework around which
It’s a foolish thing to do, to … try to have a life where you’re going to play music for people. AMY MILLAN
friends and try to have a life where you’re going to play music for people. It’s not by any means steady. You put one foot in front of the other and hope the floor comes up to meet you.”
Stars emerged in 1999 from the same music scene that spawned Metric and Broken Social Scene. Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman released Nightsongs in 2001, and later recruited Millan and Evan Cranley to shore up their live performances. Drummer Pat McGee joined the band shortly thereafter, cementing the lineup that has
pop music is constructed. Although they have experimented with broad narratives and sweeping orchestral sounds, Millan and her colleagues are at their best when writing simple songs about simple things. “The idea that time will pass and we will all die, and in that you’d better enjoy having sex,” she laughs. “Those are, I think, the broad themes we’ve always wanted to launch our pop songs on.” Unlike The Five Ghosts, a record fractured by the death of Campbell’s father, The North finds the band in comfortable territory. They never get around to saying as much, but it feels CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »
14 MAR 22 – MAR 27 CULTURE
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LISTINGS
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VERBNEWS.COM
PHOTOS: COURTESY OF NORMAN WONG
like a recalibration, or perhaps a rejuvenation. Everybody, Millan notes, was in a good place. “After playing The Five Ghosts for two years I think we were feeling better,” Millan explains. “I had a kid and Torquil had a kid and we were feeling more joyful. I think that’s what comes through the most in the new album.” And by leaving themselves room to experiment, Stars created The North as a celebration of sound, a sea of music where the crests and troughs run together into oblivion. Although The North lacks a broad theme or concept, its songs are joined
PHOTO: COURTESY OF NORMAN WONG
by a violent refusal to let sorrow overpower joy. Mortality, once a fixation, has become a foil. The preposterously titled “Hold On When You Get Love And Let Go When You Give It” dashes hope on the rocks (“There’s been a lot of talk of love / But that don’t amount to nothing”) before finding salvation in the things that make us human (“Take the weakest thing in you / And then beat the bastards with it”). Millan thinks it is one of the best songs the band has ever written. “A lot of our songs are very heady, and with this song, every night, we’re onstage, we’re all jumping up and
down and dancing,” she says of the infectious chorus and punchy arrangement of synthesizer pads and furious guitar riffs. “It really was a completely collaborative effort between the five of us being in the room together. And generally it’s always the best song when five people are present to make it what it is.” Millan wasn’t in the studio when the band cut the song; she showed up a few hours later, in time to write the chorus. “These are the people I’m trying to impress the most,” she recalls, “and they’re all looking at me going, ‘What do you think?’ I was like, ‘You know what? I love it. And I can’t wait to play it for the next ten years.’”
Campbell and Millan have described The North as a political record, a frustratingly vague term that can mean anything from self-important sanctimony to an expression of popular frustration. But the record feels political insofar as it feels hopeful. “We did have the sense that we wanted to convey this idea of how it was when we were kids, and how we would like it to return to that utopian ideal of when things were being built for the World’s Fair, and when people were coming together from across the world to meet in one place,” Millan says. “I think it’s an idealistic point of view, but hopefully it’s something we can achieve again.” That idealism is contagious. It is tangible at all of their concerts, which feel more like celebrations than expositions. Millan, who is “pretty much an agnostic,” is not oblivious to the parallels between the cathedral and the
concert hall. “There’s something I feel that definitely shifts the world a little bit when there’s a couple thousand people and everybody’s singing the same song in joy and in love. It’s like going to church. It’s kind of creating an energy that I believe can shift the vibe of the world.” Pop music will never change the world; the world is too big and messy for that. But the energy created by thousands of people singing together just might, because being part of something bigger than any one person, than any five musicians, is special. It feels like an open secret, an open door. It feels like being part of a family. Stars March 29 @ The Odeon Events Centre $30 @ Ticketmaster
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15 MAR 22 – MAR 27 /VERBSASKATOON
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Photos courtesy of Adam Hawboldt.
NEW SPIN ON OLD FAVOURITES
Outstanding noodle bowls and ginger beef at Szechuan Kitchen BY ADAM HAWBOLDT
G
o to any Vietnamese restaurant in the city and chances are you’ll see somebody feasting on a noodle bowl. Why? Because noodle bowls are awesome, that’s why. If you want a quick, filling lunch, they hit the spot. If you want a hearty, healthy dinner, they’re ideal. And if you’re hungover, well, noodle bowls are exactly what the doctor ordered. The other thing that makes noodle bowls so amazing is their consistency. Much like pizza, even the
worst noodle bowl is still better than no noodle bowl at all. But here’s the
But after indulging in the Szechuan Kitchen’s take on this Vietnamese
…fresh garlic, ginger and spice to give their sauce a scrumptious, special kick. ADAM HAWBOLDT
thing: it’s hard to find one in this city that really stands out above all the other good bowls around. And trust me, I’ve been looking.
staple, I think I’ve finally found my goto noodle bowl joint. What makes it so good? Well, for starters, the spring roll. Anyone who eats this dish will tell you a good noodle bowl is dependent on a good spring roll. If the spring roll is subpar, so too is the rest of the meal. At Szechuan Kitchen, the spring rolls are excellent. Filled with marinated beef (not pork) and noodles, they’re sweet and savoury and all kinds of delicious. Next thing a good noodle bowl needs is good toppings. And, pound for pound, Szechuan Kitchen has some of the best in the city. I went with the shrimp bowl, and it was piled high with sliced cucumber, carrots, plump shrimp, crushed peanuts and, interestingly, sautéed mushrooms. Man, those
LET’S GO DRINKIN’ VERB’S MIXOLOGY GUIDE ASIAN MIST
INGREDIENTS
If you’re in the mood for something sweet yet potent, give this Asian-inspired cocktail a try. Not only does it taste good, it will get you tipsy in no time. Cheers!
1/2 ounce rum 1 1/2 ounces coconut rum 1 ounce melon liqueur Sprite (or 7-Up) pineapple juice
DIRECTIONS
Pour rum and melon liqueur into a tumbler full of ice. Shake well. Pour the spirits in a martini glass, and top off with equal amounts of soda and pineapple juice. Stir and serve.
mushrooms really made the whole dish shine! Finally, there’s the fish sauce. In most places they just pour the fish sauce from the bottle and serve, but not here. At this cozy little joint, they add fresh garlic, ginger and spice to give their sauce a scrumptious, special kick. Put it all together, and you have a wildly delectable noodle bowl. And it doesn’t stop there. I tucked into some of Szechuan Kitchen’s ginger beef, and was really into what they were dishing up. You see, in some restaurants the beef can really vary, from rubbery to dry to tasteless. But at the Szechuan Kitchen, the plate had thick pieces of
beef that were moist and marinated. Add to that a ginger sauce that’s sweet with a bit of spice, and loads of fresh vegetables, and you have a staple dish with a twist done right. So if you want interesting (and delicious) versions of old favourites, do yourself a favor and hit up the Szechuan Kitchen. Or just get some delivered, like, statim. Szechuan Kitchen 835E Broadway Ave | 306 664 8668 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
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16 MAR 22 – MAR 27 CULTURE
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VERBNEWS.COM
MUSIC
NEXT WEEK
COMING UP
THE ESCORTS
TWO HOURS TRAFFIC
MGMT
@ THE GERMAN CLUB SATURDAY, MARCH 30 – $TBD
@ AMIGOS CANTINA WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3 – $10
@ ODEON EVENTS CENTRE THURSDAY, MAY 9 – $42.50
It all began in a dingy basement in downtown Calgary. That’s where Theron Swift (vocals), Strychnine Buzz (guitar), Tom C. Smith (bass) and Steve Richter (drums), first got together to become The Escorts. Playing a hard-charging brand of rockedup punk, this Albertan four-piece are a band on the rise. With snarling lyrics, driving guitars and a real adherence to the punk ethos, The Escorts makes music that is loud and in your face. Oh, and did I mention their live show? Infused with energy, passion and a whiskey-soaked charm, it’s the kind of act that grabs you by the lapels, makes you want to move, and doesn’t let go until the show is over. So if you wanna hear some good punk n’ roll, head down to The German Club next week .
A decade after handing Joel Plaskett their debut EP at a concert, this indie power pop band split from their mentor. But don’t worry: if you ask the guys from this Charlottetown band, they’ll tell you it was probably for the best. Sure, they owe Plaskett a solid for producing them for so many years, but after working with producer Darryl Neudorf, Two Hours Traffic has made the catchiest, most infectious album they’ve put out in years — Foolish Blood. Along with new bassist Nathan Gill, the original members of the band (Liam Corcoran, Derek Ellis and Andrew MacDonald) made a record full of energy and emotion and soaring pop melodies. They’re playing Amigos at the beginning of April; tickets available at ticketedge.ca
Robert Ludlum wrote the Bourne books. Joss Whedon is an Oscarnominated screenwriter. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT fame. What do all these artists have in common (aside from being famous artists, of course)? The correct answer is: they all attended Wesleyan University in Connecticut. That’s where Goldwasser and VanWyngarden first got together and started MGMT in the early 2000s. Since then they’ve enlisted the help of a live band featuring Will Berman, Matt Asti and James Richardson, and have become one — of if not the — leading psychedelic pop bands on the scene today. MGMT is currently on tour and will be making a pit stop in Saskatoon in May. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. – By Adam Hawboldt
PHOTOS COURTESY OF: THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST / KOKOSNOOT
SASK MUSIC PREVIEW The Stickman Drum Experience is an amazing multi-day drum camp that offers a creative atmosphere for drummers to learn, jam and hang out with world-class musicians. This year’s line-up of talent features Matt Halpern, Scott Pellegrom, Billy Ward, Tim Smith and Ronn Dunnett. Stickman 2013 takes place June 27-July 1 at Cedar Lodge on Blackstrap Lake; see http:// www.stickmandrumexperience.com/ for more info.
Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org
17 MAR 22 – MAR 27 @VERBSASKATOON
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LISTINGS
MARCH 22 » MARCH 30 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon. S
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22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
FRIDAY 22 HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover THE KARPINKA BROTHERS / Amigos — A night of great tunes, courtesy of these local talented gentlemen. 10pm / Tickets at the door
PIANO FRIDAYS: MAURICE DROUIN / The Bassment — Come check out Drouin tickle the ivories of the Kinsman Yamaha S6 grand piano. 4:30pm / No cover ROOTS SERIES: TROY MACGILLIVRAY AND FRIENDS / The Bassment — A bluenoser who is hellfire on a fiddle. 9pm / $5 (jammers get in for free) DJ AASH MONEY / Béily’s — DJ Aash Money throws it down. 9pm / $5 cover HUNG JURY / Buds — Playing covers from AC/DC to Fleetwood Mac. 9pm / $6 DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax — This local crowd favourite is able to rock any party. 9pm / $5 JUAN SEBASTIAN LAROBINE, MALIKA SELLAMI / Le Relais — A laid-back evening with talented musicians. 8pm / Ticket info @ 653-7440
MAT THE ALIEN / Louis’ — Otherworldly beats from a talented DJ. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm SURROUND SOUND / Paved Arts — Featuring John Cage, Jennifer Butler, Gareth Cook, Darren Miller, Jeff Morton and WL Altman. 7pm / SOLD OUT TROY HUDSON TRIO / Prairie Ink — Hudson is a talented singer/songwriter not to be missed. 8pm / No cover LORI J WARD WITH FAYDE AND DISLEXIK / Spadina Freehouse — The kind of music that’ll make you bob your head. 9pm / No cover 0KM 2 EMPTY / Stan’s Place — Come out for a night of rocking tunes. 9pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests,from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 PARTY ROCK FRIDAYS / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD FLYING FOX AND THE HUNTER GATHERERS W/ PROUD ANIMAL / Vangelis — Awesome operatic indie jazz. 10pm / $5
SATURDAY 23
HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover
B.A. JOHNSTON / Amigos Cantina — Hilarious folk from Ontario. Also appearing is Fist City. 10pm / Cover TBD JAZZ DIVA SERIES: CAROL WELSMAN TRIO / The Bassment — A major talent of both voice and piano. 9pm / $35/40 DJ CTRL + AUSTEN ROADZ / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ CTRL throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party along with Austen Roadz every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover HUNG JURY / Buds On Broadway — Playing covers from AC/DC to Fleetwood Mac. 9pm / $6 BOB SEGER AND THE SILVER BULLET BAND / Credit Union Centre — A legendary rocker from Detroit. 8pm / $66.50-265.50 (ticketmaster.ca) PSYCHO DEELIA / Fez on Broadway — A local band playing the hard stuff. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — Able to rock any party, this local crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. . 9pm / $5 cover VULTURE KULT / Lydia’s Pub — Rock and roll for the modern age.10pm / $5 DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5
WAYNE BARGEN / Prairie Ink — Finger style acoustic music. 8pm / No cover MITCHY THE KID / Spadina Freehouse — A local DJ doing his thing and doing it well. 9pm / No cover 0KM 2 EMPTY / Stan’s Place — Come out for a night of rocking tunes. 9pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 SEXY SATURDAYS / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD (ladies get free cover before 11pm) WHISKEY JERKS, INGRID GATIN, TWIN VOICES / Vangelis — You won’t want to miss this show. 10pm / $5
SUNDAY 24
BORN RUFFIANS / Amigos Cantina — Awesome indie rock from Ontario 10pm / $12 (ticketedge.ca) SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DJ / Béily’s UltraLounge — Come out and test your skillz. 8pm / No cover. DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover BLUES JAM / Vangelis Tavern — The Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, offering great tunes from blues to rock and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover
18 MAR 22 – MAR 27 ENTERTAINMENT
CONTENTS
LOCAL
EDITORIAL
COMMENTS
Q+A
ARTS
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FOOD + DRINK
MUSIC
LISTINGS
FILM
NIGHTLIFE
COMICS
TIMEOUT
VERBNEWS.COM
MONDAY 25 RON SEXSMITH / Broadway Theatre — A wildly talented singer/songwriter from Toronto. 7:30pm / $33+ METAL MONDAYS / Lydia’s Pub — If hard, heavy awesomeness is your thing, swing by. 9pm SYNAPTIC / Vangelis — A night of electronic fun. 9pm / No cover
TUESDAY 26
40 SONS / Buds On Broadway — A Hamilton-based rock quartet. 9pm / $6 BILLY TALENT / Credit Union Centre — Melodic punk out of Mississauga. 7pm / $40+ (Ticketmaster) DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — This crowd favourite is able to rock any party. 9:30pm / $4 cover VERB PRESENTS OPEN STAGE / Lydia’s Pub — The open stage at Lydia’s has hosted many of Saskatoon’s finest performers. 9pm / No cover A$AP ROCKY / Odeon Events Centre — A New York hip hop artist with flow. 7pm / $39.50-59.50 (theodeon.ca) OPEN MIC / Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover
WEDNESDAY 27
HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Resident DJ Chris Knorr will be spinning all of your favourite songs. 9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter ROOTS SERIES: MADISON VIOLET / The Bassment — A Juno-nominated roots duo from Toronto. 8pm / $15/20 ACTIVIST MAGUIRE / Buds On Broadway — Come rock the night away. 9pm / $6 THE AVENUE RECORDING COMPANY PRESENTS OPEN MIC / The Fez — Hosted by Chad Reynolds. . 10pm / No cover DJ KADE / Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover JAZZ NIGHT / Louis’ — Jazz, beer, what more can you ask for? 9pm / Cover TBD DR. J ‘SOULED OUT’ / Lydia’s — Dr. J spins hot funk and soul every Wednesday night. WILD WEST WEDNESDAY / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Don’t forget to come and ride the electronic bull. 9pm DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / No cover LITTLE BIG TOWN / TCU Place — This platinum-selling country band is on a Tornado Tour. 7:30pm / $37.50-49.50 (tcutickets.ca) SOUL KILLING FEMALE W/ A GHOST IN DRAG AND TWIN VOICES / Vangelis —
Three sweet bands, one low price. How can you say no? 10pm / $5
THURSDAY 28
RAY STEPHANSON / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings? 4:30pm / No cover HAYDEN / The Bassment — Pared-down folk music that’s all kinds of good. 9pm / $20/25 ACTIVIST MAGUIRE / Buds On Broadway — Come rock the night away. 9pm / $6 THROWBACK THURSDAYS / Earls — Come experience some of the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock. 8pm / No cover THUNDER RIOT W/CONKY SHOWPONY / The Fez — Come dance the night away. 9pm / $5 DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — Local DJ Sugar Daddy will be rocking the turntables to get you dancing on the dance floor! 8pm / $5; free cover with student ID before 11pm TAKE THE STAGE / Louis’ — Watch three bands compete for the Grand Prize. 8pm / Cover TBD CRUZING CABARET / Odeon Events Centre — Featuring April Wine, Alan Frew and The Diggers. 7pm / $34.50-54-50 (theodeon.ca) MIKEY DUBZ BIRTHDAY BASH / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring Chan-L, Mr. Suave, Mr. Mern, Mikey Dubz, and Mikey Two Kay. 6pm / $10 CONTINUUM / Vangelis — Come get the weekend started early! 10pm / $5
FRIDAY 29
HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover KAY THE AQUANAUT / Amigos Cantina — Dope, indie hip hop that’ll make you bob your head. 10pm / Cover TBD RAY STEPHANSON / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings? 4:30pm / No cover DJ AASH MONEY / Béily’s — DJ Aash Money throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 SCREAMER / Buds On Broadway — Highenergy classic rock. 9pm / $6 DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — Able to rock any party, this local crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9pm / $5 cover PLAID TONGUED DEVILS / Lydia’s Pub — Ska gypsy rock that’ll make you move. 10pm / $5
STARS / Odeon Events Centre — Indie pop rock done right. 7pm / $25/29 (theodeon.ca) DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm DJ ALBERT + DISLEXIK / Spadina Freehouse — Two sweet DJs for your listening pleasure. 9pm / No cover JETT RUN / Stan’s Place — Come out for a night of rocking tunes. 9pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 PARTY ROCK FRIDAYS / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD BEND SINISTER, BLEACHERS, JEANS BOOTS / Vangelis — What a way to celebrate Friday night! Come check it out. 10pm / $8
SATURDAY 30
HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes. 9pm / No cover SLATES / Amigos Cantina — Infectious punk rock out of Edmonton. 10pm / Tickets at the door AUSTEN ROADZ + DJ CTRL / Béily’s — With over 25 years of DJ experience, Austen Roadz throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party along with DJ CTRL every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover SCREAMER / Buds On Broadway — Highenergy classic rock. 9pm / $6 JOHNNY DON’T / Fez on Broadway — A local pop/rock act that’s too good to miss. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — Able to rock any party, this local crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. He is sure to have you on the dance floor in no time. 9pm / $5 cover LUCERO / Louis’ — Country-punk rock band all the way from Tennessee. 8pm / $ 26.75 (ticketmaster.ca) PLAID TONGUED DEVILS / Lydia’s Pub — Ska gypsy rock that’ll make you move. 10pm / $5 DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5 THE FORKS / Prairie Ink — A folk/bluegrass trio. 8pm / No cover CHARLY HUSTLE / Spadina Freehouse — A local DJ doing his thing and doing it well. 9pm / No cover
JETT RUN / Stan’s Place — Come out for a night of rocking tunes. 9pm / No cover DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 SEXY SATURDAYS / Tequila Nightclub — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / Cover TBD (ladies get free cover before 11pm)
THE GRAIN REPORT, EXPRESS AND CO. / Vangelis — A little bit of acoustic pop, swing, bluegrass and rock for ya. 10pm / $5
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19 MAR 22 – MAR 27 /VERBSASKATOON
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FORCED ADMISSION PHOTO: COURTESY OF FOCUS FEATURES
New dramedy Admission needs work, but Tina Fey shines BY ADAM HAWBOLDT
W
arning: this movie recap is going to be biased. You see, for the past seven years I tuned into NBC every Thursday night for a date with my TV-girlfriend, Tina Fey. What the what? It’s true. I have a serious crush on Tina Fey. There’s just
Heck, since we’re being completely honest, I’ve watched and enjoyed nearly everything she’s ever appeared in, whether on television or the silver screen. And that’s why, good reader, this review of Admission — which she stars in alongside Paul Rudd — is going to be biased. Even heading into it I knew that even if Admission was as bad as, oh, I don’t
feminist mom, are wildly captivating, as much as you’d expect. The bad: Tina Fey didn’t write the script. That was the first mistake. The second was, instead of being tightly focused, Admission seemed to stray a bit, and as a result, ended up with some serious identity issues. Oh, and even though Fey and Rudd (two very accomplished and likable comedic actors) star in it, the movie is rarely, if ever, funny. Directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy), Admission tells the story of Portia (Fey), an admissions officer at Princeton. She is a smart, ambitious, slightly neurotic professional woman with serious doubts about motherhood. (If that sounds vaguely similar to Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, well, that’s because both characters share more than a few mannerisms). Anyway, when we meet Portia she has a lot going on. The head of admissions is retiring, so she’s gunning for his job. She’s also in a serious relationship with her Chaucer-reading professor boyfriend (Michael Sheen), she’s dealing with her mother’s problems, etc., etc. One day a former classmate of hers, John Pressman (Paul Rudd)
…even though Fey and Rudd … star in it, the movie is rarely, if ever, funny. ADAM HAWBOLDT
something about a woman who is kooky, whip-smart, funnier than anyone has the right to be, pretty and talented enough to win a closet full of Emmys and Golden Globes that appeals to me. So, needless to say, whenever 30 Rock (which she created, wrote and starred in) was on, I was watching.
know, Battlefield Earth or Glitter, I’d still have a soft spot for it just because Tina Fey had so much screen time. Pathetic, I know. But it’s true. Right. Now with that lengthy disclaimer out of the way, let’s turn to the movie. Was it any good? Well, yes and no. The good: Tina Fey and Lily Tomlin’s, who plays Fey’s hilarious, uber-
comes along. John is a teacher at an alternative school where the students are taught to build robots, milk cows and think for themselves. He comes to see Portia in order to convince her to admit his star pupil, Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), into Princeton. Sounds pretty straightforward, right? Well, not really. See, along with trying to convince Portia to admit Jeremiah to the Ivy League institution, John admits that he believes Jeremiah is Portia’s son. This is one of the many twists and turns you’ll encounter in the movie. And personally, I liked the not-knowing aspect of Admission. I just wish the film was more of a
ADMISSION Paul Weitz STARRING Tina Fey, Paul Rudd, Michael Sheen + Lily Tomlin DIRECTED BY
117 MINUTES | PG
comedy and less of a drama. More easy-flowing, less forced. I also wish the script had been better. But Tina Fey was great.
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@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com
20 MAR 22 – MAR 27 ENTERTAINMENT
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ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Cinematic adaptation of Kerouac’s beloved book is good, but not without its faults BY ADAM HAWBOLDT
I
f you know Jack Keruoac, chances are you heard the story of how he created his most famous work — On the Road. Legend has it, the King of the Beats wrote his magnum opus on a 120-foot scroll of drawing paper, using virtually no punctuation, while lost in a benzedrine haze for three special weeks in 1951. But guess what? The legend isn’t exactly true. See, while On the Road was most certainly typed during that three-week stint in April, he had written the first draft of a “road” as early as 1948 and was, according to those who knew him best, always jotting things down (characters, plots, scenes) that would eventually become his best-loved work. Sorry to burst the blast-of-spontaneous-inspiration bubble. And speaking of bubble bursting, apparently Kerouac’s benzedrine use (he mostly just drank coffee), his use of drawing paper for the scroll (he used teletype paper) and his complete disregard
PHOTO: COURTESY OF IFC FILMS
honest here — it’s nowhere near as big and energetic and immediate and magical as Kerouac’s novel. Still, it’s good to see Keruoac and his Beat buddies (Neal Cassady, Allen Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, et al.) brought to life on the big screen. For those of you who haven’t read On the Road, here’s a quick synopsis: it all starts when “Sal Paradise”/Jack Kerouac (Sam Riley) meets “Dean
[On the Road] nowhere near as big and energetic and immediate and magical as Kerouac’s novel. ADAM HAWBOLDT
for punctuation (it was mostly conventionally punctuated) are all humbug and hogwash. But who cares, right? Jack Kerouac is still legendary. So legendary, in fact, they finally make a movie of his life on the road. And to be completely honest with you, I liked it. That’s not to say it will be everyone’s bag, though. At times, the film (directed by Walter Salles) can be slow, it’s definitely too long (it’s over two hours) and — if we’re going to be
Moriarty”/Neal Cassady (Garrett Hedlund). Paradise is a writer, Moriarity is a wild man who could charm the bra off a nun. They become quick friends and criss-cross America in a car, meeting up with pals and lovers — “Old Bull Lee”/William S. Burroughs (Viggo Mortensen), “Marylou”/LuAnne Henderson (Kristen Stewart), “Camille”/Carolyn Cassady (Kirsten Dunst), and more. Along the way they drink, do drugs, have copious amounts of sex and talk about life. Then the story ends.
ON THE ROAD Walter Salles STARRING Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Riley, Garrett Hedlund + Viggo Mortensen DIRECTED BY
123 MINUTES | N/A
For those of you who have read the book, rest easy knowing that Sam Riley really grows into his role as Kerouac, Hedlund plays Cassady with an excellent boy-like charm, Mortensen is good as Burroughs and Tom Sturridge kills it with his portrayal of Ginsberg. Really, he’s the highlight of the film. But not the most surprising. The most surprising moment comes compliments of Steve Buscemi in a roadside bathroom. But I will say this: although the movie is nowhere near as good as the book, it does do a decent job of reintroducing the main players of the Beat Generation and showing us their hectic, speed-filled days of life on the road. On the Road is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.
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21 MAR 22 – MAR 27 @VERBSASKATOON
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SATURDAY, MARCH 16 @
PRAIRIELAND PARK
Prairieland Park 503 Ruth Street West (306) 931 7149
MUSIC VIBE / Live concert by Our Lady Peace, Fear of Knowing
and Screamlyne TOP EATS / Smokies, hot dogs, popcorn and dry ribs DRINK OF CHOICE / Original 16 COMING UP / Draggins Rod and Custom car show on March 29 + 30, Western Canadian Dairy Expo on April 4 + 5, and Cyclemania and Ink Alley on April 13 + 14; see saskatoonex.com for a full calendar of events
22 MAR 22 – MAR 27 ENTERTAINMENT
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CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Thursday, March 28. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon
Photography by Patrick Carley
23 MAR 22 – MAR 27 /VERBSASKATOON
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NIGHTLIFE
24 MAR 22 – MAR 27 ENTERTAINMENT
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SATURDAY, MARCH 16 @
LOUIS’ PUB
Louis’ Pub 93 Campus Drive (306) 966 7000 MUSIC VIBE / Eclectic, thanks to a
good mix of live bands and DJs FEATURED DEALS / Domestic beer for $4.74, Paddock Wood pints for $5.25, and Caesars for $4.00 DRINK OF CHOICE / Beer TOP EATS / Nachos and poutine COMING UP / Lucero on March 30
CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Thursday, March 28. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon
Photography by Ishtiaq Opal
25 MAR 22 – MAR 27 @VERBSASKATOON
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© Elaine M. Will | blog.E2W-Illustration.com | Check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!
26 MAR 22 – MAR 27 ENTERTAINMENT
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CROSSWORD CANADIAN CRISS-CROSS 28. Consume 30. Self-importance 31. St. Andrew’s cross 35. Impertinent 39. Malt beverage 40. Arranged well 42. Spanish snack 43. Protective covering 45. Be acceptable 47. In favour of 48. Part of USSR 50. Roof of the mouth 52. Gone wild 53. Team game 54. Dry and withered 55. Bigfoot
DOWN 1. Gun dog 2. Make a choice 3. Smell strongly and unpleasantly 4. Gull relatives 5. Mineral used in making fertilizers 6. Measure of radiation 7. Rocky part of a mountain 8. Substance applied to paper to make it resis- tant to moisture damage 9. Sycophant 11. Bank built to keep a river from overflowing 12. The one here 14. Animal with antlers 17. Part of TGIF
20. Mincemeat ingredient 22. Janitor’s supply 25. Unpleasant sensation 27. Sure-footed animal 29. Bridge support 31. Plant pouches 32. Unsympathetic 33. They drop off in autumn 34. Water in French 36. Hunting expedition 37. Niedermayer who played for the Devils 38. Long ago 41. A little drunk 44. Grow weary 46. Sticky stuff 49. Serving of corn 51. Parking place
SUDOKU ANSWER KEY
A
B
7 9 2 1 3 4 6 5 8 6 5 1 8 2 7 9 4 3 8 4 3 5 9 6 2 1 7 1 7 4 3 5 9 8 2 6 2 6 9 7 4 8 5 3 1 3 8 5 2 6 1 4 7 9 5 2 6 9 1 3 7 8 4 4 1 8 6 7 2 3 9 5 9 3 7 4 8 5 1 6 2
ACROSS 1. Arrange in order 5. Parts of curved lines 9. Conical tent 10. Imminent danger 12. Sway as if about to fall 13. Greatly surprised 15. Head covering 16. Interlock wool loops 18. Let somebody have 19. Day in the ancient Roman calendar 21. Move slightly 23. Word before maiden names 24. Pancake topping 26. Put things into a zigzag pattern
6 8 3 5 7 9 4 2 1 9 5 7 1 2 4 6 8 3 4 2 1 6 8 3 7 5 9 2 3 9 8 4 5 1 6 7 1 6 8 3 9 7 2 4 5 7 4 5 2 6 1 9 3 8 5 7 2 9 3 6 8 1 4 3 9 6 4 1 8 5 7 2 8 1 4 7 5 2 3 9 6
TIMEOUT
© WALTER D. FEENER 2012
HOROSCOPES MARCH 22 – MARCH 27 ARIES March 21–April 19
LEO July 23–August 22
SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21
Things are going to happen this week, Aries. Will they be good things or bad things, though? Well, a little from column A, a little from column B.
Been looking to change things up, dear Leo? If so, an opportunity may come to a screeching halt in front of you, so be sure to grab it.
Whoa, buddy! Your creative juices are going to be flowing like the mighty Mississippi this week, Sagittarius. Be sure to make the most of it.
TAURUS April 20–May 20
VIRGO August 23–September 22
CAPRICORN December 22–January 19
Energy and happiness shall be yours this week, Taurus. Why? Well, because the universe has decided to smile on you for awhile. Bask in it.
You’re going to be confronted with some unnecessary and unwanted tension this week, Virgo. Be sure not to overreact. It could prove costly.
Pay close attention to your dreams (the ones you have while asleep) this week, Capricorn. They may hold secrets to your future success.
GEMINI May 21–June 20
LIBRA September 23–October 23
AQUARIUS January 20–February 19
Have you been feeling out of tune with things lately, Gemini? Getting smacked in the face by déjà vu and such? If so, don’t worry. That’s coming to an end.
Strange and wonderful: that’s what this week is going to be, Libra. Enjoy it. Times like this don’t come along very often.
Sometimes we fall into ruts that are hard to get out of. Don’t be surprised if you get stuck this week, though the tool to free yourself is already in your possession.
CANCER June 21–July 22
SCORPIO October 24–November 22
PISCES February 20–March 20
Strive for some intellectual conversation this week, Cancer. Where you’ll find it, who knows. But look high and low until it appears.
Have you been feeling as though you’ve been living under a dark cloud for the past few weeks, Scorpio? If so, it’s about to pass.
If you find yourself in a stressful situation this week, Pisces, don’t hyperventilate and start saying things like “huh, huh, huh.” People will laugh at you.
SUDOKU 6 8 7 2 1 9 4 8 3 2 6 8 9 4 5 6 1 3 2 5 7 4 6 9 7 2 3 4 1 5 8 1 7 5 3 9
CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY
A
9 2 3 6 8 6 2 4 3 5 9 7 1 7 9 8 6 2 7 4 3 5 1 7 2 9 1 8 4 1 8 3 5 4 5 6
B
27 MAR 22 – MAR 27 /VERBSASKATOON
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