Verb Issue S239 (May 10-16, 2013)

ISSUE #239 – MAY 10 TO MAY 16

ARTS

MUSIC

SASKATOON

AND

FREE!

YOUNG BENJAMINS THE TIES THAT BIND

READ & SHARE

BEHIND THE MASK Trenna Keating is winning over fans VA VA VAUDEVILLE Rosebud Burlesque’s biggest party THE GREAT GATSBY + CLOUDBURST Films reviewed­

CULTURE

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MATT BRADEN PHOTO

NEWS + OPINION

CONTENTS

DESIGNING WOMAN Saskatchewan Fashion Week highlights province’s talent. 4 / LOCAL

BEHIND THE MASK Local actress Trenna Keating is winning over fans. 6 / LOCAL

CYCLE FOR SUCCESS Our thoughts on improving the city’s bike lanes. 8 / EDITORIAL

ON THE COVER:

YOUNG BENJAMINS

On friendship and rock. 12 / FEATURE

COMMENTS Here’s your say on bringing prize fighting sports to SK. 10 / COMMENTS

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MIKE MORIEN

CULTURE

Q + A WITH JOANNA BORROMEO On blurring genres. 12 / Q + A

VA VA VAUDEVILLE

BUFFET EATING 101

Rosebud Burlesque throws its biggest party of the year. 13 / ARTS

This week we visit the Garden Cafe and Lounge. 16 / FOOD + DRINK

AN AMERICAN SALUTE

MUSIC

The SSO embraces American composers. 13 / ARTS

Smokekiller, Apollo Cruz +The Proclaimers. 17 / MUSIC

ENTERTAINMENT

LISTINGS Local music listings for May 10 through May 18. 18 / LISTINGS

VERBNEWS.COM @VERBSASKATOON FACEBOOK.COM/VERBSASKATOON

EDITORIAL

BUSINESS & OPERATIONS

PUBLISHER / PARITY PUBLISHING EDITOR IN CHIEF / RYAN ALLAN MANAGING EDITOR / JESSICA PATRUCCO STAFF WRITERS / ADAM HAWBOLDT + ALEX J MACPHERSON

OFFICE MANAGER / STEPHANIE LIPSIT ACCOUNT MANAGER / NATHAN HOLOWATY SALES MANAGER / VOGESON PALEY FINANCIAL MANAGER / CODY LANG

THE GREAT GATSBY + CLOUDBURST The latest movie reviews. 20 / FILM

CONTACT

ART & PRODUCTION

COMMENTS / FEEDBACK@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 881 8372

DESIGN LEAD / ROBERTA BARRINGTON

ADVERTISE / ADVERTISE@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 2253

DESIGN & PRODUCTION / BRITTNEY GRAHAM CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS / PATRICK CARLEY, ADAM HAWBOLDT + ISHTIAQ OPAL

DESIGN / LAYOUT@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 8474

ON THE BUS Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 26 / COMICS

NIGHTLIFE PHOTOS

GAMES + HOROSCOPES

We visied Original Joe’s and Rock the Bottom. 22-25 / NIGHTLIFE

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 27 / TIMEOUT

GENERAL / INFO@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 2253

2 MAY 10 – MAY 16 VERB MAGAZINE

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LOCAL

DESIGNING WOMAN

Saskatchewan Fashion Week a great way for beginning designers to get noticed BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SONJA CLIFTON-REMPLE

M

odel. Make-up artist.

Television and film costume designer.

Photographer.

Within the realm of the fashion industry, Sonja Clifton-Remple has worn a number of hats. And at last year’s Saskatchewan Fashion Week, she put on another.

One of the many volunteers at the inaugural event, Clifton-Remple worked backstage as the designer co-ordinator — one of the many behind-the-fashion-scenes people who help an event like SFW run smoothly.

“I started with Saskatchewan Fashion Week working with the directors,” says Clifton-Remple. “I helped them build relationships with designers who had an interest in showing their collections. Then, from there, I ended up backstage.

My job was getting the models on stage. So there I was running

around, working with the stage manager and dressing team to make sure everything ran on time. It was a bit crazy, I have to admit.”

This year, though, things may not be so crazy.

Why?

didn’t have the upbringing you’d expect of a fashionista. She wasn’t exposed to the street-ready fashion of urban centres, didn’t watch Fashion Television or have any older sisters to baptize her in the waters of high fashion. No, instead,

I started in the theatre world making costumes, then I branched out…

SONJA CLIFTON-REMPLE

Well, because Clifton-Remple is donning a less-hectic hat this time around.

That of first-time fashion designer.

Growing up on a farm near Swift Current, Sonja Clifton-Remple

Clifton-Remple lived a quaint, bucolic sort of existence with her parents and three brothers.

“In a situation like that,” chuckles Clifton-Remple, “how much fashion influence can you possibly get?”

Turns out, the answer is a lot.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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See, Clifton-Remple’s mom was an avid sewer. And she was pretty good at it, too.

“As a little kid, I remember watching her make costumes and clothing,” says Clifton-Remple. “She could make anything, so I used to stand around and marvel at that.”

Soon, Clifton-Remple’s mom noticed the interest her young daughter was showing in her work, taught her how to sew, and enrolled her in a youth sewing class in Swift Current.

From there things happened rather quickly.

“I was very creative and loved to make things. So when I was really young, what I would do was I’d take the sleeves off my long-sleeve T-shirts,” says Clifton-Remple.

She pauses for a moment, the way a person does when remembering the way the past has influenced her future, and continues: “And we aren’t talking old shirts with holes or anything. These were good, long-sleeve T-shirts that I’d cut apart and use to make dresses and other clothes for my Barbie dolls — my mom nearly hit the roof a couple of times!”

But that didn’t dissuade CliftonRemple. As a burgeoning, prepubescent designer, she took things a step further, and by age 12 she had advanced from dressing up Barbies to using her little brother as a model.

“I used to wrangle him into letting me dress him up in different fashions,” laughs Clifton-Remple.

“Then I’d convince him to let me cut his hair and do his make-up.

He was really young, so he was game for it. It was awesome.

Kids, you know, just do that kind of stuff.”

And that stuff soon led Sonja down a twisting path that would lead to the heart of the fashion world.

Let’s jump ahead a few years.

Let’s jump past the time CliftonRemple spent in London, England, past the years she attended the Costume Design program at the University of Regina, and past the early days of her costume designing career, to a time when Clifton-Remple was starting to make a name for herself.

“I started in the theatre world making costumes, then I branched out into television and film,” she explains. “A few friends of mine convinced me to come work on a movie set. They took me under their wing, taught me so much. And eventually I went from the bottom of the department to the top.”

That’s when she started landing gigs on independent movies and television shows, like InSecurity.

But things soon took a sharp turn that Clifton-Remple didn’t see coming.

“Last year’s demise of the film industry in this province kind of

brought things to a grinding halt,” says Clifton-Rempel of her career as a costume designer for film and television. “So I figured I’d branch out on my own and make my first women’s ready-to-wear collection.”

That’s where Saskatchewan Fashion Week — which runs from May 9th-11th in Regina — becomes important.

For designers like Clifton-Remple, designers who are putting their first collection on display at this year’s gala, SFW provides a way for them to get their clothing lines out there for the public to see.

And what should people expect to see from Clifton-Remple’s first foray into this side of the fashion world?

“Clothes for women in the 30-and-up age group,” she says.

“Clothes with simple lines, beautiful fabrics, elegant designs. They’re made for many different body types, and you can wear them anywhere — traveling, going to work, going out for an evening.

It’s a very versatile line.”

Much more versatile than, say, the garments she made for her Barbies all those years ago in Swift Current.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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5 MAY 10 – MAY 16 @VERBSASKATOON

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LOCAL

PHOTO: COURTESY OF JOE PUBLIESE

PHOTO: COURTESY OF TRENNA KEATING

BEHIND THE MASK

Saskatchewan actress is winning over fans in new sci-fi series Defiance BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

he first thing you notice about Doc Yewll is her head.

Smooth and hairless, with ears that seem to merge with her skull instead of protrude from it, Doc Yewll’s head is like nothing you’ve seen in a Saskatchewan crowd. The irises of her eyes are hexagonal.

Her skin is covered in bright white hexagon-shaped scales.

If that sounds alien to you, there’s good reason: Doc Yewll is an Indogene.

One of the many alien races on the sci-fi show Defiance (which airs on Syfy and Showcase), Indogenes are known for being the most scientifically advanced race in the Defiance universe. They have genetic upgrades, cyber implants, you name it. They are technical geniuses and, like Yewll, brilliant doctors who value science and knowledge above all else.

Basically, they are everything the actress that hides beneath Doc Yewll’s smooth, white, bald head isn’t.

Born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Trenna Keating always knew she wanted to be an actress. There were

“And right then, at that point, I knew I wanted to be an actor. My mind never changed. It’s basically the only thing I wanted to do. All through high school I was in drama club. I went to university for it.”

And eventually, like most aspiring Canadian actresses looking for their

…right then, at that point, I knew I wanted to be an actor. My mind never changed.

TRENNA KEATING

no lab coats in her professional future. No needles to stick in people or computers to program. From an early age, it’s been all about the bright lights and the stage.

“In elementary school, I think it was about Grade 5 or 6, we did this play — Dracula,” says Keating.

big break, Keating packed up her life and moved to Toronto.

It was there she landed her role as Doc Yewll.

“I’d been living in Toronto for about four years,” says Keating.

“I’d been in a show called Combat Hospital and I’d worked part-time CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

6 MAY 10 – MAY 16 NEWS + OPINION

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for a couple of casting directors, so they knew me a little bit. So when this show came about I went in for an audition.”

Keating got a callback.

And another.

And another.

After the third audition, Keating found herself in a place nearly all actresses will find themselves at one time or another — striving to maintain the balance between hope and reality.

“It’s just one of those things you go through,” explains Keating.

“After auditioning like that you don’t want to get your hopes too high. There are so many times you do multiple auditions for something and not get the part. So you don’t dare get too excited.”

Not until the phone call comes.

And for Keating, it came while she was sitting at home in Toronto.

“The casting director phoned me at home,” she remembers. “That was so lovely of her. Usually your agent makes that call. So that was nice of her. I was thrilled when she called.”

And rightfully so. With Deadline reporting that 2.7 million people watched the series premiere, it means Defiance is Syfy network’s most-watched scripted series debut in nearly a decade.

Set in the not-so-distant future, Defiance is an epic drama about an Earth inhabited by humans and aliens.

What happened was three decades before, seven different alien races — collectively known as Votans — came to Earth and waged a bitter war for the planet. It was a vast and destructive campaign that threatened to eliminate everyone involved.

So instead of opting for extinction, all eight races (humans included)

decided to call a ceasefire. Now there exists fragile alliances everywhere.

No race truly trusts any other.

And it is against this background we first meet the hero of the story, Nolan (played by Grant Bowler), a former marine with a Han Solo-esque presence. Along with his adopted Irathian daughter Irisa (Stephanie Leonidas), Nolan is hellbent on making it to the paradise of Antarctica. Things don’t happen according to plan, though, and soon Nolan and Irisa end up in the town of Defiance — constructed out of the ruins of modern-day St. Louis.

That’s where we meet Keating’s Doc Yewll.

When we first see her, she’s in the hospital room being asked to examine both Nolan and Irisa, who were recently attacked outside the town’s limits.

“They’re fine,” says Yewll, “I’m prepping the Irathian for surgery and the human is trying to make us think he’s unconscious.” Then pushing a glass of water into the hero’s midsection, she tells Nolan to “drink, you’re dehydrated.”

It’s a very dry, funny and telling introduction to Keating’s character.

“She doesn’t really understand what makes humans tick,” says Keating of her character. “She’s very frank, everything is a bit of an equation for her. She thinks human behaviour is emotional and unnecessary most of the time. She isn’t the kind of person you’d really want to invite over for dinner.”

Chuckling, Keating adds: “But I love playing her. Because of her nature, I get a lot of the best lines on the show. I get to say all those fantastic things we all wish we could say to other people.”

The result is a dry, deadpan sarcasm that is quickly winning Doc Yewll new fans with each pass-

ing episode. But all those fans and those snappy, snarky lines don’t come without a bit of sacrifice.

Every day before filming Keating is stuck in make-up for around three hours. She doesn’t have a choice.

Playing a character with prosthetics requires attention to detail, and a certain amount of time.

“When I go in they put a bald cap on my head over my hair,” she explains. “Then it takes two people to sort of wedge the mask over my head and get it into place. From there they take paint brushes and stick them through the eye, nose, mouth and ear holes and glue the mask to my face everywhere they can.”

That’s when the real time-intensive work begins.

“When everything is ready they go into the eyes and nose and mouth and start painting everything so no skin is showing,” says Keating.

“That’s what takes the longest.”

But when it’s finished, three hours later, Keating is no longer the pretty up-and-coming actress from Weyburn. She is an odd-looking alien who is in conflict with her surroundings.

“As soon as the mask goes on, it definitely brings about a change in me,” says Keating. “I’d be lying to say it’s comfortable. In the summer it’s hot, like wearing a plastic bag over your head. But once everything is in place and all that fades away, I become my character.

I’m ready to go.”

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7 MAY 10 – MAY 16 /VERBSASKATOON

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CYCLE FOR SUCCESS

Making our city more bike-friendly benefits everyone

N

ow that the cold weather has gone and spring seems to have arrived, people are breaking out their bikes and hitting the pavement. And we think that makes this the perfect time to start making our city more bike-friendly.

Now, you may have noticed a few construction crews out on the streets, filling potholes and trying to make our roads drivable again.

And while we appreciate the quick fix to our winter-ravaged roads, we all know that simply filling potholes is a band-aid solution.

It’s just not going to last. We’re eventually going to have to move from the realm of the temporary into the long-term, and re-pave the roads — so let’s improve the

system for cyclists while we’re at it.

And that’s why we think we should create more bike lanes, and make Saskatoon a little more available

fact, according to Transport Canada, approximately 2.4 percent of Saskatoon’s commuters are cyclists — the second highest number in the entire

…according to Transport Canada, approximately 2.4 percent of Saskatoon’s commuters are cyclists…

VERB MAGAZINE

to those who choose to push-pedal their way around.

After all, in case you haven’t noticed, there are more and more cyclists on the road every year. In

country. And our province’s weather highs and lows don’t seem to matter: in the spring, summer, fall, even winter, people are out there using their bikes.

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8 MAY 10 – MAY 16 NEWS + OPINION

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But here’s the thing: in our city there are many people who choose not to use their bicycles on the roads because they think it’s too dangerous. And can you blame them?

Apart from our downtown area, and a couple other pockets around Saskatoon, our city is seriously lacking when it comes to commuting by bike. Cycling between many of our city’s major hubs can be scary and downright unsafe. After all, bikes who comply with the laws and stick to the streets often impede the flow of traffic for vehicles, forcing quick lane changes and endangering both drivers and cyclists alike. Those who stick to the sidewalks out of selfpreservation risk injuring pedestrians and getting ticketed by police.

Clearly, we need to make changes.

And look, improving bike transit benefits drivers, too. If more people were able to cycle around the city safely, then there would be less traffic hassle for all commuters. Less hassle also minimizes the amount of time drivers spend on the road, and opens up parking to those who choose to toodle about in their cars.

And this is a rather serious issue: in fact, Toronto is tackling its cardependency and gridlock woes as we speak, woes that cost that city roughly $6 billion annually in lost productivity.

And while Saskatoon is nowhere near the size of Toronto, making transportation flow better around our city would benefit all citizens.

And there’s good reason for us to make our city safer for cyclists.

A recent study from the University

of Calgary examined data collected from emergency rooms in Edmonton and Calgary over a three-year period, and determined that bicyclists who collided with motor vehicles with four times more likely to incur serious injury than cyclists who got in other types of accidents.

So let’s make things safer by having separate and visible designated bike lanes that can provide linkages between all the high-volume traffic areas in the city. Doing so will help traffic flow more freely, and improve the safety for everyone in transit.

We are fully aware that the city has been investing in the cycling community by modifying some of our streets and installing bike racks, but like the whole “filling potholes after

the winter,” it’s a case of doing too little when more is obviously required. Let’s not band-aid the situation while banking on a hope that that will be good enough for now. Let’s dig in our heels, get the dirty work done, and give our city’s commuter population — cyclists, drivers and pedestrians alike — a safer way to move about Saskatoon.

These editorials are left unsigned because they represent the opinions of Verb magazine, not those of the individual writers.

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9 MAY 10 – MAY 16 @VERBSASKATOON

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COMMENTS

ON TOPIC: Last week we asked what you thought about bringing the UFC to Saskatchewan. Here's what you had to say: – YES BRING THE UFC HERE PLEASE! It makes a ton of $$ and haters don’t have to go see it.

– UFC is so popular, it would definitely sell out every time here.

Let’s make this happen for sure!

Text yo thoughtsur to 881 VE R B 8372

a trend that is wildly popular and has been very successful in other provinces. Time for SK to get on board!!!

OFF TOPIC – Great story on Chris Ho, cool photos

– Mixed martial arts would do so well here but might need bigger venue than Saskatchewan can offer at this time. New stadium in Regina maybe? But lets get them here now! The revenue would do so much for our province!

– No downside to bringing events like UFC here they want to come so let em fine by me. BD

– We shouldn’t be supporting such violent “sports” like MMA if its not in the Olympics then it doesn’t count. Why Spend the money to intice them here? It might pay off but at what cost?

– Can’t believe Saskatchewan doesn’t have one of those regulating bodies yet — you can’t even have a pro boxing match here? So weird. Seems like this is the time for Saskatchewan to jump on a moving trend, one that looks like it’s going nowhere fast. I might not like go personally but I say it should happen for sure!

– Completely agree it’s a great idea to bring UFC here and open Saskatchewan up to selling tickets to these types of events.

– Prize fighting would absolutely guarantee a sell-out every time! It’s

In response to “City of Dust,” Cover story, #238 (May 3, 2013)

SOUND OFF – Was ANYONE else paying attention to the Met Gala fashion. Punk at the met! So awesome!

– Finally a few nice days! Bring out the BBQs & summer and just in time for May long!

– No human is above another. We are all equal.

– Construction on Circle is really slowing shiz down I haaaaate it.

Slow all winter because of ice/ snow, slow all summer to fix our crappy roads that are messed up from ice and snow. I guess fall’s ok? Lol

– PATIOS ARE OPENNNNNN!

– https://mobile.twitter. com/TSwiftsUniverse/status/329030594837241856: Tweet of a quote from TAYLOR SWIFT saying happiness can’t be appreciated without going through some hardship & sadness.

Perhaps she can write a good country song about that which

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10 MAY 10 – MAY 16 NEWS + OPINION

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would make millions of dollars for her!! :-D

– I live in a submarine house.

DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! And it leaks too.

– Flooding is so bad around here.

My thoughts are prayers go out to everyone who’s lifes are in upheaval because of the intense melting . Not good for farmers either. Good luck!

– Happy birthday SM, luv u have a great day. P

– Spring has sprung the grass is riz I wonder wear the flowers is!

– NHL playoffs are depressing the hell out of me. Good think drinking beer and watching sports go well together, LOL. Only thing that getting me thru this. COME ON Vokoun not my fave but u’ll do.

And rooting for Wings! Gonna take out Ducks lol

POWERED BY THE CREW AT MOGA MOBILE

disrespectful! They get you safely from Point A to Point B you should be thanking them

– http://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=30dTq14Ex3o&feature=y outube_gdata_player: YouTube tribute clip of song “Bartender’s Blues” by country legend George Jones(“The Possum”) who passed away last Friday at age 81 in a Nashville hospital. :-(

– We don’t need more liquor stores! We have way too many impaired drivers already!

– I want my puppy to be in Moga ad hes super cute :D

– Ohio kidnapping story is almost too strange to believe. Those poor girls! Glad everyone’s home safe and sound hope they fry the hasterd that did it

– F u canucks.

– You could hear ankles breaking as people jumped off the Vancouver Canuck bandwagon before it crashed into the golf course.

– American Pop. One of the best old school animation films ever. It can be found on YouTube.

The family is a metaphor for inheritance. Also see film Wizards.

– Transit Why do they give you an hourly transfer half the time they dont register But their still valid Get on anyway N0 BS!

– Everyone should be a little more patient with their bus drivers. Saw a woman scream at one today, so

– Didn’t see my Juno text in last issue of The Verb so resending: thanks to everyone who helped make it such a great even this year, especially the volunteers!

You guys did an amazing job, and made Saskatchewan proud! As a visitor to the event, everything went smoothly and I had a great time. Thanks!

– Conservative attack ads seem heavy handed time to ease up and I like Harper. I know u lefties think he’s the devil but he’s done a lot for our Country!

– Cyclists in this city need to smarten up. If you want to be treated like a vehicle, follow the rules of the road.

– Happy birthday to my dear Jetta! Can’t believe you are 2 already!

– Saskatchewan Fashion Week coming up! Can’t wait to see all the local talent!

– I hate waiting for cabs!

– Summer music fest is upon us!

Can’t wait to see so many great bands live!

– Lol now summer has arrived and the province bursts out of doors and there’s so much going on! Reminds me why we all endure the winter :DDD

– Who needs lines on the road for driving, right? Oh wait. Drivers. Sure wish the city would hurry up and get that organized for us. Almost been sideswiped a few times by drivers who don’t know where a lane ends/begins!

NEXT WEEK: What do you think about improving bike lanes? 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.

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PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DAVID AUSTIN

THE CROSSOVER

Joanna Borromeo explores pop, soul, and jazz on Kaleidoscope

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

J

oanna Borromeo is always on the move. After playing classical music for many years, the Calgary-based singer branched out into jazz — and then into pop and soul. Borromeo spent years on the road with other musicians before striking out on her own. Her latest record, Kaleidoscope, draws on the full range of her musical tastes, fusing sounds to create a contemporary take on the pop and soul that defined the 1960s and 1970s. More like an update than an overhaul, Kaleidoscope shows off Borromeo’s powerful and expressive voice, and her ability to weave the threads of popular music together into a sound that can entertain the smallest clubs or radiate out from the largest stages. I caught up with Borromeo to talk about cutting her best album yet.

Alex J MacPherson: You began your career as a classical musician before moving into pop and soul. What prompted the change?

Joanna Borromeo: I guess it was a combination of things. Aside from playing classical

AJM: And Kaleidoscope is a very live-sounding record. What was recording it like?

music growing up, in my teens and into university I always listened to all types of music. I’ve always been a fan of soul, R&B, pop — hip hop, even. At the time when I made the decision, I wanted to learn how to improvise, and I ended up meeting a whole bunch of artists. I just went for it.

JB: I definitely recorded the keys, bass, and drums live off the floor.

We recorded at a studio here [in Calgary] called the Station. From there, we went on to laying overtop the other parts. At the very end I did my vocals. It was really an intense process: the bed tracks were all done in about a week, and then

AJM: The one crossover is that you’re still playing keys and piano. Did it ever occur to you to not play and just be a singer, or is playing an integral part of your sound?

Whenever I write, I think I write for myself first…

JOANNA BORROMEO

JB: It just turned out that I am very much a live music artist, and it just so happened that I really enjoyed the keyboard-playing side of it. I could have gone in that direction, but I don’t think I would have been able to satisfy my need to play, on the keys. I don’t know if I would be satisfied just being a singer, and it seemed natural for me to want to keep some of my influences from the ‘60s and ‘70s in my music.

these three-day sessions sprinkled all throughout the month of July.

AJM: And the album explores a lot of different musical ideas, from straightforward pop to the jazzy section near the end. Is it difficult for you to nail down a concrete sound with such wide parameters?

JB: I don’t know, actually. Whenever I write, I think I write for myself

first, and I think that’s what makes it easy for me. Whatever comes out comes out. It was challenging, but it wasn’t like a huge struggle: at the very end of the day I always went with writing what I truly hear. It’s for me first, but hopefully also it’s going to inspire people or touch people in a positive way.

weeks. And then I’d listen back and hear little things I’d wish I could go back to change. I went through a phase of not being actually able to listen to it. Now I barely listen to it. I sometimes feel uncomfortable, actually, because I think my musical tastes have evolved since then. I’m ready to do another record!

AJM: Given the breadth of material on Kaleidoscope, and given the fact that the studio can feel like a pair of blinders, do you think now that you have achieved what you set out to do?

Joanna Borromeo May 17 @ Amigos Cantina Tickets at the door

JB: Certainly during the process I was all about it, and then I was in the honeymoon phase for about three

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12 MAY 10 – MAY 16 CULTURE

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VA VA VAUDEVILLE

Rosebud Burlesque Club throws its biggest party of the year

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audeville hasn’t been seen with any regularity for the best part of a century. A staple during prohibition, when alcohol was all but impossible to get and people had to go out to get weird, a typical vaudeville revue featured contortionists and conjurors, comedians and conjoined twins.

And, of course, burlesque.

“I think it’s probably a really great show to dive in headfirst, if you’ve never been before,” says Jackie Latendresse, who heads the Rosebud Burlesque Club and performs as Headmistress Cheripop Purr. “It’s like Halloween comes early this year.”

Known for popularizing neoburlesque, the modern equivalent of the act premiered in North America by Lydia Thompson and the British Blondes, the Rosebud Burlesque Club has become a fixture of the Saskatoon dance scene.

The group’s latest project is also their most ambitious: reviving and reinvigorating timeless entertainment from the roaring twenties.

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

Va Va Vaudeville is a two-part show that features stage performance and audience participation.

After a series of acts at the Refinery Theatre (“We have a straitjacket escape, and we’ve got conjoined twins, and the Charleston,” Latendresse enthuses), audience members, who are encouraged to come in costume, can join the party at the Free Flow Dance Centre — which will be remodeled into a proper illicit speakeasy.

“This is definitely going to be a historically-based show,” Latendresse explains, adding that studying burlesque led to Vaudeville and the desire to expand the club’s already-broad audience. “I’m sure there’ll be lots of modern-day references, in-jokes, things like that.

But we do want people to feel like they’ve stepped back in time.”

Although Va Va Vaudeville is a departure for the club, which specializes in the sexy (though not sexual) dancing that defines neo-burlesque, Latendresse thinks the shift is natural.

Just as neo-burlesque can empower

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MARCY PROVENZANO

those on stage and audiences alike, so can other forms of performance.

“We’re often sort of overloaded by the media and advertising with images of what people should aspire to be like,” she says. “But I don’t think people want to be handed gratuitous material.

They can get that on the Internet. They want real performers of all shapes and sizes and backgrounds, and they enjoy the realness of the performers.”

Which is exactly what Va Va Vaudeville offers: real performers, real performances, and real fun.

Va Va Vaudeville May 18 @ Refinery $40 (advance @ ontheboards.ca), $50 (door)

AN AMERICAN SALUTE

Gershwin and Bernstein on the SSO stage

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merican music is often overshadowed by the enduring legacy of the great European composers. This is understandable: Beethoven’s emotional intensity and Mahler’s intellectual depth are high water marks in the history of classical music. But Victor Sawa is determined to prove that the United States is more than a breeding ground for kitschy show tunes and pop music.

“It changed the way Europeans thought of music,” Sawa says of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue, which marked the beginning of a radical shift in the way American composers approached their work.

“It changed Europe, especially the

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

French and Russian composers. They were really into the newness of it all.”

An American Salute, which features compositions by Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein, highlights the influence of the great American composers, men who escaped the bonds of tradition in search of new sounds.

“What they got from the Europeans was a sense of orchestration and colour, which, when you’re on a Tin Pan Alley, you don’t hear,” Sawa says of Gershwin and his contemporaries.

“Then there’s the introduction of the saxophone, the introduction of the jazz idiom.”

Gershwin wanted to write something that could stand up to the European titans, yet he couldn’t help but be influenced by the jazz sounds that

were emerging in 1924. The result of this fusion was an enduring piece of music, jazz elevated to the concert hall — where it has remained for the best part of a century.

Gershwin’s spiritual successor was Leonard Bernstein. A man of rampant appetites, Bernstein was best known for his work as a conductor, but he was also a successful composer. In the same way Gershwin drew on elements of jazz, Bernstein mined pop music, and even rock and roll, for his most influential pieces — including the score to West Side Story.

“He continued on the tradition by writing a musical for the symphony,” Sawa says of Bernstein, hinting at the populism inherent to most American music. “But this was done in the

fifties rather than in the twenties.

Everything has changed, but he’s right there with it.”

An American Salute, then, is Sawa’s tribute to musical exploration, to the arc of classical music as it developed south of the 49th parallel — in the great melting pot of sounds and traditions that is the United States of America.

An American Salute May 18 @ TCU Place $11.50+ @ tcutickets.ca

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@MacPhersonA amacpherson@verbnews.com

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THE TIES THAT BIND PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Young Benjamins find hope in friendship and rock and roll

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

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ometimes, it would be easier to not be as good friends as we are,” muses Neusha Mofazzali. “But I don’t want that.” Mofazzali is talking about Young Benjamins, the rock band he founded several years ago.

After releasing an EP and several singles, and carving out a home in the Saskatoon music community, he and his bandmates are preparing to release their debut album — a collection of 11 songs called Less Argue. The end of one chapter and the beginning of another has led him to reflect on the band’s greatest strength. “It’s easier to not be as close because then you can say yes and no really easily,” he says. “Now, whenever something’s asked, we care about feelings. We care.”

Most rock and roll bands are held together by little more than a collective desire to make music. The ties binding Young Benjamins run much deeper. Their personal lives and public personas are indistinguishable, the line separating art and life scrubbed clean by the deep bond of friendship. This is not surprising:

the core band members were friends long before they decided to play music. Mofazzali went to high school with bass player Brynn Krysa, and spent six months hanging out with Kuba Szmigielski before learning that his friend was a talented drummer.

As a musical project began to take shape, the group met Veronique Pou-

acting, a technique used by actors that involves total immersion in a character. “Our emotions are so [invested] in the music. It’s such a reality for us, and it’s not like we can switch in and out.” Mofazzali agrees: “It’s not easy at all if something bad happens in the band. But I think it makes us stronger. Six months ago we really

Our emotions are so [invested] in the music. It’s such a reality for us, and it’s not like we can switch in and out.

VERONIQUE POULIN

lin at an open mic night. Her violin playing, a fusion of classical aesthetics and traditional grit, impressed Mofazzali, who invited her to a jam session. With the lineup complete, the band retreated to Mofazzali’s basement and set about transforming his songs into a fully-realized vision.

“It’s our life,” says Poulin, likening membership in the band to method

didn’t know where we wanted to be in the band, if it was semi-serious or serious. Now I feel like it’s something I want to carry on for awhile. We can go somewhere if we just keep that kind of mentality.”

The vehicle to which Young Benjamins have harnessed their dreams and aspirations is Less Argue. All art is condensed emoCONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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tion, and Less Argue packs a lot of feeling into half an hour of music.

The record, which was cut in just two weeks, charts a course through the stormy waters of heartbreak and the tempest of despair. Mofazzali, who sketches the songs before bringing them to rehearsal, says the peaks and valleys of his disintegrating relationship gave the album its shape. “At the time, I was going through an incredible heartbreak,” he explains. “Whether you’re in a relationship or not in a relationship, you have these high emotional levels, right? You’re either really happy and you’re in love, or you’re the s**t of the earth. That affects so much of what you do when you’re recording. This whole album has a huge emotional factor in it. I can’t even listen to it sometimes.”

This potent combination resulted in “Young Argument,” an arrangement of melancholy chords, sparse percussion, and an airy keyboard coda that feels like an epitaph on the death of love. It is the lowest point on the album, a reflection on the night being illuminated by the unforgiving shards of morning light.

Mofazzali wrote the song while attending the Ness Creek Music Festival, a weekend trip complicated by the presence of his erstwhile muse. “We were all going through the worst,” he says, “and all of our lovers or ex-lovers were either talking to us a lot — or at the festival we were at. I just sat down and wrote this song.” The high water mark

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MIKE MORIEN

of the emotional torrent flood that gives the record its distinctive contours, “Young Argument” captures in just a few lines the potency of young love. It is the emotional centre of the album, the point from which things can only get better.

Young Benjamins are often described as a math rock band, a term that refers to rapid single-note

melodies. “It’s literally electro music put into rock music,” Mofazzali says, pointing to Foals and Holy F**k as exemplars of the form. “Jasper, AB,” a raucous ode to an absent lover, and one of the strongest songs on the record, hints at the spiky architecture common in math rock circles. But Mofazzali isn’t convinced. “I don’t think we’re completely math rock,” he says with a grin. And he’s right. The combination of slinky violin interludes, choppy guitar chords, and hypnotic bass lines create a musical depth that transcends genre and style.

Most rock groups work within a narrow band of frequencies, sounds defined by the combination of two guitars and a bass. Poulin’s violin, which takes the place of a second guitar, expands the range of available sounds considerably. By switching between soaring melodies and rasping harmony lines, she frees up everybody else to expand their own horizons. Less Argue captures Young Benjamins at their best, able to deploy a towering wall of sound without sacrificing the openness and sonic space that shape so many of their songs. “I feel like we’re trying to push ourselves in a way,” Krysa says, referring to specific arrangements but hinting at their trajectory into the upper echelons of Canadian music. “I’ve never played in a group with violin before. It’s a different experience.”

Most of the songs on Less Argue are edgy and angular. Defined by the interplay between Mofazzali’s guitar and Poulin’s violin, they move across the spectrum of contemporary music, from straightforward rock and roll to the edges of experimental music. The band is as comfortable playing alt-country stomps as they are dragging out each line of a reverb-drenched ballad. Mofazzali’s voice, ethereal and fey, is the thread linking them together. He enjoys jarring listeners by setting exuberant lyrics onto plaintive melodies (and pairing devastatingly sad words with cheerful major chords), which heightens the tension created by the mixed instrumentation and clever dynamic changes.

This polarity, Poulin points out, is reflected in the band members themselves. “Because of the sounds and the depth of the lyrics, and what we

were all going through, we became what the album sounded like,” she says. “There were these really high moments where we were like, ‘This is awesome!’ And then those really low moments: ‘What are we doing?’

Why are we doing this?’” The answer is obvious. Young Benjamins play music because it is the only thing that keeps them grounded as the world threatens to spin out of control.

“I would have left this town,” Mofazzali says, suddenly serious.

“I would have left this city if it wasn’t for my band. That’s how bad it was, with my emotions,

my past, my breakup. It literally was my medicine. We’d play awesome shows, we’d tour, we’d jam. Once you write a new song you feel so good.”

In the case of Young Benjamins, the expression “leave it on the stage” is no exaggeration — it is the secret to their success. Instead of treating art as a representation of life, a new perspective gained by passing experience through the twin filters of time and distance, Young Benjamins weld the two into a heady mix of raw emotion and sophisticated musicality. By immersing themselves in the triumph

and tragedy of young love, Mofazzali and his bandmates positioned themselves as an exception to the rule — and a band whose past and present point inexorably to a brighter future.

The Young Benjamins May 24 @ Amigos Cantina $10 @ ticketedge.ca; $12 door Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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BUFFET EATING 101 Photos courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

The Garden Cafe and Lounge does brunch right BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

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here is a method to dining at an all-youcan-eat buffet. A list of dos and don’ts you should follow if you want to get the biggest bang for your buck while having the best culinary experience possible.

For example: DO begin your meal with a lap around the buffet stations before you commit to any food. Scope the situation out, and see what’s out there before you start filling your plate.

DON’T overload on carbs. Spaghetti, potatoes, bread — all that stuff will fill you up, quick as a hiccup.

DO your best to practice portion control. The general rule of thumb is you should go with mini-tasting portions (no bigger than two tablespoons) on your first go-round.

DON’T fill up on liquids.

DO remember you only have limited stomach space.

DON’T feel obligated to eat something just because you put it on your plate.

And most importantly, DO yourself a favour and have a plan of attack.

What do I mean by that last one?

Well, the other day, sitting in the atrium at the Garden Cafe and Lounge — amidst waist-high rock walls and running fountains — I knew I couldn’t attack the buffet

eclectic buffet like the one at the Garden Cafe and Lounge is to eat three square meals in one sitting — breakfast, lunch, and supper.

So after doing the obligatory lap, I picked up a clean white plate and went with eggs benedict, a tablespoon of hash browns, a few strips of bacon and a scone for breakfast.

Pretty standard brunch fare, but very tasty.

The dinner plate consisted of a piece of savoury garlic-tasting beef…

ADAM HAWBOLDT

brunch willy nilly. No, that would be foolish. A plan was needed. And here’s what I came up with: the best way for me to approach a vast and

For the lunch plate, I grabbed two oysters (pure sea-salty goodness), a small sliver of cooked salmon (lemony and well-herbed) and a few rich and ridiculously scrumptious morsels of smoked maple salmon. Oh so good!

The dinner plate consisted of a piece of savoury garlic-tasting beef, a few tablespoons of creamy mac and cheese, and a tiny dollop of zesty quinoa salad.

And then came dessert.

Being a huge cheesecake fan, I went with a slice of strawberry lemon cheesecake, as well as a sliver of chocolate cheesecake. Oh, and for good measure I tossed a miniature chocolate ball of cupcakey goodness on the plate.

LET’S GO DRINKIN’ VERB’S MIXOLOGY GUIDE MENNING MIMOSA

INGREDIENTS

What’s brunch without a drink?

Not much of a brunch at all, really.

Brunch and drinks go together like peanut butter and jam, Batman and Robin. So next time you’re at home making brunch, whip up this amazing mimosa!

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier Prosecco, chilled Fresh mint leaf

DIRECTIONS

In a champagne flute, mix the orange juice, lemon juice and liqueur.

Fill the rest of the glass with Prosecco. Garnish with mint leaf and serve.

By the time I was finished, two things were abundantly clear: first, my plan worked perfectly. Second, there were so many other dishes I wanted to try at the Garden Cafe and Lounge brunch that I’ll be going back there. Like, soon.

Garden Cafe and Lounge 2002 Airport Drive | 306 668 9621 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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MUSIC

NEXT WEEK

COMING UP

SMOKEKILLER

APOLLO CRUZ

THE PROCLAIMERS

@ AMIGOS CANTINA SATURDAY, MAY 18 – $TBD

@ LYDIA’S PUB FRIDAY, MAY 24 – $5

@ ODEON EVENTS CENTRE THURSDAY, AUGUST 22– $29.50+

There’s something about the way John Antoniuk makes music. Something about the lyrics he writes and the songs he plays that grab you from the first note and never let go. Mellow and catchy, Antoniuk’s music has earned him fans around the city and beyond. From NXNE to SXSW, Antoniuk (who goes by the stage name Smokekiller) has won over audiences far and wide with his Wilco-esque-vibe-with-a-prairie-bent sound. In fact, Antoniuk has shared the stage with the likes of Ron Sexsmith, Tegan and Sara, the Corb Lund Band and Wide Mouth Mason. Don’t miss this local singer/songwriter when he does his thing at Amigos next week. Tickets for the performance will be available at the door.

If you’ve ever seen Saskatoon’s Apollo Cruz play, you’ll know one thing for sure: their live show is energetic and fun. You’ll also know this blues trio’s music is pretty darn good, too. Drawing on influences from artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, ZZ Top and more, this high-octane trio plays a brand of blues that’ll make you sit up and take notice. Fusing elements of funk, reggae, jazz and rock, Apollo Cruz — which consists of Nick Longpre (lead vocals/ guitar), Aiden Currie (drums/backing vocals) and Brandon Ziola (bass/ keyboard/backing vocals) — play the kind of music that leads to head bobbing and feet moving. Since forming a year ago, these up-and-comers have been honing their skills on the local music scene.

How far would you walk to watch The Proclaimers? Five hundred miles, maybe? Either that, or, you know, you could just drive to the Odeon in August to see this Scottish duo. With hit songs like “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” “Sunshine on Leith,” “I’m On My Way” and “Letter from America,” The Proclaimers have carved quite the path through the UK music scene.

A path that has led brothers Charlie and Craig Reid (who just so happen to be twins) to sold-out shows and gold and platinum albums. What’s more, their hit song “Sunshine on Leith” has become the anthem for the Hibernian Football Club in Scotland. So put on your walking shoes and get ready to be entertained when The Proclaimers hit up the Odeon in August. Tickets through www.theodeon.ca – By Adam Hawboldt

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST / THE ARTIST

SASK MUSIC PREVIEW Long & McQuade has teamed up with the Unison Benevolent Fund for a unique fundraising initiative. Until May 31, customers can purchase a $5 rental coupon for only $2 from any Long & McQuade store, with all proceeds benefiting Unison. The Unison Benevolent Fund offers counselling, emergency relief and more for members of the Canadian music community in times of need.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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MAY 10 » MAY 18 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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FRIDAY 10 HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover

SHOTGUN JIMMIE / Amigos Cantina — A talented singer/songwriterfrom New Brunswick will rock your socks off.

10pm / Cover TBD PIANO FRIDAYS: JESSE BROWN / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings? Come check out Brown tickle the ivories of theKinsman Yamaha S6 grand piano. 4:30pm / No cover THE FOGGY HOGTOWN BOYS / The Bassment - Bluegrass the way it’s meant to be played. 9pm / $15/20 DJ AASH MONEY / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover 7 STRAIGHT / Buds on Broadway — A night of good ol’ rock and roll for you.

10pm / $6

DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose & Hydrant — PIANO SERIES: RON PALEY / The DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps Bassment — A pianist and jazz legend Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie snappy electronic beats all night long. from the Winnipeg scene. 9pm / $17/22 and Brad King belt out classic tunes and 8pm / No cover DJ AASH MONEY + DJ CTRL / Béily’s audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — Able UltraLounge — These two DJS throw Gaga. 10pm / $5 to rock any party, this local crowd down a high-energy top 40 dance party SEXY SATURDAYS / Tequila Nightclub favourite has always been known to every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover — Featuring the talents of DJ Dislexik. break the latest and greatest tracks in OCD VARIETY SHOW / Broadway The9pm / Cover TBD (ladies get free cover multiple genres. He is sure atre — Featuring music from before 11pm) to have you on the Brian Byrne, Nightrain, RORY BOREALIS AND THE NORTHERN dance floor. 9pm / The Seahags and The LIGHTS / Vangelis — A rockin’ gypsy $5 cover Expressions. 7pm folk band. 10pm / $7 PANDACORN, / $20(advance), $25 JESSE AND (at the door) THE DANGONG SHOW / THERESA SOKYRKA / Amigos Cantina DELIONS / Buds on Broad— Don’t miss this talented singer/songLydia’s Pub way — A band writer from Moose Jaw. 10pm / — A night of that gets the Cover TBD sweet indie party started.

INDUSTRY NIGHT / Béily’s UltraLounge rock. 10pm / 10pm / $6 — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy; this $5 cover DJ KADE / The Hose crowd favourite has always been SHOTGUN JIMMIE COURTESY OF KEVIN BERTRAM BOONSTOCK & Hydrant — Saskaknown to break the latest and greatest BANDWARZ / Odeon toon’s own DJ lights it tracks in multiple genres. 9pm / $4; no Events Centre — Forty up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover for industry staff bands, five shows, one winner cover DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskaper show. 7pm / $10 DJ SUGAR DADDY / Jax Niteclub — toon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / OutAble to rock any party, this local crowd / No cover laws Country Rock Bar — Round up favourite has always been known to AMAN HAYER / Tequila Nightclub — your friends ‘cause there’s no better break the latest and greatest tracks in Come out for the Bhangra Dance Party. country rock party around. 8pm / $5; multiple genres. He is sure to have you on 9:30pm / $20 ladies in free before 11pm the dance floor in no time. 9pm / $5 cover BLUES JAM / Vangelis Tavern — The WAYNE BARGEN / Prairie Ink — Finger SHORT OF ABLE, JUMBO / Lydia’s Pub Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, style acoustic guitar. 8pm / No cover — Modern indie rock out of Edmonton. offering great tunes from blues to rock BAND WARS IX / Rock Bottom — Fea10pm / $5 and beyond. Come and check it out! turing The Faps, Six Blocks, Comments BAY CITY ROLLERS / Odeon Events 7:30pm / No cover and Concerns, Hollow Between the Centre — Scottish pop group led by Hills and Phantom Radio. 9:30pm / led by their legendary lead singer Cover TBD Les McKeown. 7pm / $34.50-54.50 FEEDING FICTION / Buds on Broadway URBAN OUTLAWS / Stan’s Place — Rock (theodeon.ca) — Heavy prog rock from a local music to get your weekend started. 9pm DJ BIG AYYY & DJ band. 10pm / $6 / No cover HENCHMAN / METAL MONDAYS / DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Outlaws Country Lydia’s Pub — If Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie Rock Bar — hard, heavy and Brad King belt out classic tunes and Round up awesomeness audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady your friends is your thing, Gaga. 10pm / $5 ‘cause swing by, PARTY ROCK FRIDAYS / Tequila Nightthere’s listen to some club — Featuring DJ Dislexik. 9pm / no better killer music Cover TBD country and get in on JD EDWARDS, APOLLO CRUZ / Vangerock party some concert lis — Blues rock to get your groove on. around. 8pm giveaways. 9pm 10pm / $7 / $5 SYNAPTIC / THERESA SOKYRKA JAMES STEELE Vangelis — A great COURTESY OF JEAN-HUGO ORD TRIO / Prairie Ink — night of electronic fun.

HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs Fiddle music you’ll love.

10pm / No cover spin deep and soulful tunes all night.

8pm / No cover 9pm / No cover BABYSITTER / Rock Bottom Sports Bar JAWN RAW + DJ TORPEDO / Adobe Inn — Also appearing will be The Faps, BasFEEDING FICTION / Buds on Broadway — Rocking the hottest urban beats in tard Poetry, + more. 9pm / Cover TBD — Heavy prog rock from a local band.

Martensville. 10pm / Cover TBD URBAN OUTLAWS / Stan’s Place — Rock 10pm / $6 THIS HISSES / Amigos — Dark post to get your weekend started right. 9pm FLEETWOOD MAC / Credit Union Centre punk music. 10pm / Cover TBD / No cover — Don’t go your own way. Go see this

SUNDAY 12

MONDAY 13

SATURDAY 11

TUESDAY 14

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iconic rock band. 8pm / $62-200 (ticketmaster.ca) DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — Able to rock any party, this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 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, and is a chance for bands, solo artists and even comedians to showcase original material. 9pm / No cover OPEN MIC / The Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover

WEDNESDAY 15

HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Resident DJ Chris Knorr will be spinning all of your favourite songs and requests, every Wednesday night. 9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter FEEDING FICTION / Buds on Broadway — Heavy prog rock from a local band.

10pm / $6 DJ KADE / the Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DR. J ‘SOULED OUT’ / Lydia’s Pub — Dr. J spins hot funk and soul every Wednesday night.

9pm / No cover WILD WEST WEDNESDAY / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — This is Saskatoon’s top industry night, hosted by DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman. Come out and show off your skills when you ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff CJWW KARAOKE / Stan’s Place — Your talent, aired on the radio! 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 / No cover

THURSDAY 16

THROWBACK THURSDAYS / Earls — Come experience the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm / No cover

DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

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! Every Thursday night will be filled with passion parties, pole dancing, shadow dancers and much more! 8pm / $5; free cover with student ID before 11pm OAK RIDGE BOYS / TCU Place — Country rock from American icons. 7:30pm / $52.50 (tcutickets.ca) TRIPLE UP THURSDAYS / Tequila — Featuring DJ Stikman. 9pm / Cover TBD THE ABRAMSON SINGERS / Vangelis — Folk-noir originals. 10pm / $8

FRIDAY 17

HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover PHOENIX LAUREN + THE STRENGTH / Amigos Cantina — Local R&B/ Soul music you should check out.

Also appearing: Joanna THIS HISSES Borromeo.

10pm COURTESY OF ‘LIL / Cover TBD PIANO FRIDAYS: MARION MENDELSOHN / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings? Come check out Mendelsohn tickle the ivories of the Kinsman Yamaha S6 grand piano. 4:30pm / No cover ROOTS SERIES: ALEXIS NORMAND / The Bassment — Colourful jazz/folk for the soul. 9pm / $15/20 DJ AASH MONEY / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a highenergy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover ACTIVIST MAGUIRE / Buds on Broadway — Come rock the night away. 10pm / $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. He Is sure to have you on the dance floor in no time. 9pm / $5 cover

ABSOFUNKINLUTELY / Lydia’s Pub — Get down and get ready to groove with this local act. 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; ladies in free before 11pm ZELJKO BILANDZIC / Prairie Ink — Flamenco and classical guitar. 8pm / No cover THE GAFF / Spadina Freehouse — Smooth beats from a talented DJ. 9pm / No cover JETT RUN / Stan’s Place — Rock music to get your weekend started. 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

SATURDAY 18

HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night.

9pm / No cover SMOKEKILLER / Amigos Cantina — Local singer/songwriter with an abundance of talent. Also appearing: Castle River, Zachary Lucky. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ AASH MONEY + DJ CTRL / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJS throw down a high-energy top 40 dance party every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover ACTIVIST MAGUIRE / Buds on Broadway — Come rock the night away. 10pm / $6 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 ABSOFUNKINLUTELY / Lydia’s Pub — Get down and get ready to groove with this local act. 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 ONE MORE TROUBADOUR / Prairie Ink — Progressive fingerstyle guitar. 8pm / No cover COLLECTED / Spadina Freehouse — Featuring Fuse Collective. 9pm / No cover

JETT RUN / Stan’s Place — Rock music to get your weekend started. 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)

GET LISTED Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know! layout@verbnews.com

19 MAY 10 – MAY 16 /VERBSASKATOON

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THE NOT-SOGREAT GATSBY

PHOTO: COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES

Baz Luhrman’s film version of Fitzgerald’s novel is good, but could’ve been so much better BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

I

n my younger and more impressionable years, my grandfather told me something I’ve been thinking about ever since.

“Next time you feel like criticizing someone,” he said, “stop, think, and choose your words carefully, boy, or else that certain someone might kick the ever-loving s**t out of you.”

Grandpa wasn’t the most educated or delicate man ever born, but more often than not his hardspun words possessed a modicum of wisdom. So before sitting down to review Baz Luhrman’s film version of The Great Gatsby, I took a deep breath and worked through what I was going to say with a finetoothed comb.

Why? Well, you see, my initial, gut-shot reaction after seeing the movie was to call Luhrman a vile nincompoop and a desecrator of holy fiction. But that was just the initial reaction. The longer I stopped and thought about what to say about this movie, the more a different, more positive kind of opinion began to take hold (and not because I’m afraid Baz Luhrman might beat me up, either!)

So let’s begin with positives, shall we?

For starters, Baz Luhrman’s version of The Great Gatsby is a jaw-

droppingly gorgeous movie full of stunning visuals and larger-than-life scenes. In a way, the bombastic, overthe-top cinematography captures the opulence and outlandishness of the 1920s in a way that will blow your hair back. And that alone makes this a must-see movie.

Second, the acting in the thing is terrific, especially from Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. DiCaprio

THE GREAT GATSBY Baz Luhrman STARRING Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher + Joel Edgerton DIRECTED BY

143 MINUTES | PG

zoot-suited trombonists, flappers, and the way Tom Buchanan packs his contraband whisky in a towel before

The Great Gatsby is a jaw-droppingly gorgeous movie full of stunning visuals…

ADAM HAWBOLDT

plays Jay Gatsby the way F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote him in the novel— a strong, determined man with serious charisma and a fatal flaw. As for Maguire, he turns in his best role in years as Nick Carraway, the lonely, wide-eyed narrator of the story.

And the goodness doesn’t end there.

If you’re a true fan of Fitzgerald’s novel, you’ll also notice the impeccable attention to detail Luhrman has paid to the book. There’s the orgiastic green light, Meyer Wolfsheim’s cufflinks made of molars, the Valley of the Ashes, the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckleburg,

going to the Plaza. Yesiree, Luhrman really dotted his i’s and crossed his t’s when it came to being faithful to the essence of book. Heck, he even remained true to the book’s big themes.

Class, memory, the perils of the American Dream — they’re all there.

So can somebody, anybody, tell me why in hell he’d go and change the narrative frame? See, in the novel Nick returns home to the Midwest and writes a book about Gatsby. But in the movie, Luhrman takes some creative liberties with Fitzgerald’s plot, ones that were difficult to understand. And to be

honest, it was a change that nearly ruined the movie for me. After a visually opulent movie, this left a horrible taste in my mouth.

Now, that doesn’t mean The Great Gatsby is a bad movie. Not at all.

But if you’re as big a fan of the book as I am, there will be times during the course of the film when you’ll want to treat Luhrman the way Tom

Buchanan treated Myrtle whenever she mentioned his wife’s name.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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BURSTING WITH GOODNESS

Cloudburst is a raunchily hilarious and heartfelt dramedy

BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

F

or a moment, pretend you’re a movie studio exec. Playwright Thom Fitzgerald has walked into your office with a new script he wrote.

And here’s the plot of the story he pitches you: Two septuagenarian ladies are living together for the past 30-or-so years in a house in Maine. They’re lovers, these ladies, and they want to get married. But alas! things are far from perfect. The story is set before samesex marriage was legal in The Pine Tree State. And then there’s the issue of Dot’s granddaughter, who wants to break the couple up and put Dot in a nursing home.

So what do the aging lovers do?

They hit the road in a red pick-up truck and head for Canada, where they can be lawfully wed. Along the way they meet a hunky hitch-hiker and end up in his home province of Nova Scotia with a happy, not-so-long life sprawled out in front of them.

Okay, movie exec. What are your initial thoughts on this movie?

Does it sound a little too much like a geriatric version of Thelma & Louise for your liking?

Or maybe too much like a syrupy Hallmark movie?

PHOTO: COURTESY OF SIDNEY KIMMEL ENTERTAINMENT

dity? What if one of the characters dresses like a cowboy, has a mouth filthier than a sailor’s, and drops lines like: “If I were on death row, I’d request my final meal be right between k.d. lang’s legs,” or “If that skirt was any shorter, you’d need another hairnet”?

Oh, and did I mention that two Oscar winners had already signed on to play the leading roles?

Well, dear movie exec, let’s just say you’d be a fool not to make the movie.

As Stella, Dukakis is brilliantly funny as a tough-talking septuagenarian with a penchant for the c-word.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

Nobody would blame you if you came to that conclusion after hearing just the plot. But what if, when you actually read the script, you encountered scenes with vibrators, gay porn, and full-frontal male nu-

It has a little bit of everything. It’s politically timely, it’s raunchily hilarious, it’s well-acted, and, in the end, it’s also very touching.

The movie we’re talking about here is called Cloudburst, and for-

CLOUDBURST Thom Fitzgerald STARRING Olympia Dukakis, Brenda Fricker, Kristin Booth + Ryan Doucette DIRECTED BY

93 MINUTES | NR

tunately someone with cinematic clout had the wherewithal to get the thing made. Because, to be honest, it’s a darn good movie.

Based on the play by Thom Fitzgerad (who also wrote and directed the film), Cloudburst stars Oscar-winners Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck) and Brenda Fricker (My Left Foot) as Stella and Dot — the aforementioned elderly couple.

Both old pros bring their A-game to the flick, chewing up the scenery and taking turns stealing scenes.

As Stella, Dukakis is brilliantly funny as a tough-talking septuagenarian with a penchant for the c-word. As for Fricker, she plays Dot (who is blind) with a calm depth and likability that allows the pair to find a perfect balance in their on-screen chemistry.

With laughs, lyrical moments, and loads of great acting set against

the beautiful landscape of Nova Scotia, Cloudburst is the kind of simple,sweet, sassy movie you don’t want to miss.

Cloudburst is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@AdamHawboldt ahawboldt@verbnews.com

21 MAY 10 – MAY 16 @VERBSASKATOON

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SATURDAY, MAY 4 @

ROCK BOTTOM

Rock Bottom Sports Bar 834B Broadway Ave (306) 665 7479 MUSIC VIBE / Rock and metal FEATURED DEALS / Caesars for

$4.50 (between 3 and 8pm), and some shooters for $4 DRINK OF CHOICE / Tequila shots TOP EATS / Spring rolls and nachos SOMETHING NEW / Tequila bar, offering a wide variety of types of tequila

22 MAY 10 – MAY 16 ENTERTAINMENT

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CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, May 17. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by Patrick Carley

23 MAY 10 – MAY 16 /VERBSASKATOON

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MONDAY, MAY 6 @

ORIGINAL JOE’S

Original Joe’s Restaurant & Bar 1515 8th Street East (306) 979 0718 MUSIC VIBE / Eclectic — a little

bit of something for everyone FEATURED DEALS / Big Rock products for $6, and wings for $3.90 DRINK OF CHOICE / Pints of Grasshopper or Traditional TOP EATS / Wings SOMETHING NEW / A new summer features menu, and many renovations, including a new bar and more seating

24 MAY 10 – MAY 16 ENTERTAINMENT

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CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE! These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, May 17. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by Patrick Carley

25 MAY 10 – MAY 16 @VERBSASKATOON

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© Elaine M. Will | blog.E2W-Illustration.com | Check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!

26 MAY 10 – MAY 16 ENTERTAINMENT

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CROSSWORD CANADIAN CRISS-CROSS DOWN

© WALTER D. FEENER 2013

28. Ocean turbulence 29. Be in the driver’s seat 32. Dark, gloomy under ground cell 36. Vase on a pedestal 37. Clear the blackboard 39. Having reached the date for payment 40. Laugh boisterously 42. Little devil 43. What unfriendly dogs do 44. Drew with acid 46. Bursting with joy 48. Cubic metre 49. Cringe in fear 50. Becomes weaker 51. Let the cat out of the bag

1. Main parts of vehicles 2. Racetrack shape 3. In spite of that 4. Become misty 5. Animals resembling horses 6. Put money on 7. Make money 8. Emotional shock 9. Terminate 11. Vertical surfaces 12. Spiked wheel attached to a rider’s boot 14. Report of a recent event 17. Bakery buy 20. Be crazy about 21. Part of an act of a play 24. Cover a cake

26. Move too slowly 28. Think likely 29. Confident 30. Runs, but not fast 31. Makes into a law 32. Four-footed female 33. Ready for publication 34. External 35. Pressing lack 38. Trips in vehicles 41. Moon of Saturn 43. Cry loudly 45. Unit of energy 47. British washroom

SUDOKU ANSWER KEY

A

B

5 3 7 1 2 9 6 8 4 9 2 6 5 4 8 3 1 7 8 1 4 7 3 6 9 5 2 3 7 2 6 5 4 1 9 8 4 5 8 9 1 3 7 2 6 6 9 1 8 7 2 5 4 3 7 4 9 3 8 1 2 6 5 2 6 5 4 9 7 8 3 1 1 8 3 2 6 5 4 7 9

ACROSS 1. Young men 5. Assist an offender 9. Desire wrongfully 10. Marks with a branding iron 12. Undisturbed by excitement 13. Exert yourself 15. Beach toy 16. Mimic 18. Hosiery shade 19. Take advantage of 20. Not the way it should be 22. Kitten’s cry 23. What remains after a part is taken 25. Group of students taught together 27. Police officer

1 4 7 9 2 8 3 5 6 3 2 9 6 1 5 8 4 7 8 5 6 4 7 3 9 1 2 7 9 1 8 5 6 2 3 4 5 6 4 2 3 9 7 8 1 2 8 3 1 4 7 6 9 5 6 3 5 7 8 1 4 2 9 9 1 2 3 6 4 5 7 8 4 7 8 5 9 2 1 6 3

TIMEOUT

HOROSCOPES MAY 10 – MAY 16 ARIES March 21–April 19

LEO July 23–August 22

SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21

This will be a week of changes, Aries. Some will be big, others will be small. But all will lead you in the right direction.

Nothing is going to come easy this week, Leo. You’re going to have to scratch and claw for everything you want.

Something unexpected your way comes, Sagittarius. Whether it will be a good thing or a bad thing, well, you’ll have to wait and see.

TAURUS April 20–May 20

VIRGO August 23–September 22

CAPRICORN December 22–January 19

Drive. Desire. Motivation. Those three things are imperative to success this week. Unfortunately, you may not see much of any in the next few days.

Have you been feeling spread a little thin lately, Virgo?

If so, compose yourself and focus your energies.

The sun is shining, the weather is sweet, it’s time to get out and move your feet. A road you haven’t been down could yield unexpected results.

GEMINI May 21–June 20

LIBRA September 23–October 23

AQUARIUS January 20–February 19

There is excitement and adventure on the horizon, Gemini.

Prepare as best you can. Things are going to get interesting.

Express yourself, Libra.

Even if you think it might embarrass you, say what you want to say this week.

Do you remember a time in your life when you were 100% happy, Aquarius? Well, a day like that is just around the corner.

CANCER June 21–July 22

SCORPIO October 24–November 22

PISCES February 20–March 20

You win some, you lose some and some you simply shouldn’t have played in the first place. Words to live by this week, Cancer.

You may receive a strange phone call this week, Scorpio, one that you could pass off as unimportant. However, it’s anything but.

This week, Pisces, treat life like it’s one big miniature golf course.

Do that, and good things will surely come your way.

SUDOKU 7 2 8 3 9 5 8 7 8 4 9 2 1 5 6 2 3 5 6 4 1 4 7 6 6 3 7 1 4 9 9 3 5 8 2 1

CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY

A

9 8 9 2 6 8 7 4 3 6 5 2 3 7 5 9 5 1 2 6 8 7 4 3 3 8 1 2 6 5 4 1 1 4 7 9

B

27 MAY 10 – MAY 16 /VERBSASKATOON

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