Issue #129 – May 23 to May 29
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Chad VanGaalen +
fencing master Claude Seguin on the art of the sport imminent breakthrough Q+A with Pop Crimes X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST + mistaken for strangers Films reviewedÂ
Photo: courtesy of Marc Rimmer
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On the cover:
chad vangaalen
On pushing convention. 10 / feature
Photo: courtesy of Marc Rimmer
culture
NEWs + Opinion
entertainment
Q + A with pop crimes
Live Music listings
The verge of a breakthrough. 8 / Q + A
Local music listings for May 23 through May 31. 14 / listings
Fencing master
End of an era
Nightlife Photos
Claude Seguin on coaching coaches.
The Seahags’ uncertain future. 9 / Arts
We visit McNally’s.
3 / Local
15 / Nightlife
reviews We review Reuben & The Dark + Human Human. 9 / Album reviews
x-men: Days of future past + Mistaken for Strangers Reviews. 16 / Film
Steampunk Saskatchewan Reimagining the past. 4 / Local
Bring on the Idaho stop Our thoughts on
Superb Sushi
on the bus
We visit Hanabi Sushi & Grill.
changing bike laws. 6 / Editorial
12 / Food + Drink
Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics
comments
Music
Game + Horoscopes
Here’s your say about more bike lanes.
Paul Federici, The Gay Nineties + Dierks Bentley. 13 / music
Canadian criss-cross puzzle, weekly horoscopes and Sudoku. 19 / timeout
7 / comments
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Fencing master
Claude Seguin and fencing in Saskatchewan by ADAM HAWBOLDT
T
here’s passion in Claude Seguin’s voice. A certain joie de vivre that bubbles to the surface every now and then in conversation. It’s there when he talks about today’s youth or when he remembers driving through Europe. It’s there when he tells you about his wife, Lynn, and how she was the modern pentathlon World Champion in 1983. And it’s there when he talks about fencing. Especially when he starts talking about fencing. What drew Seguin to the sport is hard to pinpoint, exactly. Part of it was the physical aspect of fencing. He was also intrigued with its artistry and its strategy. Then there was the whole romanticized vision he had of sword fighting, a vision that was fueled by movies and stories. Whatever it was, when an amateur fencing coach showed up in his hometown of Sudbury, Ontario, Seguin went to see what it was all about firsthand. That was more than forty years ago. Flash forward to 2014, and Seguin’s name has become synonymous with fencing in Saskatchewan. In 1979 Seguin became the head coach of the Saskatoon Fencing
Club, and the provincial coach of the Saskatchewan Fencing Association. Since then he has coached numerous provincial and national teams. He guided his son, Jean-Pierre, to a world championship in 2002, prepared Allan Francis for the 1992 Olympics, taught the likes of National Women’s Foil team member Lavinia Surdu, and Junior National team member Tarsch Bakos. Seguin was also the first Canadian to achieve the title of Fencing Master. “I worked with very experienced people to get ready for the master’s diploma,” says Seguin. “I spent three months in Vancouver. I was in the gym six days a week learning from this Polish coach. He was a guy who used to be Poland’s national team coach and he’d gotten to a stage in his career where he was teaching coaches how to coach.” It’s a stage that, nowadays, Seguin knows well.
“The key to fencing is simple,” says Seguin. “You want to hit and not get hit.” He pauses for a moment and chuckles. “Trouble is, it takes a long time to learn how to do that. A really long time. People see these
athletes fencing in the Olympics and they think, ‘Oh I want to do that.’ But what they don’t realize is that it takes years and years to get to that point. Ten thousand hours of training, it takes at least that much to get to that level. W-O-R-K. That’s the bottom line. Some people look for the easy way out. There is none.” Listening to Seguin talk about fencing is like listening to a Hanshi talk about martial arts. There’s a wisdom in his words. A gravity and intelligence that elevates fencing above the level of mere sport. Of course, Seguin talks about the technical aspects of it all — about attacking and feinting, about lunges and parries and ripostes. But in the same breath he’s quick to remind you that fencing is about much more than technique. That it’s something akin to physical chess. A sport that requires keen intelligence, raw intuition, cunning, mental fortitude, and vigour. “Yes, it’s a lot of sweat and hard work, but it also takes a lot of study and a lot of knowledge,” he explains. “You have to know about everything from psychology to anatomy to physical science … There is also a philosophy to it. You have to understand tactics, strategy
Photo: courtesy of Sylvain Sechet
and human nature. It’s the fight game, so knowing human nature is very important.” It’s also important to realize that fencing, in many ways, is like life. At it’s purest, fencing is an art form that rewards the smartest, best prepared competitors with tremendous success. Those who don’t prepare, who don’t work hard or use their heads — well, they run into trouble. “It’s basically a microcosm of life,” says Seguin. “What you need on the fencing strip you need in life. The same attributes apply if you want to be successful. I’m not talking about monetary success, but about being a quality individual, a person of good character. On the piste, like in life, you have to keep going. Keep going through the ups and downs. When you fall down you have to get up, dust yourself off, keep going. Nothing in fencing comes easy. You have to work to get it. Just like in life.”
Now in the twilight of his career, Claude Seguin’s legacy is firmly
established. But he doesn’t want all the work he’s put in over the years to go to waste when he’s gone so he’s become a coach of coaches, trying to pass his knowledge down to the next generation so they, in turn, can pass it to the generation after that — and so on. “I’m getting older,” says Seguin with a mock sigh. “I’m starting to slow down a bit. So now I’m concentrating on life after Claude. I’m working to build coaches. That’s what I’m doing until I walk away.” Until then, though, Seguin will continue putting in the work, continue coaching high level fencers and groom up-and-coming coaches, continue to teach and impart his wisdom with passion. It’s still there, the passion, after all these years. Burning as bright and as strong as it ever has.
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Pile Of Bones Steampunk Society looks to the past to redefine the present
local
by ADAM HAWBOLDT
W
Steampunk Saskatchewan
all Photos: courtesy of facebook
hen Nicholas Trafananko and the rest of the Pile Of Bones Steampunk Society make a public appearance, they want to stand out. When they go to a fan expo, they don’t want to be like the other groups in attendance. They don’t want their booth to be unremarkable. It has to catch your eye, draw you in, pique your interest. So a couple of weeks ago, at the Fan Expo in Regina, they decided to try something different. Something that would set them apart from the crowd. “We didn’t want to just have photos and gadgets and us standing there,” says Trafananko. “We wanted to be different, to do something special. I was talking to Colby Goss [a fellow Steampunk Society member] and he suggested we do a Victorian sideshow. You know, like the traveling circuses they used to have, with monkeys’ paws, mermaids in jars — that kind of stuff.” With this in mind, they got to work. They filled half of the Pile of Bones’ booth with steampunk gizmos, gadgets like DIY plasma guns and such. The other half of the booth held the sideshow. There was an obsidian knife Trafananko had picked up in Mexico a few years ago sitting next to a jar of pig hearts pickled in vodka. When asked about it, the group told a story of adventure and travel and Aztec sacrifice. There was a burned copy of the Necronomicon, a customized Freddy Krueger claw made to look era-appropriate (like something Jack the Ripper could have used). There was also a mason jar with sparkles in the bottom. “The story that goes with the jar is that we were traveling around the world and made a stop in Ireland,” explains Trafananko. “We got lucky and managed to capture a fairy. But when you look, the cover is off the jar and it’s like ‘Oh no! The fairy escaped.’ Then we tell the people if they hear giggling they should run.
Fairies aren’t as cute and as sweet as Disney would have you believe.” Sometimes when Trafananko explains all this, he does it as Professor Adrian Vodgiri, an adventurer who travels the world collecting oddities while also working as a spy/assassin. Other times he does it as Nicholas Black, an airship pilot. “Those are my two main steampunk personae,” says Trafananko. “What you build, what you wear, your style reflects what steampunk means to you. There are a lot of different archetypes. There’s the mad scientist, the inventor … there are the aristocrats or nobles … there are pirates and airship pilots. For me, I’ve always felt I was born in the wrong era. Nowadays, it feels like everything’s been done, everything’s been explored, so when I developed my characters I did so with the intention of making them explorers. Adventurers.
Steampunk, in its original form, is a literary sub-genre of science fiction. Often set in an alternative history of, say, Victorian-era Britain or the American “Wild West,” these stories usually involve anachronistic technologies, retro-futuristic inventions, and massive, steampowered machines. The founding fathers of this subgenre were authors like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, writers of the late 19th century who took then-modern devices and reimagined them being powered by steam. Picture 19th-century London. It’s night. Gas lamps hanging from doorways puncture the rolling fog. Out of the gloom emerges a giant copper clockwork tank with legs like a spider. Above it, a flying pirate airship unleashes shots from the brass cannons poking out along its starboard side. Picture this, and you’ll begin to get an idea of what steampunk fiction is like. These days, though, steampunk is much more than just a literary subContinued on next page »
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genre. It’s now a subculture of sorts. Take a look around, and you’ll see it. You’ll see the aesthetic represented in films like Wild, Wild West and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. You’ll see it in comics like Fullmetal Alchemist and Warren Ellis’ Ignition City. You’ll see it in video games and fashion and music and interior design. “In the last few years, steampunk has been starting to seep into the mainstream as a fad,” says Trafananko. “But the thing is, it’s seeped into more than just movies and high-end fashion. It’s slowly getting to a point where you may see a new style emerge from all this. Something different, that we haven’t really seen before.”
Some people get involved in the steampunk subculture because they’re drawn to the Victorian era, some because they like the idea of reimagined technology. Others get involvevd because they like the aesthetic of steampunk culture — the corsets, top hats, frock coats, goggles, etc. For Trafananko, what drew him to the steampunk community is best described in the Abney Park song “Steampunk Revolution.” It begins with the lines, “We’re tired of all your so-called evolution / We’ve darted back to 1886 / Don’t ask us why; that’s how we get our kicks.” That’s when the chorus kicks in. “Out with the new / In with the old,” they sing. “Out with the new / In with the old.” And that’s precisely why steampunk culture appeals to Trafananko. “The idea of getting rid of the new
and bringing back the old, there’s something about that,” he says. “What drew me to steampunk was that it is very much DIY. I really fell in love with the idea of having a device or a pair of gloves or an article of clothing or a bicycle, and you know that you have an item that’s one of a kind. Either that, or there are only a couple of others like it. Nowadays, there’s not much unique anymore. You go to a store, you buy a couch. You know a thousand other people have that exact same couch — if you get what I mean. Everything is so over-produced now. Back then, you’d have people building your furniture for you. You’d have something unique, one of a kind. That’s what it means to me. So yeah … out with the new, in with the old. It’s about getting back to a style where things are made with care instead of being mass produced.” But the steampunk movement is also about passion. It’s about recapturing the way the Victorians strived for better technology, strived to explore the world. There was an excitement in the air. An excitement that’s been replaced by a modern malaise. That’s one of the underlying currents upon which the steampunk movement floats. It’s not about bringing back the Victorian era. It’s about reimagining it, reinventing it, reinvigorating the passions that drove it — one fan expo, one parade, one parasol duel at a time. Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
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Bring on the Idaho stop Allowing cyclists to roll through stop signs is safer for everyone
H
ere’s the scenario: you’re driving down the street, approaching a stop sign. There’s a cyclist to your right. You have one eye on the stop sign, the other on the bike and the person attached to it, and that’s when you see it: instead of coming to a complete stop, the cyclist slows down, sees there is no oncoming traffic or pedestrians, then rolls through the stop sign and pedals through the intersection. Chances are that if you’ve been driving in this city you’ve seen this happen (or perhaps if you’ve been biking in this city you’ve done it). And as a driver, it might have raised your ire. After all, you just watched a biker break the law. We think that’s wrong — not that the biker rolled through the stop sign, but that doing so is illegal. The move is called the Idaho stop (because the state has permitted cyclists to do this since 1982), and a handful of other places in the United States also follow suit. And we think it’s high time Regina got on board. Here’s how it works: when approaching stop signs, cyclists first need to slow down and look for traffic. If another cyclist, a pedestrian or a car is already at the stop sign, those people have the right-away. If there’s nothing, then the cyclist can slow down and proceed through the stop sign without coming to a complete
stop first — stop signs become yield signs for bicyclists. When it comes to red lights, there’s a whole different set of protocol. Cyclists need to come to a complete stop here, but if there is no oncoming traffic or pedestrians, they are then allowed to proceed with caution through the intersection (in this scenario, a red traffic light would function like a stop sign). And while a new measure like this may inspire resentment amongst drivers, allowing for an Idaho stop would not only make traffic flow better, but it would also make the roads safer for everyone. Think about it. Unlike cars, getting a bike started from a standstill requires a lot of energy, but once it gets going momentum carries it forward. In 2001, a physics professor named Joel Farjans conducted an experiment. He biked down a street with a lot of stop signs and another without stop signs. On the stop sign-filled street he averaged a speed of 10.9 miles per hour; on the street with no stop signs, he could ride about 30 percent faster. How does this relate to the Idaho stop? Well, typically faster moving corridors in our city don’t have stop signs, but they also don’t have room for cyclists. So if we make riding through stop sign-filled streets (typically those that are set a block or so off the main drag) more convenient for bikers, then the flow of traffic isn’t
impeded in the busier thoroughfares. Furthermore, allowing for Idaho stops, particularly at red lights on busy intersections, would permit cyclists to get out in front of traffic, and make them more visible. All of which makes the roads safer for everyone involved. And speaking of safety, permitting Idaho stops actually makes bicycling about town much safer. In a study conducted by public health researcher Jason Meggs, researchers discovered that when the Idaho stop was made legal in 1982, the number of cyclist accidents dropped. What’s more, in recent years, data has shown that in Sacramento and Bakersfield — two cities of comparable size that don’t allow the Idaho stop — bicycle accidents were 30.5 percent and 150 percent more likely, respectively, than in Idaho. So what are we waiting for, Regina? It’s time we legalize the Idaho stop, and make the roads safer for all our commuters, no matter their mode of transportation. 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
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On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about more bike lanes in Regina. Here's what you had to say:
injuries...This is just an injury of sorts to your brain. I commend the author of this article for capturing this story so well. I hope everyone keeps talking and healing and feel they can come out of the dark secret many are hiding in. BRAVO to Jae Ford for speaking up..
text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372
cars @ service vehicles etc. We have long bitter winters, lets be REAL ! ... I LIKE TO CYCLE. Learn the rules of the road, be defensively minded , practice safety. DON,T ASSUME , TAKE CARE, CYCLE RESPONSIBLY, BE ALERT OUT THERE IN TOON TOWN !!
of which she’s president, but hopefully the reputation of the school isn’t too damaged. Was proud to see my fellow students and members of faculty and staff out there marching at the rally! Great job everyone!
In response to “Let’s talk about crazy,” Local,
– Our city absolutely needs more bike lanes, and hopefully more and more people will start to use them. I would also like to see vehicles be more aware of bikers and treat them with respect. I try to be a considerate biker - going as fast as I can through intersections and staying in the far right lane. I wish more vehicles tried to be considerate as well! We are all dodging potholes out there, so please don’t cut me off!
– Yes! To more bike lanes. So many places without bus routes, plus more and more people can’t afford a car anymore. The cooler the city, the more biking you see around.
– Do those who ride a bike on sidewalk risk injuring a pedestrian if they ride with care?
– There are parts of the city I’d love to be able to bike to without fearing for my life. There’s no way I could take my bike on some of the major thoroughfares here, it wouldn’t be fare to drivers and wouldn’t be safe to me. We should try our best to make biking more accessible, at least in individual neighbourhoods and then work on linking them up. There’s so many people I know that would love to bike more if they felt they could. Let’s do this!
OFF TOPIC – I agree with more bike lanes! I have to drive to work (I have to bring equipment back and forth every day that would be impossible on a bike), and do my best to be as courteous as possible, but those poor cyclists simply have no space to safely do their thing. They are trying, I know, but we should be encouraging more biking around the city, not making it more difficult.
– Dear Verb I liked your bike lane article. What do you think about us getting those rent-a-bike like they do in Montreal and other big centers? It would be so good for our city to encourage those that don’t have a bike to get out there. Thanks :D
– Excellent article about Jae Ford! Thank you for helping to de stigmatize mental health illness. Please continue doing so. In response to “Let’s talk about crazy,” Local, #128 (May 16, 2014)
– The article about Jae Ford “Let’s talk about Crazy” is indeed a fine example of what can happen when one individual steps up to the plate and tries to make a difference Mr. Ford has levelled the playing field for all people with mental illness in this province. You’ve got to talk about it and keep talking about it. Mental illness is here to stay but is usually a treatable disease just like other
#128 (May 16, 2014)
– Great article on Jae Ford fighting mental illness stigma. Brave, honest, and powerful. Good on him!
– When I see a stripper I think “Brown Chicken Brown Cow!” Say it out loud fast. Then it all gets funny in a cheesy TV Batman way! Peelers don’t work right either
– Holy looks like the University is imploding. TransformUs right into a school with a bad reputation. Going to be hard to secure students now?
In response to “Let’s talk about crazy,” Local, #128 (May 16, 2014)
– This note is for Adam Hawboldt. I just finished reading your Holocaust article, “Remembrance of Things Past” and I wanted to let you know what a great read it was. The historical events that inspired the article are awful of course but a very interesting piece and very well written...and I’m picky about that kind of thing. It kept my interest piqued to the end and I wanted more! I think the full day you spent on this one was well worth it. Great job! In response to “Remembrance of things past,” Local, #127 (May 9, 2014)
SOUND OFF – Last Thursday Gormley was dissing Corner Gas; according to him in the New SK no one resembles any of the characters created by Butt. Heads up John many, many of your listeners are Oscar clones.
– God is watching us from a distance.
– Toon Town needs all the prkg. It can get. Top priority should be for
– The price of fast food should be higher than the price of nutritional food. Maybe it would allow people to make healthy choices more easily.
– Road cleaning/construction going on- be patient, think of what they will leave behind when they are finished Truth Is Power-Try It
– Don’t let Facebook or any other social media determine your worth. You are worth much more than anyone liking your status or commenting on it. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in any of the negative comments on there.
– THIS IS YOUR WAKE UP CALL! This is your life, and you can be whatever you want don’t let anyone else define you. You are great and amazing and one of Gods children and he will never forsake you so don’t foresake yourself.
– IBV fired as president of U of S. What an atrocious situation all around. I’m glad she’s fired; she should be taking responsibility for what’s happening at the institution
– Went for a run by the river leaves are slowly starting to come out, kids playing soccer families out walking looks like summer is finally here at Toon Town!
– I would like to wish a wonderful fourth anniversary to my wonderful husband Mark :) Xoxo
– Kind of a rude text from someone in the Verb saying they are bored reading it but you can text in? Come on.
– THANK YOU MOM!
Next week: What do you think about bringing the Idaho stop to SK? Text in your thoughts to 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 Janine Kropla
Winnipeg noise-rock band on the verge of a breakthrough by Alex J MacPherson
I
t didn’t occur to Stefan Braun that pop music and overwhelming feedback could coexist until he heard Sonic Youth’s “Silver Rocket.” Released in 1988, “Silver Rocket” begins as a fractious rock song before devolving into sonic chaos. The monumental bridge, which consists entirely of feedback and metallic guitar noises, was “the gateway drug” for Braun, who fronts the noisy rock outfit Pop Crimes. “There’s a giant noise part in there, but it’s such a poppy song,” he says. “I realized that yeah, you can write pop songs and fill them with noise and it can still be interesting.” Since it emerged from a Winnipeg basement in 2012, Pop Crimes has released an EP and a pair of split 7-inch singles. With each new release, Braun and his bandmates — guitarist Aaron Johnston, drummer Kevin Strang, and bassist Ken Prue — have gotten better at blending tidal waves of noise with straightforward pop and rock hooks. Their latest, a split 7-inch with the band Willower, is a morass of punishing detuned guitar riffs, fuzzed-out bass lines, and Braun’s ominous musings. Pop Crimes are clearly influenced by Sonic Youth, as well as a slew of other seminal alt-rock acts, but instead of contrasting melody and chaos, Braun and his bandmates mate them. The upshot is a sound vaguely reminiscent of Saskatoon stoner metal band Shooting Guns, albeit with singing. Pop Crimes’ latest releases feature riffs worthy of the titanic early seventies metal innovators and anxiety-inducing krautrock soundscapes punctuated
by bloodied fingers and broken guitar strings. And while Braun says the band is still some months away from releasing its debut full-length, he and his bandmates are spending as much time as possible on the road, deploying savage rock riffs and soaring feedback for anyone who will listen.
progression: this is what we want to do, and this is how you get yourself recognized. I mean, you have to put in the legwork: you have to go to all the nowhere towns and play to nobody, so you can impress that one person. Touring, if it works, is the best, and it’s all I ever want to do. AJM: What’s it like, being a part of the notoriously diverse Winnipeg music scene? Does the vibrancy help a band like Pop Crimes?
Alex J MacPherson: How did you guys get started down this path? Stefan Braun: We’ve been around in this incarnation for about three years. It was more of just a whatever basement project for a long time. Then it started clicking after several member changes. We’re on our third drummer and our second bass player at this point. Me and Aaron [Johnston], the other guitar player, have been working at this for a good couple years. There’s no exciting story behind how it got started. It was more just two guys playing guitars, who started buying amps and buying pedals and buying guitars — and the sound grew with whatever the hell we were doing.
SB: Yeah. It’s a weird scene, because there’s all these bands and nobody sounds like each other, but we all play together. It’s this weird, mixedup soup. We’ve played with rappers and we’ve played with dance bands and we’ve played with noise projects and we’ve played with metal bands. It’s such a tight-knit scene that you can play with everybody, and everybody feeds off whatever is happening. There’s no distinct scene per se; it’s just a big mixture of garbage, that makes it smell pretty good sometimes. AJM: Listening to City/Head, it feels like your sound has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. How would you characterize it?
AJM: Was there a moment when you realized that the band could become something bigger than a basement project, or did that happen slowly?
SB: When we started, we were just a weird jam band, I think. On City/Head I had pedals, but for a very long time I was quite strict on no effects on my guitar. I wanted everything to be weird and jangly and straight. And then we slowly started adding distortion and things like that, and along with that came heavier songs, and a bit more
SB: Well, I’ve always wanted to tour. Everybody else in the band has played in several other projects, but this is the only thing I’ve ever done. Once the band actually had a solid lineup, the only thing I wanted to do was tour. It’s kind of just a natural
straightforward song structures, as opposed to the weird meandering that is the City/Head EP. AJM: Your more recent releases, like the split 7-inch with Willower, feel like a balance between pure noise and more conventional pop and rock structures. SB: I love noise music. I will sit in front of my amp for hours on end, just feeding back, because I have nothing better to do. I love noise. I was at a show last night, and this band was playing. They basically played a single note for probably forty-five minutes, and everybody left. But it was interesting: it’s one of those things where, if you can mix it in with a basic pop structure, you can actually have people appreciate noise and weird soundscapes. AJM: Was moving toward these feedback and amp noise soundscapes a conscious decision, or did it happen gradually? SB: We’ve been working on it. It definitely started with being loud and accidental feedback. It’s a hard thing to control, but once you actually get it going, it’s a whole different instrument. Like, you’re not playing a guitar, you’re playing feedback, you’re playing noise. It’s something that I don’t think we’ve ever come across, or managed to get across, on our recordings very well. But it’s something we’ve been working on. AJM: One of the things I like about your music is these huge waves of sound. One is always threatening to
consume the other, and I think that’s where a lot of the energy comes from. SB: Well, you can definitely get carried away with it. You can go from having four pop songs to having a forty-five minute album with a series of drones. It’s a difficult balance between tasteful and just obnoxious. AJM: I understand you’re going to be recording the band’s debut full-length this winter, right? SB: We’re working on a bunch of new things. I think we’re going to probably start tracking and doing demos in our space for awhile. The Willower 7-inch, we just recorded that in our jam space. Aaron, our guitar player, he does wonders with his little computer. He’s trying to get into the producing thing, so this is a good avenue for him — to just play around with his own songs, experiment and try to make it sound as good as he can. I think we’ll probably re-record a couple things, but which ones I’m not really sure. We’ve got one show here in a couple weeks, then we’re on the road again. I think we’re probably going to head down to the States in the winter, and then get back on the road and do another big one in the spring again. Pop Crimes June 4 @ The Exchange $10 at the door Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com
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End of an era
The Seahags’ new album could mark the end of the road for the Saskatoon bluegrass group
F
or most bands, recording a new album signals a new beginning. But for the Seahags, the release of Tarnished Gold might be the end. “Our future is still unknown,” says April Nechvatel, who plays banjo in the Saskatoon-based punk-folk group. “We don’t want to say that we’re splitting up, because that will limit us from playing any future shows. But we can’t play shows without Riki.” Nechvatel is referring to Riki Yandt, the Seahags’ guitarist and lead singer, who moved to Toronto two days after the band finished recording Tarnished Gold. “It was kind of bittersweet,” she adds. “End of an era, you know?” Formed in 2010, the Seahags consists of six women who share a fondness for raucous, bluegrass-
inspired party music. Like their outlook on life, their approach to recording albums and playing shows is uninhibited and unrepentant. “I like that our image is kind of haggardly, because there’s less pressure to conform,” Nechvatel says with a laugh. “Especially as female musicians. We don’t dress up for our shows or anything; we can just be as gross as possible, and it’s fine — it’s part of our image.” The Seahags released their debut album, a collection of ten rockinfluenced bluegrass songs, in 2012. Good’n’Greasy was well-received, but it lacked the edge of the group’s notoriously raucous live performances. According to Nechvatel, this was because it was not recorded live off the floor. “We’re a messy band,” she laughs. “We’re a little rough around the edges. We just play.”
by alex J MacPherson
Unlike its predecessor, Tarnished Gold was recorded live off the floor, meaning the musicians played the songs together in the same room; only the vocals were overdubbed. “It’s less produced, and a lot more raw,” Nechvatel says of the album, which the group recorded with Chad Mason at Sinewave Studios, which is located on an acreage near Saskatoon. “I think it’s a lot more authentic to what we sound like. And obviously we’ve become better musicians.” The upshot is that Tarnished Gold sounds much better than its predecessor. The arrangements are more sophisticated, the instruments less compartmentalized. The best performances channel the sort of energy that only exists when a band is playing together in the same room. Perhaps more importantly, Tarnished Gold also reflects a fundamental
change in the band’s sound, one Nechvatel characterizes as “a lot more mature.” Unlike most of the songs on Good’n’Greasy, which were played in bright major keys, the tracks that make up Tarnished Gold make frequent use of gloomy, brooding minor keys. “It’s less folk-poppy, if that makes sense,” Nechvatel says. “This one is less poppy, less sweet.” This is apparent on “Texas,” an ominously twangy ballad, and “Seasick,” a Celticinfluenced instrumental carried aloft by Lauren Tastad’s haunting fiddle. Other tracks, like “Those Golden Days,” pair typical Seahags gang vocals and unhinged guitar parts with more ambitious arrangements. The upshot is a record that captures the band’s exuberant live performances, as well as their ventures into new musical territory.
realizing his musical vision. On “Bow And Arrow,” which features sparkling guitars and Fleet Foxes-style harmonies, he exposes himself as a dreamer: “When the rain washes away who you are / We go over the mountains and under the stars.” But, like Sisyphus, he can do nothing but embrace every second of his own reality. And, after making Funeral Sky, one must imagine him happy.
guitar flourishes. Although it was released as a digital download code embedded in a seventy-two-page magazine, the songs don’t need a marketing ploy to sustain themselves — they are big and ambitious and immediate. Human Human began generating attention last year, after releasing an EP produced by Jace Lasek of the Besnard Lakes. These four tracks form the backbone of Run. “Forest” takes its time unfolding into a soaring rock song, complete with layered synths and brooding background vocals. “City” consists of a single verse submerged in a sea of celebratory synths, “Home” an eighties-inspired dance groove dominated by frontman Felix Roy’s languid musings on life and love: “I’m only living for my good friends / And maybe for this little girl that I like.” The best of the original four songs is “Control,” mostly because it is also the fastest. This is important: none of the new tracks on Run are objectively bad, but they tend to blur together. The upshot is that the outliers shine. The
“It was important to us to finish what we started,” Nechvatel says of the record, which she describes as the culmination of the band’s four-year odyssey. “We released our last album in 2012, so we definitely had new songs. We’ve been playing those live, but it was a matter of getting them recorded, getting them out there for people, because our fate is unknown.” Nechvatel is reluctant to confirm or deny the band’s future because she doesn’t know what it will be. No one does. But if the worst should happen, if Yandt stays in Toronto, Nechvatel won’t be devastated: “If that’s what happens, I feel like we’re going out on a high note.” The Seahags May 30 @ German Club $TBA
album reviews Reuben & The Dark — Funeral Sky Arts & Crafts, May 2014 BY ALEX MACPHERSON
At the end of The Myth Of Sisyphus, Albert Camus writes: “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart.” Although Camus was writing about Sisyphus, condemned by the gods to endlessly roll a rock up a mountain, his words also apply to Funeral Sky, the sprawling debut from Calgary’s Reuben and the Dark. The latest musical venture by singer-songwriter Reuben Bullock, Reuben and the Dark combines its frontman’s fondness for broad, searching lyrical ideas and a richly detailed musical backdrop. Drawing on elements of contemporary folk, pop, and rock, Funeral Sky is ambitious. Bright guitars, sombre harmonies, and atmospheric synths combine to create a sonic palette that is cinematic in scope.
Funeral Sky is fundamentally an album about big ideas: doubt and despair, redemption and salvation. Like Sisyphus, Bullock finds meaning in his willingness to embrace the act of living. In “Devil’s Time,” he turns his back on a Faustian pact, opting instead to “go wherever the wind blows / Because if I’m gonna die, I want to die an old ghost.” The stirring piano ballad “Standing Still” finds him running away, yet unable to “escape this feeling of standing still.” The gentle synthesizers and echoing drums of “Black Water” heighten the effect of his admission that, “I found grace in the black water, bathe my soul / And tell my heart, I told you so.” There are some less orchestral moments, too. “Can’t See The Light” comes perilously close to straightforward rock and roll. The title track is nothing more than a two-minute expanse of brooding synthesizers and dissonant studio sounds. These moments are jarring, but not unwelcome. Ultimately, Funeral Sky is still the closest Bullock has ever come to
Human Human — Run 1989 records, April, 2014 BY ALEX J MACPHERSON
For a dance rock record originating in Montreal, Human Human’s debut is refreshingly unpretentious. Released in a digital-only format last month, Run is propelled by an impressive array of groovy synthesizers and tasteful
best tracks on the album are “Run,” which features a propulsive guitar riff, and the spritely shuffle “Woods.” Both are fast, and both are loads of fun. The inevitable result is that Run is best enjoyed in two sittings. Its sonic palette is not boring, but the band struggles to escape the parameters it set for itself. Almost all of the individual songs find Human Human displaying their talent for crafting catchy grooves, as well as the depth of their pop playbook. But as a whole, Run doesn’t feel like the lively pop album it could be. Still, for a debut made by four high school friends, the record offers more than enough in the way of consistent hooks and sparkling textures, with or without a magazine. But get the magazine anyway: it’s pretty cool.
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Feature
Difficult Beauty
Photo: courtesy of Marc Rimmer
Chad VanGaalen pushes convention to the breaking point on his new LP Shrink Dust by Alex J MacPherson
L
ast month, Chad VanGaalen released Shrink Dust, his fifth album under his own name. A patchwork of folk, pop, and country influences, the Calgary singer-songwriter’s latest album infuses traditional song structures with the difficult beauty that characterizes much of his art. Some critics have suggested it may be his best album yet. But VanGaalen has never been able to acclimatize himself to making music, or even feel comfortable with its most basic conventions. Shrink Dust may very well be his finest achievement to date, but making it was anything but easy for him. “I’ve never really been that comfortable making music in general,” VanGaalen says, explaining that he is much more interested in music’s “architectural” aspects, meaning production and sound design. (He has produced several acclaimed records, notably Women’s 2010 sophomore album, Public Strain.) “Songs have become fairly abstract to me at this point,” he continues. “Three-and-ahalf to six-and-a-half minutes is the accepted format for a song-song. It just seems strange, in my mind, to imagine how that works anymore. I thought in 2014 people would be listening to whale music constantly.
But it’s still rock and roll, or dance über-disco or whatever.” Shrink Dust does not contain whale music, or any other animal sounds. In some respects, it is actually one of the more straightforward records VanGaalen has ever made. Cover art notwithstanding, Shrink Dust lacks the ostentatious weirdness that made its predecessor, 2011’s Diaper Island, difficult to embrace. Of course, Shrink Dust is still a product of VanGaalen’s unusually fertile mind. He recorded it in his home studio, which he christened
refining. “With me as one person recording it, it can start sounding really contrived really easily because I have to do a fair amount of planning. For me to maintain any sort of spontaneity is the most important thing. If it starts to hang a little bit too long in the studio then I cut it.” The result is a collection of songs that explore VanGaalen’s many musical interests. “Leaning On Bells” is an intoxicating garage rock anthem, complete with a gloriously unhinged two-note guitar solo. “Cut
I still don’t really consider myself a performing musician. I’m way more … at home behind the tape deck. chad vangaalen
Yoko Eno, and worked hard to create an atmosphere free from artifice. “I look at all of the songs I have recorded, and then I pick out the ones that are the least contrived,” he says, explaining that the songs on Shrink Dust were culled from a much larger pool of material, which he spent the best part of two years writing and
Off My Hands” is a delicate acoustic guitar ballad, an ideal showcase for VanGaalen’s delicate voice; “Frozen Paradise” a reverb-soaked ballad that unfolds into a synth-driven rock jam. Shrink Dust has been promoted as a “country record,” but the influence of Gram Parsons’ “cosmic American music” is limited to a few pedal steel Continued on next page »
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licks — VanGaalen spent the last two years teaching himself how to play the notoriously difficult instrument — and a pair of straightforward weepers, “Hangman’s Son” and “Cosmic Destroyer.” The most infectious tracks on the record, “Monster” and “Lila,” feature bright acoustic guitars, plenty of ambient noise, and memorable vocal hooks — and both are as close as VanGaalen seems willing to get to straightforward folk pop. All of the songs on Shrink Dust were born from the same basic musical tradition. Yet VanGaalen wants to explore musical ideas that fall outside standard pop and rock conventions. He does this by injecting familiar architecture with unfamiliar elements, including what he calls “found sounds.” In addition to the usual complement of guitars, synthesizers, and drums, Shrink Dust features unusual percussion, a homemade clarinet, and plenty of other dissonant noises. “The thing that I like about that,” he says, “is if you throw one or two elements in it — they don’t have to be massive: it could just be hitting the side of your house with a drumstick or something like that — it’s some sort of found sound that’s going to kind of govern the song a little bit, and take it in a new direction, and even add a little bit of tension in there as well.” But the songs on Shrink Dust are linked by more than just VanGaalen’s desire to explore the outer edges of mainstream acceptability. They are also linked by the way he thinks about writing lyrics. “I am more of a visual
Photo: courtesy of Marc Rimmer
thinker,” he explains, referring to his background as a visual artist, illustrator, and animator. “I have problems conveying what I’m thinking, emotionally, with words, so I try and create these visual maps.” This is evident on tracks like “Weird Love,” which opens with a series of jarring drones before settling
into a ragged folk groove: “Raised from seed / I feel it when I’m breathing / I love to see you swimming with the wind / Distracted mind is looking for a reason / So baby let your hair hang down,” VanGaalen moans before launching into the chorus: “Ooooh weird love / Cross-hatched dreams where the plants are all talking / Ooooh weird love / The best it gets is when life starts screaming.” This is a fairly typical example of VanGaalen’s ability to paint with words, rather than using them to construct a linear story. In most of his songs, literal meaning is much less important than the images the lyrics conjure up. Most of the songs on Shrink Dust feel like a succession of images flashed on a screen rather than a coherent narrative. They feel more like abstract expressionist paintings than attempts at replicating the world with perfect clarity and detail. “Something like ‘Weird Love’ is sort of a general feeling,” VanGaalen explains, “and if I’m talking about death or mortality or something like that, I’m not trying to express myself directly. Songs that are pretty much linear stories are definitely fewer and further between for me these days” Later, he adds: “If you’re trying to dig into it for digging into its sake, it isn’t going to work.” This does not imply the lyrics on Shrink Dust, or any of his earlier records, are meaningless; it merely suggests that VanGaalen isn’t particularly interested in writing lyrics that are obtuse or otherwise impenetrable. Although he confesses to admiring “literary” songwriters like Leonard Cohen, VanGaalen says he doesn’t feel comfortable experimenting with that style of writing. Instead, he prefers to write songs that are “universally digestible,” lyrics he can “superimpose my own life onto.” After thinking for a moment he laughs and says, “It’s almost like Raffi, as silly as that sounds. That sort of naïve quality is definitely what I’m trying to preserve. As much as I can, I try and keep my mind a blank slate. But it’s getting harder and harder.” It is getting harder for the same reason most of the songs on Shrink Dust loop back toward the idea of mortality: VanGaalen is getting older. After more than a decade spent making music, his circumstances have changed dramatically. Most importantly, he is now a
father to two young children. This development has changed the way he approaches writing and recording music. In the past, he would spend hours by himself in the studio, tinkering with instruments and microphones and all manner of strange musical paraphernalia. Now, his time is more valuable. What was once a singular obsession has become an escape, a brief respite from the rigours of family life — and he seems to be enjoying it. “I used to faff around, and now I’m a lot more focused,” he says with a laugh, adding that he is constantly aware of the fact that free time is a finite resource. “When I do have the time, I’m a lot more focused and determined to get something done, whereas [in the past] I may have sort of let myself run astray from what my original intention was.” Strangely, though, he doesn’t seem to miss the long days and nights of toiling in the studio: like most dads, he thinks going for a bike ride with his kids is way more fun than “f**king around on a synthesizer.” After laughing to himself he adds, “I’ve already done that for fifteen years.” At the same time, the allure of writing and recording music is difficult for him to ignore. “To tell you the truth, I’ve never been a performing musician,” he says. “I still don’t really consider myself a performing musician. I’m way more of a studio guy. And way more at home behind the tape deck than I am behind the guitar, or even microphones for that matter.” But after more than a decade spent writing and recording, VanGaalen has honed in on a sound that is both novel and deeply compelling. Shrink Dust could not have sprung from any mind but his own, and its rawness and beauty suggests that VanGaalen is getting better with each passing year. Even if he’s still not entirely comfortable doing it. “I’ve found a pretty strange way around a lot of things,” he says, “and it’s because I’ve had a lot of time to sort of work out those bugs in my own way.” Chad VanGaalen June 5 @ The Exchange $18 @ Ticketedge.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com
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Superb Sushi
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Hanabi Sushi & Grill: serving up sushi in the heart of the city by Eilidh Thain
F
or a prairie town, there is certainly no shortage of places to get sushi. A quick Google search reveals a number of joints serving up this Japanese specialty speckled around the city, and more and more we’re seeing some kind of sushi-style roll on appetizer menus at many contemporary restaurants. You can even find it in your local grocery store and fast food courts. But if you are looking for the true sushi experience, Hanabi Sushi & Grill is your next stop. Hanabi has been in business for about seven years, with Tony Yang at the helm since 2011. “For me, it’s about the cooking and it’s about the customers. If you have this, everything else falls into place, ” Tony said. Hanabi takes pride in their focus on fresh ingredients and a welltrained staff. “It’s easy to get people
Photos: courtesy of Marc messett
let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide MINTY SUMMER SAKE
INGREDIENTS
Nothing says summer like a chilled minty beverage! Sure you could turn to the tried and true Mojito, or you could try something a little different. Serve up this refreshing beverage at your next outdoor summer get together.
2 mint sprigs 1/2 tsp fresh ginger (finely grated) 2 oz sake, chilled 2 oz pear nectar, chilled (such as Goya brand) Garnish, mint sprig
in. It’s what happens when they’re here that counts,” he explained. As I looked through Hanabi’s menu that was so lovely it could moonlight as a fancy sushi coffee table book, Tony offered to whip up some of the popular dishes that keep customers streaming through the door. My sushi experience started with a trip on the Love Boat (yes, you just read that). One of Hanabi’s signature dishes, the Love Boat features a selection of sushi, nigiri, and sashimi served on a platter in the shape of a boat, complete with bow, stern, and mast poles. It’s almost too beautiful to dig into — almost. And thanks to the portion size, it’s perfect for a trio of sushi-loving friends! Next came the parade of sushi rolls—Red Hot Tuna Roll, Dragon Roll, and the house favourite Regina Roll, stuffed to the brim with salmon, crab, avocado and cucumber, and topped with crispy yam strips. The
kicker on this roll is the sweet, tangy surprise of a house-made honey mustard and teriyaki sauce—yum! “People are afraid of the raw fish, but there are plenty of other options to choose from,” Tony said. He wants people to know that rice and noodle dishes, such as Chicken Teriyaki and Vegetable Udon, are always on the menu. Bento Boxes, with a variety of options, are also available for lunch and dinner. Whether you’re a sushi aFISHionado or just testing the sushi waters, Hanabi is a great place for all your sushi needs. Hanabi Sushi & Grill 1950 Broad St. | (306) 585 8880 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
@VerbRegina ethain@verbnews.com
DIRECTIONS
Combine two mint sprigs and ginger in a chilled rocks glass, mash well. Fill glass with ice. Add chilled sake and chilled pear nectar, stir well. Garnish with a mint sprig and serve immediately.
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Next Week
coming up
Paul Federici
The Gay Nineties
Dierks Bentley
@ Creative City Centre Tuesday, June 3 – $10
@ The Exchange Friday, June 6 – $10
@ Craven Country Jamboree Saturday, July 12 – $199
They say that music soothes the savage beast. Okay, it was William Congreve who said it. And technically the quote is “Music has charms to soothe a savage breast.” But that’s beside the point. The point here is that it’s true: just ask Ontario’s Paul Federici. Not so long ago, Federici was battling a beast otherwise known as mental health. Not knowing what to do, he picked up an old acoustic guitar and tried playing away the pain. It worked. And if you listen to his album, Now and Then, you’ll hear a self-taught musician sing about the rut he found himself in, and how he got out of it. The songs — an elegant array of folk/pop tunes — are honest and raw, driven by the strength of Federici’s voice. Federici is trundling out this way in early June; be sure to catch his show.
In a historical sense, the Gay Nineties refers to the decade of the 1890s. An era marked by social scandals, decadent art and the suffrage movement. In a music sense, it’s the name of a rock quartet from Vancouver that delivers inspired, explosive performances. Consisting of Parker Bossley (vocals/guitar), Daniel Knowlton (bass/ vocals), Malcolm Holt (drums) and Bruce Ledingham (keys), The Gay Nineties burst on the scene with an EP, toured with the Walkmen, and brought their soulful brand of rock and roll to venues across the country. Recently they’ve been in the studio working on their first full-length album (to be released later this summer) that’s full of tasteful harmonies, vintage synth sounds and rock music reminiscent of The Zombies. Tickets at the door.
With the release of his 2003 self-titled album, Dierks Bentley exploded onto the country music scene. His first single, “What Was I Thinkin,’” hit #1 on the Billboard Hot Country charts and the album went platinum. So did his next record, Modern Day Drifter. Released in 2005, MDD featured the hit singles “Settle for a Slowdown” and “Come a Little Closer. Since then, the musician from Arizona has stayed busy, releasing six albums that spawned 18 charted singles — 11 of which peaked at #1. His latest album, Riser — written a year after his father’s death —is by far his most personal to date, touching on topics such as loss and change and growth. This must-see for serious country fans will be headlining Saturday’s line-up at the Craven Country Jamboree. Tickets available at www. cravencountryjamboree.com. – By Adam Hawboldt
Photos courtesy of: the artist/ the artist / the artist
Sask music Preview Have you played or sang on an album that’s been released in the past 50 years? File for your MROC royalties! It’s really simple and will ensure you don’t miss out on money that may be waiting for you! You don’t have to be the songwriter or “artist” to register! This relatively new Canadian royalty recognizes the contribution of players and vocalists in the creation of sound recordings. If you are heard on a sound recording released in the last 50 years, MROC may have royalties for you. For more information visit www.musiciansrights.org.
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may 23 » may 31 The most complete live music listings for Regina. S
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23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Friday 23 Lighthouse / Casino Regina — Lively rock from Toronto. 8pm / $34+ (ticketbreak.com) Cathedral Village Arts Festival / Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre — Featuring Treebeard, Brian Warren, Fortunate Isles. pm / Cover TB DJ Dallas / Eldorado Country Rock Bar — Regina’s number one party DJ! 9pm / $5, no cover for ladies before 11pm Hatfield & McCoy / Eldorado Country Rock Bar — Come get your weekend started right! 9pm / $5 DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every Friday night that are sure to get you on the dance floor. 9pm / $5 cover Cathedral Village Arts Festival / Holy Rosary Park- Featuring Binder Twine and the Bailers, Midnight Roses, Black Drink Crier. 8pm / Cover TBD Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Come out and get your weekend started with DJ Fatbot, who’ll be doing his spinning thing every Friday night. 10pm / Cover TBD Method 2 Madness / McNally’s Tavern — Playing classic rock and roll. 10pm / $5 The Pistolwhips / O’Hanlon’s — A rockin’ indie four-piece from Saskatoon. 9pm / No cover Third Degree Birnz / Pump Roadhouse — Party music all night long. 9pm / Cover TBD Tommy Emmanuel / Regina Performing Arts Centre — A trend-setting guitarist from Australia. 7pm / Cover TBD Dead South + more / St. Mary’s Anglican Church — It’s the arts centre. 8:30pm / Cover TB DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs as he drops some of the best country beats around. 8pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — Country music done right. 9pm / $5
Saturday 24
Wednesday 28
PandaCorn + more / Artesian on 13th — Its the Arts Festival. 9:30pm / Cover TB 2 Bears North + more / Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre — It’s the Arts Festival! 12:30pm / Cover TB Chad Kichula + more / Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre — It’s the Arts Festival! 9pm / Cover TB DJ Dallas / Eldorado Country Rock Bar — Regina’s number one party DJ! 9pm / $5 Hatfield & McCoy / Eldorado — Come out and enjoy some great tunes! 9pm / $5 Psychotic Gardening / The Exchange — With Planet Eater and Psyborum. 8pm / $10 (ticketedge.ca) Cathedral Village Arts Festival / Holy Rosary Park — Featuring Brass Buttons, Jeffery Straker, Andino Suns. 6:30pm / Cover TB Amy Nelson / Lancaster Taphouse — A sweet and sassy country singer. 9pm / Cover TBD Method 2 Madness / McNally’s Tavern — Playing classic rock and roll. 10pm / $5 Cathedral Village Arts Festival / St. Mary’s Anglican Church — Featuring Slim City Pickers, Herb and the Humans, The Florals. 8:30pm / Cover TB Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — Country music done right. 9pm / $5
Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring Regina Women in Song. 9pm / No cover
Thursday 29
Archers / Artful Dodger — C’mon out for a rocking CD release party. 8pm / Cover TBD Tower of Song / The Club — A tribute to Leonard Cohen. 8pm / $15 Redbeard’s Tribute to Led Zeppelin / The Exchange- Featuring local bands playing music of these rock pioneers. 7:30pm / Cover TBD Decibel Frequency / Gabbo’s Nightclub — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / Cover $5 Halteras / German Club — Instrumental surf rock. 8pm / Cover TBD PS Fresh / The Hookah Lounge — DJ Ageless started spinning in Montreal, DJ Drewski started in Saskatoon. They both landed in Regina and have come together to sling some bomb beats. 7pm / No cover Open Mic Night / King’s Head Tavern — Come out, play some tunes, sing some songs, and show Regina what you got. 8pm / No cover Screaming Daisys / McNally’s Tavern — With the Black Drapes. 9pm / $5 Marc Labossiere / Pump Roadhouse — Talented singer/songwriter from Manitoba. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs as he drops some of the best country beats around. 8pm / Cover TBD
Sunday 25
Live Music / Cathedral Neighbourhood Centre — Local music to liven up the Sunday Art Market. 3pm / No cover
Monday 26
Open Mic Night / The Artful Dodger — Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover Monday Night Jazz and Blues / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring The Donors. 8pm / No cover Haggatha / The Club — With Bridgeburner and Birch Hills. 8pm / $10
started with DJ Fatbot, who’ll be doing his spinning thing every Friday night. 10pm / Cover TBD Adam’s Rib / McNally’s — An indie rock band you don’t want to miss. 10pm / $5 Marc Labossiere / Pump Roadhouse — Talented singer/songwriter from Manitoba. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Longhorn / Whiskey Saloon — Come check out one of Regina’s most interactive DJs. 8pm / Cover TBD
Saturday 31
Milkman’s Sons / Broadway Lounge (Western Pizza) — Come check out their new Tom Petty set! 9pm / No cover Begrime Exemious / The Club — With Lavagoat and Druidus. 8pm / $10 DJ Dallas / Eldorado Country Rock Bar — Regina’s number one party DJ! 9pm / $5
Alex Runions / Eldorado Country Rock Bar — A local urban country singer-songwriter! 9pm / $5 Grain Report / Lancaster Taphouse — An awesome alt-country band from Regina. 9pm / Cover TBD Adam’s Rib / McNally’s Tavern — An indie rock band you don’t want to miss. 10pm / $5 Marc Labossiere / Pump Roadhouse — Talented singer/songwriter from Manitoba. 9pm / Cover TBD
Get listed Have a live show you'd like to promote? Let us know! layout@verbnews.com
Friday 30
Milkman’s Sons / Broadway Lounge (Western Pizza) — Come check out their new Tom Petty set! 9pm / No cover Trace the Sky / The Club — With Old Towns and Between Then and Now. 8pm / $10 DJ Dallas / Eldorado Country Rock Bar — Regina’s number one party DJ! 9pm / $5, no cover for ladies before 11pm Alex Runions / Eldorado Country Rock Bar — A local urban country singer-songwriter! 9pm / $5 Danny Oliver / The Exchange — With Nick Faye and Poor Nameless Boy. 7pm / Cover TBD DJ Pat & DJ Kim / Habano’s Martini & Cocktail Club — Local DJs spin top 40 hits every Friday night that are sure to get you on the dance floor. 9pm / $5 cover Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Come out and get your weekend
Tuesday 27
Music Jam / Artful Dodger — Come out and get down with local musicians. 8pm / No cover Bill Anderson / Casino Regina — Whispering Bill comes to Queen City. 8pm / $30+ (ticketbreak.com) Skynet / The Club — With Honour Crest and Cardinals Pride. 7pm / $12 Daniel O’Donnell / Conexus Arts Centre — A beloved Irish crooner. 7pm / $56+ (conexusticket.com) DJ night / Q Nightclub + Lounge — DJs Snakeboots and Code E play bass heavy breakbeats. 9:30pm / No cover
14 May 23 – May 29 entertainment
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thursday, may 15 @
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McNally’s Tavern 2226 Dewdney Avenue (306) 522 4774
Photography by Marc Messett
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A return to glory
After a few miscues, the X-Men franchise regains fine form in Days of Future Past by adam hawboldt
Photo: Courtesy of 20th century fox
I
n 1981, Chris Claremont and John Byrne got together and took the Uncanny XMen somewhere they’d never been before — into a dystopian future. The story lasted two issues (#141 and #142), and in them comic book lovers witnessed the X-Men at a crucial moment in history. The year is 2013. The United States of America has been taken over by mutant-hunting robots known as Sentinels. Mutants that haven’t been killed are either locked in internment camps or are in hiding.
After a somewhat lumbering but much-needed expository start, Days of Future Past really gets rolling when Wolverine’s conscience is telepathically sent back to his 1973 body. There amongst the lava lamps and shag carpets, Wolverine — with help from the young versions of Xavier (James McAvoy), Beast (Nick Hoult), Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and one of the many new characters introduced, Quicksilver (Evan Peters) — sets out to prevent Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from trying to assassinate the Sentinels creator, Dr. Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage.) There are a lot of moving parts in this movie. A lot of different storylines and time jumps that somehow Singer and screenplay writer Simon Kinberg navigate with relative ease. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, there are a lot of terrific action sequences and fight scenes. But the real bread and butter of X-Men: Days of Future Past lies with the actors, and the characters they thrust onto centre stage. Jennifer Lawrence is given a lot more screen time to develop the character of Mystique (and rightfully so! She’s one of the finest
Past,” and as any comic-book fan will tell you, they were good. Really good. And you know what? The film that these issues inspired is pretty darn good, too. Directed by Bryan Singer (who knows how to make the hell out of an X-Men film), X-Men: Days of Future Past follows the 1981 comic book storyline, but with a few changes. And they’re changes for the better. Rather than getting embroiled in the nit-picky task of pointing out all the discrepancies, let’s just say that
…the real bread and butter of X-Men: Days of Future Past lies with the actors… Adam Hawboldt
Something has to be done, so Kitty Pryde transfers her mind back to her younger self — circa 1980 — and sets out to prevent a pivotal event that may or may not alter the future. Those issues of the Uncanny X-Men were titled “Days of Future
the biggest and best change was to send Wolverine’s mind back in time instead of sending Kitty Pryde’s (played by Ellen Page). This allows Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine (who is so often the central character) to do a lot of the film’s heavy lifting.
x-men: Days of future past Bryan Singer Starring Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy Directed by
131 minutes | PG
actresses out there today). Xavier (played by McAvoy and Patrick Stewart) is given an excellent story arc. And Wolverine’s back to the future storyline is terrific. The result is, for my money, the best X-Men film in the franchise to date. A must-see movie if you’re into this kind of stuff.
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A tale of brotherly love (sort of) Mistaken for Strangers is so much more than a music documentary by adam hawboldt
Photo: Courtesy of Freestyle releasing
I
n 2010, just as the indierock band The National was about to embark on its biggest tour to date, lead singer Matt Berninger had an idea. Since The National was literally and figuratively a band of brothers (twins Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and brothers Scott and Bryan Devendorf are the other band members), Matt thought it would be a good idea to invite his younger brother, Tom, to come on tour with them as a roadie. Tom — a stocky, hapless screw-up who still lives in his parents’ basement — is elated. Wild parties, epic shows, groupies and a never-ending stream of booze is what the heavy-metalloving Tom wants. It’s also what he’s expecting, so he brings along his video camera to make a rock-doc about the band and the mayhem of the road. What he captures is something completely different. Called Mistaken for Strangers, Tom’s film is something new and refreshing in this genre. With a nod to navel-gazing documentaries like Ross McElwee’s Sherman’s March, it isn’t so much a film about The National and the sweeping, melancholic music they make as it is about Tom. About him living in Matt’s formidable shadow, about his penchant for constantly screwing things
up, about brotherly bonds and the tension that can arise amongst siblings. But what a documentary it is! Mistaken for Strangers is funny, raw, emotional, poignant, awkward and, at times, cringeworthy. It begins with a scene in which Tom is interviewing Matt in a field. With unfettered, behind-the-scenes access to the band, you’d expect Tom to ask some meaningful, hard-hitting questions, to cut to the core and find out what The National is truly about. What drives them? What make them tick? So what does Tom ask Matt in the opening scene? He asks him if he ever gets sleepy on stage. If he ever has nightmares. Matt rolls his eyes, leans forward, claps his hands together and asks, “Do you have any kind of organization or plan for this film?” Over the next 70 minutes or so you’ll come to realize the answer to this question is no. No, Tom doesn’t have a bloody clue how to put the documentary together. He doesn’t know how to ask real questions, opting instead to ask band members if they carry their wallets on stage or where they see the band in 50 years. He doesn’t know how to be a roadie. At one point he loses a guest list
mistaken for strangers Tom Berninger Starring Tom Berninger + Matt Berninger Directed by
75 minutes | NR
for a concert, leaving Matt’s parents-inlaw, along with Werner Herzog and the cast of Lost, stuck outside the arena. Truth be told, the bumbling Tom doesn’t know how to do a helluva lot. And eventually he’s fired. At this point the film switches focus. Tom returns to his parents’ home and interviews them about the differences between him and Matt. Then he moves in with Matt and tries to finish the documentary. Then he, well … it’s best not to give too much more away. Just know that Mistaken for Strangers is one of the better music docs out there. Mistaken for Strangers will open at Regina Public Library on May 29; see reginalibrary.ca for more information and showtimes.
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Š Elaine M. Will | blog.E2W-Illustration.com | Check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!
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timeout
crossword canadian criss-cross
sudoku answer key
1. Magnificent display 5. Air pollution 9. Playful prank 10. Diamond weight 12. Surgical thread 13. Hair colour 15. Singer Redding 16. Gangster’s girlfriend 18. Pool stick 19. Convent inhabitant 20. General feeling 21. Use your teeth 22. Dog with long ears 24. Basic Halloween costume 25. Deductive 27. Military unit
30. Fast 34. Lily relative 35. Short shot 36. Golf ball position 37. Louse egg 38. Count calories 39. Mountain lion 40. Avoids answering 42. Puts up with 44. Belches 45. Old Testament book 46. Farmers use it with oxen 47. Part furthest out
1. Green layer on copper 2. Piece of music 3. Sea in French 4. Title for a Canadian province leader 5. Climb to the top of 6. Heavy hammer 7. Sphere 8. Pampas cowboy 9. Prankster 11. Makes even 12. Daughters’ counterparts 14. Salamander 17. Not perpendicular 20. Bigwigs 21. Fashionable
23. Back of the neck 24. Supporter of the Liberal Party 26. DVD bonus 27. Walking aid 28. Green fruit 29. Traffic circle 31. Computer that has been badly put together 32. Lemon relatives 33. Affirmative votes 35. Ski run 38. Set of playing cards 39. Sonar echo 41. Twosome 43. An offer at an auction
A
B
3 5 2 8 4 1 7 9 6 8 6 7 5 3 9 1 4 2 4 9 1 2 6 7 3 5 8 5 4 9 6 7 2 8 3 1 7 2 3 1 5 8 4 6 9 6 1 8 4 9 3 5 2 7 1 8 4 9 2 5 6 7 3 9 3 6 7 8 4 2 1 5 2 7 5 3 1 6 9 8 4
DOWN
6 2 8 1 3 5 7 4 9 5 3 7 2 9 4 1 6 8 9 1 4 6 7 8 5 3 2 8 6 2 3 1 9 4 5 7 7 4 3 5 6 2 8 9 1 1 5 9 4 8 7 3 2 6 2 7 6 8 5 3 9 1 4 4 9 5 7 2 1 6 8 3 3 8 1 9 4 6 2 7 5
ACROSS
© walter D. Feener 2014
Horoscopes may 23 – may 29 Aries March 21–April 19
Leo July 23–August 22
Sagittarius November 23–December 21
Has it felt like you’ve been on an emotional roller coaster lately, Aries? Don’t worry! The ride will end soon, and all will return to normal.
In the coming days, it will be important to re-examine your opinions and beliefs. You may be surprised with what you come up with.
You may find things that normally come easily to you difficult this week, Sagittarius. Please don’t get too discouraged; all will sort itself out soon.
Taurus April 20–May 20
Virgo August 23–September 22
Capricorn December 22–January 19
Break out of the cocoon of your own little dream world and engage with life this week, Taurus. Me-time is fine, but make sure to get back out there.
Be sure to listen to your own judgement this week, Virgo. It will not lead you astray if you have faith in it.
Don’t let your ego take control this week, Capricorn. If you do, the results could be disastrous. Take a beat, and listen to your heart instead.
Gemini May 21–June 20
Libra September 23–October 23
Aquarius January 20–February 19
There’s change in the air, Gemini. And while this can be a good thing, keep a critical eye out — not all change is for the better.
For you, the key words this week are knowledge and learning. Do your best to better your mind, Libra. You’ll need to make some important choices soon.
Expect a small crisis, but a crisis no less, to crop up in the coming week, Aquarius. Don’t let it overwhelm you. You got this.
Cancer June 21–July 22
Scorpio October 24–November 22
Pisces February 20–March 20
Some trying times are on the horizon, Cancer, so batten down the hatches and get ready. Someone close to you can help, if you let them.
Be aware of your surroundings in the coming days, Scorpio. It’s important to settle certain matters that have lately been in limbo.
Take a good, long look at yourself in the mirror today, Pisces, and figure out what needs changing. It might hurt to realize this, but in the end it’s worth it.
sudoku 6 2 8 4 2 1 6 1 6 7 8 2 1 9 4 5 7 4 3 5 9 9 8 3 6 8 3 4 9 5 7 1 3 2 7 5
crossword answer key
A
5 8 7 9 7 3 2 9 1 6 7 3 5 6 2 8 2 5 4 6 9 1 8 4 8 5 3 3 4 1 2 7 1 6 9 4
B
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