Verb Issue R83 (June 21-27, 2013)

Issue #83 – June 21 to June 27

arts

culture

music

regina

BESNARD a game of chance

FREE!

LAKES

read & share

Come app me, brah! Making mobile game apps on the prairies graham clark Funny comedian takes his show on the road world war z + the sheepdogs have at it Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of richmond lam

NEWs + Opinion

contents

almost famous Part two of the making of Jeans Boots.

3 / Local

come app me, brah!

Making mobile game apps in the prairies. 5 / Local

One for the road Our thoughts on ignition interlock devices. 6 / Editorial

On the cover:

besnard lakes

comments

The Besnard Lakes take a chance.

Here’s what you had to say about safe injection sites. 7 / comments

10 / feature Photo: courtesy of Richmond Lam

culture

Q + A with The Highest Order Psychedelic country. 8 / Q + A

On The Road

a great night out

Comedian Graham Clark takes his act across the country. 9 / Arts

This week we visited Birmingham’s Vodka + Ale House. 12 / Food + Drink

Cautionary Tales

Music

Joseph Anderson’s titanic watercolours. 9 / Arts

The Strumbellas, Sons of Daughters + Jo Dee Messina 13 / music

entertainment

listings Local music listings for June 21 through June 28. 14 / listings

verbnews.com @verbregina facebook.com/verbregina Verb is owned by parity publishing inc.

Please recycle after reading & sharing

Editorial

Business & Operations

Editor in Chief / Ryan Allan Managing Editor / Jessica Patrucco staff Writers / Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson Contributing writer / Victoria Abraham

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit account Manager / Kerri Senkow Marketing Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

contact

ART & Production

Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 306 881 8372

Production Lead / Brittney Graham Design Lead / Andrew yanko Contributing Photographers / Baily eberle, Maxton Priebe, Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson

advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253 design / layout@verbnews.com / 306 979 8474

Nightlife Photos

on the bus

We visited O’Hanlon’s Irish Pub. 15 / Nightlife

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 18 / comics

world war z + The sheepdogs have at it 16 / Film

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 19 / timeout

Games + Horoscopes

General / info@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

2 June May 31 7 ––June June13 6 verb magazine

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

local

Almost Famous

The making of Jeans Boots by Alex j macpherson

Photos: courtesy of M. Kay photography

This is part two of a two-part series. Find part one in last week’s issue of Verb.

S

ome bands meditate or pray before they walk onstage. Jeanette Stewart, who performs as Jeans Boots and is less than an hour away from debuting her new record, Z0RG C1TY, has her own traditions. After scribbling setlists onto pages torn from a notebook, she retreats to the back of the bar to paint her face.

This is a relatively new development, and it appears to coincide with a radical change in the arc of her career. Although she is at Amigos to celebrate the release of an energetic rock record, Stewart has spent the last several months dabbling in electronic music.

Stewart began her career like most songwriters, with an acoustic guitar and a dream. Before long, Jeans Boots had morphed into a rock band. The current lineup features guitar wizard Levi Soulodre; Tyson McShane, who plays in Slow Down, Molasses; and drummer Aaron Scholz. Along with Stewart, herself a competent guitar player, they created the tapestry of overdriven tube amps and thunderous drums that is Z0RG C1TY. A fifteen minute romp through the history of edgy guitar rock, Z0RG C1TY is the most cohesive and coherent album Stewart has ever made. It is also a turning point. A few weeks before its

release, Stewart invited me to watch her audition for the Ness Creek Music Festival. I expected a blast of searing guitar rock, but when I arrived the band was nowhere in sight. And Stewart, who has a penchant for outlandish clothes, had exchanged her kaleidoscopic streetwear for a muted palette of black and grey. The sombre clothes set off her face, which was streaked with green and silver paint, and studded with rhinestones.

When she walked onstage, she was accompanied by Duncan Pickard, who produced Z0RG C1TY and has emerged as her newest musical collaborator. What followed was a fifteenminute barrage of spacey electronic music and distorted vocals. After the show, Stewart defended her departure.

“Maybe I should have more limits, but I think my favourite musicians are the people who make music that sounds like the music they like, and I’ve really been getting into this kind of trancey, spooky, electronic synth stuff,” she said. “It’s always been something I wanted to do.” All artists evolve over time, but the shift toward electronic music marks a quantum leap for Stewart. Referring to Claire Boucher, who performs as Grimes, Stewart cited technology as a major influence. “She’s an artist who is pushing barriers. I talk about technology, and she’s an artist who is using the tools available to her. It’s really cool and different.” Stewart’s vision is

limited not by what has been done, but by what can be achieved.

But this change is more than just a desire to push the boundaries of popular music. It is also a reflection of the harsh realities facing people who jettison comfortable careers for a life of unfettered creativity. Earlier this year, Stewart left her job as a reporter to concentrate on making music. She said it felt like the right decision. “For the past couple months … I was just getting wasted every night and I was a total train wreck. That night I didn’t feel like I needed to f**k myself up. I was happy for the first time. It was like, I don’t need to numb myself anymore to my life — I can just be happy.”

Stewart has for years carried with her an aura of unpredictability. Her life appears to be a collection of impulses held together by little more than unshakable conviction in the rightness of her decisions. She describes making music in the same terms other people use to discuss eating and drinking. “I have to do it,” she said when I asked why she would choose such a difficult path. “I keep booking shows and playing the shows, and people keep asking me to play. Until that ends, I’m not going to stop.” Acutely aware of the difficulties facing young artists, she concedes that returning to the daily grind might be inevitable.

“No one else is going to prioritize my music, and I haven’t found anyone that does, and I think it’s just always the place you’ll be if you start out as a solo artist,” she said, explaining that touring by herself is always going to be cheaper than paying other musicians.

“If you want to start a band, then everyone has to start the band together, and you all have to be invested in it. It’s always going to be a challenge, bringing someone else into this project.”

This is the crux of the problem that emerged with Z0RG C1TY: the record is not an expression of Stewart’s future, but a documentation of her past. As the clock advances on showtime, she interrupts her pre-show rituals to explain that her performance will feature both electronic music and straightforward rock and roll — a bridge between two phases of her career.

Stewart’s performances are entertaining because they are unpredictable. The chaos that pervades her life, the uncertainty of the future, is reflected in her music. The songs on Z0RG C1TY are fractious and raw, and Stewart plays them with abandon, channelling every ounce of her being into the music. On stage, she is magnetic. This is apparent from the first moments of her performance, which begins with an electronic set. As flashing multicoloured lights illuminate the

stage, she moves with the music, her delicate voice slicing through titanic waves of electronic noise.

But the audience seems mystified.

The stage is littered with drums and guitars, and many people expected Stewart to appear with a rock band — the only incarnation of Jeans Boots they have ever known. After a few more blasts of atmospheric noise, she stops playing and her bandmates file on stage. Then she counts in “Rocktober,” the first track on Z0RG C1TY, which opens with a series of frantic power chords. As the guitars kick in, Stewart shoots a tender smile at Soulodre. They scrub out the first few chords together. As the waves of sound unfold in front of her, an unbroken ribbon of noise leading somewhere beyond the horizon, Stewart leans back into the music. In the end, it doesn’t matter where she goes or how she chooses to play her songs: she is at home on the stage, any stage, embracing the past and the present, and leaving them both behind in a furious rush of light and sound and joy, full of hope and almost famous.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

3 June May 31 7 ––June June13 6 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

VerbNews.com

local

Come app me, brah!

photo: courtesy of adam hawboldt / verb magazine

Noodlecake Studios gives insight into mobile gaming industry during MoSo Conference by adam hawboldt

T

basement of St. James’ Anglican Church has become a gaming centre.

Normally it’s just a big room with worn wooden floors, folding chairs, and a fully equipped kitchen. But on this cold, wet day in June, as soon as you begin your descent into the basement you notice electro-music and video game explosions rising up through the stairwell. The sounds seem out of place in a building like this.

But when you turn the corner and enter the room, you instantly realize where they’re coming from. At the far end of the basement there’s a huge screen set up behind a table that is piled high with computers and controllers and other electronic gadgets. As three men sit at the table, colourful triangles — which look kind of like Atari-era spaceships — zip from side

to side on the TV. Thin, gray, horizontal walls quickly cascade down the screen.

There are openings in these walls. The object of the game these guys are playing? Dodge the oncoming structures by zipping toward the openings.

“This is just a prototype,” explains Arlin Schaffel, a bald, bearded man who works at Noodlecake Studios. And he should know. Employees at Noodlecake — an indie game studio in Saskatchewan — are encouraged to spend 10% of their day developing new games. And this one on the screen? This is one of Schaffel’s 10% projects.

“I put in a couple of hours on it and now we’re putting it in people’s hands to see if it’s fun,” he says.

“That’s the key. Our games have to be fun. If it is, then maybe we’ll keep going with it.”

“Have you ever ported an objective [like that]?” asks Schaffel. “You shouldn’t do it. It’s a terrible idea, one that gives people [in our industry] nightmares.”

Lesson learned. So when Noodlecake’s next game, Lunar Racer, was coming out, the guys decided to make it easier on themselves. What they did was develop a technology that would allow them to run objectives over to Android a lot easier. And it’s because of this technology that Noodlecake soon found itself helping other mobile game developers get their games published.

That’s one of the reasons the guys from Noodlecake are here on this gloomy Friday in June, giving a presentation at MoSo Conference.

Kind of how they did with the other mobile games they have created.

Founded in 2011, Noodlecake Studios’ first game was a hyper-fun, multiplayer mobile gaming app called Super Stickman Golf.

“We wanted to call it Stick Golf,” explains Jordan Schidlowsky, cofounder of Noodlecake, “but there was a trademark dispute so we went with Stickman Golf.” That little dispute was by no means the only frustration they experienced. See, after the game was created using Objective-C (an iOS developer language), they had to rewrite the game in C++ in order to compile it on Android. This process, in case you’re wondering, is about as much fun a grinding down your toenails with an electric sander.

There are more than 30 people packed into the church basement.

At the front of the room Ryan Holowaty, Noodlecake’s marketing guru, is explaining how to succeed in the mobile gaming industry. He tells the audience about leveraging resources, strategic partnerships, social media, and ad marketing.

The people in the audience listen intently, as well they should. In less than three years this company went from being a tiny, indie game developer to an on-the-rise indie game developer/publisher/consultant that has more than 30 million downloads and just cracked over a billion sessions played — thanks to the help of published titles like Happy Jump, Zombie Road Trip, and more.

But that doesn’t mean everyone is a fan of the games Noodlecake puts out. At one point a slide of two pictures appears on the screen behind Holowaty. One of the images is of a family kneeling and praying.

This is the icon for the super fan, the kind of people who are devoted to the games Noodlecake publishes.

The picture on the other side of the screen is of a troll.

“When you’re in the app game industry, you’re going to run into trolls,” says Holowaty. “You can’t worry too much … though. It’s part of the package.” To drive his point home, some comments from trolls flit across the screen. “Stickman golf can suck a d**k,” says one of them. The audience erupts in laughter. The guys from Noodlecake laugh, too, in part because the comments are ridiculous but also in part because they’ve found a successful foothold in the ever-shifting sands of the mobile app game. At least for now.

“Mobile is an ever-changing industy,” says Schidlowsky, to conclude Noodlecake’s MoSo Conference presentation. “It shifts rapidly. This is what we’re doing now to market games. I don’t know how things will work in a year. Everything could flip on its head.

Thing change and we adapt. That’s how this works.”

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

5 May 31 – June 6 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

editorial

one for the road

Convicted of drinking and driving? Then it’s time for an ignition interlock device

N

ot so long ago Doug Beirness, a policy analyst with the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, recommended that Saskatchewan make ignition interlock devices mandatory for people who are convicted of impaired driving in the province.

And we think that’s a smashing idea.

For those who don’t know, an ignition interlock device is essentially a breathalyzer that’s installed in your vehicle. Before starting your car you have to blow into the device; if your blood alcohol concentration is above a pre-set limit — say, 0.02% — your vehicle won’t start. What’s more, even after your car is started the interlock device can require the driver to give random breath samples at pre-set times — you know, to ensure you don’t start the car, crack a cold one and go zipping through the streets.

Currently, only about seven percent of convicted drunk drivers in Saskatchewan have these devices installed, but that’s not enough. After all, drinking and driving is a serious problem here in our province. In fact, according to Statistics Canada the rate of drunk driving incidents in the province is 683 per 100,000 people, which

that “evidence spanning nearly 10 years by eight or more research groups in the U.S. and Canada point toward 40-95% reductions in recidivism while the interlock programs are in effect.”

And while interlock devices won’t completely solve the drinking and driving problem here in Saskatchewan, they’re a good first step in abating it.

is the worst of all provinces and more than double the national rate.

Obviously something has to be done, and that’s why we think making interlock devices mandatory for people convicted of driving under the influence is a good first step. After all, we know it’s virtually impossible to stop drinking and driving the first time,

[Saskatchewan’s rate of drunk driving incidents] is the worst of all provinces… verb magazine

So what would such a system look like? Well, we think that if you’re convicted you’re subjected to all the fines and suspensions already levied by our Criminal Code. An interlock program would cost money to create and administer, of course, and it would only be fair to have those costs be covered by the guilty. In Alberta it runs something like this: installation ($150); rental fee per month ($105); application fee ($63); driver programs ($970); and removal of device ($50). And on

but here’s the thing: people who drink and drive tend to be repeat offenders. So why not reduce the chances of someone who’s had a few too many getting behind the wheel a few too many times by making a breathalyzer test compulsory?

And we’re not just grasping at straws here and hoping it’ll solve the problem. In fact, interlock devices have been proven to work, and work well.

The International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety concluded

top of all this, we think those who must use an interlock device should have this stipulation indicated on their licence — that way, if they get pulled over while driving someone else’s car, they’ll be subject to some serious fines for circumventing the system.

We think these changes would be a great start to addressing the shameful rate of drunk driving in Saskatchewan. And while it might seem harsh, it’s not as bad as some places. At one time, if you are found to be under the influence while driving in south Australia, your car was immediately confiscated. What’s more, once the vehicle was forfeited to the Crown the police commissioner could then

choose to either sell it or crush it — which seems more than a little excessive to us.

And that’s why we think installing interlock devices on the vehicles of those who choose to drive while drunk is an even-handed approach that will curb an out of control problem.

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

@VerbRegina feedback@verbnews.com

6 May 31 – June 6 news + opinion

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

comments

On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about safe injection sites. Here's what you had to say:

– A safe injection site in Saskatchewan may or may not be a good idea. The spread of HIV/AIDS & other diseases could be curbed since people won’t be sharing needles with each other. On the other end greater drug use might be encouraged among junkies & then making their addiction problems worse & their lives & perhaps the lives of others around them more miserable. :-\

text yo thoughtsur to 881 vE R b 8372

it by not doing what we can to ensure everyone has access to a healthy and safe environment is essential.

– Agree with safe injection site.

Too bad politicians get to make the calls, instead of you know actual health officials with a knowledge base of injecting drugs.

OFF TOPIC – I will support safe injection sites after they provide weed-smoking facilities. Sometimes there is just nowhere to have a puff...not joking

Powered by the crew at moga mobile

– This is the end is great these guys hit it out of the park. Great cast funny movie.

or 5 weeks. Now we have to pay because other people don’t care.

Pigs/lazy/mentally deficient/ don’t care. Ding em/fines for businesses/aptment dwellers, etc. Portable DNATesters available. Need garbage police. Hav more to follow. Cornell

– Despite a so called “boom” there’s still way too many people struggling to meet the basic needs of living in this province.

– Equality is not about making everyone the same…it is about embracing our differences and treating people with the same respect that we would wish for ourselves.

In response to “Apocalyptically Funny,”

– Life is better when it is lived with rules and laws.

Film, #82 (June 14, 2013)

– By encouraging people to use drugs, even if they’re being supervised, aren’t you still condoning that behaviour? We should be working to get them off drugs not make it easier or more comfortable for them.

– Finding a half empty bottle of methadone on your sidewalk is DOWNtown.

– “Safe injection sites” are an oxymoron. Injecting addictive narcotics is bad for you. That said it’s imperative the GOV act now to make injections less deadly

– DOWNtown guy (Charlie) — I loved the series, great job and thanks to you and your friends (and anonymous contributors)!

Keep up the great work :D :D :D

sound off – Maturing sucks! Personality matters more than looks now.

Attractive (hot) Personality is way harder to find.

– Humans make war. Then they blame and reject God for their atrocities!

– RED WEDDING holy f 2 much 2 handle whyyyyy :( – We are absolutely a perfect location for safe injection site. We desperately need it as our skyrocketing rates of HIV attest, and it has been such a success in Van. Lower rates of overdose, no increase in crime, cleaner streets. Who wouldn’t want this for their city?

– I would fully support bringing a facility like Insite to Saskatchewan. It could do so much good here. It’s important to remember that addiction is a disease, and punishing those who suffer from

– A school in Nova Scotia had the idea to cancel Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in favour of family day. Are you kidding me??? Kids need to honour their parents.

– Guys when at a loss for or not sure of a pose always fall back on the classic “spear chucker” pose.

Everybody looks good doing it!

– Heh Hav ben recycling for years Neighbors put out garbage every week. Us maybe every 4

– It seems like celebrities have been dropping like flies. It is sad to hear of their passing on.

– It feels so much better to be kind than to be mean. Try it and you will see what I mean.

– I see so many people don’t wash their hands after using the washroom! Disgusting!

Next week: What do you think of making ignition interlock devices mandatory for those convicted of drinking and driving? 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.

7 May 31 – June 6 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

news + opinion

q+a

If It’s Real

Photos: courtesy of David Waldman

Psychedelic country from Toronto band The Highest Order

by Alex J MacPherson

T

he Highest Order is a psychedelic country band from Toronto.

After spending much of the last decade playing with One Hundred Dollars, Simone Schmidt, Paul Mortimer and Kyle Porter joined forces with drummer Simone TB to cut an album of classic country covers. What emerged was a batch of original songs that grafted the whiskey and tobacco smoke of country music to the cosmic trail of psychedelia. If It’s Real, which was released in March, includes a pair of iconic covers, including Gram Parsons’ “Luxury Liner,” and nine originals — consciousness-expanding songs that leave a pleasing glow long after the record has stopped spinning. I called Schmidt, whose spectral voice keeps the band’s expansive sound from running away with itself, to talk about country music and a whole lot more.

Alex J MacPherson: You’re a relatively new band, yet you’ve already got a record out. Why do it that way?

Simone Schmidt: We’d all played together for a few months prior to forming as a band, and the reason why we became a band is because we loved playing together so much. We wanted to jam out to psychedelic country songs, and we did that for awhile.

Then we decided we would do a live recording of country covers. Paul Mortimer got a tax return and we bought some studio time. We went in with this guy, Jeff McMurrich, who runs the record label that put out the record, Idée Fixe. He liked the material so much that

SS: When we were tracking it, I didn’t think about that at all. I thought about how we were playing. There’s a very earnest musical dialogue that’s going on. It’s very natural. You can hear Paul’s interplay with my vocals on most of those, because they’re live takes. I think we just wanted to make a record that people could listen to in the car. I think we just wanted to make a fun record.

he was like, ‘Why don’t you come back and we’ll do some originals?’

AJM: How did you discover you all liked this style of country music?

SS: We all came to it differently.

Simone had played as a really heavy drummer in punk bands like Ell V Gore and Tropics. She came to One Hundred Dollars and had to totally learn a new style of drumming. Highest Order is an opportunity for her to play heavier, but still within the tradition of country music. I think that Paul just listened to a lot of the Byrds and a band called the Unintended. I love music that just lets you wail, and I hadn’t had the opportunity to do that because a lot of the bands I’d played in had been traditional or so dense lyrically — you can’t just wail.

…we just wanted to make a record that people could listen to in the car. simone Schmidt

AJM: Are the three “Cosmic Manipulations” tracks a reference to Gram Parsons’ Cosmic American Music, or is that just a coincidence?

AJM: I like that idea, of talking about communication and songcraft, things that might be overlooked a little bit these days.

SS: We didn’t think about it so much on that level. I think that the words get used and then they find their meaning in a whole range of ways, and that’s the nature of poetry. For us, a lot of those vintage sounds that we’re using — they’re called space echoes — sound like how people imagine space, like a different air is containing your sound.

That’s part of why there’s “Cosmic Manipulations”: it’s really a track that we jammed on for 15 minutes and then we manipulated it in a range of ways.

SS: I’ve always thought that songs are the focus. I mean, a good song can be placed well, obviously, but once you have the songs, then the way you interpret them is really what will make a good record. I think we got a really cohesive sound, and again I would say that has to do with our process, just doing it live off the floor. But the other part is that I don’t really think that in the music industry songcraft is being valued these days. Definitely not in indie rock, which is why people don’t cover each other’s songs.

That’s not happening within the

AJM: If It’s Real is dense and immersive, and I’m curious whether that was something you thought about and tried to create in the studio?

tradition. That’s why I’ll always love rock and roll and country music.

The Highest Order (w/ Besnard Lakes) June 29 @ The Exchange $15 @ Ticketedge

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

8 May 31 – June 6 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

arts

On The Road Comedian Graham Clark takes his act across the country

F

or Graham Clark, a comedian and writer from Vancouver, going on tour is the purest expression of his art. Although Clark is a regular on the CBC program The Debaters, co-host of Maximum Fun’s Stop Podcasting Yourself, a veteran of Just For Laughs and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival, and a prolific beard painter (which is exactly what it sounds like), he considers his road show the culmination of everything he has accomplished to date.

“It’s kind of like I’m bringing the full package, all the stuff I’ve been working on,” he says after cracking a joke about

by alex J MacPherson

Saskatchewan weather. “With this show, parts of it have been developed for years and years. There’s some brand new stuff and there’s some stuff that’s been cycling through my act for, I don’t know, eight years.”

Like most comedians, Clark is always writing new material. His best jokes are observational, explorations of the tears in the fabric of society that most people choose not to notice. He delights in turning convention and tradition upside down.

This is the same style of comedy employed by Brent Butt, the star of the television show Corner Gas and one of Clark’s biggest influences.

“He had a phrase for it, he called it coffee shop humour,” Clark says of Butt. “It is basically the type of funny you would have with your friends over a cup of coffee. It’s trying to come at stuff that maybe you’re thinking and I’m thinking, and we’re trying to find what’s funny in it.”

This is important because it makes Clark’s brand of humour relatable.

Many if not all comedians derive their jokes from simple observations, from seeing the world in a slightly different way, but Clark addresses the things we experience every day, from smoking cigarettes and looking at advertisements to vegetarianism and public

transit. His humour is egalitarian, accessible, and deeply funny.

And he is at a loss to explain where it stems from. “I feel like it’s something that I always did,” he muses, “and I feel like my friends were happy when they found out I was going to be doing stand-up, instead of them having to hear every last little detail of everything that I noticed.” Today, Clark has a much wider audience, which he attributes to the rise of the internet but is actually a result of countless thousands of deeply funny jokes, the best of which he’ll deploy as he spends the next month touring across the country.

“Mostly what I’m interested in is the odd nature of the original stories,” he says, referring to Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid, which has a decidedly different ending than the Disney version. This interest is manifested in the scenes he chooses to depict, which are uniformly ambiguous. It is left to the viewer to absorb the image and fill out the narrative arc. The Brothers Grimm achieved the same effect by asking more questions than they answered.

This sense of ambiguity is heightened by Anderson’s manipulations of scale. His characters are often wildly out of proportion, a technique used in Gulliver’s Travels to make the normal sinister and the menacing placid.

Anderson used Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland, in which Alice encounters familiar objects in unfamiliar scale and must grapple with the implications of this, as a reference. The end result is a series of fantastical images that raise questions about our place in the world.

But Anderson is more than just a contemporary Bosch. His use of watercolours, which have long been derided by the cognoscenti as the tool of a self-taught amateur, is both a rejection of popular opinion and proof that watercolours can be used to paint more than delicate landscapes.

“Just recently, it seems, there are a few more contemporary artists using watercolours in different and unusual

Photo: courtesy of Dan Barnam

Graham Clark June 28 + 29 @ Artesian on 13th $10 advance/at the door

Cautionary Tales Joseph Anderson on his titanic watercolours by alex J MacPherson

C

autionary Tales, an exhibition of large watercolours by Saskatoon-based artist Joseph Anderson, draws its inspiration from the work of the Brothers Grimm and Hieronymus Bosch. Modern fairy tales of the sort peddled by Disney have been corrupted and sanitized,

Photo: courtesy oF the Dunlop Art Gallery

and everybody lives happily ever after. Anderson’s paintings reflect a time when fantastical stories were dark and dismal and, above all else, warnings to the unwise.

The exhibition radiates outward from a pair of immense paintings, “The Boys Encounter Aquatic Creatures Near The Ocean Floor” and “Playtime In The Garden Of Earthly Delights.” Each painting is a vast expanse of richly rendered detail and luscious colour. Anderson’s work feels like a reaction to the rise of theoretical and conceptual art, and he derives great pleasure from exploring narrative, and particularly the moment when elation turns to fear.

ways,” he says, citing Marcel Dzama and Shary Boyle. “These artists really seem to be pushing the medium to something less traditional and more strange and uncomfortable. And I hope to tag along with that idea of using watercolour paints in a different kind of way.”

Cautionary Tales (DAG) Through August 11 @ Dunlop Art Gallery, Sherwood Village Branch Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

9 May 31 – June 6 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

Feature

Photo: courtesy of richmond lam

an elaborate game of chance

The Besnard Lakes record and release fourth album, Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO by alex j macpherson

T

he Besnard Lakes, a rock band named for a lake in northern Saskatchewan, released their first record in 2003. Spacious and unhurried, Volume 1 was widely ignored, mainly because its expansive and complicated songs clashed with the urgent indie rock that was emanating from Montreal at the time. But in the decade since their debut, the Besnard Lakes’ intoxicating blend of rock aesthetics and spacey atmospherics has won fans and critical acclaim around the world. Today, they are touring behind their fourth studio album, the complex and deeply moving Until In Excess, Imperceptible UFO. Although it does not stray far from the sound

established on 2007’s The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse and 2010’s The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night, the new record marks a departure for the

“I don’t think we ever have anything in mind when we start making records,” he says. “We just start spitting s**t out and whatever comes down at the end is what

In the end, I don’t care how long it takes to make a record. I just want to make sure I’m super proud of what I’ve done.

Jace Lasek

Montreal-based group. But guitarist and singer Jace Lasek says making albums is never predictable. He likens the process to an elaborate game of chance.

we’re stuck with.” The first sessions for the record that became Until In Excess were listless and meandering. Lasek attributes the band’s lack of direction to haste. Both Dark Continued on next page »

10 May 31 – June 6 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

Horse and Roaring Night took three years to make; he wanted to finish Until In Excess in two. He and Olga Goreas, who plays bass and contributes her haunting vocals to the mix, and who is also his wife, struggled to generate good ideas. “We got into the studio right away, and quickly realized that if you don’t have any ideas you’re not going to have anything on the other end,” he says with a wry laugh. “We would go into the studio, be sitting there working, and come out with hardly anything.”

Until In Excess was, like Dark Horse and Roaring Night, recorded at Breakglass Studios, a suite of rooms hidden inside an industrial building in the heart of Montreal.

Since it opened in 2005, the studio has hosted dozens of prominent musicians. It is also the band’s sonic playground: the place where they go to write songs, record sounds, and grapple with the big ideas bound up in their miniature symphonies. Having access to a professional recording studio is an incredible luxury in an industry where most bands race against the clock, gambling their careers against the promise of success every time the tape starts to roll. But this freedom can be daunting, too.

“Usually, bands come into the studio when they’re ready to record,” Lasek explains. “We go into the studio when we have free time.

If we don’t have any ideas, we kind of feel like we’ve wasted the studio’s time. It can be really frustrating. You start to wonder if you’re ever going to write another song again.” This is what happened when the band, which also includes guitarist and arranger Richard White and drummer

Photo: courtesy of Richmond Lam

Kevin Laing, started tracking Until In Excess. Frustration mounted and a breakthrough seemed impossible.

Eventually, they decided to quit. It was not a decision the group took

lightly — along with six months worth of material, Lasek jettisoned his dream of finishing the record in less than three years.

But it worked. When the band ventured back into the studio, ideas started to flow and songs came together. After weeks of tracking and many long nights spent mixing, the process by which the elaborate sonic architecture that defines the record is constructed, Until In Excess was released on time — three years and three weeks after Roaring Night.

In many respects, Dark Horse and Roaring Night were variations on a theme. Both derived their strength from the tension between towering walls of guitar noise and the airy blanket of atmospheric noise and ambient synthesizers. Until In Excess is much denser. Instead of exploring the distance between poles, it pushes them together. From the opening salvo of “46 Satires,” a dreamy soundscape featuring gently propulsive guitars, swirling synthesizers, and the warm expanse of Goreas’s voice, Until In Excess feels more like a symphony in eight movements than a loose collection of songs.

“There’s a level of sophistication to it,” Lasek admits. “The songs are still pretty simple — that’s our writing style — but we investigated some things we’d never really looked at before. All of our records are something where you kind of have to dig in and absorb yourself in it to really get it, but I think with this record you really have to lose yourself in it to figure out what’s going on. It’s not going to hit you on the first listen.” This is the product of experience. After years on the road, the band is better than it was in 2010, when Roaring Night was released. This is evident in the contributions made by Laing and White, who are great musicians and getting better at disrupting the bouts of obsessiveness that threaten to destroy even the simplest songs.

“There were a couple of songs that were going to possibly scrap that they saved,” Lasek says. “They saw that outside perspective while we were locked in it, and they helped us dig out of it. That was awesome.”

The Besnard Lakes have always made records that sound important:

the scope of their vision conveys an urgency and weightiness few bands can replicate. This feeling reaches its frenzied apex on Until In Excess, which was carried to new heights by collective purpose and some of the best songs the band has ever composed. From the slow build of “And Her Eyes Were Painted Gold” to the menacing delicacy of “Catalina” and towering coda of “Colour Yr Lights In,” each song fills its place on the grand arc, every sound beautiful and profound. Lasek’s signature pyrotechnical guitar work is, for the most part, gone, but it has been replaced with a much more cohesive vision: an album that transforms the band’s dramatic and expressive sound into a prolonged and meaningful experience.

“Oggy’s dad died while we were making this record, quite suddenly,” Lasek says, “and a lot of the songs on this record are kind of about her dad, her time with her dad, and the idea of loss.” The very real and very raw pangs of grief that are woven into the fabric had an unusual result, he continues. “The funny thing is once we actually felt a real sense of loss and started writing about it, instead of something fictitious like we’ve been writing about in the past, the album turns out to be one of the lighter, hopeful records — instead of the typical hopelessness that we usually do.” Whether this glimmer of hope, which is sometimes felt rather than heard, stems from the endless sun of nostalgia or the infinite possibility of life in the face of death is immaterial. In the end, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that Until In Excess pushes the band into new territory, a land where darkness and light are bound together, rather than locked in a perpetual shoving match.

Making records will always be a gamble, and Until In Excess proves that the Besnard Lakes are as susceptible as anybody else to the vagaries of chance. “But that’s why I built the studio,” Lasek says.

“I need to be able to exhaust the options in order to find out what’s best for the song. We scrapped a whole bunch of s**t because we were like, ‘we can’t put this out — we can’t be proud of this.’ In the end, I don’t

care how long it takes to make a record. I just want to make sure I’m super proud of what I’ve done.”

Until In Excess shows that Lasek is right to say making records is a game of chance — and how the Besnard Lakes have once again stacked the deck in their favour.

The Besnard Lakes June 29 @ The Exchange $15 @ Ticketedge

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina amacpherson@verbnews.com

11 May 31 – June 6 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

food + drink

Photos courtesy of Maxton Priebe

The perfect recipe for a great night out

Birmingham’s Vodka and Ale House combines a fun atmosphere with an extensive drink menu by victoria Abraham

T

aco cupcakes, wings and poutine burgers might not be the type of food you expect to find in a place called Birmingham’s Vodka and Ale House, but this mix of casual pub food with more than 80 different kinds of vodka ranging from Smirnoff to top shelf varieties is what makes Birmingham’s such a fun and unique experience.

The massive restaurant has a private room that can seat 40-50 people, huge, comfortable booths, a pool table and VLTs. But its coolest feature by far are the two draft tables, which owner and Red Seal chef Chad Zipchian said gives customers “the opportunity to be their own bartender.”

The tables are the only ones of their kind in Western Canada, and the only ones in the country with the exception of Montreal. Each table is equipped with two draft taps and an iPad that allows restaurant-goers to select any domestic beer and then show off their bartending skills by pouring pints for themselves and

Regina with a great place that carries every kind of vodka, whether it’s made from corn, potatoes, rye grain or bison grass. Birmingham’s also carries four house-infused varieties: bacon, jolly rancher, dill pickle and sour cherry.

Like the concept of the vodka house and the décor, which includes an ostentatious vodka bottle chandelier complete with LED lights, every item on the menu is Zipchian’s idea, and the appetizers are made in-house.

Since “in-house” is quickly becoming my favourite term, I started with two options: the stuffed yorkies and the taco cupcakes. The exceptionally chewy and cheesy yorkies are made from Yorkshire pudding, mixed cheese,

their friends. Sounds like the perfect way to get the party started if you ask me! Not surprisingly, the tables are booked up at least a couple of nights a week for the next ten weeks.

…the taco cupcakes were housed in … mini wonton baskets…

VIctoria abraham

After chatting with Zipchian, it’s obvious it’s not just the reasonable prices and numerous features that keep people coming back. “We’re not pretentious by any means. Saskatchewan used to be a rye province. In the last six to seven years there has been a major flip,” he said.

Seeing the trend from rye to vodka, Zipchian decided to help facilitate the switch by providing

and slow-roasted beef in a potato skin. Offering a refreshing take on the classic item, the taco cupcakes were housed in perfectly crispy mini wonton baskets with spicy beef, fresh tomato, green onion, mixed cheese and pico de gallo.

Despite numerous attempts, I did not succeed in figuring out how to eat these without creating a big, delicious mess.

I then proceeded to sample the eight-ounce AAA juicy steak sandwich, which came topped with succulent mushrooms and was paired with Birmingham’s vodka-infused, thinly sliced potatoes, aptly named V-chips. To atone for the indulgent yorkies and steak, I also tried the famed lobster Cobb salad with real lobster and thinly sliced avocado.

Between the interesting décor, laid-back atmosphere, and extensive drink menu, Birmingham’s has a lot to offer for a memorable night out.

Birmingham’s Vodka and Ale House 2635 East Starlite St. | (306) 546-3647 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina vabraham@verbnews.com

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide The Birmingham Bulldog

Ingredients

Go to Birmingham’s to get a taste of their spin on the classic paralyzer.

½ ounce Kahlua ½ ounce Finlandia Vodka Pepsi 35 percent cream

Directions:

Build ingredients in order over ice until the glass is about ¾ full, then add the cream and top with a Maraschino cherry.

12 May 24 31 – May June306 culture

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

music

Next Week

coming up

The Strumbellas

Sons of Daughters

Jo Dee Messina

@ The Exchange WEDNESDAY, July 3 — $TBD

@ Creative City Centre Thursday, July 4 — $10

@ Casino Regina saturday, October 12 — $35+

In the early 2000s roots-rock bands like Royal City, The Sadies and Cuff the Duke took the Toronto music scene by storm. Fast forward a few years, and it seems as though an alt-country band called The Strumbellas have been passed the torch.

Consisting of Simon Ward, David Ritter, Jon Hembrey, Izzy Ritchie, Darryl James and Jeremy Drury, The Strumbellas ain’t your grandfather’s country band. Combining sweet, rustic harmonies with layers of guitars, violins and a banjo being played as big and loud as you can imagine, this Juno-nominated six-piece makes alt-country/bluegrass-inspired rock that brings the ruckus. You’d be a fool to miss them when they roll into Regina next week. Check ‘em out at the Exchange.

When you watch Sons of Daughters play, two things will strike you.

First, this Vancouver-based duo is all kinds of good. Second, their natural chemistry and love of southern, whiskey-drenched songs make them a pair you won’t want to miss. Featuring Jimmy Throw, previously of Machines, and Chrystal Leigh, frontwoman of Jakalope, Sons of Daughters is an exciting new musical exploration for both. Throw and Leigh offer up a soulful, foot-stomping and badass alternative to the country pop options out there today. And with their infectious songs, from the toe-tapping “Shotgun Wedding” to the sweeping ballad of “One Minute,” these two will have you captivated from the moment they step on stage. They’ll be hitting up Creative City Centre next week.

The year 1998 was a big one for Jo Dee Messina. Why? Well, that’s when her sophomore album, I’m Alright, came out. With three #1 hits on the record — “Bye, Bye,” “I’m Alright” and “Stand Beside Me” — Messina not only shot to instant fame, but also became the first female country artist to have three multiple-week #1 songs on the same album. Since then she’s won a number of awards, has earned herself fans here and around the world, and sold millions of units.

And for good reason: her strong, lively voice sucks listeners in, and her energetic, and passionate stage presence leaves them wanting more.

So if it’s good, upbeat country music you’re looking for, look no further than Casino Regina. She’ll be in the Queen City in October.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: the artist/ The artist/ the artist

Sask music Preview Sask Music has teamed up with the SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival to provide musicians and music fans with two great workshops — for free! A Q+A period at “Music Management” on June 22 will offer insight into what it means to be a manager, work with a manager, hire a manager and more. On June 30, “Tools, Tips and Tricks for Musicians and YouTube” will teach you how to create and engage an audience on the Internet’s second biggest search engine. Space is limited, so pre-register to hold your spot. See http://saskjazz/workshops/ for workshop times, locations and more info.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

13 May 31 – June 6 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

culture

listings

June 21 » june 29 The most complete live music listings for Regina.

S

M

T

W

T

21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

Friday 21

Party4Pasture Benefit Concert / Artesian on 13th — Featuring The Midnight Roses, Glenn Sutter, Black Drink Crier and Down Home Boys.

7:45pm / $25/30 Summer Solstice / Artful Dodger — Featuring live music and art making.

8pm / Cover TBD DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits, so come on down and see what it’s all about. 10pm / $5 We Were Lovers / The Exchange — An electro-pop duo from Saskatoon.

7:30pm / 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 — Featuring DJ Limbot and Guidewire.

9:30pm / Cover TBD Wonderland / McNally’s Tavern — One hit wonders and classic rock.

10pm / $5 Third Degree Birnz / Pump Roadhouse — Saskatchewan’s ultimate party band. 9pm / Cover TBD Renegade / Rocks — Also appearing is West Before Dawn. 9pm / Cover TBD The Milkman’s Sons / Royal Regina Golf Club — Local band playing classic and modern rock. 8:30pm / No cover 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 Sarah Beth Keeley / Whiskey Saloon — A country songstress from Calgary.

10pm / $10

Melechesh, Vreid, Lighting Swords of Death, Reign of Lies / The Exchange — A night of black metal.

7:30pm / $18 (ticketedge.ca) Sean Burns / Lancaster Taphouse — A singer/songwriter from Ontario. 9pm / Cover TBD Wonderland / McNally’s — One hit wonders and classic rock. 10pm / $5 Third Degree Birnz / Pump Roadhouse — Saskatchewan’s ultimate party band. 9pm / Cover TBD electric mother / Rocks Bar & Grill — Also appearing is This God Must Die. 9pm / Cover TBD Sarah Beth Keeley / Whiskey Saloon — A country songstress from Calgary.

10pm / $10

Sunday 23

Wake Owl / Artesian 13th — Indiefolk music from Vancouver. 8pm / $12 (advance), $15 (door) Ketamines, The Florals / Artful Dodger — Punk rock you won’t want to miss. 8pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 22

Burns and Maciag / Artesian on 13th — A CD release party for this folk duo.

8pm / $10 Summer Solstice / Artful Dodger — Featuring live music and art making.

8pm / Cover TBD Big Country Talent Revue / Casino Regina — Featuring the winners of the CKRM Country Talent Search Contest. 8pm / $10 DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits. 10pm / $5

Monday 24

Open Mic Night / The Artful Dodger — Come down and jam! 8pm / No cover Monday Night Jazz / Bushwakker — Featuring Uptown Jazz. 8pm / No cover Three for the Show / Casino Regina — An old-time polka dance party.

7pm / $10

Wednesday 26

Wednesday Night Folk / Bushwakker Brewpub — Featuring Jay Aymar. 9pm / No cover The Snake Oil Salesmen / The Exchange — Also playing are Val Halla, Victory Kicks and The Accomplice. 8pm / $15 (advance), $20 (door) Jam Night and Open Stage / McNally’s Tavern — Come on down and enjoy some local talent. 9pm / No cover

Thursday 27

Dr. John and the Nite Trippers / Casino Regina — Some bluesy, rockin’ boogie woogie for you. 8pm / $37 (casinoregina.com) Michael Bernard Fitzgerald / The Exchange — A Calgary-area folk artist.

8pm / Cover TBD Decibel Frequency / Gabbo’s Nightclub — A night of electronic fun. 10pm / Cover $5 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 Redbeard’s Salute to Canadian Music / McNally’s Tavern — Celebrate Canada Day early. 8:30pm / $5 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 — A talented country singer who rocks this place often. 10pm / $5

Friday 28

Summer Scratch Competition / Artful Dodger — Come out as DJs vie to see who is best. 8pm / Cover TBD DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits. 10pm / $5 Descalso, The Dead South / The Exchange — A night of reggae and folk.

9pm / $12 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. Come on down and get your weekend started right! 9pm / $5 cover

Big Chill Fridays / Lancaster Taphouse — Come out and get your weekend started right! Featuring Kinder and Mikhail. 10pm / Cover TBD F.O.G.D.O.G. / McNally’s Tavern — Track suits and good tunes — what more could you want? 10pm / $5 Tilted Kilts / Pump Roadhouse — Come out for the Chive’s first unofficial Regina meet-up. 8pm / $10 Dangerous Cheese / The Sip Nightclub — Come out for an awesome 80’s experience. 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 Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — A talented country singer who rocks this place often. 10pm / $10

Saturday 29

Summer Scratch Competition / Artful Dodger — Come out as DJs vie to see who is best. 8pm / Cover TBD George Fox / Casino Regina — An ambassador of Canadian country music.

8pm / $25+ (casinoregina.com) Chronobot / The Club — Slow, fuzzy stoner metal. 7:30pm / Cover TBD DJ Juan Lopez / Envy Nightclub — This DJ loves requests, nothing is off limits. 10pm / $5 Besnard Lakes / The Exchange — Indie rock done right. Also featuring The Highest Order and Tinsel Trees. 7pm / $15 (ticketedge.ca) The Dead South / Lancaster Taphouse — Some folk/bluegrass that you’ll dig.

9pm / Cover TBD F.O.G.D.O.G. / McNally’s Tavern — Track suits and good tunes — what more could you want? 10pm / $5 Econoline Crush / Pump Roadhouse — An alt-rock outfit from Vancouver.

9pm / Cover TBD Dangerous Cheese / The Sip Nightclub — Come out for an awesome 80’s experience. 9pm / Cover TBD Chris Henderson / Whiskey Saloon — A talented country singer who rocks this place often, Henderson is back for more! 10pm / $10

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

14 May 31 – June 6 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

nightlife

saturday, june 15 @

o’hanlon’s pub

O’Hanlon’s Irish Pub 1947 Scarth Street (306) 566 4094 Music vibe / Eclectic, with a mix of live bands, DJs and dance music Featured deals / Featured beer for $5.50 (changes every night) Drink of Choice / Guinness, and Powers Irish Whiskey top eats / Pizza coming up / Karaoke on Mondays, and live bands Tuesday-Friday

Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, June 28. facebook.com/verbregina

Photography by Bebzphoto

15 May 31 – June 6 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

film

The zombies are coming!

Photo: Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

World War Z a decent, but not great, addition to the zombie genre by adam hawboldt

I

f you’re any kind of cinephile, by now you’ve heard all about World War Z. You’ve heard about the problems that plagued its production. About the spats between the director and cast, the constant rewrites, the revolving door of personnel, the long-delayed release, and the monstrous, out-ofcontrol budget.

Some people thought all this hullabaloo would lead to an absolute abortion of a movie. Others figured, “Meh, it’s a movie about zombies starring Brad Pitt … how can’t it be good?”

The truth of the matter lies somewhere in between both viewpoints.

Based on Max Brooks’ novel of the same name, World War Z is a sprawling film about a worldwide zombie apocalypse and the search for a cure.

Wait. Let me rewind for a second.

The film, directed by Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland), isn’t really based on Brooks’ gritty cult novel. It’s more based on the idea inherent in the book. See, if you’ve read the novel, you know it’s written in an interview-based style that, in no way, shape or form, would lend itself to a summer blockbuster like the one Forster had in mind. So what they did was kept the central concept — that most of the world’s population has been decimated by zombie attacks — and invented an almost entirely new plot.

At the centre of it is family man and former UN investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt.) When we first meet Lane

he’s a mild-mannered, stay-at-home father who loves spending time with his loving wife Karen (Mireille Enos) and his daughters Rachel (Abigail Hargrove) and Constance (Sterling Jerins.)

The Lanes are one big happy family. But that happiness is short-lived when the zombies show up. And at that point, Lane has a choice to make:

World War Z Marc Forster Starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, David Morse + James Badge Dale Directed by

115 minutes | 14A

of being confined to a specific locale, zombie attacks are happening all over.

The undead are climbing walls in Jerusalem, running amok in Korea, and boarding planes at airports.

It’s an intense situation, with many intense moments. But here’s the thing: for all the scares and intensity, there isn’t much heart to World War Z, nothing that’ll make you go, “Holy crap!

That was amazeballs!”

The reason? Brad Pitt’s character.

Now don’t get it twisted, Pitt does a good job in the role of Gerry Lane. He just doesn’t have too much to work with. Lane is too perfect. A perfect father, perfect investigator, a perfect zombie slayer. He simply doesn’t have any flaws. And when you have a character like that driving your movie, it’s hard to draw the audience in — heart, mind and soul.

…for all the scares and intensity, there isn’t much heart to World War Z… Adam Hawboldt

stay at home and defend his family or put his unique skill set to work and traverse the globe in search of patient zero in the hopes of finding a cure.

He opts for the latter, and apocalyptic chaos ensues.

But this isn’t the kind of somewhat contained chaos you’d expect from a zombie movie. For starters, these aren’t the lumbering, slow-moving zombies of, say, Walking Dead fame. No, they’re running, leaping pack beasts with a thirst for blood (which, much to the chagrin of many zombie enthusiasts, there isn’t much of). Another thing that sets World War Z apart is that instead

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

16 May 24 31 – May June306 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

A documentary of the dogs

The Sheepdogs Have At It chronicles the rise of Saskatchewan’s favourite classic rock band by adam hawboldt

Photo: Courtesy of indiecan entertainment

E

verybody likes a good underdog movie.

C’mon, admit it! You know you do. How can you not enjoy a movie like Rudy or Rocky or heck, even The Shawshank Redemption?

There’s something about cheering for the little guy that feels safe and justified. We see ourselves in them, we urge them on. If they can succeed, maybe one day we can too. So let’s hear it for the long shot!

And let’s hear it for The Sheepdogs Have At It, the new documentary about Saskatchewan’s favourite bearded band, the Sheepdogs.

Because, ostensibly, that’s what the film is about — underdogs. The movie tracks the band from their humble beginnings (making a racket in drummer Sam Corbett’s parents’ basement way back in 2004) to the making of their sophomore album last year.

Right, and in case you’re the only person in Saskatchewan who hasn’t heard of the Sheepdogs, here’s the basics of what you have to know: they are an updated echo of the ‘70s, playing classic rock the right way. They have big beards and untamed, flowing hair. They drink and tour and play the hell out of their stage shows.

Oh, and in 2011 they won a contest and were featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Which, in case you’re wondering, is kind of a big deal.

The documentary, Have At It, reminds you of that. Again and again.

Beginning just after the Sheepdogs won the Rolling Stone contest, the movie lets the audience know what the stakes are from the get-go. Now that the Sheepdogs have been on the cover of the iconic magazine, the music world is their oyster. It’s time for them to record a sophomore album.

But here’s the catch (as record execs,

This non-linear storyline works well. The concert footage does, too.

Adam Hawboldt

managers and agents all attest to): the album better not suck. If it does, all the hard work they put in over the years will be for naught.

No pressure! So the guys go into the studio, and the movie rewinds (literally, there’s a rewinding sound set against a blackened screen) back to the band’s beginnings and rise.

This is where the underdog angle comes from. We learn all about the

the sheepdogs Have at it John Barnard Starring Ewan Currie, Sam Corbett, Ryan Gullen + Leot Hanson Directed by

85 minutes | PG

genesis of the band, about touring in a beat-up van, about how close they came to quitting, about how hard it is for a big, hairy, old-school rock band to stay true to their roots and make it in this auto-tuned, bubblegum pop day and age.

Fast forward back to the studio, and we see the trials and tribulations the Sheepdogs are having recording their self-titled sophomore album.

Rewind back to the past, leap back to 2011 or 2012. Back and forth the documentary goes, from past to (almost) present. And do you know what?

This non-linear storyline works well.

The concert footage does, too. Toss in a few funny parts and a few things you might not have known about the band, and what you have is one pretty darn good documentary.

If I were to levy one criticism, though, it would be that the story lacked tension. The director, John Barnard, should’ve probably amped up the suspense while the Sheepdogs were in the studio in order to keep those unfamiliar with the band wondering how the sophomore album turned out.

Still, though, fan or no fan, Have At It is a musical documentary well worth a watch. It might not change your world view, but you’ll definitely be entertained.

The Sheepdogs Have At It is currently being screened at Studio 7: Rainbow Regina.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbRegina ahawboldt@verbnews.com

17 May 31 – June 6 @verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

comics

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

18 May 31 – June 6 entertainment

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

VerbNews.com

timeout

crossword canadian criss-cross

DOWN 1. Unimportant thing 2. Money for the landlord 3. Inquire about 4. Science that deals with matter and energy 5. Property divider 6. Lumberjack’s tool 7. Smaller amount of 8. Countries of the East 9. Natural ability 11. Unexpected gift 12. Place where things are sold 14. Nervous 17. Craftsperson 20. Fork prongs 21. Alcoholic beverage

24. Partner’s dance move 26. Go on to say 28. Hanging ornament 29. Kind of aerobics 30. French square 31. Silver, in heraldry 33. Being at leisure 34. Initial venture 35. Food for farm animals 38. Unnecessarily quick action 41. Disfigurement 43. Faucet annoyance 45. Bartender’s “rocks” 47. Baby in blue

sudoku answer key

A

B

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

27. Tasteless 29. Leafless flower stalk 32. Gathering to say goodbye 36. Road surface 37. Lower part of the leg 39. Foot digit 40. Energy units 42. Word used to connect words 43. Very serious 44. Short summary 46. Out of the country 48. Pass a law 49. Like a crowd, sometimes 50. Chart of family lineage 51. Kind

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

ACROSS 1. Bend in a sink pipe 5. Angel costume accessory 9. Alternative to frozen 10. Put to use 12. Like some dresses 13. Long for 15. Knife handle 16. Become less elastic 18. A plant grows from it 19. Anointing substance 20. Dead on one’s feet 22. Be a nuisance to 23. Say what will happen in the future 25. Showing signs of wear and tear © walter D. Feener 2013

Horoscopes JUne 21 – june 27

Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

If you’ve been suffering in the communication department lately, Aries, don’t worry. This week you’ll be able to get your point across, no problem.

Have you accomplished something fairly substantial lately, Leo? If so, reward yourself this week.

You deserve it!

You’re going to be subjected to some strange, foreign impulses very soon, Sagittarius. Proceed with caution … and a sense of adventure!

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

There’s going to be a radiance about you at some point this week, Taurus. Your happiness and joy will be infectious.

Don’t waste your time watching television or movies this week, Virgo. Instead, get out and engage with the world. It will yield an amazing surprise.

This isn’t a good week to make long-term plans, Capricorn. So try to take it easy, and enjoy living in the moment instead.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

Rarely does the word enchanting come up in daily conversation, Gemini. But this week, that’s exactly what you’ll be.

Confused about the direction you’re heading, Libra? If so, stop and reassess exactly what you want in life, then charge after it. You got this!

Unsatisfied with your current station in life, Aquarius? If so, it’s easy to remedy. All you’ve got to do is be an agent of change.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Ever have one of those weeks where it seems like your work will never end? This threatens to be one, Cancer.

Keep your head down and push onwards.

A blast from the past may re-enter your life this week, Scorpio. But here’s the thing: not all blasts are good! So be wary of people’s intentions.

You know you’re charismatic, Pisces. So why not put that charm to good use this week and get things accomplished. It’s time to shine!

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

19 May 31 – June 6 /verbregina

contents

local

editorial

comments

q+a

arts

feature

food + drink

music

listings

nightlife

film

comics

timeout

entertainment

VerbNews.com