Verb Issue S260 (Oct. 4-10, 2013)

Issue #260 – October 4 to October 10

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pro-Domme BDSM in Saskatchewan unstoppable momentum Q+A with Joe Satriani gravity + drinking buddies Film reviews

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sadies

culture

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internal sounds

Photo: courtesy of don pyle

NEWs + Opinion

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pro-domme perspective BDSM in Saskatchewan. 4-5 / Local

don’t stop believing How indie record stores have survived on the prairies. 6-7 / Local

Express yourself Our thoughts on free speech on university campuses. 8 / Editorial

On the cover:

the sadies

Internal sounds. 16-17 / cover

comments Here’s what you had to say about curbing drinking and driving. 10 / comments

Photo: courtesy of don pyle

culture

Q + A with joe satriani On his long career. 12-13 / Q + A

build it up, break it down

quality ingredients, quality pizza

Structure / built to spec at AKA. 14 / Arts

We visit Pizza 306. 18 / Food + Drink

mission accomplished

Music

B.A. Johnston’s life on the road. 15 / Arts entertainment

Mahogany Frog, David Francey + The Balconies. 19 / music

listings Local music listings for October 4 through October 12. 20 / listings

gravity + Drinking buddies The latest movie reviews. 22-23 / Film

Nightlife Photos

Games + Horoscopes

We visited Premier.

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 30 / timeout

24-29 / Nightlife

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 29 / comics

Editorial

ART & Production

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Publisher / Parity Publishing Editor in Chief / Ryan Allan Managing Editor / Jessica Patrucco staff Writers / Adam Hawboldt + Alex J MacPherson

Design Lead / andrew yanko Designer / Bryce Kirk Contributing Photographers / Patrick Carley, Adam Hawboldt + Ishtiaq Opal

Office Manager / Stephanie Lipsit account Manager / nathan holowaty sales Manager / Vogeson Paley Financial Manager / Cody Lang

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Pro-domme perspective

local

Going inside the world of BDSM in Saskatchewan by ADAM HAWBOLDT

I

Photo: Courtesy of adam hawboldt

f you want me to stop,” says Lady Tree, “just put your hand up in the air.

You don’t want to turn around.”

Indeed I don’t. In a situation like this, turning around could mean being hit across the side of my face.

Or worse — in the eye.

See, Lady Tree (not her real name) is a professional dominatrix, and right now where I am is in her playroom, bare-chested and leaning face-forward against a large, black St. Andrew’s cross. To my left sits a spanking bench and a set of metallic stocks. To my right, a board that looks like a coffin lid. The walls are painted a dark red. Everywhere behind me pro-domme paraphernalia lines the room: police issue handcuffs, leather hoods, ball gags, bondage mitts, strops, paddles, riding crops, an electric fly swatter.

That damn yellow, electric fly swatter! A few minutes ago, I made

“Why don’t we start medium?” suggests Lady Tree, taking a white and black flogger off the wall behind me. I nod my head, and say that sounds good.

The first few whacks fall lightly on my back, then progressively get harder. But there’s no real sting to them, just a light, pleasurable whap, whap, whap against my shoulder blades. Think of Thai slap massage, and you’ll get the picture.

So I ask my dominatrix to up the ante and use a nastier flogger. I want to feel what people into prodomme feel. I want to see if there is truly pleasure in pain.

“Okay, I’m going to use this one,” says Lady Tree. She takes a purple and black flogger off the wall. It’s a form of a cat o’ nine tails, the kind of whip the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom used to use to implement severe physical punishment.

That’s why things are meant to look scary, but they’re not. It’s a mind-f**k, a lot of it. lady tree

the mistake of putting my hand on it’s metal strings. There was a snap, crackle and pop as a jolt of electricity charged through my hand, a burning sensation searing the tips of my fingers. “Yeah,” said the dominatrix, as my hand recoiled in shock, “It’s pretty nasty. Not many people like that.”

It’s easy to see why. And now, standing here, chest pressed against the cold surface of Lady Tree’s St. Andrew’s cross, I can’t help but wonder if the same goes for flogging.

And approaching me from behind, Lady Tree says, “This one stings a lot more.”

By reflex, my eyes close tight.

I grip the metal bondage rings on the cross the way you’d grip a roller coaster safety bar just before a big descent.

Taking a deep breath, I wait for the whip to crack.

Don’t think about it as pain, think about it as strong sensation.

Continued on next page »

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Why? Because, for the most part, “playing,” as Lady Tree calls it, doesn’t really hurt.

“When you’re playing, you raise the endorphin and adrenaline levels to the point where it doesn’t hurt,” she explains. “Sure, there are some things that may hurt, but you can be up on the cross, being flogged with my harshest flogger, and what you’ll feel is a strong sensation. You won’t want me to stop. Then you’ll get down off the cross when it’s over, stub your toe, and be like, ‘F**k! That hurt!’ Once you’re out of the moment, it’s a different context. Most people in these situations are simply playing with strong sensations. There are people who enjoy pain, but it’s very separate. Very rarely do my pro-domme clients play with it.”

Speaking of her clients, they range in age from 19 to 60-something and, according to Lady Tree, they tend to fall into two types.

“Younger people I see entering the scene, they are much more egalitarian. Much more about hedonism than the structure of scenes,” she tells me. “They are more about the experience. It’s like, ‘Hey, let’s try this out to see what it’s like.’

Younger clients are less fixed on archetypes. They have less of an image of what a female dominant should be and should look like.”

Then there are the older clients from a different generation. A generation where you’re supposed to get married to the right kind of

girl, and do things in a certain way.

Problem is, some of these people have hidden desires — the desire to be whipped or spanked by a school teacher, or roughed up during a military interrogation. Feeling unable to turn to their spouse or loved ones to fulfill this desire, they have to go elsewhere.

“This older generation have a very specific set of archetypes that work for them,” says Lady Tree. She pauses to think, then says, “Maybe it’s because they’ve spent so many years fantasizing about certain scenarios. They have these specific desires. Then they use this as an outlet every month or two or three to fulfill their needs. Get those itches scratched.”

It usually takes Lady Tree about an hour and a half to get ready. Before a client ever enters her place, she has to shower, choose clothes to match the scenario, get dressed, put on her make-up, and set up the play room. Then, depending on what the client wants, she might have to spend extra time preparing a scene.

“If it’s something I’m personally into, like a rope scene, I can just go in, be myself, enjoy it and have that interaction with them,” she says.

“Whereas if I’m going into an interrogation scene, there’s much more planning. I want to be able to control every aspect of that scene. I want to control what they hear, smell and

see. I want to control the tone, how fast or slow things move.”

Once all the planning is done, she takes some time to decompress. To get in the proper mindset and get in touch with the persona that, for the next hour or more, she will inhabit.

Then it’s time to play.

Thwack!

The first lash from the cat o’ nine tails falls sharp and serious across my back. I grip the St. Andrew’s cross tighter and grind my teeth together.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Each successive blow lands faster and harder than the one before it. Broad stinging lines buzz across my shoulder blades, but it’s not painful. Just a strong sensation that, when coupled with the fact that my eyes are closed and I’m facing away from her, grows stronger with each thwack of the flogger.

Therein lies the rub of pro-domme: its bark is often much worse than its bite. “Kink, in general, is a roller coaster,” says Lady Tree. “It’s all about the perception and the experience. We want to scare the crap out of you, but bring you home safe. It’s about the thrill. That’s why things are meant to look scary, but they’re not. It’s a mind-f**k, a lot of it. It’s playing with the way your mind works.”

By the time the flogging finishes, I understand exactly what she was talking about. The intimida-

tion of walking into a room that looks like a torture chamber, the closed-eye anticipation of being hit, the all-too-human fear of the unknown, those things are much more powerful than any blow that’s been struck. And as I’m leaving the dominatrix’s domain, my shoulders still tingling a little, I turn the corner and roll my ankle. A jolt of pain shoots through my foot, and

I scream an obscenity. And in that moment the idea of pain vs. strong sensation is crystallized — clear and concise.

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Photo: Courtesy of vinyl exchange

Don’t stop believing How indie record stores have survived

D

ave Kuzenko stands behind the counter at X-Ray Records.

Behind him, flyers for upcoming and recently played shows cling to the white walls. In the opposite corner of the room, rock T-shirts hang from exposed pipe on the ceilings. And all around, everywhere else you look in this underground indie record store, are stacks and racks of vinyl.

With a punk song wafting through the room, Kuzenko strikes up a conversation with a customer in a black toque.

“You know,” says Kuzenko, “before he went nuts, he was an aspiring folk musician.”

The customer nods, says he heard that somewhere. From there the talk shifts to how the aspiring folk singer in question fancied himself a songwriter, too. How he hobnobbed with the Beach Boys and famous producers.

When the customer leaves, I ask Kuzenko which musician they were talking about.

“Charles Manson,” he says.

Yes, that Charles Manson. Turns out that before Manson became one of the most infamous criminals in

by ADAM HAWBOLDT

American history, he forged a relationship with Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson, who helped get one of Manson’s songs recorded and even introduced him to highly-soughtafter producer Terry Melcher.

But that’s beside the point. The point is that this is the type of esoteric music talk you might expect to hear in a place like X-Ray Records.

It’s one of the things that make indie record stores unique, that gives them a certain vibe. It’s what allows them to be more than just another place to buy some good music. What allows them to serve, for lack of a better term, as cultural showrooms — places where the essence of music can be seen and heard, debated and discussed.

That indie record stores still exist in this day and age isn’t in question. The real question here is how have they lasted so long while the sands of the music industry shifted all around them?

For awhile in the ‘90s and early2000s the future of indie record stores looked grim.

When X-Ray Records first opened its doors in Regina in 1987,

vinyl records were the dominant music medium of the day. But very soon, and very rapidly, things began to change.

“When I started out CDs were just getting popular, but vinyl was still king,” says Kuzenko. “When I opened, nearly everything in the store was vinyl and cassettes. I think I only had one bin of CDs. But by the ‘90s all that changed. First cassettes disappeared, then CD sales caught up with vinyl sales, then they surpassed them and vinyl almost disappeared.”

This proved to be a bump in the road for vinyl-first indie record stores, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome. It was just a matter of changing over inventory and moving into the CD-laden future, right?

Not really. Because during the ‘90s big, corporate music stores began popping up everywhere, making life exceedingly tough for the little guys.

“Was it tough to compete with the big stores like A&B Sound when they came into the market?” says Mike Spindloe, who opened Vinyl Exchange in Saskatoon in 1993.

“Well, the answer to that is kinda complicated. Those stores were Continued on next page »

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falling all over themselves to sell CDs below the manufacturer’s cost, at least what we paid for them.

And that created a distortion in the mind of the public about what a CD should be worth.”

This distortion seriously rattled the windows of indie record stores around the world.

“For a while there it looked kind of dire,” says Kuzenko. “A lot of indie stores disappeared during the ‘90s. The industry definitely took a

ther from the big-box behemoths — cannabis culture paraphernalia.

“It wasn’t necessarily to diversify the business,” admits Spindloe. “It was more of a political statement. I was more concerned with that, but during the lean years it turned out to be an important part of the business in terms of revenue.”

And so it went. Some indie record stores diversified, others put their head down. And the lucky ones, like Vinyl Exchange and

A lot of indie stores disappeared during the ‘90s. dave kuzenko

hit. Some people went under, others skidded through by the skin of their teeth.”

And others dug deeper into a niche market. For his part, Kuzenko diversified a bit by adding T-shirts, posters and rock ephemera. But for the most part, he just put his head down, brought in music that a lot of the big chain stores weren’t selling, and tried to weather the storm.

As for Spindloe, he did pretty much the same thing, brought rock merchandise, deletes, imports and used CDs to help carve his niche.

Then, in 1995, he stumbled upon a way to set his store apart even fur-

X-Ray Records, weathered the bigchain store onslaught.

Now they have to deal with the digital revolution.

The term “vinyl revival” is being bandied about by the media and music lovers to describe the jump in vinyl record sales that has been happening since about 2006.

And it’s precisely this revival that has allowed indie record stores to settle in and compete in today’s music industry.

“By now, there should be a digital format that kicks vinyl’s ass,” says

Spindloe, “but there isn’t. Anyone who cares about sound quality has to be disgusted about buying an mp3 on iTunes for 99 cents and getting one tenth of the information that’s on the CD. The quality on vinyl is just so much better. You can tell the difference.

Anyone with half a set of ears can tell the difference.”

Kuzenko agrees.

“I think people are just coming back to their senses,” he says, then adds, “Nowadays, there’s far more boutique and indie labels putting out vinyl than there used to be.

The quality is way better now in terms of how they’re making records. The weight of the vinyl is heavier, [which] makes records sound better. Packaging, album sleeves are super nice. It’s become an art form again.”

An art form that led to a 47% jump in vinyl sales across the country in 2012. An art form that, at least for the time being, has helped indie record stores in this province remain cultural showrooms in which new albums are discovered, music is debated, and musical minutiae— like Charles Manson’s wannabe music career — is discussed.

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Express yourself We should encourage free speech and rigorous debate on university campuses

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A

few weeks ago, University of Saskatchewan English professor Kevin Flynn kicked off a firestorm of debate.

Flynn had received an invitation to a First Nations’ pipe ceremony being held on campus, took issue with some of the instructions contained in the invite — specifically a number of conditions that applied only to menstruating women — and wrote a critical letter to the On Campus News explaining his position.

“The instructions in the email cautioned that women on their ‘moon time’ must not participate in the ceremony in various ways,” Flynn wrote, “apparently because their menstruating bodies might somehow render the ‘sacred object’ in that ceremony filthy.”

Flynn explained his opposition to campus events that exclude classes of people and expressed hope that the University would find a way to honour tradition in an inclusive manner, ending with a call to embrace a world “in which men and women of all races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations must have equal voices.”

particularly in a university environment of inquiry and education. “Free speech is the whole thing,” novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie once wrote, “the whole ball game. Free speech is life.”

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Rushdie was absolutely right — especially when it comes to our institutions of higher learning. Here, universities have traditionally been bastions of free thought and free speech. Places where you’re encouraged to ask serious-minded questions, express wild opinions and defend offhanded, even offensive beliefs. But for some of Flynn’s critics, this seems to have been forgotten.

The crux of Flynn’s argument wasn’t a deliberate attempt to skewer a culture, it was to start a debate over the idea of exclusionary activities on campus. That’s why Flynn claims he used such incendiary language in his letter — to incite debate. “If we can’t discuss these things at a university, then where can we discuss them?” Flynn mused in a recent interview. “Can we ever discuss them?”

sionary rituals being held on a public campus. And we’re not just talking about the pipe ceremony in question; for example, the U of S campus also plays host to St. Thomas More, a Catholic college, and Catholicism has its own traditions of exclusion when it comes to women and members of the LGBT community.

When longstanding cultural traditions that contain an element of exclusion come into conflict with contemporary sensibilities, robust debate must be supported and encouraged to ensure we as a society can best decide how we want to move forward. So we support Flynn’s efforts to get the debate going and we support anyone who weighs

in with their own thoughts on the matter — as long as those thoughts aren’t simply a version of “shut up.”

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

…campuses should be places where controversial ideas are debated with vigour. verb magazine

backlash to the article was swift and fierce. Some editorials thrashed Flynn for being myopic, others accused him of not doing the proper research on the topic. Online, people weighed in calling him everything from out-to-lunch and arrogant to a privileged white male who was disrespectful and ignorant of First Nations customs.

The people who came out and disagreed with Flynn were free to do so, just as Flynn was free to communicate his own opinions. But any commentators that said he should have kept his mouth shut or had no right to criticize the ceremony are missing the point. Regardless of the subject matter, a person or group has the right to articulate their viewpoint, raise questions and spark debate,

And regardless of what you think of his letter, you have to admit: the guy has a point. Intellectual, impassioned debate is central to academia’s essence. And by simply walking onto a public university campus you imply that you are willing to engage in higher-minded, disputed, perhaps even uncomfortable conversations.

Or at least you should be. Because, at the very heart of it all, campuses should be places where controversial ideas are debated with vigour. Places where ideas and beliefs and ideologies can be presented with words, images or action — in any way permitted by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — without fear of persecution.

In fact, we think it’s high time to examine the whole idea of exclu-

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On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about more buses and taxis to curb drinking and driving.

Here's what you had to say:

– More buses and taxis to curb impaired driving? Go for it! Regina Transit gave free bus service on Fridays in Sept 2013. They should keep doing it and perhaps give free rides on Saturdays as well in addition to New Year’s Eve!! In the long run, everyone benefits with less costs of damages from accidents. :-$:-)

– Love your editorial on drinking and driving. We should really be deregulating the taxi industry, or at the very least flooding the market with licenses. Let the market determine how many taxis we need. I’ve spent literally hours waiting in the cold, only to never have a taxi actually show up. I know taxi owners will hate it b/c their license will plummet in value, but unfortunately life isn’t always fair.

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

– I agree Saskatchewan has a drinking and driving problem, but I’m not sure your plan of harsher penalties is the way to go. Many people need their vehicles for their jobs so if you impose a driving ban, you could effectively be firing them from their job. People screw up and make mistakes and i’m not saying they aren’t responsible for drinking and then choosing to drive but taking away their license isn’t the answer. Agree with more busses and taxis tho

wheel of a car. You want to make that choice? Fine. But face the consequences. And they should be a lifetime ban on driving and harsh penalties.

– Yes! It’s crazy to me that you can’t get a bus after midnight here I bet they would be crammed and would make so much money if they ran later at night. Maybe even just to the university from downtown or something?

OFF TOPIC – Way to go the verb. Glorifying hunting. It makes me sick these so called “animal lovers” getting joy from killing in the name of sport :( It’s gross and needs to be banned!

In response to “The Thrill of the Hunt,” Local, #259 (September 27, 2013)

– More buses & taxis? Harsher penalties to curb impaired driving?

Really? With Sask debt at $19.1 billion & the worst healthcare in N. America Verb goes for that?

– Yes to more taxis and buses!

Drinking and driving is out of control but we should have those things anyways. It’s insane how difficult it is to get a taxi here. And sometimes depending on where I am drivers will simply not come and pick me up knowing they don’t have to wait long for another fare. We need to make more competition. Get drunk people off the roads and get everyone home safe.

– Way to go Verb saying to deregulate taxis people with licenses have paid so much money for it and you want to take it away from them? We don’t need more taxis we need people to arrange proper rides home if they are drinking.

Call a friend! Have a designated driver. It’s not hard. But don’t take it out on the taxi industry

– Improving public transit to get drunk people off the road is pretty obvious yet we haven’t done it.

Saskatchewan has come so far but in some areas we really are lagging. People esp students are going to go out and party and we’ve all waiting in freezing weather for a taxi. Bring out more buses bring out more options for getting home. Drinking and driving affects everyone and we need to solve this together.

– If you’re gonna drink take a taxi or a bus or phone a friend or walk.

Organize this before you go out so you’re not scrambling at the last minute. If you can’t do this, then don’t drink or party at home.

– Completely agree with harsher penalties for those caught repeatedly drinking and driving. It’s shocking how selfish people can be when they get behind the

sound off – Atchison and council’s debate over Christian prayer is a waste of time. Why the hell are we spending time and money on this. Just stop saying a Christian prayer, this is easy to resolve and ridiculous its taking so long to get to that point. As nice an idea as including something for everyone, that simply won’t work.

Just get on with civic events

– To my wife Crystal. I LOVE U NOW LIKE I LOVED U THEN I’LL LOVE U 4EVER UNTIL THE END URE THE BEST THING IN MY LIFE MY FRIEND MY CAMPANION MY WIFE.(Mike)

– Tattoos are a choice, and a symbol of your individuality. It’s a form of art that takes a lot of talent. We wear our personalities on our skin, painting our bodies instead of a canvas. I work at a high class hotel and have many tattoos. So no, they are not dirty or unprofessional!

– In re to anti tattoo text: everyone is entitled to their opinion, but

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tattoos are much more mainstream now, and permissible in professional environments where they once may have been frowned upon. I work at a bank, and have two full sleeves (only tattoos visible when wearing work clothes).

My bosses are fine with it, my clients don’t mind. It’s a form of personal expression. Give it a try! Or at least, don’t be so hard on people who don’t conform to your ideals.

– When The Funk in your old dive doesn’t matter because you’re Funkier thats DOWNtown!

– Thank God that in this free country of ours we are still innocent until proven guilty

– Homeless people dumpster diving troubles me. I think those kinds of things are supposed to trouble human beings. Funny thing is it seems very few people are! Wierd. Like living in a society of dullards, animals!

– Cologne and perfume are basically for people that are to lazy to shower or take a bath

– We are the world, we are the children. We are the ones who make a brighter day so let’s start giving. There’s a choice we’re making. We’re saving our own lives. It’s true we make a brighter day, just you and me

– What’s the deal with verb txtins? Any of you people go to grammar school?

Next week: What do you think about free speech on university campuses?

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

– Why is it people only speed up when you want to pass them? Instead of diddling along they could have driven the proper speed in the first place!

– For those of you who tell people to stop posting texts about God what gives you the right?!

– Why is it that when a non native kid commets suicide it get nat’l attn but when a F.N does it no one cares? Honestly?

– The days are getting shorter the leaves are turning color and starting fall it’s getting cooler won’t be long till snow rolls in! LOL

– One prediction for the 2013-14 NHL season: Carolina will have all four Staal brothers on the roster

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Unstoppable Momentum

Photos: courtesy of Chapman Baehler

Guitar master Joe Satriani on his long career and his latest album of searing instrumental music by Alex J MacPherson

I

n a career spanning almost three decades, Joe Satriani has established himself as one of the masters of instrumental rock and roll. Satriani, who was born in New York and currently lives and works in California, has released count-

— technically perfect yet emotionally charged — layered over summery chord progressions.

Others, like “Three Sheets To The Wind,” hint at the scope of his musical vision, which extends beyond guitar rock and into jazz and even experimental music.

less live recordings and DVDs, as well as fourteen studio albums.

His latest record is called, appropriately, Unstoppable Momentum.

Some of the songs on the record, like “A Door Into Summer” and the title track, are classic Satriani fare: impossibly smooth melodies

Unstoppable Momentum is an extraordinarily powerful record, an example of how much one man can say with a guitar — with the six strings and the amplifier and a bit of courage. I caught up with Satriani a few hours before he took the stage in Nashville, Ten-

nessee to talk about his unstoppable momentum.

Alex J MacPherson: You cut Unstoppable Momentum at Skywalker Sound, playing live most of the time.

How important is playing live to the way the album sounds and feels?

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Joe Satriani: We’ve always used live recording in the studio as sort of like the cornerstone of capturing everybody’s creative urges, you know? In this particular case it seemed like the right thing to do was

once I start hanging out with the other musicians I become just as crazy as the next player. Mike’s job is to pull me in if I need it, or to push me to go further out. But I guess what I’m really trying to do is see if our performances can tell the story in an even stronger way.

…you just have to believe that all that intensity you put into the music is going to get picked up by people… joe satriani

to get everybody in the room and to just see what would happen if everybody improvised around the given arrangement — and it really turned out to be the thing that made it work.

AJM: One of the things that stands out about Unstoppable Momentum is that you cover a lot of musical and sonic territory, yet the record feels cohesive and coherent.

JS: A lot of that is part of the production role. The idea about production, really, is to nail those things that you just spoke of, the cohesiveness, being able to be expansive and daring but also somehow making it a unique and unified experience for the listener. I really depend on Mike Fraser to help guide me, because

AJM: You’ve often spoken of using a song to capture a story, or maybe crystallize an emotion.

JS: They’re important to me from an artistic point of view, but I also realize that I want people to feel free to associate to the music as they like and as they wish. I’m not going to tell people how to use my music; I just want it to be inspiring to them, so they can make it part of the soundtrack of their life.

AJM: So ultimately you’ve got this story to tell, but it’s open for interpretation — maybe more like a broad idea you want to convey?

go, what am I doing? No one’s going to get all this. But eventually you just have to believe that all that intensity you put into the music is going to get picked up by people and they’re going to feel it as well.

AJM: Instrumental music always seems to take on a new life as it’s performed live, more so than songs with lyrics, which tend to be pretty direct. Is that a strange experience for you, watching these songs grow and evolve?

JS: It’s no secret that when you go into a studio to make a record, you have the least amount of experience with that song. It’s really almost comical in a way that we make records this way, instead of writing music, going out on tour for a year, and then recording the album. I think albums should come with a disclaimer or an apology for the audience.

Maybe the band should say, ‘Look, this is as much as we could figure out about what we’ve written so far — we’ve only had a couple days.’ I don’t think any artist feels like the work on a song is finished. I think they’re continually working on it, always.

Joe Satriani October 15 @ TCU Place $55+ @ TCUTickets.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

JS: It’s a complex process because sometimes you think you’re crazy.

You’re working on it at home and you

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Build it up, break it down

Photos: courtesy of aka gallery

New works at AKA Gallery explore structure and human creation by Alex J MacPherson

A

sk somebody to imagine a structure.

Chances are, he or she is thinking about something that resembles an unfinished skyscraper, its steel skeleton wrapped in a protective sheath of scaffolding. A riot of straight lines and right angles. This is completely natural. But not all structures are physical; they can be social and political, too. The works that make up Structure and built to spec, collections by Melanie Colosimo and Jordan Schwab, explore structures that transcend the physical realm.

“There’s a certain part of all my work that I’m really interested in, and that’s the idea of entropy,” Schwab says of built to spec, an installation that features a large model of Blackstrap, the ski hill built for the 1971 Canada Winter Games. “In scientific

“I started thinking about the big mountains I go hiking in, and how in 30 or 40 billion years or whatever they’re going to be tiny little anthills,” he says. “I tried to set up this site thing that was a collapsing building — I wanted to have that feeling of, is it going up? Is it going down? What stage is it in? It can be constantly changing.”

Besides exploring the idea of collective action, Schwab’s work raises questions about the ephemeral nature of existence. We can make almost anything, but none if it is destined to last. Colosimo’s work also concentrates on the idea of change. A series of dense line drawings hovering in negative space, the works that make up Structure reference the power and the fragility of social structures — often things we take for granted.

Colosimo, who lives and works in Halifax, Nova Scotia, has always been

terms, it’s a collapsing system. But for me, it also represents change.”

Schwab’s installation depicts a physical structure, a mountain that rises like a particularly ripe pimple from the vast expanse of the prairie.

Constructed from found materials and illuminated by a series of photographs, the model can be read as a meditation on human interference in the environment. But it is ultimately about scale and, perhaps more importantly, the power of collective action — a social structure.

Schwab grew up in Prince George, British Columbia before moving to Saskatoon to complete his M.F.A. at the University of Saskatchewan. After spending much of his youth in the mountains of British Columbia, he was surprised by how quickly — and easily — the people of Saskatchewan built their own.

fascinated by the idea of community, how social structures influence and affect our lives — how they are built and then deconstructed. “My work is a lot about the loss of community spaces and the loss of places for public discourse,” she says of her drawings, which use negative space to create room for viewers to insert their own narratives and memories.

“They’re all being replaced by social media, places where you can be isolated but still be connected to people.

For me, structure is a metaphor for building and fostering communities and relationships.”

Both Schwab and Colosimo agree that these ideas are nebulous and ambiguous, that a certain degree of confusion is built into their work. Both Structure and built to spec exist in the space between permanence and transience, hinting at both yet cleav-

1. Jordan Schwab, “Going to build a Mountain,” 2013, mixed media.

ing to neither. The upshot is that both bodies of work speak to the stunning power of human beings to forge their own destinies, a point of view that rejects determinism and celebrates the triumph of our ingenuity and dedication to a cause. The structures we create affect our lives and the lives of others because we made them they way they are. But we can always change them, too.

Structure / built to spec Through October 19 @ Aka Gallery Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Mission Accomplished Urban troubadour B.A. Johnston on his latest album and life on the road by Alex J MacPherson

B

A. Johnston doesn’t hate Luke Skywalker. But he’d rather be cooped up in the Millennium Falcon with just about anyone else. “He’s a complainer,” says Johnston, the Hamilton-based songwriter and chronicler of the bizarre whose latest album, Mission Accomplished, includes a song called “Luke Skywalker Is A Whiney Baby.” “He whines a lot. Even when he’s a badass Jedi, he still kind of seems like a big baby.”

“Luke Skywalker Is A Whiney Baby” is not a typical song for Johnston, the post-folk troubadour known for chronicling the banal and the absurd in excruciating detail.

But “Luke Skywalker” is a product of something every Canadian musician will eventually confront: soul-crushing boredom. “I drive a lot and usually I’m by myself,” he says of his relentless touring schedule. “I’m thinking because I’m bored. And then you come up with ideas.”

ruinously bad coffee, and the various other things anybody who travels frequently has to contend with.

The album opens with “As I Am In Tim Hortons, I Realize I Hate Tim Hortons,” a dry three-chord ode to the ubiquitous coffee shop. “The Tim Hortons one seems pretty obvious to me,” Johnston says with a laugh. “I get a lot of Tim Hortons out of the fact that it’s convenient and easy. But I don’t think that [I am] ever very excited about it. I find people that are excited about going to Tim Hortons strange and sad.”

The songs on Mission Accomplished occasionally venture into the absurd and the obscure (“Luke Skywalker Is A Whiney Baby,” “I Feel Like Wesley Snipes”). But they are linked by Johnston’s willingness to explore the experiences most people take for granted. “Certified Cold Is The Way To Go” is about the new label on Coors Light beer, which changes colour as the can gets cold. “Straight Out Of Cobden” is a love letter to the Ottawa Valley.

“GST Cheque” chronicles the inevitable

Even when he’s a badass Jedi, [Skywalker] still kind of seems like a big baby.

B.A. Johnston

Mission Accomplished, which was released in September and features one of the best album covers in Canadian history (an elaborate drawing of Johnston — shirtless, mustachioed — astride a tiger and clutching an enormous sword), is a record about life on the road — idle observations transformed into songs. Performed with just a guitar and some simple synthesizer beats — and, of course, Johnston’s languid deadpan — Mission Accomplished emerges as a chronicle of long drives,

fate of most government-issued tax rebates — cigarettes, beer, and old Cracked magazines.

“I kind of wish they’d put it against what you owe, or just put it on your pension,” he says of the $60 government payouts. “We’re just going to waste it. No one’s buying stocks with this money or anything like that. Like, sixty bucks is great, but if sixty bucks is life or death you’ve got some problems. They should just give us a beer store card.

Photo: Courtesy of Laura LaFleshe

I mean, why not cut out the middleman, you know?”

All of this might seem strange, but Mission Accomplished emerges as a tender and thoughtful catalogue of experience. It is a record that hits hard without ever losing its smirk, an album that captures the spirit of a generation without once venturing into cliché. But it never occurred to Johnston that he could do anything else, really.

“I have no other plan,” he says.

“The thought of going and doing the sh**ty jobs that I had before is so depressing. My last job basically was as a fry cook — and I don’t want to deep fry stuff for eight bucks an hour anymore. I’m pretty old. I kind of just forgot to figure something out.” When I ask which Star Wars character would make the ideal touring companion, Johnston hesitates. “Chewy would be pretty good. Lando might be cool. But you’d probably end up working for him as his butler or something.”

B.A. Johnston October 12 @ Amigos Tickets at the door Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Internal Sounds

Photo: courtesy of don pyle

The Sadies overcome a major accident to make their best album in years by Alex J MacPherson

I

t was an unseasonably warm night in Saskatoon. The streets were still covered in snow, of course, the sidewalks coated with ice.

But nobody was thinking about the weather. It was February 13, 2011, and the Sadies were in town to play songs from their latest album, Darker Circles. The veteran Toronto rock and roll band was sizzling after a string of successful shows; everybody was eager to hear the pyrotechnical guitar riffs and infectious melodies that, over the course of almost two decades, have established the Sadies as one of the best rock bands in the country. A few hours before showtime, after finishing their sound check, the musicians scattered in search of food and a quiet moment before the sonic assault of the stage. Dallas Good, who plays guitar and splits vocal duties with his brother, Travis, decided to walk from the Broadway Theatre to Amigos, the famous Mexican

restaurant and concert venue. He didn’t make it.

Moments after leaving the theatre, Dallas slipped on a patch of exposed ice, polished to a dull sheen by countless pairs of winter boots. He fell.

Hard. Then he heard an explosion. It came from inside his leg. His tibia had shattered. “That was when he came up with the album title,” Travis Good says, referring to the band’s latest record, Internal Sounds, which was released in September. “That was the sound he heard in his leg when he went down.”

Dallas was taken to hospital in an ambulance; the doctors who examined his splintered leg recommended surgery. As he waited for news, the other members of the Sadies — Travis, Sean Dean, and Mike Belitsky — scrambled to make sure the show could go on.

That night the band played a truncated set. It was the first time they had ever performed as a three-piece, the only time in almost twenty years of relentless touring that Dallas, whose slithering guitar and gentle yet propulsive voice are vital parts of the band’s

rockabilly-tinged alt-country sound, had missed a show. As his brother and bandmates were performing, Dallas was stuck in the hospital, waiting for surgery. But he had the presence of mind to save a copy of the medical scan, which showed the extent of the damage to his leg. “You can see it,” Travis says of the image, which became the cover of Internal Sounds. “It looks like a bowl of cornflakes. A bowl of psychedelic cornflakes.”

The aftermath of the accident was difficult for everyone in the band. They were forced to cancel some tour dates and rearrange others. But in the end, it worked out for the best. “The stars all aligned for this one,” Travis says of Internal Sounds. “[Dallas’s broken leg] had us all rethinking everything a little bit. We had a whole lot of downtime we weren’t expecting.

And so we had to get creative and get busy.” The Sadies have always been busy. In addition to their own career — twenty years of searing guitar infused with the spirit of bluegrass, country, Continued on next page »

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and the blues — they are well-known for working with other artists; they have backed, among others, Neko Case, Randy Bachman, Garth Hudson, and Neil Young. Kept off the road by Dallas’s leg, they went into the studio instead. Travis and Dallas cut a record with the Good Family, a band made up of members of their extended family.

Then they teamed up with the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie to make an album, which has yet to be released.

When it came time to write and record Internal Sounds, the band’s schedule dictated a slightly different approach.

In the past,” Travis says, “the Sadies were so proud that we could finish a record in three days, where it would be mixed, mastered, and ready to go. I thought that was, you know, the punk rock work ethic. Get it done, don’t spend any money.” For 2007’s New Seasons and 2010’s Darker Circles, both of which were produced

by Gary Louris of the Jayhawks, the band worked quickly and efficiently.

This time, Dallas decided to produce the record himself, which made the entire process self-contained. “Doing it ourselves, that eliminated a schedule,” Travis says. “Every time we’ve worked with someone, we’ve got exactly two weeks to do everything, and then everyone goes home. This time, we came off tour in the wintertime and I just started locking myself in a room and writing all the time, and then going into the studio for two days — and then take a couple of weeks off to go back and work on songs more.”

The extra time paid off. Internal Sounds is one of the strongest records the band has ever made. It is an obvious continuation of their musical trajectory — an immediate and urgent fusion of sounds, both past and present, that recalls the long history of guitar music without ever sounding dated — and proof that the band’s range is always expanding. Internal Sounds is also a potent reminder that country, blues, and rock and roll remain a vital part of the landscape of popular music.

Internal Sounds opens with “The First 5 Minutes,” three hundred seconds of gritty guitar licks, offbeat tempo changes, and a blistering introduction to some of the themes that crop up throughout the record — changes, shifts, new beginnings. Then comes the sort of radical gear shift that defines so much of the Sadies’ music. “So Much

Blood” is a gentle ballad featuring Travis’s mandolin, a classic song for the morning after. “It was the last one I did for the record,” he says, “and I realized that in all the years and all the songs I’ve written, nothing is really like a campfire song, one you could sing with a couple of acoustic guitars — they’re all just a little too weird. So that was really all I had in mind, something that

be comfortable. And that sets the bar quite high. Like, will I get up in front of the class and recite this poetry? Or is it a piece of s**t?”

But Internal Sounds didn’t emerge from nowhere, either. It feels like a record about change because it was created during a period of change.

The Sadies took more time to write the songs. They took more time to

…it kept us busy.

And we were f**king determined to get back on our feet. travis good Photo: courtesy of don pyle

could be played at a party and didn’t have to be a full band.”

The strangest song on Internal Sounds is “We Are Circling,” a psychedelic piece featuring vocals by veteran singer and songwriter Buffy SainteMarie. “We met her a few years ago in Winnipeg,” Travis says. “She came to our show and we did a few songs with her. Like everybody that we ever work with, we pestered her for awhile, to do something with us on a record one day.” Sainte-Marie agreed and added her voice to a piece of music the band had been toying with for some time.

“It was just going to be a little break in between songs, a psychedelic noise in a strange tuning,” he continues. “We ended up with three minutes of droney stuff, sent it off to Buffy, and she had something for it. Once again, all the stars aligned.”

At its most basic, Internal Sounds is a record about change. Its lyrics are packed with references to past, present, and future. Given the circumstances surrounding its creation, it feels like a moment of reflection for the band — a summary of everything they have achieved and a promise of more to come. But Travis Good says records are rarely planned that way. “When I’m writing, I have very little control over what happens, except that I do know what I’m comfortable doing in front of people on a stage,” he says. “That’s the only thing, my only real rule: I’ve got to

record them. And they finally began to feel comfortable in the recording studio, a change from the days when the live performance was everything and making albums was merely a reason to go on tour, something that had to be done. But perhaps most importantly, Internal Sounds is imbued with the triumphant feeling of a successful comeback.

“We look at music as a sporting event, in a way,” Travis says after apologizing for making a sports reference. “When someone on your team has a broken leg and gets sidelined, those are the best stories, about when they make a comeback.

That was sort of the mindset we were getting into when [Dallas] had that broken leg. We looked at it all pretty positively. It put us in the studio, it got us off the road, it kept us busy.

And we were f**king determined to get back on our feet.”

After a pause he adds, “Throw some salt down around the old Broadway Theatre.

The Sadies October 16 @ Broadway Theatre $25 @ Broadway Theatre box office Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Quality ingredients, quality pizza Photos courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

Pizza 306 making pizza pies the right way by adam hawboldt

P

izza. Even when it’s bad, it’s good.

And when you find a place that makes really good pizza, well, you stick with it, right? If the big game is on and your buddies are coming over for some beer and football, that’s the place you call. If

a newcomer on the pizza delivery scene may very well turn into my go-to joint.

It’s name?

Pizza 306.

First opening on Broadway in June (another store opened on 22nd Street a month later), Pizza 306 is a small independent pizzeria that makes one heckuva pie. Nothing fancy, nothing frilly. Just good, downhome pizza done right.

Eric and Sandy Lau, who run the place, go out of their way to make sure every pie is topped with the freshest, best ingredients possible. Instead of pieces of rubbery mystery chicken, they cut up fresh chicken breasts in-house. Instead of that terrible faux bacon that a lot of places use, they opt for real bacon on their pizzas.

And while this may seem like a small, trivial thing, it really, really pays off in the end. Better ingredients equal better quality. It’s as simple as that.

Case in point: Pizza 306’s Italian Meats Trio.

you’re busy and don’t have time to cook, that’s the place you call. Heck, if you’re just feeling lazy and a slice of pizza is what you’re craving, you tend to go with old faithful.

After ordering from a bunch of different places in the city over the past few years, something tells me

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide A DAY AT THE BEACH

Ingredients

Summer may be slowly slipping away from us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t drink like it’s the August long weekend. So if you’re feeling like something a bit brighter and more fun this weekend, give this sweet cocktail recipe a try.

1oz coconut rum 1/2oz Amaretto liqueur 4oz orange juice 1/2oz Grenadine 1 pineapple wedge

Directions

Put rum, Amaretto and orange juice into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well, until the outside of the shaker is frosty. Strain mixture into a highball glass filled with ice. Add Grenadine and pineapple wedge. Serve.

Loaded with spicy Italian sausage, real bacon pieces, Italian salami, and mozza and cheddar cheeses, this bad boy is a savoury, spicy delight. The meat-to-cheeseto-sauce ratio is perfect. The crust is light and crispy and yummy all on its own (trust me, I saved a few crusts to test later). And the thing that really brings it all together? A pinch of Italian herbs that really give the thing some zip.

You know what else it pretty darn good at Pizza 306? The Spinach Alfredo Chicken pizza.

Now the green sauce on this pizza may throw some people off, but it shouldn’t. It’s delicious. Alfredo laced with subtle hints of spinach

and garlic, this sauce balances the sweetness of the red onions, the meatiness of the chicken and the earthiness of the mushrooms into one slightly complex, but truly tasty, pizza.

The kind of pizza I’m ordering for the next Riders game. After all, if you’re gonna bleed green you may as well eat green, too.

Pizza 306 2605 Broadway Ave | (306)665-0306 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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music

Next Week

coming up

Mahogany Frog

David Francey

The Balconies

@ Amigos Cantina Friday, October 11 – Cover TBD

@ The Bassment Thursday, October 17 – $23/28

@ Vangelis Saturday, November 16 – Cover TBD

There’s something to be said for having a bunch of multi-instrumentalists in one group. Case in point: Winnipeg’s Mahogany Frog. Consisting of Graham Epp (guitar/keyboards/ trumpet), Jesse Warkentin (guitar/keyboards), Scott Ellenberger (bass/keyboards/trumpet) and Andy Rudolph (drums/electronics), this instrumental electronic rock band is incredibly versatile and dynamic. Sure, their multi-layered songs and complex arrangements can challenge the average listener, but there’s something about their music — which is infused with everything from ‘60s psychedelic to ‘70s progressive/kraut rock to ambient/ experimentalism — that lingers long after the final note has been played.

They’ll be rolling through town next week; tickets at the door.

David Francey’s songs come from a place near and dear to his heart. Born in Scotland, he immigrated to Canada when he was 12 and spent most of his life working in the blue-collar sector.

On his 1999 debut, Torn Screen Door, Francey puts his past experiences to good use and pumped out workingclass folk gems like “Gypsy Boys,” “Working Poor” and “Hard Steel Mill.”

And that was just a beginning. Since that album, Francey has won a handful of Juno Awards, the 2010 John Lennon Songwriting Contest and has garnered folk music fans from sea to shining sea. His latest album, So Say We All, is a mature, infectious collection that takes the listener on a voyage from the heights of ecstasy to the nadir of grief. Check him out when he comes to Saskatoon.

There was a time when The Balconies played a different kind of music. Back when the Ontariobased quartet formed in 2008, they played what’s best described as indie pop. But as the years passed, their sound began to change and evolve. These days Jacquie (guitar/ lead vocals), Steve (bass/vocals), Liam (guitar/vocals) and Theo (drums) play a brash brand of hardcharging rock and roll. The kind of rock and roll that will blow your hair back. Having toured extensively through Canada, America and Europe, The Balconies are a road-tested band with a live show that’s loud, in-your-face, and all kinds of good. Don’t believe me?

Head to Vangelis in November and see for yourself.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: jessica@flickr/ the artist/ the artist

Sask music Preview Attention Saskatchewan musicians! SaskMusic is launching an exciting new project that can help you distribute your new music releases to media and industry personnel across Saskatchewan and beyond for review, airplay, licensing opportunities, and more. It’s a new service that’s free with your SaskMusic membership. For more information and to get into our Music2Media system, contact SaskMusic 1-800-347-0676 or visit www. saskmusic2media.com.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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october 4 » october 12 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover Untimely Demise / Amigos — Also featuring Into Eternity. 10pm / Cover TBD Neil Currie / The Bassment — Some smooth jazz stylings. 4:30pm / No cover U of S Jazz Ensemble / Bassment — Premiering a host of new works. 9pm / $10/$15 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s — DJ Aash Money throws it down. 9pm / $5 cover 7 Straight / Buds on Broadway — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 10pm / Cover TBD BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/ vocal house music. 10pm / $5 DJ Eclectic / The Hose — Local turntable whiz pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax — It’s all your favourite party hits. 9pm / $5 cover Grandtheft / Louis’ — One of the best live DJs Canada has to offer. 9pm / $15

DJs Big Ayyy & HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Country rock party. 8pm / $5; ladies free before 11pm Freddie and the Axeman / Piggy’s — Rock and roll all night long. 9pm / No cover Allyson Reigh / Prairie Ink — Playing acoustic folk music. 8pm / No cover nodding donkey / Rock Bottom — With Boomlag + more. 8pm / $10 Jones Boys / Stan’s Place — It’ll be a rockin’, rollin’ good time. 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto — With Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie + Brad King. 10pm / $5 Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come tear it up. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD Paddy Tutty / Unitarian Centre — It’s an album release party! 7:30pm / $15 Fisticuffs / Vangelis — With Groenland.

10pm / Cover TBD

SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes. 10pm / $5 Orit Shimoni / Gillian Snider’s House — A passionate singer/songwriter. 8pm / $10 DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax — Ladies night with the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover Skylab #14 / Les Relais — Featuring Chris Komus, Shamroc, Helium 3. 9pm / $15 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5 Freddie and the Axeman / Piggy’s — Rock and roll all night long. 9pm / No cover Luke Blu Guthrie / Prairie Ink — Rhythm and blues from Vancouver. 8pm / No cover Amy Bourassa and the Zero Cent Theory / The Refinery — A jazzy, soulful six piece. 7pm / $12/15 (ontheboards.ca) Good Enough + more / Rock Bottom — A night of hard-charging music. 9pm / $10 Jones Boys / Stan’s Place — It’ll be a rockin’, rollin’ good time. 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto — With Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie + Brad King. 10pm / $5 DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s a video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD Sexy Saturdays / Tequila — A night of hot tunes. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD Ghost Cousin / Vangelis — With Friends of Foes and Joel Cossette. 9pm / Cover TBD Malcolm Holcombe / Village Guitar & Amp — Folk, acoustic, Americana from this talented performer. 8pm / $10

Saturday 5

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover Blackwater / Amigos — With the Classy Chassys. 10pm / $10 (ticketedge.ca) Celso Machado / The Bassment — A Brazilian multi-instrumentalist. 9pm / $17/23 DJs Aash Money + Sugar Daddy / Béily’s — These two throw it down. 9pm / $5 cover Brad Johner / Broadway Theatre — A staple of the music scene. 7pm / $28 Penny Reign / Buds on Broadway — A rock quartet from Saskatoon. 10pm / Cover TBD

Sunday 6

Teen Daze, Camp Counselors / Amigos Cantina — A night of good tunes and great company. 10pm / Cover TBD Industry Night / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy. 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Blues Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, offering great tunes from blues to rock and beyond.

7:30pm / No cover

Monday 7

Austra / Amigos — Electronic music from Toronto. Also featuring Moon King. 10pm / $15 (ticketedge.ca) Undercover Pirates / Buds on Broadway — A host of covers sprinkled with originals.

10pm / Cover TBD DJ Audio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD Gwar / Odeon —A must-see show. 6pm / $33

Tuesday 8

Jon and Roy / Amigos Cantina — A folk rock/reggae trio from Victoria. 10pm / Cover TBD Undercover Pirates / Buds on Broadway — A host of covers sprinkled with originals.

10pm / Cover TBD DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — Able to rock any party, this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres.

9:30pm / $4 cover DJ Nick Ruston / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD Cancer Bats / Louis’ Pub — Hardcore punk coming at ya from Toronto. 8pm / Cover TBD Hanson / Odeon Events Centre — A trio of brothers that’s risen from the ashes. 7pm / $34.50+ (theodeon.ca Verb presents Open Mic / Rock Bottom — Come and rock the stage! 9pm / No cover Open Mic / Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover Woodpigeon, Family Affair / Vangelis — An eclectic night of interesting music. 9pm / Cover TBD

Wednesday 9

HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Resident DJ Chris Knorr will be spinning all of your favourite songs and requests, every Wednesday night. 9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter

The Steel Wheels / The Bassment — Blues, bluegrass and fiddle. 8pm / $20/25 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s — Spinning dope beats all night. 9pm / Cover TBD Souled Out / Diva’s Annex — Featuring the spinning talents of Dr. J 9pm / $2 DJ Memo / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover CJWW Karaoke / Stan’s Place — Your talent, aired on the radio! 9pm / No cover Buck Wild Wednesdays / Outlaws — Come out and ride the mechanical bull!

9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — With Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King. 10pm / No cover Old Folks Home, Balacade / Vangelis — A little bit of pop, acoustic and synthesized soundscapes. 9pm / Cover TBD

Thursday 10

Little Miss Higgins / Broadway Theatre — A sassy brand of country and blues tinged with jazz. 8pm / $33 Torchwood / Buds on Broadway — Classic hard rock done right. 10pm / Cover TBD Throwback Thursdays / Earls — Come experience retro funk, soul, reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm / No cover DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Thunder Riot w/Conky Showpony / Rock Bottom — Come dance the night away as this local DJ plays the kind of music that’ll get your feet moving. 9pm / $5 Triple Up Thursdays / Tequila — Featuring DJ Dislexic. 9pm / Cover TBD Cam Penner, Miss Quincy / Vangelis — Two singer/songwriters you don’t want to miss. 9pm / Cover TBD Open Stage / The Woods — Hosted by Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

Friday 11

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover Mahogany Frog / Amigos — Rock-infused electronica. 10pm / Cover TBD Piano Fridays: Ray Stephanson / The Bassment — It’s time for some smooth jazz stylings. 4:30pm / No cover Joanna Borromeo / The Bassment — With Tim Vaughn. 9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s — DJ Aash Money throws it down. 9pm / $5 cover Riff Raff / Buds — Playing classic ‘80s anthems. 10pm / Cover TBD BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/ vocal house music. 10pm / $5 Continued on next page »

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DJ Eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax — It’s all your favourite party hits. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends for the best country dance party around.

8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm

The Standards Trio / Prairie Ink — With Don Sawchuk, Todd Gursky, Matt Gruza.

8pm / No cover Jomama / Stan’s Place — Playing everything from rock to country. 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto — With Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie + Brad King. 10pm / $5 Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come tear it up on the dance floor. 9pm

DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD The Archers / Vangelis — With Comments and Concerns. 10pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 12

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover

BA Johnston / Amigos — A hilarious singer/songwriter. 10pm / Cover TBD The Benny Green Trio / The Bassment — All the way from New York. 9pm / $30/$40 DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s — It’s a dance party. 9pm / $5 cover Riff Raff / Buds on Broadway — Playing classic 80s anthems. 10pm / Cover TBD SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax — Ladies night with the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover David Wilcox / Odeon — With Kick Start Louie Band + more. 7pm / $34.50+ DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5

Wayne Bargen / Prairie Ink — Instrumental guitar. 8pm / No cover The Rapture Vol. 3 / Rock Bottom — Hosted by Cquel MC. 9pm / $10 Jomama / Stan’s Place — Playing everything from rock to country. 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto — With Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie + Brad King. 10pm / $5 DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD Saturday Night Social / Tequila — Electronic Saturdays will have you moving and grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD Bass Invaders, Wenches and Rogues / Vangelis — A funky, hard-rockin’ night of fun. 10pm / Cover TBD

21 oct 4 – oct 10 @verbsaskatoon

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Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

A game changer Gravity goes where no man or director or space movie has gone before by adam hawboldt

w

hen’s the last time you watched a movie that left you completely gobsmacked?

Now, I’m not talking about a movie where, once you finished watching it, you turned to a friend and said, “Holy moly, that was awesome!” No. I’m talking about the kind of movie where, after you’ve watched it, you’re rendered speechless. Numb. Elated.

Knowing that you’ve just watched something truly groundbreaking.

Well, if you decide to watch Gravity, there’s a good chance that’s exactly how you’re going to feel when you leave the theatre.

Directed by the wildly talented Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá También, Children of Men), Gravity begins with one of the most magnificent single-take shots (something Cuarón is renowned for) in cinematic history. The shot, which runs close to 15 minutes, begins at a far distance and slowly pans closer and closer to a pair of astronauts — Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) — outside their spacecraft. For a few minutes, the camera loops elegantly around while Kowalski jokes and Stone works diligently on the shuttle.

Then a call comes in from Houston.

Apparently an aging satellite was destroyed in Earth’s orbit and the debris is headed their way.

By the time they get this message it’s too late. The debris crashes into their ship, Stone’s cord is severed, and she’s launched, tumbling, into the vast nothingness of space.

It’s as beautiful and tense an opening sequence as you’ll ever seen. Oh, and don’t forget: it was all taken in one shot.

From here the movie only gets better. Kowalski saves Stone, but their shuttle is completely destroyed. And for the next 70 minutes or so they battle for survival against seemingly impossible odds.

Alright. Admittedly, at this point you may be thinking: “What’s so great about a story like this? Doesn’t sound overly amazing.”

Oh, but it is!

Why? Well, for starters, the cinematography in Gravity is a game changer. I can sit here and say, with dead certainty, that you’ve never seen anything like this before. The extreme close-ups, the point-of-view shots, the meshing of action with state-of-the-art special effects, the long-fluid camera movements, the new and subtle bag of tricks Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki open … they all come together in something that’s nothing short of a technical marvel.

And then there’s the sound — or lack thereof. Gravity uses the silence of space to amazing effect. Stone and Kowalski are hurtled through space

gravity Alfonso Cuarón Sandra Bullock, George Clooney + Ed Harris Directed by Starring

90 minutes | PG

accompanied only by the sound of muffled radio transmissions, panting, talking and breathing. Spectacularly violent collisions happen all around them in complete, chilling silence. It’s all so real, you’ll think you’re in space with them.

Yet, for all this — for all the technical brilliance and suffocating ambience — Gravity wouldn’t be the movie it is without terrific acting.

And trust me, it is terrific. Bullock gives the performance of her career as the terrified rookie, Stone, while Clooney (who is more of a supporting actor even though there’s only ever two people on screen) plays the wise-cracking, level-headed Kowalski to perfection.

Needless to say, if you’re going to the movies this week, Gravity should be the film you watch. Hands down.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Evening at the Improv

Drinking Buddies may not have a script, but it does have heart by adam hawboldt

I

n 2002, director Andrew Bujalski released a little movie called Funny Ha Ha. Little did he know it then, but that film would be the first in a new genre that came to be called mumblecore.

Marked by low-budget productions, amateur actors, a focus on naturalism and often improvised, mumblecore films began springing up with increased frequency in the ensuing years. Think movies like The Puffy Chair, Baghead, and Sun Don’t Shine, and you’ll get the picture.

The latest installment in this genre is Joe Swanberg’s Drinking Buddies.

Sure, Swanberg deviates a bit from the mumblecore norm by using accomplished actors (Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick and Ron Livingston), and it’s a bit bigger budget than a lot of flicks in the genre, but the rest of it sticks to the mumblecore ethos — to the point that Drinking Buddies is purely improvised. No script whatsoever. All Swanberg does is give his thespians

Photo: Courtesy of magnolia pictures

they’re the kind of people who are destined to be together. .

But there’s a problem.

See, Kate is dating a record producer named Chris (Livingston) and Luke is in a serious relationship with Jill (Kendrick), a quiet school teacher.

Eventually the two couples get together, hang out, and decide to go on a trip to Chris’ cabin on Lake Michigan. In normal romantic comedies, the ensuing plot points and ultimate outcome are rarely in doubt. Kate and Luke’s attraction grows stronger, Jill develops a thing for Chris and the

…because the actors were only given a slim outline of where the film should go, Drinking Buddies often meanders …

Adam Hawboldt

scenarios, then lets them riff. The result is both good and not so good.

Set in Chicago, Drinking Buddies tells the story of a publicist named Kate (Wilde) and a brewmaster called Luke (Johnson) who work at a micro-brewery. Kate and Luke are best friends who hang out, drink beer and shoot the sh*t together. And from the get-go, it’s easy to see there’s a mutual attraction between the two. It seems as though

rest of the movie pushes towards a clichéd, everybody-ends-up-with-adifferent-partner ending.

But here’s the thing: Drinking Buddies isn’t your normal romantic comedy. Instead of going for the easy (and expected) ending, Swanberg explores love and the idea of relationships in fresh and unexpected ways.

Much of the credit for this must be attributed to the actors and their

drinking buddies Joe Swanberg Starring Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick + Ron Livingston Directed by

90 minutes | NR

easy on-screen chemistry. Without a script, they get a chance to show off their abundant improvisational skills.

Forced into a scenario like this, the actors have to delve deep into their characters and react to situations as they would in life. The result is a funny, sincere and genuine film.

That’s the good part of the no-script policy.

The bad part? Well, because the actors were only given a slim outline of where the film should go, Drinking Buddies often meanders, sometimes a bit too far off the beaten path. If it’s plot you like in movies, it’s best to skip this interesting indie endeavour.

But if it’s an original, smart film you’re after, Drinking Buddies may be right up your alley.

Drinking Buddies is now showing at Roxy Theatre.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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thursday, september 26 @

Premier

Premier: Saskatchewan’s Fine Wines, Spirits, & Specialty Foods Festival TCU Place 35 22nd Street East (306) 975 7777

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Photography by opalsnaps.com

25 oct 4 – oct 10 @verbsaskatoon

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Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, October 11. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Continued on next page Âť

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thursday, september 26 @

Premier

Premier: Saskatchewan’s Fine Wines, Spirits, & Specialty Foods Festival TCU Place 35 22nd Street East (306) 975 7777

Photography by opalsnaps.com

27 oct 4 – oct 10 /verbsaskatoon @verb

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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 DOWN

28. Protection from a storm 30. Left-hand page 33. Bird of the bunting family 37. Nautical heading 38. Boy hired to run errands 40. Mark for omission 41. Put cargo on board 43. Bluish shade of green 45. Took in food 46. Like vinegar 48. Household cutlery 50. Voice between baritone and alto 51. Willow shoot 52. Supernatural life force 53. Bites sharply

1. Relating to the lower part of the back 2. Fabric woven from camel hair 3. Work together in harmony 4. Sideways 5. Tore down 6. Lyric poem 7. Eve’s husband 8. Negligent 9. Capital of Egypt 11. Rope fibre 12. Unit of apothecary weight 14. Immediately after 17. Scientific study of animals 20. One in charge

of employees sudoku answer key 22. Fat used in making tallow A 25. Cut into small pieces 27. Poke with a pointed stick 29. Betrayal of one’s country 30. Soft palates 31. Perform as if in a play 32. Make up for 34. They grow on trees 35. Make different B 36. ___-do-well 39. Capital of Ghana 42. Volcano in Sicily 44. Taking effect unless reason not to 47. Electrically charged atom 49. Mouth part

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

1. Buddhist monk of Tibet 5. Sound made by a lion 9. Hexahedrons 10. Calculating machine 12. Reversible fabric 13. Member of a shipís crew 15. Ridge in knitted fabrics 16. Make new college students do humiliating tasks 18. Play charades 19. Muscat native 21. Shows agreement 23. Half a dozen 24. Casablanca is its largest city 26. Distraught

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

ACROSS

© walter D. Feener 2013

Horoscopes october 4 – october 10 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

You’ll be in a curious mood this week, Aries. Why? Well, there’s no real reason. Things are just going to be a little off for awhile.

Focus on being conscientious and considerate to the people in your life this week, Leo. Someone close to you could be having a rough time.

You may be feeling overly sentimental later in the week, Sagittarius. This is a good time to engage in a little self-reflection.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Does it feel like you’ve been going nowhere lately? Running but always staying in the same place? Don’t fret. This week, all that will change.

Your luck is about to change, Virgo, and the good news is it’s for the better. Be sure to enjoy it while it lasts, though, for times like these can be fleeting.

You may be feeling down in the next while, but don’t sink too low.

Just look at all you’ve accomplished in your life. It’s more than you think.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

You may feel preoccupied for most of this week, Gemini. Try your best to stay focused on the most important things.

This will be a good time to expand your knowledge of global events, Libra. It may come in handy very soon, as the universe could have a trip in store.

You may meet someone new this week, someone who will come to play a big part in your immediate future.

Keep your eyes peeled.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

It’s gonna be one of those weeks where you’re not going to want to get out of bed, Cancer. Fight the urge to be lazy.

There’s so much out there to do and see!

Have you thought about adding more balance to your life, Scorpio? If not, you really should. It’s a good idea to try and even things out.

Criticism is often tough to swallow, Pisces, but do your best to choke it down this week. Someone may have a valid point you need to hear.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

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