Verb Issue S263 (Oct. 25-31, 2013)

Issue #263 – October 25 to October 31

arts

culture

music

saskatoon

VERY WE EE EK RE

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SK

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Making a match Modern dating in SK just picture it Q+A with Picture the Ocean the councelor + austenland Films reviewed

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Photo: courtesy of Annie Murphy

NEWs + Opinion

contents

making a match The ins and outs of modern dating.

4 / Local

let’s be clear ... crystal clear Drag culture in SK. 6 / Local

for the love of god...

On the cover:

hollerado

Our thoughts on civic prayer. 8 / Editorial

16 / cover

Here’s your say about prescription heroin injections. 10 / comments

The search for meaning in music.

comments

Photo: courtesy of Christian Jaggi

culture

Q + A with picture the ocean Edmonton rockers tell all. 12 / Q + A

ritual tradition habit

grand opening, grand ribs We visit Doc

The Belle Game’s hot debut. 14 / Arts

Hollandaise. 18 / Food + Drink

chelsea hotel

Music

Stage production explores love through Cohen’s music. 15 / Arts entertainment

Matt Blais, Animal Nation + Blue Rodeo. 19 / music

listings Local music listings for October 25 through November 2. 20 / listings

The Counselor + Austenland The latest movie reviews. 22 / Film

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 30 / comics

Nightlife Photos

Games + Horoscopes

We visited Jax Nightclub + Red Zone.

Canadian criss-cross puzzle, horoscopes, and Sudoku. 31 / timeout

25-29 / Nightlife

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon Please recycle after reading & sharing

Editorial

Business & Operations

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

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

ART & Production

Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 306 881 8372

Design Lead / andrew yanko graphic Designer / bryce kirk Contributing Photographers / Patrick Carley, Adam Hawboldt + ishtiaq opal

advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

contact design / layout@verbnews.com / 306 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253

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Photo: Courtesy of charlesthompsonphotography

Making a match

Modern matchmaking in Saskatchewan by ADAM HAWBOLDT

F

inding the right person to date can be tricky.

Sure, you may bump into Mr. or Ms. Right in the grocery store one day, or meet the person of your dreams in a bar. But chances are that’s not going to happen. And what if you’re shy? What if you’re tired of the bar scene or simply too busy — with work or school or whatever it is that eats your time — to actually go out and meet someone?

Put into a situation like this, many people turn to online dating.

It’s easy, convenient and you can do it from the comfort of your own home. A perfect solution, right?

Not always.

Yes, there is a bright side to online dating. There are some people out there who meet wonderful companions online and go on to develop long, healthy, lasting relationships with them. But there’s also a dark side.

Case in point: catfishing.

Anyone who saw the 2010 documentary Catfish knows exactly what that means. For those of you who didn’t, it’s the story about a guy named Nev Schulman who fell in love with a beautiful young woman online before graduating to talking to her on the phone. However, when he went to meet her she

turned out to be a middle-aged wife and mother.

This type of deception online isn’t a one-off thing, either. These days, there’s an emerging class of Internet predators who take to online dating sites, create fake or partially untrue profiles, and weasel their way into other’s lives romantically. What they’re after depends on the person. Some simply want love (but without telling the truth), some are out to scam money, some want your personal data, some are sexual predators.

The list goes on.

Not a comforting thought, to say the least. So what’s a single person to do? If you’re looking to find a suitable partner in these weird, technologically advanced times, what move do you make?

Enter professional matchmakers.

In a way, Julie Clitheroe always seemed destined to become a professional matchmaker.

“I’ve always had a great intuition about people,” she says.

“And my first instinct is to help find people something they need.

I’ve always been that person who wants to help people. So it was a natural fit.”

So when she first moved to the Okanagan and looked around and saw a bunch of fantastic single people who were having a hard time finding someone to date, she had an idea — to become a professional matchmaker.

“It seemed almost epidemic,” says Clitheroe. “It wasn’t just in Okanagan. It was in Regina, Saskatoon — everywhere you look, there are people having a hard time meeting someone.”

So she created Magnetix Matchmaking, a company which now helps singles find other, compatible singles in Saskatchewan and the rest of the Western provinces.

But don’t be mistaken. This isn’t some glorified online dating site or anything. Nor is it one of those matchmaking efforts where the customer does most of the work.

So what does a modern matchmaking service like Magnetix and others have to offer?

“Privacy, confidentiality, professional matches, pre-screening of what you’re looking for to ensure there’s a two-way match,” says Clithroe, rattling off the list as fast as you can listen. “We do all the heavy lifting. And do you know what? The number one reason you hear why people turn to professional matchContinued on next page »

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makers, why people come to us, is for safety. In this day and age, with so many people turning to online dating because they’re busy or disillusioned with the bar scene, there are a lot of incidents of people being absconded from their finances, even assaulted by people they meet. So we do a criminal background check to weed those people out.”

That’s not all they do. Here in Saskatoon they also provide professional matchmakers who, if they

cultures around the world, matchmakers have worked to help single people come together. In Japan you have the Nakodo. In the Jewish community there’s the Shadchan who arrange meetings called shidduch between prospective partners. In Hindu culture it was astrologers who relied on the stars to make matches.

As far as “professional” matchmakers go, the first “dating agencies” cropped up in 17th century

It was in Regina, Saskatoon — everywhere you look, there are people having a hard time meeting someone. julie clitheroe

don’t find anything for you in their database, will go out into the community and try to find the perfect person for you. And apparently, there are a lot to chose from.

“According to the research I’ve done, in the Regina and surrounding area [which includes Moose Jaw and other places], there are almost 100,000 single people … In Saskatoon, there’s roughly 94,500.”

Matchmaking isn’t a new phenomenon. For centuries, in different

Britain. Back then these agencies were run by parish vicars, who tried to match their parishioners according to class and social status.

Today, the subtle art of matchmaking is a little different. A lot more farreaching and comprehensive.

“Things that we look at at a high level are what age the person is, what age bracket they are looking for, “explains Clitheroe. “We also look at interests, what work they do, what their interests are, their passion, do they have or want children, their future plans. Take some-

one in their early 30s, for example.

We wouldn’t necessarily have a discussion around retirement. But if someone is in their early 50s we would definitely have that discussion. There are a lot of people in that age bracket who want to be a snowbird, particularly in a place like Saskatchewan, where it’s very cold in the winter. They want to leave for warmer climates and they’re looking for a partner who has the ability and the desire to do that with them.”

All this sounds easy enough, but it often takes a skilled matchmaker to fit all the pieces together — the pieces that help form longlasting relationships.

“To be a good matchmaker you have to be able to ask good questions, the right questions. You also have to be empathetic to other people’s positions. You also have to put your biases aside and do what’s best for your client,” says Clitheroe. “There’s no real set formula. But when you match somebody and they go on to have a happy relationship, they’re living together or getting married, there’s nothing more rewarding than that. This is a feel-good business, after all.”

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Let’s be clear ... Crystal Clear

Photo: Courtesy of crystal clear

The life and times of one of Saskatchewan’s most popular drag queens by ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

he transformation starts with a little Pan Stik foundation.

On days when Garnet Woloschuk is getting ready to perform,

to his face and chest, covering up stubble and beard lines.

“It’s a process,” says Woloschuk, of transforming from a mild-mannered man into a flamboyant drag queen. “It takes about an hour and a half to two hours. And the further along in the process you get, the more you become the character, the easier it is to fall into the role.”

Prior to sitting down to do his face, Woloschuk spends most of the day leisurely getting ready. He showers and shaves, chooses an outfit and lines up all the make-up and accoutrements he needs. Then comes the Pan Stik, that’s the first step.

Or at least, that’s the first step for Woloschuk.

his metamorphosis into Crystal Clear — one of the most popular drag queens in Saskatchewan — begins when he applies the thick, creamy, skin-coloured foundation

“A lot of other people start with the eyebrows,” he explains. “They use one of those yellow glue sticks, smooth out their brows, let it dry, put on foundation, smooth it out with glue again, and so on. Others use silly putty … but I took the easy route. I shaped my eyebrows to look more feminine. I’m okay with looking more feminine in public, so I don’t have to cover my brows.”

But for Woloschuk the brows come later in the process because after the Pan Stik is the baby powder, which helps keep the foundation in place when he sweats. Then another layer of powder to match the colour of his foundation.

And then it’s on to the eyes.

“The eyes take the longest,” says Woloschuk. “I have to darken and arch my eyebrows a bit more. Then you do the rest of the eyes. Most people go colour, black in the crease, white on top. But I usually just use black and white because it looks more dramatic. Oh, and, of course, I need the biggest lashes you can find for that cow-eye look.”

Once the eyes are finished, Woloschuk does his lips (using a darker liner than lipstick) and tosses on some sparkles. Make-up finished.

He is closer now to Crystal Clear than he is to Garnet Woloschuk.

But the transformation is far from complete. There’s still a matter of squeezing into the three or four pairs Continued on next page »

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of pantyhose he wears, putting on three pairs of Spanx, and making his chest look more feminine.

“Some people shade their chest [to give the illusion of cleavage], some use duct tape,” says Woloschuck. With his left hand he points to the side of his pec and says, “They move their skin here and tape their chest muscle to help create cleavage. That’s too much work and too much pain for me. Sometimes using duct tape can leave you scarred.

So, because I’m a bigger person, I can just put my falsies in and push them to the side and it looks natural.”

With his face and body complete, it’s time for Woloshcuk to put on his dress, step into his high heels, and don the wig. And by the time he’s finished, he’s no longer the shy, somewhat reserved Garnet Wolsochuk his friends and family know and love.

No. Now he’s the sassy, large-andin-charge Crystal Clear. Ready to take the stage and wow audiences.

There’s a scene in the 1987 movie, Who’s That Girl, where Nikki Finn (played by Madonna) accompanies a guy named Louden to the hospital after he has a panic attack. A nurse asks Nikki what the guy’s name is, Louden what? Nikki, who doesn’t know the guy that well, tells the nurse his name is Louden Clear.

Louden Clear. Get it?

Garnet Woloschuk sure did. And when it came time for him to pick a

Crystal Clear seemed like the appropriate name to choose.”

That was 16 years ago. And in the beginning, it wasn’t easy for Woloschuk. His decision to become a drag queen didn’t always sit well with others.

“There’s been a dramatic change in how drag is viewed since I got involved,” he says. “When I started a lot of people were upset with me because they thought I was too good to be a drag queen. That it would be a detriment to me as an individual, that I was slightly above. Then there were a lot of women in the community that thought we were making fun of women. But we weren’t. We were making fun of gender roles and social norms and values.”

And apparently Woloschuk was doing it quite well. As times began to change and perceptions shifted, Woloshcuk kept on winning drag queen competitions. These days he’s a fourtime Miss Diva’s Miss Gay Saskatoon, has been named entertainer of the year in Regina, as well as held the positions of duchess, princess and empress in Regina’s Imperial Sovereign Court of the Golden Wheat Sheaf Empire.

But performing in drag means more to Woloschuk than simply winning an armload of titles. When he’s out there performing — whether he’s vamping it up to a Barbra Streisand song or slinging witty, highly sexual, sometimes vulgar barbs at delighted audience members — there’s a certain

confident in myself. You know, I often talk about how Crystal Clear runs out into the street so that I can step off the sidewalk. That’s how it feels.”

But as the years pass, Woloschuk feels less and less like transforming into Crystal Clear and running out into that street. What was once a couple-

times-a-month thing has now become a few-times-a-year gig. Partly because he’s getting older and wants to watch the next generation of drag queens take over, partly because he enjoys going to the clubs as Garnet. And partly it’s because the confidence Crystal Clear has instilled in Woloschuk has

grown roots and taken a firm hold in his everyday life.

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We were making fun of gender roles and social norms and values. garnet woloschuk

drag queen persona, there was only one name for him.

“I thought to myself, ‘If Louden Clear had a wife, what would her name be?’” remembers Woloschuk.

“Naturally, it would be Crystal Clear.

And the persona I created for her came from a number of different things. In my group of friends I’m the mother type, so I brought that to the character. Also, if I don’t like something or if I like something a lot, I make it pretty clear. So the name

peace that washes over him. A peace that allows him to lower his inhibitions and take a break from day-today living.

“A lot of people don’t believe it,” says Woloschuk, “but I’m naturally a very shy person. A very introverted person. But Crystal Clear, she’s loud and brash. She says things that I’m surprised don’t get her in trouble. There’s not much she won’t say. That makes it easier to talk to people and socialize. It’s also allowed me to be more

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For the love of God…

Civic events should be kept secular, period

I

n case you missed it, there’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about civic prayer in our cities.

It all started back in the spring of 2012, when Ashu Solo, a member of Saskatoon’s cultural diversity

and race relations committee, attended a civic banquet where a Christian prayer was recited.

Offended and made to feel “like a second-class citizen,” Solo began pushing hard for the secularization of civic events. Eventually he made

a complaint to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. Naturally, this issue wormed its way into the public consciousness and, in recent weeks, has once again become a hot-button topic around our province.

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At the moment, Saskatoon’s city council is busy debating whether or not there should be prayers held during civic events. The options they’re weighing are to remain neutral (neither promoting the religious nor the secular) or to try and come up with an inclusive plan that respects all cultures. Media reports have them veering towards the latter, but the issue is still being mulled over.

In Regina, University of Regina religious studies professor Franz Volker Greifenhagen is urging his city to follow Saskatoon’s lead and wade into the civic prayer debate.

He suggests the best way to solve the problem is with a rotating prayer — having a Christian prayer one week, a prayer from an aboriginal elder the next, and so on and so forth.

Now, we respect all people’s opinions when it comes to these matters, but we can’t help but feel that all the time and energy being spent on this issue is a tad preposterous.

Look, it’s not that difficult to parse: acknowledging only a Christian perspective at city events —

where obviously not everyone is a practising Christian — is ludicrous. Our society has evolved and diversified, and we need to keep pace with those changes. If some people want to pray before civic events, go for it! But they can do that in their heads. They can do it at home. They can do it in church or out in nature or anywhere they feel a personal connection with a higher force. There’s no need to force feed anyone’s religion on anyone else, whether it be by sticking with the current Christian-prayer model or by having a rotating prayer, and particularly not at a secular city event.

To be perfectly clear, we support people’s ability to pursue any kind of religious relationship that is meaningful to them. That’s their choice and we encourage it, wholeheartedly. Just don’t do it at civic events.

Because let’s be honest: squabbling over whether or not to say a Christian prayer at a secular, community event is an embarrassing waste of time and energy for

our city council. There are far more important and salient issues that actually have a tangible impact on our lives in this province that should be their focus, things like fixing our roads, decreasing the amount of STIs in our city, or our province’s issues with excessive drinking and driving, to name just a few. The list goes on.

There are times and places where it is appropriate to vocalize a prayer.

Events hosted by the city are not one of them. So let’s make the logical choice and let our city councils get back to focussing on the more pressing problems in our community.

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

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On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about prescribed heroin injections for chronic drug addicts. Here's what you had to say: – So what you’re trying to say is that giving a drug addict MORE DRUGS to CURE HIM is actually a smart move? How dumb are you? If you want to help a drug addict get off the drugs then you dont give him more you take them away. Come on!

– Prescription heroin injections as a form of therapy may or may not be a good idea for chronic addicts. The spread of HIV/AIDS and 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 thus making their addiction problems worse and their lives and perhaps the lives of others around them more miserable. :-\

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

caused themselves. This has barely been tested and you should be ashamed for printing this.

– Interesting perspective on prescribing heroin. I would like to read more about it, because it sounds kind of crazy. Can you tell me where you got your info?

– Slowly weaning people off their addictions is a logical solution. You look at everything from smoking to eating meat to breast feeding the cold turkey method is incredibly difficult so this seems viable.

– Typical Leftie sentiment to try and advocate for an edgy treatment for a problem a person

– Prescription heroin is the exact kind of solution to a grave issue our healthcare system should be rolling out, but unfortunately they will be prevented at every turn by our country’s ridiculous “War on Drugs.” As the Conservative party’s power wanes though perhaps we can begin helping those in our society who cannot help themselves with treatments such as this.

– Prescription heroin injections has been demonstrated time and again to be effective at helping chronic addicts kick the habit (with insanely low recidivism rates) yet it’s helping drug addicts with drugs, so the Cons will never go for something like this. I wonder how

many people will freak out without realizing the current treatment, methadone, is also a drug. So yeah definitely on board with this.

OFF TOPIC – Loved the feature about the brothel an interesting glimpse into one faction of sex workers. A positive and respectful piece about a topic many are quick to judge harshly Well done!

In response to “Inside the adult service studio,” Local, #262 (October 18, 2013)

– I had no idea there was an operating brothel here. I was curious about security I know the article talked about the window you could look through but do they have a bouncer or something? And why didn’t you talk to one of the people who worked there? I’d like a follow-up please!

In response to “Inside the adult service studio,” Local, #262 (October 18, 2013)

– While I don’t judge what people do for a living, I think it is inappropriate for The Verb to print a story about prostitution. Children read this and could see it. I’d suggest being more careful next time with your stories.

In response to “Inside the adult service studio,” Local, #262 (October 18, 2013)

– I LOVE FRANK TURNERRRR! He’s so great definitely come check him out if you’re able he is not one to miss for sure, and he doesn’t come here nearly as often as I’d like. Thanks for writing about him!

In response to “Tape Deck Heart,” Q+A, #262 (October 18, 2013)

sound off – My mind was in the gutter all morning. I was cleaning out the leaves from the eavestrough.

– Planking for an extended period of time and forgetting to get up is DOWNtown.

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Experiencing d j vu several times a day is DOWNtown.

– What goes up must come DOWNtown

– Believing there really is a yellow brick road is DOWNtown.

– Verb how come so many bar pictures? Some more articles to read would be nice.

– Jaywalkers cause as much trouble on the road as a grouchy driver possibly more because there alot of jaywalkers in saskatoon

– Already in action if a vehicle hits a jaywalker the ticket is NOT going to the driver. Police are catching on to how many jaywalkers there actualy are

– Every single M.D. should watch the movie “Hysteria”. Classic example of how the sh*t in your head your cultural fairy tales can blind you to the medical reality under your very nose! ;) I fear a similar thing with the widespread use of prescription anti-depressants (sanctioned pharmacorp drugs vs unsanctioned street drugs) the anti-tobacco lobby and approaches to obesity mental health etc..The core of it is using an impossible “ideal” industrial worker as the medical model for health. Its a cultural fairy tale driven model once again. Hardest of all on women who have to bear rear children and be “ideal” workers!

Add modern stimuli overload from the tech and pace of life. You have to drug the frail human animal to be the “ideal” worker! Healthy?

Or justus! Aboriginals I know absconded from my. Home. WEARING pajama T shirt No. Shoes. Or. Socks ! INTERVIEW. ME !!. GORM. I CHALLENGE YOU!

– Hey VERB do a story on the men’s CTR! It’s a housing unit that provides men getting out of the correctional a second chance to better themselves.

– Truth. Justice?and the. American.

Way what BS!! Thanks. To Steven Americans! Have there. WAY In. CANADA Only Steve Never told Canada !. THE. Truth

– If smart cars are so smart why don’t more people have them?

– Canada head so far up its ass it doesn’t get what visits and criticism from U.N. Inspectors means!

– Duffy and Wallin hell bent on taking down Senate politics just took a turn for the soap opera LOL

– Wallin is an embarassment to our province. She got caught doing something bad and should go. Simple.

– LOL senate scandal is really taking off. This’ll knock Harper out of power for sure I can hear the Libs salivating in the wings :D No one is getting out of this in any good way. All accused know they’re on there way out so they’re going to take as many people down with them as possible. Sit back and watch the fight!

– Can’t wait for College construction to be cleared that road is nearly impassable at certain times.

Gotta get er done before the snow flies for sure, but why aren’t they working through the night?

Next week: What do you think about civic prayer? 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

– The Senate is an embarassment to Canadian politics and our public image! When it was said earlier to scrap it I thought that was stupid pandering to those who hate the Cons but now I think it might be good because the corruption is so deep seated that it can’t be cleaned out. All are guilty, all are appointed and what do they do exactly besides try to control their own interests. Useless! Throw the lot of them to the curb.

– Breaking a bone is harsh practical lesson in Newtonian physics!

– So! CHEIF. Clyde. Says Tazers are issued by Mayoral. Approval good for the police ?and justice!!

– Thanks for tweeting a pic of my text Verb I can’t believe it lol Which Kung Fu Panda is your favorite?? ;)

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Picture the Ocean Photos: courtesy of Megan Kemshead Photography

Edmonton rockers on reinventing themselves, their sound, and making the best record of their career by Alex J MacPherson

I

t has been a busy year for Jesse and Jacquie Dee, the couple at the heart of the Edmonton-based rock band Picture the Ocean. After cutting a pair of records and performing dozens of shows as a slinky rock duo, the pair decided to expand their sound. They added a bass player and a drummer, changed the name of the band, and made the best record of their career. The last album they made as a duo, Our Ghosts Will Fill These Walls, was edgy and raw, a collection of slithering rock tracks that said a lot with relatively little. Picture the Ocean, which was released in January 2012, is calmer and more expansive. The ragged rock edges have been smoothed, the pop sensibility heightened. The songs are tighter and more refined.

But according to Jesse Dee, their

latest record is more than anything else a foundation on which the band can build — the first to emerge after a period of great change. Now, the band is heading out on the road to play songs from their not-a-debut debut and some new ones as well. I caught up with Jesse Dee to learn more.

Alex J MacPherson: You changed the name of the band to Picture the Ocean to reflect changes in the sound and an expanded lineup. It’s a great name, but was the change difficult?

Jesse Dee: Over the last year and a half since we changed the name I think people have told us that almost every night, how much they love the name, and I couldn’t be

happier that we made the change.

But it’s really hard. It isn’t easy and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

I’m glad we did it but I wish we’d done it a little sooner.

AJM: Picture the Ocean is also the title of your new record. Did you have plans to make a record that was more expansive and more evocative, or did the larger lineup dictate a new approach?

JD: I think it was more just what happened. I’ve been writing songs for a long time and I think I just reached the point where I wanted to write something different than what I’d been doing. We started playing a lot more with a full band arrangement around the time I started writing the songs for that record. I think that was in my mind a lot more during the Continued on next page »

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writing process: how’s this going to sound with drums and bass and how’s that going to work? They were written with that in mind, whereas the songs on previous records were mostly just me and Jacquie playing the tunes as a duo. Those were written pretty much with the guitar in mind; this was more of a band record.

AJM: So tell me, what was making the record like?

JD: We made it really fast. We’d been touring the songs for about a year before we went into the studio. We did the record with a guy in Edmonton named Brad Smith, who we’d recorded a couple records with in the past. He’s a great friend and a fabulous producer, whose ideas of recording have really grown as our band has come together. Every time we’ve worked with him it’s been an advancement in techniques and stuff like that. We had this idea for this album that we would really, really try and get everything live off the floor as best we could and really take advantage of a nice big room.

It was kind of like a necessity to try and create something original… jesse dee

fact that I wrote it. So I think yeah, the songs on that album are kind of like searching for an original approach.

AJM: The first track on the record, “Erehwon,” feels like a road song, and I think sort of sets the tone for the album.

JD: Erehwon is actually the word “nowhere” spelled backwards. It’s obvi-

ous now that you know. But the track title was actually put on the song after I wrote it. A friend of my parents said the song reminded her of a place in New Zealand called Erehwon, which is a region. Then she told me it was “nowhere” spelled backwards.

I thought it was a great title for the song. It’s a road song, the imagery of being in a car with everything flying

by. It’s hard sometimes not to write a road song. But I think I got most of them out on that album. This next one’s not going to have so many road songs. It’ll be more about internal stuff … maybe it came from the road but I think it’s more complicated than that.

It is challenging, but I quite enjoy them, though. Especially in the live performance they’re such a nice break in the middle of a set, to do something where you don’t have to sing. I went to jazz school and I like instrumental music.

AJM: And then there’s the instrumental, “Russia?” Why the question mark?

Picture the Ocean November 8 @ Gillian Snider’s House $15, advance only; e-mail gillians@sasktel.net or call 306 382 5714

JD: I wanted to try an instrumental. So we wrote one in the winter before we recorded the album. Why we called it “Russia?” I don’t know, but we have decided from here on in all instrumental tracks will have a question mark — and you can expect another one on the next album.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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AJM: Why was it important to play the songs live?

JD: I would say this album is like how we play them live. That’s how the songs were developed, on the stage, so when it came time to record them it made sense to do it the same way.

AJM: Compared to your older material, Picture The Ocean is something of a leap for the band. Was the risk something you thought about while making it?

JD: It was kind of like a necessity to try and create something original, something different. I find a lot of the music I’m listening to, a lot of the stuff I’m searching for when I listen to music, is stuff that doesn’t sound like anything else. That’s kind of where the writing of that record started and where I’m definitely still at as a writer: heavily influenced by bands like Wilco, stuff like that, where every song is just different than the last one. I want to make the next album we’re working on where every song has nothing in common with the last one except maybe the

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Ritual Tradition Habit Photos: courtesy of Christopher Bradford

The Belle Game exorcise the past on their dark and introspective debut by Alex J MacPherson

T

he Belle Game released their debut album, Ritual Tradition Habit, earlier this year. The D.N.A. of the band is embedded in each of the album’s twelve dark pop arrangements, rendered using thick layers of distorted guitars, atmospheric keyboards, and adorned with Andrea Lo’s soaring, propulsive vocals. Ritual Tradition Habit is a record about the blank space between youth and maturity.

It captures the anxiety felt by people determined to cast off the past yet uncertain about the future. The Belle Game has spent the last four years shaping and refining its sound, but Ritual Tradition Habit, which was released in April, marks a step into the unknown.

“In your life, you take on these things, whether they’re imposed on you by your parents or how you grew up or the people you’ve associated with,” says Lo, whose ebullient manner clashes magnificently with the darkly introspective vocal performances. “As you evolve and grow up, you kind of question it: are these people, these things, these habits really essential to my life? Then there’s the point where you really just choose whether to hold onto that, or to release it.”

Ritual Tradition Habit is the Belle Game’s first full-length record, but the Vancouver quintet have been active in the Vancouver music scene for several years. In 2011, the Georgia Straight named them one of the city’s best bands. At the time, they had barely any recorded

material. This did nothing to soothe the band’s neuroses, which Lo says manifest as a fanatical attention to detail. “I think it does add a sense of pressure, to know that people are expecting things of us,” she says. “I think we also placed a lot of internal pressure on ourselves as well.”

The Belle Game’s talent stems from their ability to direct and focus heat, pressure, and time. The record that emerged from their downtown Vancouver crucible condenses twenty-odd years of emotion into twelve richly detailed pop songs. The arrangements are dense, almost electronic. Individual instruments emerge from time to time, deftly performed and deeply evocative, but the melodies and harmonies seem to emerge from within each track’s centre of mass.

In some ways, Ritual Tradition Habit is familiar, almost comforting.

The members of the Belle Game have done their homework, and the record is loaded with references to indie rock heavyweights. But Lo and her bandmates are not the Arcade Fire, and they don’t pretend to be. Ritual Tradition Habit contains some of the most confident and assured performances of the year. Hope and redemption emerge from the static of the twenty-first century, but they are always just out of reach. On “River,” Lo wavers between conviction and doubt: “I’ve been a giver / I’ve been a giver since we were kids / Take a little more / Take a little more, take a little more from me.”

“It’s like having twenty-four years of living one way and only knowing your own particular way,”

she says. “Then you’re challenging it. Do I trust myself to make this decision?” The tension that pervades each song, from the classic indie rock cascade of “Wasted Light” and the pop clarity of “Keeps Me Up At Night” to the distorted contours of “Salt + Water,” traces the outlines of a human life. It builds and builds and builds. Listening to Ritual Tradition Habit only reinforces the idea that growing up is, and probably always will be, difficult. But Lo seems to realize that growing up isn’t really about the destination.

“I guess it just emerged from growing up and going through experiences like disappointment and heartbreak,” she says of the record.

“What’s been a big thing for me is the unraveling all of the ideas, or the ideals, of what a life should be.

Right now it’s almost like turning over a new leaf. When you’re thirty-five looking back at thirty you’re going to be asking yourself the same questions. It’s all part of the process. I think you could condemn yourself to that, or you could just be accepting of whatever situation you’re in.”

The Belle Game November 4 @ Amigos $12 advance @ northerntickets.com or the Vinyl Exchange

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Love at the Chelsea Hotel Innovative new stage production explores love and life through the songs of Leonard Cohen by Alex J MacPherson

S

ince it opened in 1884, the Chelsea Hotel has been home to prominent musicians, writers, and artists.

Bob Dylan and Patty Smith lived there. So did Mark Twain and Gore Vidal. Dylan Thomas lived there in the weeks before his death. Nancy Spungen was murdered there. One of the venerable New York hotel’s most famous residents was Leonard Cohen, who was so enamoured with the hotel and its bohemian clientele that he wrote a song about it. “Chelsea Hotel #2” was released on his 1974 album, New Skin For The Old Ceremony. More recently, the Chelsea Hotel served as the inspiration for a stage production that blends live music, dance, and drama.

unusual concepts; Chelsea Hotel is her most innovative project to date. “I love the idea that we created a concert that came alive in a way. Cohen’s music lends itself so well, because it’s so poetic, to theatrical interpretation in a concert setting.”

Chelsea Hotel is not quite a play and not quite a concert, although it includes elements of both. The narrative arc is skeletal, the characters anonymous.

What matters are the songs and the lyrics, new arrangements of Cohen classics by Steve Charles performed live onstage. By combining music and dance with more traditional theatrical ideas, Power was able to create a show that transcends narrative. Chelsea Hotel feels more like a kaleidoscopic array of images, illuminated by Co-

We need to be fearless as artists and fearless as people. tracey power

“I wanted to take a musician’s music and, as actors, theatricalize it,” says Tracey Power, the creative force behind Chelsea Hotel, which premiered in 2012 and will be performed at Persephone Theatre this fall. Power, an experienced writer, actor, and director, has always been drawn to

hen’s timeless poetry. Meaning and clarity emerge not from a script, but from the audience’s interpretations of Cohen’s work.

“I think that’s what drew me to him, the visual images that went with his words and with his music,” Power says of the venerable songwriter from Mon-

treal, whose records bridge the gap between generations. “He’s so poetic and it allows for that creativity to flow.

It’s not a biopic on Cohen or anything; it’s about using his words and his music to inspire our own interpretations.”

Which is not to say Chelsea Hotel lacks structure. The production follows a nameless writer ensconced in the Chelsea as he sifts through his memories and experiences. The audience learns about his turbulent love life through Cohen’s lyrics. “He sees all sides and he’s not afraid to be ugly and he’s not afraid to be beautiful,” Power says. “He’s very fearless in his writing. We need to be fearless as artists and fearless as people.”

What makes Chelsea Hotel so successful is the way Power and musical director Charles are able to give old songs new meaning. Familiarity is anathema to creativity, but by placing Cohen’s songs in an entirely new context, Chelsea Hotel peers through the window of the Chelsea into the great writer’s life — and our own.

Chelsea Hotel Oct 30-Nov 17 @ Remai Arts Centre $23 @ box office, 306 384 7727 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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So It Goes

Hollerado, Holland, and the search for meaning in music by Alex J M

E

arlier this year Hollerado, the prodigal sons of Canadian guitar rock, travelled to Holland to shoot a documentary and a music video.

The project revolved around a song called “So It Goes” from the band’s sophomore album White Paint. Menno Versteeg, the band’s buoyant lead singer, wrote “So It Goes” the day his grandfather died. A four-minute blast of edgy guitars and crashing drums that cascades into one of the most memorable choruses the band has ever written, “So It Goes” captures the essence of Hollerado’s pop-influenced sound. But “So It Goes” is more than just another infectious guitar rock song: its lyrics relate a scarcely believable story of human decency in a time of great strife, a story that begins with the German invasion of Holland in the spring of 1940.

Menno Versteeg grew up listening to his grandfather’s stories of living in Holland at the outbreak of the Second World War, joining the Dutch resistance, and ultimately serving time in a German prison. After the collapse of the Dutch government in May 1940, Karel Versteeg joined the resistance. To avoid being identified by the German occupiers, he disguised himself as a veterinarian, complete with forged papers. It was a

useful cover for smuggling machine guns and generally causing havoc among the invaders. As it turned out, his plan was a little bit too clever.

Versteeg’s elaborate cover crumbled when the Germans noticed that animals in his care tended to die. He was quickly arrested and hauled before an interrogator.

In most cases, suspected resistance fighters were tortured for information and then taken outside, stood

have been friends. In an astonishing act of mercy, the German saved Versteeg from the firing squad and instead had him imprisoned. Versteeg spent two years in the Oranjehotel, a notorious prison for quarrelsome Dutch natives. But the story does not end there.

“The story really gets heavy after the war,” Menno Versteeg says before describing an act of compassion so profound it boggles the mind to

…we’re a very pop band, but we kind of have a foot in the indie world, too.

Menno versteeg

up against a wall, and shot. Versteeg escaped this fate when his interrogator, an officer with an agreeable temperament and considerable influence, decided to spare his life. As Menno Versteeg explains, the two men spoke “soldier to soldier.” The young Dutch soldier asked his German captor what he would do if the situation was reversed; the anonymous interrogator conceded that he, too, would join the resistance. A tenuous connection began to develop between the two young men, who in better times might

think about, even seventy years later.

After the war, he says, “the German officer who spared my grandfather’s life was on trial for his own life. My grandfather went to his trial and he told this story. He testified on behalf of his enemy.” Karel Versteeg’s testimony was enough to save the German officer from an ignominious end on the gallows of Allied justice.

Growing up, Menno Versteeg heard this story countless times. When his grandfather, whom he describes as a brave man and a close friend, died, Continued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of Christian Jaggi

MacPherson the song poured out. It became the centrepiece of White Paint, Hollerado’s second album.

The members of Hollerado — Versteeg, Dean Baxter, Jake Boyd, and Nixon Boyd — have always made music for the right reasons. Since forming in Ottawa in 2007, they have worked tirelessly to build a career and keep their delightfully chaotic guitar rock free from outside influence.

Today, the band is recognized as a

Photo: courtesy of Marc Riccardelli

leader in the do-it-yourself community. Their 2009 debut, Record In A Bag, was exactly what it purported to be: a CD or a vinyl record encased in a plastic bag and accompanied by handwritten liner notes. But in the beginning, Versteeg says, the choice to go alone was necessary rather than aesthetic. “When I was a kid playing in punk bands, no one wanted to sign us, no one wanted to book us. People would say they’d design us a poster but it would cost a hundred bucks, which I didn’t have, so we just did

everything ourselves. And I’m glad that through being crappy we were forced to do that. It’s helped us forge our own path.”

Shortly after releasing Record In A Bag, the band’s commitment to making music on their own terms was vindicated when they won the Big Money Shot, a music competition sponsored by an Ottawa radio station.

Versteeg and his bandmates pocketed a quarter million dollars, which they promptly re-invested in the band.

Then they began a touring odyssey that would last until late 2012, when they began laying down the tracks that would make up White Paint.

Unlike its D.I.Y.-chic predecessor, which was closer to garage rock than polished pop, White Paint is mature and much more dynamic. Record In A Bag was raw and anxious, each song a tightly-coiled bundle of nervous energy. White Paint is more measured.

The songwriting is more refined, the arrangements more sophisticated, the performances more confident.

“With Record In A Bag we were like, put the chorus in, put the riffs in, make sure we like all the parts,” Versteeg says of the band’s gloriously uncomplicated approach to making their debut. “On this one, instead of just playing a guitar solo in the studio and seeing what comes out, which was what we did on the first record, on this one we were like, let’s write

this thing and really stand behind the notes that we’re playing. We put thought into it, but I guess it’s about finding that balance.”

Which is not to say Versteeg and his bandmates have strayed far from their image as scruffy rock musicians known for exuberant live performances. White Paint was not born from some Sisyphean desire to achieve pop perfection: its songs emerged from the simple urge to make something permanent. “I hate calling myself an artist,” Versteeg says, “but for anyone making stuff, you want to make something that’s going to transcend changing tastes and time. And I think you can do that by talking about human stories.

Humans will always be humans.” At its most basic White Paint is a record about big ideas. “So It Goes” is the most personal song on the album, but most of the lyrics refer to loss and love, despair and hope, redemption and the fall. “I got a little bit overwhelmed,” Versteeg says. “When we were writing White Paint I got a little bit too obsessed with those kinds of ideas. I think the next record’s going to be more about what I had for lunch.

If you think about it too much, it can drive you crazy.”

What separates White Paint from other records that deal with similar themes is Hollerado’s refreshing lack of gravitas and pomposity. The band have always embraced brash and enthusiastic guitar pop — Versteeg is open about his admiration for Tom

Petty and Bruce Springsteen — and while White Paint evokes comparisons to London Calling, its ideas are never overwhelming. Moments of poignancy and pathos are subverted by unapologetically poppy guitar licks and playful lyrical ideas that twist and turn and run through each track on the album. But finding the right balance is never easy. ““I love pop, we all love pop, we want to make pop songs,” Versteeg says. “In trying to write pop songs, something we can stand behind, by putting some thought behind it, it’s kind of put us in a strange position.

Our productions are pop and we’re a very pop band, but we kind of have a foot in the indie world, too. It’s an interesting, kind of strange place to be.”

This is the same problem that forced Hollerado to become, reluctantly or otherwise, members of the D.I.Y. community. Today, it causes Versteeg to question the decision to avoid major record labels and the other apparatus of the music industry. “I wonder sometimes, too, if we put this album out with a major label, with that approach to it, if it would have done better. I see some of our peers doing better than we are with that approach, so I wonder if that would have been better. I don’t regret it, but I do think about it.”

Financial gain is not the only measure of success, however. Versteeg likes to express his desire to make music that matters, a criterion more than fulfilled by White Paint. Before

he and his bandmates travelled to Holland, he succeeded in tracking down the grandson of the German officer who saved his grandfather’s life as the world exploded into war.

The two men spoke on the phone and arranged to meet in Munich, Germany. Almost seventy years after their grandfathers had their momentous meeting, two young men met for a beer in a German café. They sat and talked about their families, bound together forever by an act of common humanity — something anyone, anywhere can understand.

“I wanted to share it,” Versteeg says of the song and the story. “It’s crazy, the world that we live in with all these mistakes that have been made by people — and are still being made. We go through two giant world wars and all these other wars, and there’s still people killing each other over the stupidest s**t. A story like this, a story of two people being able to forgive each other in a terrible time, I just thought you can never have enough of those until all the bad things stop.”

Hollerado November 5 @ Amigos $10 @ Ticketedge

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Grand opening, grand ribs Photo courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

New Doc Hollandaise on 8th Street does ribs right by adam hawboldt

W

hen you walk up the stairs to the new Doc Hollandaise on 8th, at the top near the host’s desk there’s a man in a white sailor’s hat playing a keyboard. As the first few chords of the Beatles’ “Obladi Oblada” wafts down the hallway, you enter the restaurant and the place is packed. People are seated at tables, digging into food. Waiters scurrying this way and that trying to keep up with the orders.

This isn’t your average Friday evening at Doc Hollandaise. It’s Grand Opening night, and the place is buzzing.

Earlier in the day, radio stations were on hand promoting the event. Free samples of ribs and peanut butter pie were provided

calamari, stuffed mushrooms (filled with real crab and shrimp) and bacon-wrapped scallops? Nah. Too much seafood. Maybe the rib sampler, shrimp scampi and mushroom caps? Nah. Probably too heavy.

Maybe I’ll substitute the scampi with a Seafood Louis salad? Nope.

Who am I kidding — I’m going with the ribs.

With five different flavours to choose from (honey garlic, BBQ, Greek, teriyaki, and sweet chili) the ribs at Doc Hollandaise are advertised as the best in Saskatoon. Good enough for me. After hemming and hawing a bit, I eventually go with the good ol’ fashioned BBQ ribs. And boy, was it a good choice! The sauce was sweet with a good hint of spice.

And the ribs? Well, simply put, they were fantastic. Big, meaty and falloff-the-bone moist, Doc’s ribs are everything a rib lover could ask for — and then some. As for being the best ribs in the city, well, you know what? They very may well be.

But next time I’m trying those mushroom caps.

for customers. Riders tickets, rodeo tickets, tickets for the Dixie Chicks, Blades’ games and a stay-cation at the Sheraton were all given away.

Oh, and in lieu of the grand opening of the third Doc Hollandaise in Saskatoon (the others are in Sutherland and Stonebridge), the owners of the restaurant, Richard and Karen Bahnman, have decided that, for the next month, they’ll donate a dollar from every meal to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Seated at a table in the corner of the restaurant near the entrance, I take my time and read over the menu. All around me, people are laughing and talking with their dinner partners. At first I’m tempted to do an all-appetizer meal, you know, to have a little taste of a few different things. Maybe the

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide Halloween Sunset

Ingredients

With All Hallow’s Eve just around the corner, why not get yourself in the spirit with this colourful, tasty concoction.

Sure to be a hit at any party.

3oz tangerine juice 1 1/2oz white rum 3/4oz grenadine ice cubes

Doc Hollandaise 1301 8th Street East | (306) 651 5115 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

Directions

Fill a shaker with crushed ice. Add tangerine juice and rum. Shake well, until outside is frosty. Pour the concoction into a tall glass filled with ice.

Top with grenadine and serve.

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Next Week

coming up

Matt Blais

Animal Nation

Blue Rodeo

@ Rock Bottom Friday, November 1 – $10

@ Amigos Cantina Wednesday, November 6 – $TBD

@ TCU Place Monday, January 20 – $55.50+

It’s not easy to make music that’s both entertaining and emotionally engaging. There’s a delicate balance one has to strike. A tight-wire act that is a lot easier said than done.

But on his new album The Heartbeat, Calgary rocker Matt Blais does just that. The songs on the record are light and fun on the one hand, but because of the depth of his lyrics and the passion he brings to the stage, the same songs are also charged with serious and raw emotion. Playing a incendiary brand of rock and roll infused with smooth soul and blues, Blais makes music that’ll make you smile and think. His gravelly voice is infectious, his songwriting poetic, and when he takes to the stage he blows audiences away.

Tickets at the door.

Album names can come from the oddest of places. Take Animal Nation’s latest album, Don’t Grow Up To Be Like Us, for example. Last year, while the experimental hip hop group from Whistler was touring with Saskatoon’s Sly Business, they found themselves in a school parking lot in Invermere, B.C., drinking booze and shooting off fireworks. When the teens got out of class, they joined the musicians in their firework extravaganza, and as the school kids were leaving someone yelled out “Don’t grow up to be like us.” Hence the name of the album, which was written about all the fun and shenanigans that happened during the tour. A collaboration with Sly Business, Don’t Grow Up To Be Like Us ended up being an upbeat, quirky, and altogether excellent.

In 1987, a relatively unknown band from Ontario released a single off their album, Outskirts. That single was called “Try,” and pretty soon it became a staple on Canadian airwaves.

From that point on, Blue Rodeo has been a fixture on our national music scene. And with songs like “Lost Together,” “Hasn’t Hit Me Yet,” “Five Days in May” and “Bad Timing,” there’s good reason why they’ve become one of the most beloved Canadian acts working today. Consisting of such musical heavyweights as Jim Cuddy, Greg Keelor, Bazil Donovan and Glenn Milchem, among others, Blue Rodeo’s alt-country/rock sound is unmistakable. And come January, you’ll have a chance to experience that sound when they return to Saskatoon. Tickets at tcutickets.ca – By Adam Hawboldt

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

Sask music Preview FACTOR has recently launched its largest program overhaul, and will be pairing with SaskMusic to provide an overview of what artists and companies must know about qualifying and applying for funding in 2013-2014.

FACTOR president Duncan McKie and Project Coordinator Derek Wilson will give a presentation and answer questions at The Den in the Two Twenty on November 7 from 7-9pm. Please pre-register by emailing info@ saskmusic.org or calling 306-347-0676 or 1-800-347-0676.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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october 25 » november 2 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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27 28 29 30 31

Friday 25

25 26 1

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House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover Delhi 2 Dublin / Amigos — A Vancouver band that fuses Bhangra with Celtic music.10pm / $12 (ticketedge.ca) Rick Friend / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings?

4:30pm / No cover Brad Johner and The Johner Boys / The Bassment — Saskatchewan country music done right. 9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s — DJ Aash Money throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 Mr. Brownstone / Buds on Broadway — A Guns N’ Roses tribute. 10pm / Cover TBD Loretta Lynn / Dakota Dunes — An iconic country singer/songwriter from south of the border. 8pm / SOLD OUT

BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/ vocal house music. 10pm / $5 DJ Eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits..

9pm / $5 cover Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls / Louis’ — A British folk/punk singer/ songwriter with loads of talent. 7pm / $23 (ticketfly.com) DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm It’s Too Late, Baby / Prairie Ink — Performing songs by James Taylor and Carole King. 8pm / No cover Johnny Don’t / Rock Bottom — Kick your weekend off right! 9pm / Cover TBD Dr J / Spadina Freehouse — A popular local DJ doing his thing. 9pm / No cover 0 Km 2 Empty / Stan’s Place — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests,from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come tear it up on the dance floor. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD

JD Edwards Band / Vangelis — Upbeat folk music from Winnipeg. 10pm / $10 Pistolwhips / Village Guitar and Amp — With Shoeless Joes. 9pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 26

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover Young Benjamins / Amigos Cantina — With The Elwins + John Antoniuk. 10pm / Cover TBD Maurice Drouin / Bassment — Smooth jazz standards. 5:30 Ernesto Cervini and Turboprop / The Bassment — Also featuring Joel Frahm. 9pm / $20/$25 DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a dance party every Saturday night.

9pm / $5 cover Mr. Brownstone / Buds on Broadway — A Guns N’ Roses tribute. 10pm / Cover TBD Blaze of Glory / Dakota Dunes — A Bon Jovi tribute band. 8pm / $10 SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party crew.

9pm / $5 cover

DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music. 8pm / $4 cover Sirvis / Louis’ — A local rapper throwing a CD-release party. 8pm / Cover TBD DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5 Kevin Roy / Prairie Ink — With Donovan Locken. 8pm/ No cover Pandas in Japan / Rock Bottom — Local musical staples that can turn up the heat.

9pm / Cover TBD 0 Km 2 Empty / Stan’s Place — Come out for a rockin’ 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 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 Halloween for Humanity / Vangelis — With Shooting Guns + more. 10pm / $10+

Sunday 27

Martin Janovsky / Bassment — Smooth jazz standards. 5:30pm Industry Night / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy; . 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff DJ KADE / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover

Blues Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The Vangelis Sunday Jam offers great tunes from blues to rock and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover

Monday 28

DJ Audio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD

Tuesday 29

DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — He is able to rock any party. 9:30pm / $4 DJ Nick Ruston / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD Sylvia’s Halloween Howl / Refinery — Bring the kids for a Halloween concert.

10:30am / $7(advance), $9(door) 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

Wednesday 30

HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — With resident DJ Chris Knorr.

9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — Spinning dope beats all night. 9pm / Cover TBD The Blue Mules / Buds — The blues ain’t that bad. 10pm / 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 & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Sylvia’s Halloween Howl / Refinery — Bring the kids for a Halloween concert.

10:30am / $7(advance), $9(door) CJWW Karaoke / Stan’s Place — Your talent, aired on the radio! 9pm / No cover Buck Wild Wednesdays / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Come out and ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / No cover Oh What A Night / TCU Place — A tribute to Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. 7pm / $52.50 (tcutickets.ca)

Thursday 31

New Jacobin Club / Amigos Cantina — A goth rock band with a flare for the dramatic. Also featuring Lavagoat, Wenches & Rogues. 10pm / Cover TBD The Steve Brockley Band / The Bassment — A night of acoustic ballads and lowdown grooves. 8pm / $14/$20

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Big Bang Baby / Buds — Come party for Halloween! 10pm / Cover TBD Throwback Thursdays / Earls — Come experience the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm / No cover DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music all night. 8pm / $4 cover Your Town Throwdown / Odeon Events Centre — Featuring Chad Brownlee, Deric Ruttan, Jason Blaine + Wyatt. 7pm / $27.50+ (theodeon.ca) Sylvia’s Halloween Howl / Refinery — Bring the kids for a Halloween concert.

10:30am + 1:30pm / $7(advance), $9(door) Halloween Bash / Rock Bottom — Featuring Whiskey Songs, Sly Business, DJ Market Mall. 9pm / Cover TBD Halloween Special / Spadina Freehouse — Featuring Mitchy the Kid. 9pm / No cover Elite Force Halloween / Sutherland Hall — Also appearing is Marc Overthere, D3viant + Dangerous Kemical Reaktion.

9pm / $20 Triple Up Thursdays / Tequila — Featuring DJ Dislexic. 9pm / Cover TBD Geezer / Vangelis — It’s old people playing Weezer! 9pm / $8 Open Stage / The Woods — Hosted by Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

Friday 1

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover Paper Kites / Amigos Cantina — Indie rock all the way from Australia. 10pm / $10 (ticketedge.ca) Jesse Brown / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings?

4:30pm / No cover The Shuffle Demons / The Bassment — Three saxophones, a drummer and some crazy dance moves. 9pm / $23/$28

DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a high-energy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/ vocal house music. 10pm / $5 DJ Eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits..

9pm / $5 cover Mat the Alien / Louis’ — Mat’s back with beats, crunches and bass from Squamish.

9pm / $15 (ticketmaster.ca) Pumpkin Up the Jam / Odeon Events Centre — Featuring Ricky Rock, Chris Cole, Kidalgo, Conky Showpony. 9pm / $10(advance)/$15(door) DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm Greg Marquis / Prairie Ink — A folk/pop/ country singer/songwriter. 8pm / No cover Rock Til You Drop / Rock Bottom — With The Shoeless Joes, Eli for Short and Matt Blais. 9pm / $10 Sean Viloria Band / Spadina Freehouse — Funky reggae-infused tunes.

9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests,from Sinatra to Lady Gaga.

10pm / $5 Party Rock Fridays / Tequila — Come tear it up on the dance floor. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD Slow Down, Molasses / Vangelis — With Sparky + Haunted Souls. 10pm / $10

Saturday 2

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

The Brains / Amigos — Also featuring The East End Radicals and The Greak Shakin’ Fevers. 10pm / Cover TBD David Essig, Paddy Tutty / The Bassment — One of the finest interpreters of folk/ bluegrass/country this nation has to offer.

9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a dance party every Saturday night.

9pm / $5 cover Judy Collins / Broadway Theatre — An iconic singer/songwriter from Seattle. 8pm / $45 SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party crew.

9pm / $5 cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music all night. 8pm / $4 cover The Deep Dark Woods / Louis’ — Freewheeling, electric folk. 8pm / $21 (ticketmaster.ca) Head of the Herd, Glorious Sons, Lounge Pistols, Seven Strait / Odeon Events Centre — A Rock 102 cabaret. 7pm / $10.20 Neil Roston / Prairie Ink — A blues/folk act. 8pm/ No cover September Long w/Tim Vaughn / Rock Bottom — A night of jam rock. 9pm / Cover TBD Mike Brant / Spandina Freehouse — This Kamloops’ DJ knows how to get a party started. 9pm / No cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD

Saturday Night Social / Tequila — You will be moving and grooving. 9pm DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD Gunner and Smith / Vangelis — With Boreal Sons and Nick Faye and the Deputies. 10pm / $10

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

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Photo: Courtesy of 20th century fox

The Counselor doesn’t live up to expectations by adam hawboldt

T

he other day a friend of mine asked if I was excited to see The Counselor.

I shot her a look somewhere between “did you put crazy in your cereal this morning?” and “were you been dropped on your head as a child?” before telling her, “Hells yes, I’m excited! Any movie with Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Brad Pitt in front of the camera, Ridley Scott behind it, and the incomparable Cormac McCarthy penning the whole damn thing, is destined to be a classic. Okay, maybe not a classic, but at least it’ll be good. Like, real good.”

Turns out I was wrong.

Maybe it was the high expectations (McCarthy is one of my favourite writers, after all, and I have a small man-crush on Brad Pitt), maybe it was blind faith or lack of good judgment, I don’t know. But after it all I couldn’t shake the feeling that, even though all the pieces to a puzzle were visible and on the table, nobody could figure out how to put the damn thing together.

The story begins with the unnamed lawyer (Fassbender) in bed with his fiancée, Laura (Cruz). Cut to druglord Reiner (Bardem) and his less-than-stable girlfriend Malkina (Diaz) hanging out with their pet cheetahs. Cut to … you know what?

Forget it. The first half of this movie

cuts from one group to another to another so often that’ll it’ll leave some of you confused. Then there’s an act of violence and the movie takes off on a proper arc before fizzling again.

The whole thing is about a guy, the counselor, who (for reasons never really explained) is having money problems so he decides to set

The Counselor Ridley Scott Starring Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz, Brad Pitt Directed by

111 minutes | 14A

No Country for Old Men, which was adapted to screen brilliantly by the Coen brothers, The Counselor lacks that self-aware, nuanced edge that made No Country so fantastic.

It also lacks true depth. Sure, the dialogue is deep. Lines like “It is our faintness of heart that has driven us to the edge of ruin” and “truth has no temperature” are profound enough to get you thinking. But, to be completely honest, they don’t carry any true weight. No gravitas to speak of. Just a bunch of talking.

When big moments of the movie arrive, instead of letting the action and emotion dictate the scene, all the characters do is opine and spew existential half-truths.

And that’s unfortunate. Because, on the surface, The Counselor had so much potential.

The Counselor lacks that … nuanced edge that made No Country so fantastic.

Adam Hawboldt

up a huge drug deal with Reiner and a middle man named Westray (Pitt) to solve his problems. And because this is Cormac McCarthy, the story its riddled with violence, existential conundrums and devastating pessimism. Which is a good thing. In fact, there’s a lot of good things about this movie. It’s stylishly shot, the acting is solid and the dialogue is thoughtprovoking. Oh, and it also features one of the most creative killing devices in recent memory.

Yet for all that, there’s something missing. Unlike McCarthy’s

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@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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poor jane austen

Austenland an insult to one of England’s finest writers by adam hawboldt

P

Photo: Courtesy of sony pictures classics

J

ane Austen was, truly, a helluva writer.

Her writing was technically marvelous and utterly compelling. And her stories — full of wit, an incredible understanding of human nature, humour, ethics and wisdom — were poignant, nuanced and, obviously, classic.

That’s the reason she’s still read today. And there’s good reason why Hollywood likes turning her stories (and very existence) into movies. But you know what?

There’s no good reason for a movie like Austenland to exist.

Seriously. This film, written and directed by Jerusha Hess (who cowrote Napoleon Dynamite with her husband Jared), is so tacky and terrible and wildly un-Austenish that the great writer is, in all probability, rolling over in her grave.

Austenland stars Keri Russell (of Felicity fame) as Jane Haynes, a mousy 30-something with a serious Jane Austen addiction? Or should I say, obsession?

Jane Austen is her life. She loves her books, lives in a faux-Regency decorated apartment, has a cut-out of Mr. Darcy (well, Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy) in her living room. Definitely not a well-adjusted individual.

And, needless to say, her romantic life suffers because of it. After all, which of us men out there can compare to Mr. Darcy?

So when her most recent relationship falls apart, Jane does what any wildly obsessed Austen fangirl would do — she cashes in her life savings and goes to find love in a Jane-Austen-themed resort called Austenland.

Feel free to audibly groan, if you feel like.

Finished? Okay. Let’s continue…

When Jane arrives, Austenland isn’t exactly what she expected.

Sure, the actors there help recreate the world of Jane Austen, as expected.

But unlike the other American at the resort, Ms. Elizabeth Charming (played by Jennifer Coolidge, aka

Stifler’s mom), Jane’s life savings weren’t substantial enough to buy her a position of prestige within the themed-community, and she’s cast as ‘Jane Erstwhile, an orphan of no fortune.’

Not to worry, though. Things soon start looking up as two suitors emerge to win Jane’s hand — Martin the stablehand (played by Flight of the Conchord’s Bret McKenzie), and the Darcyesque Mr. Henry Nobley (JJ Feild).

Who does she choose?

Who cares?

As Jane, Keri Russell is so utterly unimpressive that it’s easier to find plutonium isotopes in nature than it is to care about the character or her fate. Toss that into a movie that is uneven and a gross dumbing down of Jane Austen’s aesthetic, and what you get is a movie that’s unremarkable in almost every way.

The only bright spot in the movie comes from Stifler’s mom. As Ms. Elizabeth Charming, Jennifer Coolidge steals scene after scene

Austenland Jerusha Hess Starring Keri Russell, Bret McKenzie, Jane Seymour Directed by

97 minutes | PG

with her trademark humour, horribly affected English accent, and just enough one-liners to make the movie almost bearable.

Without her, Austenland could’ve easily gone down as one of the worst movies of the year. Thank the movie gods for Stifler’s mom!

Austenland is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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nightlife

friday, October 18 @

jax niteclub

Jax Niteclub 302 Pacific Avenue (306) 934 4444

Photography by Patrick Carley

25 Oct 25 – Oct 31 @verbsaskatoon

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Photography by opalsnaps.com

saturday, October 19 @

Red Zone

Red Zone Premium Sports Bar 106 Circle Drive West (306) 978 6514

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Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, November 1. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

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

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crossword canadian criss-cross 28. Pod vegetable 29. You can play old maid with them 32. Appropriate 36. Three-toed bird 37. Period of history 39. Sticky substance 40. Improvised bed, in Britain 42. Ship built to withstand the Flood 43. Of unknown name: abbr.

44. Flag used to show nationality 46. Foolish 48. Extremely cold 49. ___-cochere 50. One-piece garment 51. Eyelid inflammation

A

1. Unwilling to be social 2. At the very least 3. Afternoon hour 4. Cruel use of power 5. Pole thrown in a Scottish Highland sport 6. Firefighter’s tool 7. Moon trench 8. Make shoes shine 9. Pass a rope through 11. Most common medium of exchange 12. Device used for capturing 14. Source of water 17. Purchased 20. One of the meanings of a word

21. Saws have them 24. Mom’s partner 26. Make a doily 28. Kinds of trucks 29. Surrender possession of 30. With many 31. Rough-skinned apple 32. On behalf of B 33. Set on fire 34. Loop with a running knot 35. Unable to be found 38. Animal that eats bamboo 41. Building beside a barn 43. Twisted to one side 45. Band booking 47. ‘Wayne’s World’ exclamation

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

1. Santa sometimes gets it on his suit 5. Find fault 9. Like some noses, sometimes 10. Self-evident truth 12. Bank employee 13. Shout in a loud and deep voice 15. Have confidence in 16. Historical epoch 18. Cover the inner surface of 19. Reverential salutation 20. Inhale cocaine 22. Salt, in Quebec 23. Hanging 25. Antiknock fluid 27. Slightest bit of

© walter D. Feener 2013

sudoku answer key

DOWN

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

ACROSS

Horoscopes october 25 – october 31 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Getting fed up with things around you this week, Aries? Take a step back and a deep breath, and don’t let these things get you down.

You’re going to be full of energy this week, Leo, so you may find yourself working harder than usual. Put this to good use. You’ll be grateful you did.

If you’re feeling nostalgic this week, Sagittarius, take a long walk down Memory Lane. You’ll be surprised with what you see.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

You know that old saying “don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched?” Well, it applies to you this week, Taurus. Bide your time.

There may be some new responsibilities thrown your way this week, Virgo. Don’t take them lightly. A lot could be riding on this.

Change is in the air, Capricorn.

Embrace it, no matter how difficult that seems, and a whole new world could open up for you.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

It isn’t your style to make grand gestures, Gemini, we know this.

But maybe make an exception this week.

It’s your time to shine!

Fantastic news is just around the corner, Libra. But you may have to traverse a rocky road before you reach said corner.

Be very careful not to over exert yourself this week, Aquarius. Your energy levels may be waning, so shore up your reserves for the time being.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Have you been feeling overwhelmed lately, Cancer? If so, you’re in luck. Things will smooth out really soon.

You have a sharp mind and a thirst for knowledge, Scorpio. Put it to good use this week. You never know what you’ll uncover.

It’s time to hit the ground running this week, Pisces. Don’t hesitate or slack off, though. Doing so could come back to bite you later in the week.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

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