Verb Issue S277 (Feb. 14-20, 2014)

Issue #277 – February 14 to February 20

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S O L I D S

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better safe than sorry Inside the world of Saskatchewan preppers. zakk wylde Legendary guitarist talks new project, bringing metal to the children winter’s tale + mandela: long walk to freedom Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of tania mcdonald

contents

On the cover:

solids

Blame confusion. 16 / cover Photo: courtesy of Tania McDonald

NEWs + Opinion

better safe than sorry A look at Saskatchewan preppers 4 / Local

heart ( and arms ) of a champion Tracey Arnold talks technique. 6 / Local

police protection Our thoughts on putting cameras on cops. 8 / Editorial

comments Here’s what you had to say about legalizing assisted suicide. 10 / comments

culture

Q + A with zakk wylde Legendary guitarist on his new show. 12 / Q + A

The Revival on getting back to music.

cubans, soup and a cool new coffee shop

14 / Arts

We visit the Local Coffee Bar.

doing it for alex

18 / Food + Drink

shadow on the wall

music

Memorsion mesmerizes.

Children of Bodom, Goo Goo Dolls + Bruno Mars. 19 / music

15 / Arts

entertainment

live music listings Local music listings for February 14 through February 21. 20 / listings

winters tale + mandela: long walk to freedom

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 29 / comics

We review the latest movies 22 / Film

Nightlife Photos

Games + Horoscopes

We visit Vangelis + The Yard & Flagon.

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

24 / Nightlife

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

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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 graphic 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

Comments / feedback@verbnews.com / 306 881 8372 advertise / advertise@verbnews.com / 306 979 2253 design / layout@verbnews.com / 306 979 8474 General / info@verbnews.com /

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better safe than sorry

Saskatchewan preppers not always what you think

by ADAM HAWBOLDT

I

magine this: it’s a Sunday, just before twilight.

You’re sitting in your house, on your couch, watching your favourite television program. It’s the season finale. And just as the show is about to reach a climax, the power flickers, comes back on, flickers again and goes out. The television dies, the lights go dark.

A strange sound echoes through your house. A low continuous rumble like a nearby passing train.

You get up off the couch and go to the window. Off in the distance a ferocious tornado is funneling towards your house, tearing up everything in its path.

Panic sets in. You dart down to your basement, taking the stairs two steps at a time, and shut yourself in a room with no windows. You crawl under a table or cover yourself with a mattress or blanket, and wait out the storm.

When you emerge from your basement, your house is destroyed.

The roof is torn off, the kitchen decimated. Lumber and appliances are littered across your yard. Ev-

erywhere you look, for as far as the eye can see, things are reduced to rubble. Streets are blocked with debris.

Stuck in a situation like this, most of us wouldn’t know what to do, wouldn’t know what to think. We’d be up s**t creek without that proverbial paddle.

But not Tammy. She’s ready for something like this to happen. A tornado, flood, massive power outage, a total global economic collapse.

Tammy is ready because Tammy is a prepper.

According to Oxford’s online dictionary, a prepper is a person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies.

And if you’ve seen any of the television shows or documentaries about these folks, at times they tend to come off as lunatics, or paranoid, doomsday nut jobs who take things way too far.

But that’s not always the case.

“People need to realize that all preppers aren’t gun-slinging rednecks,” says Tammy, as she wanders up and down the aisles of her local grocery store. “We’re not all camped out behind concertina wire with our guns and supplies. I mean, there are a few people like that in Saskatchewan — we’re talking the concrete bunker crowd here — but not a lot of them.”

And Tammy should know. She is a member of the Saskatchewan Preppers Network, so she’s been in contact with every kind of prepper you can think of. But most of them, she says, are more like her. Most of them are people who would rather be safe (and prepared) than sorry — in case of a natural disaster or, say, a serious emergency. People who cultivate old-world skills, who get back to the basics. Or, as she puts it, a lot of preppers are simply about “getting back to good old common sense.

Not depending on outside sources for their daily bread.”

Standing in the toilet-paper aisle of her local grocery store, Tammy looks around. “Look at this — Scope, pit stick, sanitizer,” she says.

Chuckles and, under her breath, Continued on next page »

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repeats the word sanitizer. “I know so many people that get freaked out about germs. They’ll run and pay, what is it? Something like $6.99 for a bottle of poison because they’re told it works. They’re convinced it works. They don’t think about these things. They don’t realize that if you want to really sanitize your hands all you need is vinegar. It’s cheap, it’s non-carcinogenic, and it’s an acid. It kills 100 percent of bacteria. Same as lemon juice … People don’t realize these things anymore.”

But Tammy does. That’s why she makes her own lip balm, her own laundry soap, her own toothpaste and shampoo. That’s why she has a living room full of aloe vera plants, and a garden where she grows everything from potatoes to onions

perform minor medical and first-aid treatments — just in case.

”Come a natural disaster, like a flood or the tornado you were talking about, guess who has food?” asks Tammy, still roaming the grocery store. “Guess who has water? Guess who has medical supplies and the skill to treat wounds?”

You can almost picture Tammy pointing to herself when she says this. You can also imagine her as the type of person who would have a serious contingency plan if a natural disaster did occur.

Imagine that, and you’d be right.

“I have an older home in town,” says Tammy, who lives in Grenfell.

“Most of these older houses have a cold room or a storage corner. So

… I have 72 hours worth of food, water, batteries, basic first aid materials…

Tammy

to Chinese snow peas the size of your hand.

See, Tammy has chosen to decrease her dependence on modern society. To decrease the chance of encountering the chemicals and food additives in the things we purchase.

But that’s not all.

Along the way, she has also learned how to can food and how to

down there I have 72 hours worth of food, water, batteries, basic first aid materials, that kind of stuff. So if we have to bug in, we’d be fine.”

Bug in is prepper terminology that means if something happens, like a major power outage or storm, you’re prepared to stay where you are, hunkered down in your house.

Bugging out, as you’d guess, means

the exact opposite. It means getting the hell out of Dodge if your home is destroyed.

Tammy is prepared for that, too.

“I have a bug out bag packed and stored under the stairs,” she says. “In it, there’s a small first aid kit, 500-feet of paracord, which is handy in all kinds of strange situations.” When asked what paracord is used for, Tammy chuckles and says, “Have you ever tried to hang a tarp with toothpicks? Paracord is ridiculously light. It’s like having instant rope. It’s small, lightweight, easy to deal with.

If you have to, say, grab a horse and throw a halter on it, you can craft one out of paracord. You can make a clothesline, you can hang a tarp to sleep under.”

Tammy’s bug out bag also includes a change of clothes, extra shoes, warm socks, granola bars and bottles of water until she can get to a decent water source.

And if by chance she has to bug out, the plan is for her and her family to get to the farm they own outside of town. There, there are more provisions. More food and supplies.

That’s Plan A. But what if something more serious happens. Like, say, the mega volcano underneath Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming erupts?

“That’s the biggest threat we have here in Saskatchewan,” says Tammy. “Luckily we’re outside the blast zone, outside the worst of the ash zone. But if that happens, what my family and I have agreed upon

is we all get our gear and meet up at the farm, then decide from there. If it came right down to it, and there was absolute destruction in this area, there’s another party I know that has an alternate location in northern Manitoba … so that would be the next destination.”

But Tammy hopes it never comes to that. She hopes she lives the rest of her life in safety, growing her vegetables, making her household

products, trading heirloom seeds and other things with others on the Saskatchewan Preppers Network.

And if that doesn’t happen, if some natural disaster swings in and wreaks havoc — she’ll be ready.

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Heart (and arms) OF Tracey Arnold and arm wrestling in Saskatchewan by ADAM HAWBOLDT

W

hen Tracey Arnold steps to an arm wrestling table, she’s focused. The crowd around her dissolves. Sometimes she doesn’t really see her opponent. Just the arm on the table in front of her.

Her mind is clear. She’s deep in her own head, lost in the moment.

But she’s ready. Tracey Arnold is always ready.

That’s because when she’s not competing, Arnold is training. Some of the time that involves being at the gym, working with an exercise therapist who has developed workouts that are specifically geared towards arm wrestling. “Your core plays a huge factor in arm wrestling,” says Arnold, “so when I’m in the gym, I’m working on my core. I do a well-balanced exercise [regime] that allows my strength and stamina to peak when I’m going into the major event at a competition.”

Other times she’s in the garage of one of the other members of her arm wrestling club, doing table work and

practicing technique. Putting herself in different positions and different situations. Training her mind and body to react without having to think.

“When you take the element of stopping to think out of the equation, you’ll react faster,” explains Arnold. “We call it hitting first. You want to start fast, catch your opponent off guard. If you do that, you have the advantage.”

There are times when Arnold steps to an arm wrestling table she knows her opponent, knows what they’re going to do before their hands ever lock. But that’s not always the case. If Arnold doesn’t know her opponent, hasn’t seen her compete before, there’s a feeling-out process that takes place.

A process that is almost instantaneous, but oh so important.

The history of arm wrestling is an ancient one. Paintings, thousands of years old, show what appears to be an arm wrestling contest on an Egyptian

tomb. Across the Atlantic Ocean, on these shores, arm wrestling developed from a Native American game where competitors used their arms (and other parts of their bodies) to unbalance and pin their opponent.

In 1952, a journalist named Bill Soberanes organized the first recorded arm wrestling competition in Petaluma, California, at a place called Gilardi’s Saloon.

That’s the history, according to the Ultimate Arm Wrestling League.

Tracey Arnold’s history with the sport begins much later than that. It begins a few years after a tragic accident.

In 1990, Arnold and her family were involved in a serious car crash. Her father died. The rest of her family had extensive injuries. As for Tracey, she suffered nerve damage and severe injuries to her spinal cord, heart, pelvis, limbs and face. Injuries that left her paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair.

She was 12 years old.

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Photo: Courtesy of jeff binns

a champion “Before the accident I was very active and competitive in sports,” she remembers, “but after it, being injured like that, there wasn’t a lot that I could do.”

Not the type of person to be held down, Arnold learned to walk again.

Then, a handful of years after the accident, she walked up to an arm-wrestling table (with the help of a cane) for the first time to compete.

up,” says Arnold. “If someone grips lower on the hand, that means they’re going for a hook.”

If you’ve ever arm wrestled across a kitchen table, chances are you used the hook technique. That’s when you curl your wrist as hard as you can, get your body over your arm while keeping close proximity to your torso, and push down with your arm and body. If someone grips your hand

I want to be ready and be able to adapt to anyone’s style. tracey arnold

“It was 1996. I entered a tournament and won,” says Arnold.

After that, she was hooked.

“You can usually tell what technique someone’s going to use when they grip

higher, chances are they’re going for a toproll. This technique relies more on leverage than strength. What you do in the toproll is put pressure on your opponent’s fingers so their hand opens up, whereby making it easier to pin their hand.

Then there’s the press, one of the purest power moves in arm wrestling.

Here, you want to get your opponent’s palm facing up, your hand on top, then simply use brute strength to “press” your opponent’s hand to the table.

In the raw and competitive world of arm wrestling, many competitors have a signature style or favourite technique they use, others become more well-rounded.

Tracey Arnold falls into the latter category.

“I train everything,” she says.

“I want to be ready and be able to adapt to anyone’s style. If I know my opponent is stronger in one technique I want to be able to use another. For example, if they’re good at hooking, I’m not going to hook with them. I’m going to try to toproll them, get the advantage.”

Not only does Arnold train all techniques, she also trains and competes with both hands. A natural righty, Arnold has won numerous national championships in both

the right- and left-hand categories in her weight class.

She’s also competed in a slew of arm wrestling world championship tournaments, with her best results coming in 2010 at the XXXII World Armwrestling Championships in Mesquite, Nevada. There, she won silver in the Disabled Ladies Left 60+kg division and a bronze in the Disabled Ladies Right 60+kg division.

“At worlds I usually compete in the open class, but that year I competed in the disabled and it was tough,” says Arnold. “The way they broke down the weight, I ended up competing against women who outweighed me

by about 100 pounds. So yeah, winning those medals, that was probably the high point of my career so far.”

But her career isn’t over yet. There are more competitions to enter, and provincials are just around the corner.

Then nationals. And worlds.

In the meantime, Arnold will be training, getting ready for whatever is thrown her way.

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Police protection Video cameras on cops increases safety for all

T

he idea of police officers wearing small, portable cameras on their uniforms isn’t anything new.

From small town America to European metropolises, police agencies are making a strong push for their law enforcement officials to start wearing body cameras, arguing that doing so protects both officers and the public.

We agree with this practice, which is why we are advocating that our police services in Saskatchewan outfit their members with recording devices.

Recording officers is something we are all familiar with. So often we see news reports of criminal activity, where a shaky cell phone video represents a bystander’s perspective of the events. Unfortunately, those don’t always have the audio quality necessary to understand what’s going on, nor do they always show what transpired beforehand. A small camera on an officer, though, would provide a more complete picture, not to mention holding both the public and the police accountable for their interactions with one another.

A nice idea, sure. But will it actually work?

The answer is yes. Case in point: the city of Rialto, in southern California. There, the police force have used miniature video cameras and

microphones to record police interaction with civilians. The cameras attach to the police officer’s collar.

Police are expected to activate the cameras whenever they leave the patrol car and the videos it records are automatically uploaded to a central server back at headquarters. Think of it as a visual evidence locker or something of the sort.

But not everyone on the forces gets a camera during a shift. To determine whether or not these gadgets work, it was decided that only half the officers on shift will wear a camera, which would permit the department to do a comparative study of incidents with and without a recording device.

The results, to date, have been nothing short of staggeringly impressive. According to the study, in the first 12 months the cameras were in use the Rialto police department experienced an 88 percent decrease in the number of complaints filed against their officers.

What’s more, the study also showed that Rialto police officers used force about 60 percent less often. Oh, and when force was used, it was twice as likely to come from a cop without a camera.

And to mitigate concerns that officers would only switch on their cameras after an incident has

transpired, the devices featured a “pre-event video buffer.” This means that the apparatus records and holds the most recent 30 seconds of film whenever the camera is turned off; by extension, it would also likely capture whatever event occurred that prompted an officer to turn on his or her camera in the first place.

Because the results of this and other trial runs have been so favourable, most major cities in Canada are lobbying for their law enforcement officials to use body cameras.

Calgary started rolling them out en masse last August. Body cameras have also been tested in Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto. Oh, and Montreal and Vancouver are also considering equipping their officers with the devices.

Putting cameras on officers protects the public while also protecting the police, and does so with great success.

And we should be doing it here.

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

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masks as a precaution.

In response to “For our protection,” Edito-

On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about legalizing assisted suicide in Canada. Here's what you had to say:

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

be allowed. We should not be punishing medical personnel from following patients orders that are within reason. Agree that it gets tricky when it involves a young person or a child who has a terminal illness, especially if they are in pain but this is a conversation Canadians need to have.

– Yes people should be able to determine when and how they die if they are suffering and should be able to seek out medical assistance to do so why is this even still a conversation we are having in 2014? Doesn’t it seem outrageous that the government has a say in the proper ways you can die? So stupid.

– Taking your own life is a sin so no, doctor’s should be making you comfortable and helping you get better not killing you

– Canada is behind the times on this one. Permitting doctors to perform end of life rites for people who have explicitely expressed those wishes should

– Agree with the editorial “Dying with Dignity” I think this is long overdue in Canada. There are obvious problems with a system that permits assisted suicide but there’s just as many problems with a system that prevents it people suffering unduly and dying in long prolonged agony.

– Euthanasia is a tricky subject to talk about because what do you do if its a young kid or maybe someone with a mental health problems how do you make sure that they understand what they are choosing to do.

– YES! Let’s embrace legalizing euthanasia in Canada Sue Rodriguez suffered horribly, as have countless other people and we need to change things to help them.

OFF TOPIC – Re mandatory flu shots Be very careful what you wish for. Every time citizens are coerced is one step closer to the camps. We are not taught that the Nazis were Socialists- who thought that the Nation was more important than the individual. And the fact that Drs aren’t getting flu shots should be a clue as to how effective they really are. But they can wear

rial, #275 (January 31, 2014)

– I just finished reading your artical “Sex Work In Saskatchewan” A very good read and a informative viewpoint that needed to be said out loud, I have a few friends in said industry who share those very same viewpoints. I tip my hat to you for putting it out there! :) Salute, Kaine In response to “Sex work in Saskatchewan,” Local, #275 (January 31, 2014)

– Thanks for featuring a tribe called red. These guys are huge so amazing and it’s great to see them getting some attention in local media.

In response to “Past & Present,” Feature, #276 (February 7, 2014)

sound off – Low income Families survive through kindness and Carry it foward ... While some senators Duff it up,wallen those go hungry? ... WAKE UP !

– Budget release is so stupid idiot is up there taking more of my money wearing new shoes because of traditioN? Get a new tradition.

– Bus drivers and their dam games, figure they can drive whenever they feel like. REALITY CHECK- you have a schedule to run, stay on schedul Truth Is Power-Try It

– Loving Canada does not mean you are duty bound to love Mr. Harper.

– I notice a few things about the Olympics. Winter Olympics is mostly a white folk thing. Athletes are incredibly self involved. God it all burns planet!

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– Let’s go Canada you’re doing so great! Sochi 2014!!!

– Men’s hockey tomorrow can’t wait LET’S GO CANADA!

- Go canada go bring home the gold :)

– Mark McMorris Saskatchewan is so proud of you! Great job, we love you!!

– Free beer in Olympic village if you scan your Canadia passport.

Canada has won the Olympics all ready lol

– Loving Canada or pimping out Canada to Big Oil ...

– All you people who think you’re morning people, not lazy, go getters, all that! Lets see ya do it without a drug caffeine. If you can’t’ go home with your sh*t!

– I was LIVING Happily EVER after...UNTIL the JONESES moved in ON EITHER side of ME.

– Happy birthday to me!

– What type of car does Luke Skywalker drive? A Toy-Yoda!

– Spring is on its way. I can feel it in my bones.

– MBC without Into The Night program And that cool DJ... What now ? No radio...

but you just never know. Everyone has a story. Share yours, and listen to others. xoxo

– There’s nothing like a chemical peel every day to feel riiich!

– I like your puppies they are so cute Verb!

– There is something that we need to talk about in terms of Sochi everyone was so upset about it before I’m talking about the human rights issues and everything but now that the Games have started complacent, lazy Canadians have gone on to cheering for our country and ignoring the problems we can’t stop talking about what went wrong with Sochi (and Vancouver and Beijing and everywhere that has hosted the Olympics). It’s damaging to the environment, it hurts the homeless populations of each venue. Why do we keep building new places for the Olympics instead of reusing old venues that have hosted them before. Oh wait: money. It’s a sad cycle people and that is the sad truth!

– Agree with maniac drivers text in the verb it’s horrible out there people especially in big trucks act like it’s okay and not a big deal at all

– Who even cares about the Olympics it’s so ridiculous and that doesn’t make me less of a Canadian so THERE!

Next week: What do you think about putting cameras on police offiers? Text in your thoughts to Verb to get in on the conversation:

– People in trucks are effing terrible drivers

– It’s important to hold your tongue and wait a second before lashing out. You may be having the worst day, people around you may be aggravating and angry,

– What was Beethoven’s favourite fruit? BANANANAAAAAAAAAA!

– To the jerk who left their dog in the car without it turned on in Sobeys: you are awful. Your dog was shivering and looked miserable and your car was all frosted up so it had been there for a while. Please take care of your pets!

– When will the Simpsons get good again?

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts and reactions to our stories and content, or anything else on your mind.

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Bringing Metal To The Children

Photos: courtesy of clay Patrick mcbride

‘An Evening With Zakk Wylde’ shows off a different side of the legendary guitarist by Alex J MacPherson Continued on next page »

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T

he long and storied history of rock and roll is flush with great guitar players. Very few of them, however, changed the way people think about their instrument. One of these is Zakk Wylde, the New Jersey-born axe-slinger who rose to prominence as an integral part of Ozzy Osbourne’s band and, later, as the frontman of Black Label Society. His mastery of the blistering guitar lick and the fuzzed-out wah wah solo have made him a legend among guitar players; few are more admired, or more envied.

But like most other titans of rock and roll, like Jimmy Page and Keith

Zakk Wylde: Well, we just did it originally to go out and do a thing promoting the book, when it came out in paperback. I was like, instead of doing that why don’t we do a gig? And it’ll be a combination of, you know, us jamming, doing a stripped-down version of it, the acoustic-type thing, and then a storyteller gone horrendously wrong meets George Carlin thing. And then us doing the musical stylings of Black Label.

That’s basically how it came about.

AJM: So it’s not quite a concert and not quite a reading, but somewhere in between?

These actually really happened and you just go, you got to be kidding me.

Alex J MacPherson: How did you come up with the idea for “An Evening with Zakk Wylde”?

ZW: I would think definitely. Actually, you know what? I can take any of the heavy songs and make them mellow, I really can. So for me it’s really no big deal. I definitely dig it. Like, what I did on The Song Remains Not The Same: tweak all the songs, take heavy songs and make them mellow. So it’s definitely cool. When we did Unblackened and stuff, it was like taking a trip down memory lane with some of these songs, you know what I mean? And when we come up there on the book run we’re definitely going to be playing a bunch of songs that usually never see the light of day, which is always fun.

AJM: So both are appealing, albeit for different reasons?

zakk wylde

Richards and Duane Allman, Wylde has a soft side. His first solo album, 1996’s Book Of Shadows, was closer in spirit to “Tangerine” than “Rock and Roll.” Since then, Wylde has emerged as a quiet champion of the acoustic guitar, demonstrating again and again his ability to write great songs and animate them with subtle, chorus-saturated acoustic guitar licks and his charmingly ragged voice. Last year, Black Label Society released a collection of acoustic songs called Unblackened which set the stage for the guitarist’s latest venture, a concert tour titled “An Evening With Zakk Wylde.” Featuring stripped-down versions of songs that span his storied career, as well as riotously funny and totally debauched anecdotes from his new memoir, Bringing Metal To The Children, the concert promises to show off a side of the now-legendary guitar player few know exists — and make sure everyone leaves with ringing ears and a big smile. Last week, I called Wylde to learn more about his love of acoustic music, his memoir, and his wicked sense of humour.

AJM: You’re best known as an electric guitar player, but you’ve also got a long history of recording stripped-down acoustic material. Do you find that certain songs lend themselves to that treatment while others don’t?

ZW: Yeah. We jam and then I read a bunch of stuff from the book and tell some goofy-ass stories, so it turns into basically a stand-up routine.

Then it goes back to jamming. It’s another excuse to go out and see the Black Label family and have a good time, man.

AJM: What’s the appeal for you of a night like this, rather than a full-on rock concert?

ZW: It’s definitely cool, when you hear how that song came about or whatever. I’m still a huge massive fan, and if I went and saw Robert Plant and he was doing something like this, talking about how these songs came about and telling some goofy-ass stories, some Zeppelin stories, we’d all be cracking up and having a good time. And then obviously we get to jam. We did a west coast one and we did an east coast one, and then we were like, we should definitely do this up in Canada when we have some time. So in between doing the record, earning my next Nobel Peace Prize, and coming up with the cure for cancer and world hunger — that’s before brunch — and before I clean the dog run I was like, see if we can fit this Canadian run in so we can hang out with our Canadian Black Label family.

ZW: I think if you ask most musicians it’s the same. I mean, I love doing both.

As much as I love listening to “Black Dog” with Zeppelin, I love listening to “Going To California,” too.

AJM: And then there’s the book, Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Berzerker’s Guide to World Tour Domination. Awesome title, by the way.

What made you decide to write a book?

making fun of that. Then I was like, the whole book needs to be this. Just so you could pick it up, anywhere in the book, and start going, you got to be f**king kidding me. It’s just ridiculously stupid — and the whole thing is I’m not making up any of the stories. These actually really happened and you just go, you got to be kidding me. No. It’s not worth making it up. The tsunami of stupidity and ridiculousness that you run into, that is the music business? It’s an endless supply.

AJM: The music business is that bad?

ZW: It really is, man. The thing is with the music business there is no real qualifications or anything like that. It’s like, whoever your manager is, you’ve known him since high school. Yeah, but he runs an automotive shop, a garage! I know, he doesn’t know contracts, he doesn’t know how the music business works, but he knows how to read, write, add, and subtract — he’ll be fine. There are no qualifications. I mean, if you’re going to have somebody weld something, you’ve got to have a license to be a welder.

If you’re going to be a doctor, you’ve got to have a degree. Whereas if

you’re in the music business, you just need to show up. [Laughs] AJM: Okay, so given how crazy it is, what has allowed you to survive and flourish in it?

ZW: Um, a lot of payola? No, between hookers, drugs, and money — cocaine, all that stuff — it’s basically just payola, and buying your way into happiness. That’s what I tell all the kids. I go, you definitely want to practice, that’s definitely a must. But I say, the way Uncle Zakk wins all these guitar awards, between the ice sculptures, the strippers, the hookers, the money? I go, mind you these awards cost a lot of money to win, but at the end of the day you play to win. At the end of the day, you just practice and work hard — and don’t ever lose your sense of humour, man.

An Evening With Zakk Wylde February 22 @ The Broadway Theatre SOLD OUT Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

ZW: Writing the book? That came about because me and [co-writer] Eric [Hendrikx] were just sitting around talking about these ridiculous stories all the time. It was just kind of like, we’d always end it with ‘we need to write a book someday.’ And we finally did. So that’s what came about.

AJM: Did you have an idea of where you wanted it to go, or was it more about getting the stories down on record somewhere?

ZW: Put it this way: when we started writing it, it was a guitar instruction book and then equipment and then studio and then goofy stories. Then we just started the book and we were literally crying laughing, just us taking the piss out of a funny story about how ridiculous something can be, and then just us

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Doing it for Alex

Photos: courtesy of Stefanie Johnson

The Revival on overcoming the loss of drummer Alex Danyliuk, making a record in his honour by Alex J MacPherson

W

hen the four members of the Revival, a Winnipeg band known for incorporating glitchy electronic sounds into the framework of classic rock and roll, began laying plans for their debut album, none of them expected that the excitement and anticipation of writing and recording new music would be shattered by a tragedy. And then everything changed. On April 12, 2013, Alex Danyliuk, the band’s perennially cheerful drummer, died unexpectedly while jogging in Winnipeg’s Vimy Ridge Memorial Park.

His bandmates and friends were devastated. But instead of packing up their instruments and moving on to other projects, Eric Clefstad, Kevin Hogg, and Jay Jensen resolved to finish the album — the follow up to 2012’s Brady Bird EP and a testament to how much Danyliuk influenced the band.

“It wasn’t even a question when he passed: we knew we had to keep going,” says Jensen, who grew up and played in a number of bands with Danyliuk before joining forces with Hogg and Clefstad to form the Revival. “It’s been a dream of ours, a shared dream, and it was difficult at first and very confusing. There are a lot of emotions that come into play.

But it’s what he would have wanted.

He would have slapped us in the face if we’d said we were quitting. And everyone around us was so supportive and saying, you guys have got to keep going, it’s super important that you do this. And everything’s made sense, it never seemed wrong. There was never a question.”

The four musicians came together in 2008. Before long, they swapped beer-drenched house shows for slots on some of the best bills in Winnipeg. In 2012, they recorded and released The Brady Bird EP, which captures some of the band’s early experiments with synthesizers and other electronic noisemakers. Some of the songs, like the driving party anthem “Shake This,” are built on a foundation of hypnotic synthesizer riffs and animated by spiky guitar licks.

Others are more straightforward, combining punchy riffs, infectious pop choruses, and fractious breakdowns to create memorable blasts of noise and joy.

“The EP was scattered, to be honest,” Jensen says. “It was our first full release, so that’s why it’s all over the place. We were younger and didn’t know exactly what we were doing.”

But what The Brady Bird EP lacked in coherence it made up for in raw energy. From the opening chords of “Stuck In My Head,” a midtempo love song to the ineffable power of women and music, to the searing funk guitar lick that propels “Mark McKee” to its soaring chorus, The Brady Bird EP captures the sound of a band searching for its sound. According to Jensen, the band extracted the best ideas for the forthcoming album, which, like the EP, was recorded at Winnipeg’s Bedside Studios.

“This time we brought in a fellow named Mike Nash from Montreal, who’s a producer,” Jensen says. “He helped us define our sound. He was like the shepherd.” (Nash has worked with everyone from the Stills and the

Dears to Bran Van 3000.) Although the record won’t be out until sometime later this year, the basic tracks have all been committed to tape and the band is in the midst of the mixing process. According to Jensen, the new songs are heavier and more aggressive than those on the EP, which occasionally veered into the realm of straightforward guitar pop. More importantly, the new record promises to lay out a more unified sound — the refinement of the best ideas explored on The Brady Bird EP. Later this month the Revival will head out on tour with drummer Scott Beattie to play a string of shows across western Canada. Jensen is looking forward to road-testing some of the new songs — the songs that will stand as Danyliuk’s last contribution to the band that without his guiding influence and steady right foot would still be playing dank basements and grimy living rooms in Winnipeg. “All the songs that are on the album we actually wrote with him,” Jensen says.

“We were literally doing preproduction a week before he passed and we completed all the songs. Now we can show him what we can do and honour what he wrote with us, what we did together, what we captured in that moment in time.”

The Revival February 20 @ Rock Bottom $TBA Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Shadow on the wall

Photos: courtesy of manuel chantre

Manuel Chantre’s Memorsion explores the relationship between people and the places they occupy by Alex J MacPherson

M

anuel Chantre’s Memorsion is a fragmented vision of urban decay, a collection of fractured images of abandoned industrial spaces accompanied by a cacophony of anxiety-inducing sound. Immersive and unsettling, Chantre’s audiovisual installation, which he created in 2010, is much more than a metaphor for a society crumbling under the weight of rampant capitalism. Because Memorsion responds to each individual viewer, and because the environment is both abstract and familiar, it raises questions about the ways in which people imprint empty spaces with a shadow of themselves. In other words, Memorsion explores the relationships between people and the spaces they occupy, abandon, and remember.

“I studied in the humanities, science, and I was really interested in the statement that the culture is built, that it’s constructed by humans,” the artist, sound designer, and composer says from his home in Montreal. “So from that point, with the piece I reversed the idea and I tried to create an environment based on really important representations related to architecture, but put it in a nonlinear aspect for people to bring their own [memories] about their own experiences. It was a kind of test also, to test the statement that the environment and the whole world around [is] a human construction.”

In practical terms, Memorsion consists of twenty-two large white screens arrayed throughout the gallery.

A series of video projectors and mirrors is rigged to display a semi-random assortment of images on the screens. The accompanying musical score is chaotic and anxious; it sounds like reconstituted and strangely musical industrial noise. The effect is profound: Memorsion creates an environment that is both immersive and deeply compelling. These basic elements expand on Chantre’s other work with constructed environments, notably a short film, Réflections…réflexions, designed to be shown on a cylindrical screen.

What makes Memorsion unusual is its response to the viewer. The projections are triggered by motion; viewers experience different images and sounds based on how they choose to navigate the space. “I want to be at the crossroad of different interpretations of our architectural environment,” Chantre says of the images in the show. “By using really symbolic and important aspects of the architectures that are in our day-to-day lives, and by bringing it in this stylish environment, I want to make a confrontation of the things that are normal for us. At the same time, by presenting them in a deconstructed aspect, it’s stimulating imagination and simulating different interpretations.” In other words, Memorsion forces the viewer to re-imagine the world around her and then evaluate that experience, asking how much or how little stems from unique perceptions and memories.

This is possible because Memorsion makes use of images, mostly architectural elements, that are both universal and personal. By selecting images — trusses and beams, columns and arches — that are instinctively familiar to most people, Chantre transformed the exhibition into a blank canvas onto which people must project their own recollections and memories — and in doing so challenge the idea that cityscapes will remain unchanged long after the people have departed. This phenomenon also extends to the gallery itself in a sort of meta-artistic fashion. Because the viewer’s choice determines how the projections will be displayed, Chantre is able to conjure up the notion that spaces need both a creator and a viewer to make sense.

“I want to simulate other points of view of living in the urban architecture, so I mostly want to provoke those different kinds of point of view,” Chantre says, again alluding to the notion that public spaces are a cultural construct rather than a concrete reality. “The statement behind this is to see the buildings as they are, without people inside.”

He likens viewing the exhibition to spray-painting a graffiti tag on an abandoned warehouse or factory. “[Viewers] add their own existence and reflection of what we can see and what we can reveal from relation with the building,” he says.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

Memorsion Through February 21 @ PAVED Arts

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Feature

Blame Confusion Montreal duo Solids perfect skeletal guitar rock on blistering

L

ouis Guillemette and Xavier Germain-Poitras did not make a conscious decision to start another band. The blistering duo Solids emerged not from some primal desire to explore the freedoms and challenge the limitations of stripped-down guitar rock, but from the simple fact that its members tended to show up early for jams. In early 2010, Guillemette and Germain-Poitras were playing with several bands in Montreal, Quebec, including the hardcore group Expectorated Sequence.

Because musicians are notoriously tardy and because everybody hates waiting around for other people to show up, the pair started picking up their instruments and making noise.

“Me and Xavier would be arriving earlier at jams and we’d be, like, playing some softer stuff, still heavy but more poppy, alternative music,” says Guillemette, whose frenetic drumming is the perfect counterpoint to Germain-Poitras’s hazy riffs and overdriven power chords.

“And then after we started doing songs, we recorded the Generic Dogs EP, and then we did our first show. And that’s when we understood that we were into something maybe a bit bigger than we thought we were getting into.” Without any real plan, the two musicians created a paradox, a band inspired by and committed to soaring melodies and tidal waves of noise, each threatening to consume the other.

The rock and roll duo is not a

revolutionary idea. Bands have been stripping away excess for years; in the early 2000s, the White Stripes demonstrated the viability of the form by popularizing skeletal electric blues on a global scale. More recently, Canadian groups like Japandroids and the Pack A.D. have injected minimalist rock with maximalist energy, transforming simple songs into towering expressions of pure, unalloyed emotion. Not surprisingly, Solids have been compared to these and other bands, including the Los Angeles-based punk duo No Age. But Guillemette and Germain-Poitras are not confined by the duo format, nor do they seem particularly attached to

At the same time, the limitations of playing as a duo — four arms, four feet, two brains — haven’t impeded Solids’ quest to make as much noise as possible. Guillemette is no slouch behind the drum kit or the microphone, and Germain-Poitras has developed an inventive style of guitar-playing that makes six strings sound like twelve — or more. “He plays through a bass amp and a guitar amp,” Guillemette says of his musical partner’s technique, which produces a melody on the high strings and a thundering bass line on the lower ones. “He has this weird strumming and playing of the guitar where

We’re mostly jam dudes. We’re not lyricists or anything, and that’s why sometimes we tend to put more effort on the music… louis guillemette

it. “At first we actually wanted a bass player,” Guillemette says, adding that keeping things simple was a logistical choice as well as an aesthetic one. “We wanted to be, like, a power trio. Xavier played in a band and they were like six or seven dudes, and we were kind of tired of playing in those [kinds of bands]. We’re not really excluding the fact that maybe one day we’ll get more people, but right now there’s just the two of us and it’s great that way.”

you have the bass and all the single notes at the same time.” Although the group rapidly earned a reputation for unhinged live performances, Solids struggled to capture the energy and intensity of a live performance on tape. The Generic Dogs EP and a pair of split singles only hinted at the raw power of the band’s live show.

That changed with the October, 2013 release of Blame Confusion, the band’s debut full-length and the best expresContinued on next page »

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Photo: courtesy of tania mcdonald

debut LP by Alex J MacPherson sion of their musical vision to date.

“All the [early] recordings we did, we recorded with Jace Lasek from the Besnard Lakes and all those guys,” Guillemette says. “But it was a bit quieter, softer. We really wanted to have the angry punk-rock sound that we have live and I think we actually had the chance to pull it off with [producer] Adrian [Popovich]. He was really like, it needs to be louder, it needs to be more aggressive with feedback! And that’s where we went.” Blame Confusion plays on the tension between soaring melodies and crushing noise.

By filtering familiar chord progressions and melodic ideas — particularly

Photo: courtesy of tania mcdonald

those reminiscent of alt-rock from the 1990s — through a seemingly endless array of overdriven tube amps, Solids produced a record that is both familiar and jarring. Put another way, Blame Confusion is an apt demonstration of how achingly beautiful melodies can coexist with fractious noise. Just before the thick layers of feedback and distortion threaten to become overwhelmingly claustrophobic, the melody bursts through layer after layer

of grime and fuzz and chaos.

Perhaps the best example of this comes midway through “Terminal,” the last track on Blame Confusion. The song begins as a collection of stately guitar chords awash in electronic noise before building into a straightforward mid-tempo rocker. As the song launches into its middle section, GermainPoitras’s melody, a simple collection of notes played high up the neck, is submerged beneath an expanding ocean of noise — until it starts to lunge for the surface, each note somehow refusing to be drowned in static. It is a beautiful moment, and it is not unique: Blame Confusion is littered with such moments of melodic triumph, each a testament to the raw power of simple guitar riff.

Solids’ mastery of the soaring rock riff is a direct result of their apparent unwillingness to do much else. “We’re mostly jam dudes,” Guillemette says with a laugh.

“We’re not lyricists or anything, and that’s why sometimes we tend to put more effort on the music than the lyrics. Sometimes we get too much into the music and forget. Like, oh yeah, we should put more lyrics in this.” (The songs on Blame Confusion tend to cover such topics as being young and living in the moment with little regard for tomorrow or next week.) Since the very beginning of the band, Guillemette and Germain-Poitras have written songs by getting together, turning the volume up, and punishing riff after riff. “When we started it was really

completely out of the blue, just going into the jam space to smoke weed and drink Red Bulls and just, like, jam and jam and jam. We’d be playing for like 45 minutes straight without thinking and then holy s**t, we have a really nice riff there. It’s always like that.”

Perhaps more than anything else, Blame Confusion captures all of the intense excitement and anxious energy that accompanies an all-ages show in a grimy basement. Both Guillemette and Germain-Poitras grew up in the suburbs and spent their weekends attending ad hoc shows by longforgotten hardcore bands, and both musicians harbour fond memories of the experience. “I kind of miss that vibe,” Guillemette says, adding that he and Germain-Poitras are interested in playing more all-ages shows, to share their own excitement with a new generation of music fans. “Playing bars is really great but there’s no, like, kids — there’s energy but it’s not the same thing as getting all of those kids into the show.”

But for now he and GermainPoitras must content themselves with playing bars and clubs, the staple of every working rock band’s life. After self-releasing Blame Confusion in October, the two musicians were surprised when a pair of record labels called, Dine Alone in Canada and Fat Possum in the United States. Both labels will re-release the record to a much wider audience in 2014, a move that will allow the band to spend even more time on the road. More importantly,

the promise of more exposure and more tour dates enabled Guilllemette and Germain-Poitras to do something every professional musician dreams of — quit their day jobs. “It’s not really about the money; it’s about surviving,” Guillemette says. “But leaving jobs and being able to make a bit of a living with music? I mean, I’m 28 and I find it kind of weird to actually make a bit of money to live during the year. It’s a big thing for us. We’re really happy but we’re still trying to figure it out, how

everything’s going to work.” After a pause he laughs and says, “Doesn’t get any better than this, I guess.”

Solids February 27 @ Vangelis Tavern $8 at the door Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

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Cubans, soup and a cool new coffee shop Photos courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

The Local Coffee Bar offers food, coffee, and more by adam hawboldt

T

he history of the Cuban sandwich is murky.

Some believe it was born in Cuba during the 1860s, as a lunch food eaten by workers in sugar mills and cigar factories.

Others theorize it was created in the 1880s by Cubans living in Florida, more specifically Ybor City and West Tampa.

Whatever the truth is, one thing is certain: Cuban sandwiches are

delicious, one of those sandwiches that is simple to make and always terrific. For those who don’t know, the standard Cuban is simply bread, ham, cheese, mustard and pickles.

If you want to get fancy, toss some roasted pork and/or salami in there.

If you want to pare it down, take out the meat altogether. Doesn’t matter.

Whatever you put in it, the Cuban sandwich works.

Only reason I mention any of this is because the other day, while downtown, I stopped by a relatively new little establishment called The Local Coffee Bar for lunch.

I’d like to tell you the first thing I noticed when I walked in there was the menu by the cash register with the Cuban sandwich right near the top. But that would be a lie.

In truth, the first thing I noticed was the atmosphere and decor of the place. There’s 16-foot high exposed ceilings, soft tunes in the

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide La Floridita Daiquiri

Ingredients

(aka the Hemingway Daiquiri)

2 oz light rum 1/2 oz grapefruit juice 3/4 oz lime juice 3/4 oz simple syrup 1/4 oz maraschino liqueur

Not sure about you, but when I think of Cuba, I think of Ernest Hemingway. So in honour of that great man of letters, here’s a cocktail recipe he helped make famous.

Directions

Combine all ingredients in an ice-filled cocktail shaker. Shake until frosty. Strain into a chilled martini glass. (Note: sometimes Hemingway like this in frozen daiquiri form. To do this, combine all ingredients in a blender with ice and serve.)

background (it was the Beatles when I walked in), and cool table tops made from re-claimed wood.

Somehow The Local Coffee Bar is at once both industrial and rustic. Everything in there is very minimalist, and it makes for a cool, relaxing environment where you can grab a cup of coffee and hang out. Heck, if you want to jazz things up, get a shot of Baileys in your coffee or order one of their special lattes or mochas — The Local Coffee Bar is fully licensed.

Unfortunately, when I was there the other day I’d already drank my fill of coffee (about five cups that morning), so instead of sampling their joe, I went with the Cuban sandwich and broccoli soup.

Sure, I thought about ordering the Brie and Pear sandwich or a calzone, but it’d been a long, long time since I sank my teeth into a glorious Cuban, so I went with that.

And you know what?

It was a good decision. Tart, tangy and cheesy, the Cuban they serve at The Local Coffee Bar is a terrific sandwich, ideal for a quick, light lunch. And the soup was darn good, too: thick and creamy with a delicate aftertaste, it complimented the sandwich well.

The Local Coffee Bar is one of those places that should become a mainstay of the downtown core. Hip and cozy, with good food and (from what I hear) good coffee, too.

Next time I’m there, I’m going to have myself a cup or three.

The Local Coffee Bar 167 3rd Avenue South | (306) 955 2101 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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music

Next Week

coming up

Children of Bodom

Goo Goo Dolls

Bruno Mars

@ louis’ Pub Friday, February 21 – $34.50+

@ Credit Union Centre Thursday, February 27 – $58.50+

@ Credit Union Centre Sunday, August 3 – $50+

The Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany, Hellfest in France, Graspop in Belgium, Japan’s Loud Park Festival, Bloodstock in England. You name it, and Finnish melodic death metal group Children of Bodom have rocked it.

Since forming in 1993, when two childhood friends Alexi Laiho and Jaska Raatikainen decided to create a band, Children of Bodom have steadily made fans no matter where they’ve played around the globe. Playing music that’s marked by rough vocals, shredding guitars and catchy riffs, this metal fivepiece from Finland is loud, large and in charge. Especially their frontman and lead guitarist, Laiho, whose jaw-dropping skill set has led him to be elected as the best metal guitarist by readers of the reputable Guitar World magazine.

Tickets at www.ticketfly.com.

When most people think about the Goo Goo Dolls, the first song that pops into their mind in “Iris” — and for good reason. It’s the song that propelled the band to superstardom, the song that stayed on top of the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts for a record-breaking 18 weeks, the song that was named Billboards #1 Pop Song 1992-2012. But did you know the song almost didn’t exist at all? True story. Back when lead singer John Rzeznik was approached to write the song for the City of Angels soundtrack, he was experiencing writer’s block and on the verge of quitting the band. He stayed, wrote the song and the rest, as they say, is history. Five albums later, and this band from Buffalo is still rocking and playing arenas all over the world. Tickets available through Ticketmaster.

If you watched the Super Bowl XLVIII, you know two things for certain: 1) the game was lackluster; and 2) Bruno Mars put on one helluva halftime performance. Born and raised in Honolulu by a family of musicians, Bruno Mars has been performing since childhood. And again, if you saw this year’s Super Bowl, it shows. His blend of stage presence and catchy reggae/ soul/R&B-infused pop tunes are simply too good to ignore. Not that Mars has been ignored or anything. Since signing with Atlantic in 2009, he has sold more than 10 million albums and 58 million singles worldwide. Oh, and he also has garnered 14 Grammy nominations with one win — for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 2011. This is one show you don’t want to miss. Tickets through Ticketmaster.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photos courtesy of: Yangon / the artist / the artist

Saskmusic Preview SaskMusic is pleased to announce the fourth intake of the Investment Program, which supports the production of commercially viable sound recordings for promotional use and/or a commercial release. Applications, which are due by March 17, 2014, are currently being accepted for Single/Demo Sound Recording, and Commercial Sound Recording (Album). The Program is funded by Creative Saskatchewan Inc. For more information and to apply, please visit http://www.saskmusic.org/funding/investment-programs.

Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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february 14 » february 22 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Friday 14

House DJs / 6Twelve — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover We Were Lovers / Amigos Cantina — With Economics. 10pm / Cover TBD Piano Fridays: SSO Chamber Players / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings? Come check out the SSO chamber players tickle the ivories of the Kinsman Yamaha S6 grand piano. 4:30pm / No cover JP Cormier / The Bassment — A multitalented performer from Cape Breton.

9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a high-

Urban Outlaws / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ good way to spend a weekend.

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 Disco Ninjas / Tequila — It’s Valentine’s VIP Fridays! 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD Bass Invaders / Vangelis — Some serious bass for your face on Valentine’s Day. 8pm / Cover TBD

energy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover Men Without Shame / Buds — A glamified classic rock party band. 9pm / Cover TBD 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 for your listening pleasure. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits.. 9pm / $5 cover Ricky Rock, Oakatron / Louis — Spend Valentine’s Day at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance party. 9pm / Cover TBD Passa Pass Valentine’s Day / O’Brian’s Event Centre — Featuring DJ Cruss, DJ Heywood + more. 10pm / Cover TBD 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 Half Chance Heroes / Rock Bottom — A blend of reggae, hip hop, punk and rock. 8pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 15

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

9pm / No cover Pandas in Japan / Amigos — With Lords Kitchner, Triplophonics. 10pm / Cover TBD Brett Balon and the Something Else Quintet / The Bassment — A night of Cannonball Adderly tunes. 9pm / $15/$20 DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a dance party every Saturday night.

9pm / $5 cover Men Without Shame / Buds — A glamified classic rock party band.

9pm / Cover TBD 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 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — There’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5 In With the Old / Prairie Ink — A bluegrass/folk trio. 8pm / No cover Urban Outlaws / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ good way to spend a weekend.

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 — Electronic Saturdays will have you moving and grooving. With DJ Haywire.

9pm / Cover TBD DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD Pop Quiz Party Jam / Vangelis — Featuring Waverace, Daniel Ether + more.

10pm / Cover TBD

Sunday 16

Industry Night / Béily’s UltraLounge — Hosted by DJ Sugar Daddy; this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres. 9pm / $4; no cover for

offering great tunes from blues to rock and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover

Monday 17

DJ Audio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD

Tuesday 18

Big Dave McLean / Buds on Broadway — Canada’s legendary bluesman. 9pm / 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 Verb presents Open Mic / Rock Bottom — Come and rock the stage! 9pm / No cover Open Mic / The Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover

Wednesday 19

DJ Modus / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Spinning all your favourite tracks.

9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter Big Dave McLean / Buds on Broadway — Canada’s legendary bluesman. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — Spinning dope beats all night. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Memo / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. men without shame COURTESY OF artists facebook 8pm / No cover A Tribe Called Red / O’Brians Event Centre — An amazing electronic trio. 9pm / $25 (tickets.obrianseventincentre.ca) dustry staff Buck Wild Wednesdays / Outlaws Variety Night / Grosvenor Park United Country Rock Bar — Come out and ride Church — Local musicians playing the the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4; no cover music they love. 2:30pm / Admission by for industry staff donation The Shoeless Joes, The Revival, Go DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Sasfor the Eyes / Rock Bottom — A night katoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. of pure rock. 9:30pm / Cover TBD 8pm / No cover Catherine Lewans / Rock Creek Datsik / Tequila Nightclub — Also (Willowgrove) — A country artist from appearing: Heroes X Villians and Sub Shaunavon. 8pm / No cover Antix. 8pm / $25+ Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano Blues Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, and Brad King belt out classic tunes and Continued on next page »

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audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / No cover Northcote / Vangelis — With Dave Hause. 9pm / $10(advance)/$12(door)

Thursday 20

Jazz Jam: The Brett Balon Trio / The Bassment — Come down and jam! 8pm / No Cover Big Dave McLean / Buds on Broadway — Canada’s legendary bluesman.

9pm / 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 The Revival / Rock Bottom — With Go for the Eyes and The Shoeless Joes.

9:30pm / $5 Triple Up Thursdays / Tequila — Featuring DJ Dislexic. 9pm / Cover TBD Mobina Galore / Vangelis — With Me and the Guts and Nodding Donkey.

9pm / $8 Whiteboy Slim / Winstons — A bluesman from Moose Jaw. 8:30pm / Cover TBD Open Stage / The Woods — Hosted by Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

Friday 21

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve. 9pm / No cover Factor / Amigos Cantina — With Def 3 and Evil Ebenezer. 10pm / Cover TBD Piano Fridays: Maurice Drouin / The Bassment — Feel like taking in some smooth jazz stylings? Come check out Drouin tickle the ivories of the Kinsman Yamaha S6 grand piano. 4:30pm / No cover Fiddle Series: JJ Guy, James Steele, Celeste Smith / The Bassment — It’s fiddle tunes all night long. 9pm / $17/$23 DJ Aash Money / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a highenergy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover

Big Dave McLean / Buds on Broadway — Canada’s legendary bluesman. 9pm / Cover TBD

Diatessaron / Vangelis — With The Department Heads and Alex Shenton.

9pm / $10

Saturday 22

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night. 9pm / No cover Omfest 3 / Amigos Cantina — Featuring Royal Red Brigade, Fisticuffs + more. 9pm / $15 (picatic. com) Piano Series: The Amina Figarova Sextet / The Bassment — Jazz from New York. 8pm / $20/$25 a tribe called red DJ Aash Money + DJ COURTESY OF brudder falling tree Sugar Daddy / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a dance party every Saturday night. 9pm / $5 cover BPM / Big Dave McLean / Buds on Broadway Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/vo— Canada’s legendary bluesman. 9pm / cal house music. 10pm / $5 Cover TBD DJ Eclectic / The Hose & Hydrant — SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Sasyour weekend with all your favourite katoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot party hits.. 9pm / $5 cover tunes. 8pm / No cover Children of Bodom / Louis — Melodic DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Ladies Finnish death metal. 7pm / $34.50+ night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party (ticketfly.com) crew. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / OutThe Official Jersey Jam / O’Brians laws Country Rock Bar — Round up Event Centre — Featuring Fire Kid Steeyour friends ‘cause there’s no better nie and Infamous. 9pm / $20+ (tickets. country rock party around. 8pm / $5; obrianseventcentre.ca) ladies in free before 11pm DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing Doug Boomhower Trio / Prairie Ink the hottest country music all night. 8pm — A smooth jazz trio. 8pm / No cover / $4 cover Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / OutLounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie laws Country Rock Bar — Round up and Brad King belt out classic tunes and your friends ‘cause there’s no better audience requests,from Sinatra to Lady country rock party around. 8pm / $5 Gaga. 10pm / $5 Brian Paul Di Giuseppe / Prairie Ink Bryan Adams / TCU Place — Come see — A singer/songer with heart. 8pm / this Canadian rock legend on his Bare No cover Bones Tour. 8pm / $55+ (tcutickets.ca) Dueling Pianos / Staqatto Piano VIP Fridays / Tequila — Come tear it up Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie on the dance floor. 9pm / Cover TBD and Brad King belt out classic tunes DJ Nick Ruston / Uncle Barley’s — and audience requests, from Sinatra to Come and check him out! 9pm / Lady Gaga. Come and check them out!

Cover TBD 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

Jaymez / Vangelis — WIth Famine, Kool Hand Juke + more. 9pm / $10

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

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A tale best left untold

Photo: Courtesy of warner bros. pictures

Winter’s Tale is stale, boring, baffling by adam hawboldt

A

re you ready to be confused and a wee bit baffled?

Good. Let’s dive head-first into a synopsis of director Akiva Goldsman’s Winter’s Tale.

Where to begin? Well, in the beginning, naturally. The story opens in 1895. Two Russian immigrants (Matt Bomer and Lucy Griffiths) are turned away at Ellis Island. They have an infant son with them. And instead of taking him with them, they put him in a model ship and toss it in the Northern Atlantic because, well, that’s exactly what good parents should do.

Fast forward 21 years, and we see the infant as a young man. His name is Peter Lake (Colin Farrell).

Peter isn’t exactly a model citizen.

Living in New York, he is a professional thief. When we first meet Peter he is running away from a gang of thugs, henchmen of a crime boss named Pearly Soames (Rus-

ends up breaking into a town house to rob a safe. Once inside he sees a young girl named Beverly (Jessica Brown Findlay), who is playing Brahms and coughing herself to death from tuberculosis. It’s love at first sight. After all, how couldn’t you fall in love, on the spot, with a girl who is literally hacking up her lungs. Peter and Beverly hit it off, a love story ensues, then Pearly comes after them and … oh, did I

sell Crowe). Once upon a time ago Pearly was Peter’s mentor, but the two had a falling out and now his henchmen are hot on Peter’s tail.

Just as they are about to nab him a white horse with wings appears and flies Peter to safety. Because, you know, Pegasus (or whatever the creature’s name is) is one heckuva getaway driver.

From there things get stranger.

Turns out, the flying horse tells

The only redeeming qualities about the film are the cinematography (rather lovely) and the acting of Colin Farrell, who does his best…

Adam Hawboldt

mention that Pearly is a demon who answers directly to the Judge aka

Peter to pull off one last heist. Naturally, he listens to the horse and

Lucifer aka Will Smith with really sharp teeth?

Then the movie jumps to 2014 and Peter (who hasn’t aged a day) is trying to find out what happened to Beverly. He hooks up with a food writer (Jennifer Connelly) who helps him piece together the past and, well, the story just gets more ludicrous from there.

Needless to say, Winter’s Tale (adapted from Mark Helprin’s 800page book of the same name) is NOT one of the best movies of the year — despite a stocked cast that also includes William Hurt and Eva Maria Saint. Heck, it may be one of the most disappointing, perplexing and plodding movies of the year … so far.

The only redeeming qualities about the film are the cinematography (rather lovely) and the acting of Colin Farrell, who does his best to keep the audience awake and alert during an otherwise ordinary yawnfest.

winter’s tale Akiva Goldsman Starring Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly + Jessica BrownFindlay Directed by

129 minutes | PG

Other than that, Winter’s Tale is one of those movies that — unless you love magic realism, undying love and a whole lot of what-thehell-just-happened-there moments — you should probably avoid like the plague. Just sayin’.

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A long walk to freedom, indeed

New Mandela biopic a worthy but imperfect movie about a 20th century giant by adam hawboldt

Photo: Courtesy of pathe

N

o ifs, ands or buts about it … Nelson Mandela was a giant of the 20th century. One of those larger than life individuals who stomped the terra and changed things for the better. An energetic, powerful, passionate and courageous man who stood behind his convictions and, in doing so, altered the course of South African history.

rolling. And instead of shying away from the things he does wrong (like, say, the rampant womanizing), the story keys in on the less than savoury actions he undertook. Mainly, his involvement with the ANC. See, while he meets and woos his new wife, Winnie (Naomie Harris), Mandela and the rest of his ANC buddies essentially became terrorists in their own country, resorting to violence in response to the wan-

As Mandela, Elba plays a man of great emotional strength and fortitude. He is charismatic, magnetic…

Adam Hawboldt

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is his story.

Adapted from Mandela’s 1994 memoirs, this movie — directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) — begins when Mandela (Idris Elba) is just a teenage boy, undergoing tribal initiation. Then suddenly, perhaps a bit too quickly, he’s a lawyer, an amateur boxer and an adulterer. After cheating on his first wife, he continues to womanize and eventually joins the fight against his country’s oppressive apartheid system.

This is when the movie really starts

ton, senseless violence the government was inflicting on the black population of South Africa. Buildings explode, people die. And eventually, Mandela is captured by the authorities.

That was 1962. He spent the next 27 years in prison.

This part of the movie, the prison part, flies by rather quickly. A hardship here, a romantic flashback about Winnie there, and the next thing you know Mandela is being released and entering into negotiations with the new, non-apartheid government. That, in a nutshell, is the bare-bones plot of

mandela: Long walk to freedom Directed by Justin Chadwick Starring Idris Elba, Naomie Harris + Tony Kgoroge 179 minutes | 14A

man doing great things in the face of serious adversity. A worthy tribute to a man who changed the political and cultural face of a nation. Too bad it wasn’t just a tad more focused.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is being screened at Roxy Theatre.

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@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.

And on the one hand, Chadwick and his team really nailed it. They created a story with emotional impact, with stirring speeches and moments of despair that really allow the audience to connect with Mandela. To see what he saw, experience what he experienced. Much of this can be attributed to Idris Elba (of The Wire fame.) As Mandela, Elba plays a man of great emotional strength and fortitude. He is charismatic, magnetic and sturdy. At times, even regal.

That’s where the movie’s virtue lies. Where it gets into trouble is the scope of the thing. I mean, it was great to follow Mandela throughout his life, but it’s virtually impossible to truly capture the essence of the man in his entirety in two-plus hours. There’s just too much going on, too many pieces moving around. Maybe they would’ve been better served focusing in on one chapter of Mandela’s life. Like Steven Spielberg did with Lincoln or Michael Mann did with Ali. All I know is this — Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a good, historically sharp movie about a great

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saturday, February 8 @

vangelis

Vangelis Tavern 801 Broadway Avenue (306) 652 5173

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These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, February 21. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by Patrick Carley

Continued on next page Âť

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Photography by Patrick Carley

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tuesday, february 11 @

nightlife

the yard & flagon The Yard & Flagon 718 Broadway Avenue (306) 653-8883

Photography by Patrick Carley

27 Feb 14 – Feb 20 /verbsaskatoon

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Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, February 21. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by Patrick Carley

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comics

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

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crossword canadian criss-cross 25. Caulking material 27. Medicinal salve 29. Drinking binge 32. Crescent-shaped object 36. Unrefined rock 37. Having a bluish-grey colour 39. Gave birth to 40. Emotional tie 42. Plural of is 43. Nothing more than 44. Prearranged situations 46. Think logically 48. Horses and lions have them 49. Braid of hair 50. Plastic construction set 51. Shade trees

DOWN 1. One who plays on ice 2. Apologetic exclamation 3. Nothing 4. In a worried state 5. Having empty spaces to be filled in 6. Organ of hearing 7. Military acronym 8. Reveal one’s identity 9. To some extent 11. Hindu holy man 12. Sumptuously furnished 14. Appear to be 17. Having sharp corners 20. Digs for minerals

21. Canadian guitarist sudoku answer key Greenwich A 24. Be sorry 26. Consumed 28. Muse of music and lyric poetry 29. Cries uncontrollably 30. Introduction 31. Tourist’s car 33. Academic paper B 34. Fortunetelling card 35. Paradise 38. Catch a cow 41. Sahara sight 43. Sir’s counterpart 45. Score points in cribbage 47. Pipe elbow

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

1. Reasons against 5. Boyfriend 9. Ring used in a throwing game 10. Things to mow 12. Colour that is a blend of red and blue 13. Kitchen emanations 15. Some paintings 16. Sickly pale 18. Take on cargo 19. Sault ___ Marie, Ontario 20. Animals with partly webbed feet 22. Girl previously mentioned 23. Silvery fish

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

ACROSS

© walter D. Feener 2014

Horoscopes february 14 - february 20 Aries March 21–April 19

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

New opportunities will come your way this week, Aries. Run, do not walk, to embrace them. You won’t be sorry.

Something will occur this week that might alter your life, Leo. It could appear to be something subtle, but don’t underestimate its importance.

If there’s a social gathering with friends or co-workers this week, Sagittarius, be sure you’re there. You don’t want to be square.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

There may be some serious changes just around the bend, Taurus. Brace yourself: not all of them may be for the better.

Opt for light-hearted banter over intense personal discussion this week, Virgo. There’s no need to get too serious.

Expect a strong boost to your ego and self-confidence later in the week, Capricorn. Be careful not to let it go to your head.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

At some point this week you’ll have an urge to undertake a creative project, Gemini. It’s important you give into that urge.

If a chance to travel comes your way this week, Libra, it’s important to jump at it. You could be in need of a change of scenery.

Energy, enthusiasm, motivation: all three will be available to you in abundance this week, Aquarius. What you do with it will be up to you.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

You may have some revealing conversations with friends and family this week, Cancer. Be careful not to be indiscreet.

You could come across a host of new people this week, Scorpio.

Be cautious. Some will be great, others … well, not so much.

Your physical and mental energy may not be in tip-top shape this week, Pisces. Try not to let that hold you back.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

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