Verb Issue S281 (Mar. 14-20, 2014)

Issue #281 – March 14 to March 20

arts

culture

music

saskatoon

islands +

on perspective Buffy Sainte-Marie on life + art ghost of your charms Q+A with New Country Rehab need for speed + the invisible woman Films reviewed­

Photo: courtesy of todd weaver

contents

on the cover:

islands

Blame confusion. 16 / cover Photo: courtesy of anna larina

NEWs + Opinion

it’s all about perspective Buffy SainteMarie is still kicking ass 4 / Local

home sweet home Our thoughts on housing for the homeless. 8 / Editorial

for the love of film

comments

Filmmaker sets series of shorts against 19th C Saskatchewan. 6 / Local

Here’s your say on a minimum annual income. 10 / comments

culture

Q + A with new country rehab Bringing something new. 12 / Q + A

drawing the world around us Mendel exhibit displays nuances of drawing 14 / Arts

shakespeare in doubt Equivocation puts playwright in a jam. 15 / Arts entertainment

service with a smile We visit Samosa King.

18 / Food + Drink

music Rosie and the Riveters, Tim Hicks + Queen & Adam Lambert. 19 / music

live music listings Local music listings for March 14 through March 22. 20 / listings

need for speed + the invisible woman We review the latest movies 22 / Film

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 29 / comics

Nightlife Photos

Games + Horoscopes

We visit Rook & Raven + Double Deuce. 25 / Nightlife

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

Editorial

ART & Production

Business & Operations

contact

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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It’s all about perspective

Photo: Courtesy of tony finnerty

Buffy Sainte-Marie talks about her career, her life, and the power of staying positive by ADAM HAWBOLDT

T

he theatre lights are on. Soft chords of music waft from stacked speakers as people in the audience engage in light, idle banter. Some stand, others have already taken their seats. On the far right of the theatre a man with salt-andpepper hair reads a newspaper and waits.

He’s waiting for what everyone else in the theatre is waiting for — Buffy Sainte-Marie to take the stage.

The night before Sainte-Marie played a concert here. But tonight is something entirely different.

Tonight she’s giving a talk called “A MultiMedia Life.” When the theatre lights go down, images of Sainte-Marie flit across the movie screen at the back

of the stage. There’s pictures of her singing, of her talking to Big Bird on Sesame Street, of her holding a small baby and smiling. Some of theses images are black and white, some are in colour. Strung together, they tell the story of her life as her song, “No No Keshagesh” plays in the background.

When the slide show is over, the crowd goes silent as a speaker steps up Continued on next page »

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to speak about the iconic musician’s influence and accomplishments.

Then Sainte-Marie saunters onto the stage. The crowd erupts into clapping and cheers, hoots and hollers. It’s an ovation that lasts 30 seconds. It’s an ovation during which Sainte-Marie — dressed in black jeans, boots and a purple and gold Sergeant Pepper jacket — takes a deep bow.

Then she begins to talk.

Chances are Buffy Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 on the Piapot Cree First Nations Reserve in Qu’Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan — but she isn’t completely sure about that.

Back in the ‘60s she went looking for her birth records. She didn’t find them. Apparently four years of records were lost in a fire. So there’s no real evidence that can tell Sainte-Marie exactly where she was born. To this day, she doesn’t really know. But what she does know is that she wasn’t on the Piapot Cree Reserve for long. “I was probably born in Piapot,” she says, “but I was adopted away in what they call The Big Scoop, which was going on the same time the residential schools were rampant. So I ended up being raised in Maine and Massachusetts.”

It was there that she fell in love with music, and by the early ‘60s she was touring alone, playing halls and folk music festivals and Native American reservations across the U.S. and Canada, developing her craft.

This was a time of moderate success and intense personal develop-

ment for Sainte-Marie. Then in 1965 she wrote a song that would change all that. Called “Until It’s Time for You to Go,” the song appeared on her Many a Mile album.

“That song really changed things for me,” says Sainte-Marie. “It changed things for the better and it changed things for the worse.

So long as I was just a little hippie, stomping my foot, singing “Universal Soldier” — singing things like “Now that the Buffalo’s Gone” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying” — so long as I was doing that, I was just a little Indian kook.

But when I hit it big with “Until It’s Time for You to Go,” when people like Bobby Darin and Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand were recording my song, and all of a sudden I was on major television shows … wooo!

That really changed things.”

And while the song made her famous and cast her in the spotlight, according to Sainte-Marie it also led to her being blacklisted in the United States. “I was put out of business by people who didn’t want me saying the things I said,” says Sainte-Marie. “What do you do after that? What do you do when you go to Europe and play big concert halls, then you come back home and people are wondering why they can’t get your records anymore?”

What Sainte-Marie did was she thought outside the box, and persevered. She regularly appeared on Sesame Street, starting in 1975 and continuing for five years. She co-

wrote an Academy Award-winning song for the 1982 movie An Officer and a Gentleman. In 1992, she ended a 16-year recording hiatus and released a new album, Coincidence and Likely Stories. Since then, she has released a slew of albums, won a Gemini Award, and received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award.

Not too shabby for someone who was once told she’d never be a musician.

“I discovered piano when I was three,” says Sainte-Marie, taking a seat on stage. “When I was young I didn’t play Barbie or sports, I played music and art. I used to be able to sit down at the piano when I was five or six and play you fake Tchaikovsky. I learned it by ear.

I used to use my mom’s vacuum cleaner pipes and lie down on the floor and listen to Tchaikovsky. I used to listen to Swan Lake and The Nutcracker with the vacuum cleaner tubes up to my ears.”

This is how Sainte-Marie’s musical education began. But when it came to music class in school, things didn’t quite add up. The lessons she learned there simply didn’t match her reality.

“I was told I was not a musician because I couldn’t pass music class,” says Sainte-Marie, who is now standing in the middle of the stage. “I couldn’t read the music. You have lines and notes and vertical lines separating the measures. I’d try

to read the first measure, then the second measure. By the time I got to the third measure I’d be lost.” Here Sainte-Marie pauses, then says, “I didn’t understand why. Until not that long ago, maybe seven years ago, someone pointed out that maybe I was dyslexic in music. Who’d ever heard of that? But music dyslexia is why I couldn’t read music. It just never made any sense for me to decode music.”

As she says all this, Sainte-Marie flows about the stage in a way that belies her age. Now in her seventies, Sainte-Marie moves freely and easily in front of the audience. She gesticulates wildly with her hands.

One minute she’s sitting, leaning forward to talk to the audience.

The next she’s up flitting about.

The next she’s leaning against a podium, still talking.

She talks about music, about breastfeeding on Sesame Street, about war and education and the virtues of traveling, her energy never waning. Her message of hope and the importance of thinking outside the box, of never letting society tell you what you can and can’t do, underscores all her stories.

It’s a message that Buffy SainteMarie not only talks about, it’s the way she’s lived her life.

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Short film series with western sensibility Callen Diederichs brings his love of western movies to Saskatchewan by ADAM HAWBOLDT

Photo: Courtesy of dorion brady Continued on next page Âť

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T

he year is 1885. It’s been a decade and a half since the Red River Rebellion ended, seven years since Sir John A. Macdonald took office for the second time.

This is a time of great social change in Western Canada. Many of the Métis who fought in the rebellion have left Manitoba and settled in modern-day Saskatchewan — and they’re not happy with their new situation. They feel the Canadian government has failed to address the protection of their rights, the protection of their lands and their survival as a distinct people.

In the year prior, they had asked Louis Riel — who fled to the United States after the Red River Rebellion — to return and plead their case to the government. Back on home soil, Riel — along with Gabriel Dumont, Honoré Jackson and others — set up the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan.

Soon fighting broke out, and the North-West Rebellion was underway.

After a few early victories for the Métis and their Aboriginal allies at Duck Lake, Fish Creek and Cut Knife, the rebellion was eventually quelled.

It is in the aftermath of these events that Callen Diederichs’ series of short films takes place.

Central to the series are two fictional gunslingers — George O’Donoghue and Jean Delacroix.

“It was a combination of pragmatism and cinematic influences,” says Diederichs, when asked where the idea for the O’Donoghue and Delacroix characters came from. His voice is low and measured. “I actually wrote the character of Jean Delacroix for a friend of mine [Charles Lemire], and I wrote the other one, O’Donoghue, for me. Both characters are kind of based on who we are as people, but blown up [to be] caricatures in a way.”

Diederichs stops for a moment, thinks about what he’s going to say next, then continues: “As for the cinematic influence, are you familiar with [Jean-Pierre] Melville, the director? He did The Samurai and The Red Circle. Anyway, he often uses an actor named Alain Delon in his movies. Delon plays this silent enigmatic figure who is a stone-cold killer. He doesn’t

say much. So I had a character like that in mind, especially when I was writing Delacroix.”

The first short film featuring this gunslinging duo — a duo that Diederichs imagines had fought in the North-West Rebellion — was filmed in September 2011. Called Supper’s Ready, the film shows O’Donoghue and Delacroix seated at a table, about to eat, when their dinner is interrupted by Captain John Strafford of the Royal Canadian Militia.

He informs the pair that the place is surrounded and requests their surrender. But O’Donoghue and Delacroix have other plans.

The duo escape out of harm’s way and appear again in the second film of the series, The Trouble I Got — a short feature about a crisis of confidence O’Donoghue has.

That was filmed in the spring of 2013.

Later the same year, in August, Diederichs and his crew began making the third installment of the series.

It is called Local Girls. And while it has the same aesthetic of the first two films, this time around Diederichs did things a little bit different.

front and centre. With Local Girls, Diederichs took on a slightly different approach.

“The two main characters from the first films are still there, but they’re there in more supporting roles. Instead, we focus on two female characters,” explains Diederichs, highlighting the difference in plot of Local Girls — which sees the two gunslingers entangled in the violent antagonism between the women and the supernatural forces they incur.

Adding two female leads into the mix wasn’t difficult for Diederichs and his crew. What was difficult, however, were certain aspects of shooting the movie.

“We shot it in two days,” says Diederichs. “It was a little bit crazy. They were 13-14 hour days. We shot by Redberry Lake. There’s an old house that a friend of mine had discovered a few years ago. He is a photographer and he was out shooting different old places. He took me there and it was a perfect place, so we got permission from the owner.”

The only problem — no electricity. “My cinematographer still

gets on me about that,” chuckles Diederichs. “There was no electricity whatsoever. So all the lighting had to be completely natural. At night we had to use oil lamps, which creates a really cool effect on screen. But it was tricky. We had to constantly make sure we had enough batteries to run things.”

But run things they did, and now Local Girls (which was funded by the Saskatchewan Arts Board) is set to debut at the Roxy Theatre.

Diederichs and his team aren’t done there, though. He’s already written a fourth installment to the series, and has a script ready for a feature version of the Western that draws all the characters together in one big, apocalyptic finale.

The kind of finale you’d see in old Western films, but with a modern spin.

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Growing up, Diederichs was a big fan of old Western movies. Specifically, of the spaghetti westerns featuring Clint Eastwood. Of Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. Of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid — one of the first films he remembers ever seeing.

And while living in Montreal and watching movies of this ilk, the Saskatchewan-born Diederichs had an idea.

“I’d made one short film in Montreal and I was thinking about what to do next,” he says. “I came back to Saskatchewan for a visit and it struck me as odd that more people weren’t making Westerns here.

There’s so much landscape and old buildings that just lend themselves to the genre.”

Fascinated by the idea of Western Canada in the late 19th century, and intrigued by the notion of the old frontier clashing with civilization, Diederichs decided to set his series of short films in this era.

The first two featured George O’Donoghue and Jean Delacroix

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Home sweet home We should be providing housing for our homeless

H

ow would you propose to end homelessness?

One of the most persistent social problems we face, homelessness is a widespread issue across our country. Although historically it is difficult to pin down the precise number of homeless people in Canada due to a dearth of research, things have begun to change, and in 2013 the Homelessness Partnering Secretariat collated data that estimates at least 150,000 people use homeless shelters per year (though this data does not include the number of people who would be in transitional housing, halfway houses, temporary shelters, etc).

Regardless, it is pretty clear that homelessness is a stubborn problem that isn’t going away any time soon. And while numerous theories and philosophies have been shared about the best way to tackle this issue, we think the solution is actually pretty simple.

Give homeless people a house.

No, we’re not being smartasses.

While at the outset providing houses for people who don’t have them might seem outrageous, it’s actually a pretty straightforward fix that works while also being economically practical. Case in point: Utah. In 2005 the powers-that-be crunched some numbers and discovered that the annual cost of emergency services and jail time for each chronically homeless person was $16,670.

The cost to house them and provide case management workers was only $11,000 per person.

Utah then launched the Housing First program, which intended to end chronic homelessness in the state within 10 years. The result? As of 2012, the program had helped reduce the 2,000 chronically homeless people by nearly 75%. By 2015, it is expected that number will be 100%.

And sure, that’s down in the States, but there’s no reason a similar program couldn’t be just as successful here. You see, we live in a province where people aren’t really cool with letting poor folks die in the streets. So our governments, churches, volunteers and charities do what they can to help. They open shelters, stock food banks, offer mental-health services, provide emergency health care. All of which, of course, costs money.

But the costs don’t stop there.

As Stephen Gaetz, director of the Canadian Homelessness Research Network, points out, homeless people also tend to run afoul of the law. Gaetz cites research that shows the homeless are likelier to get arrested and jailed than someone who has a residence. When released, these people have a tendency to re-offend.

This vicious circle costs money — a lot of money. One study Gaetz used notes that it costs taxpayers between $66,000 and $120,000 every year to cover the prison and psychiatric costs of one homeless person. Add emergency health care costs on top of that (which are usually high because living on the street isn’t the healthiest of lifestyles), toss in the cost it takes to run food banks

and shelters and, well, that’s a large chunk of change.

So large, in fact, that it’d simply be cheaper and more effective — and more humane — to provide individuals living on the street with lodgings.

What it boils down to is this: the government spends nearly $4.5 billion per annum dealing with homelessness. But according to research done by the Mental Health Commission of Canada, providing support and housing to the chronically homeless can could potentially save taxpayers 54 cents on the dollars our government already spends.

And what’s more, if we provide mentally ill homeless people with houses and proper social support, we would save about $9,390 per person every year. Doing the same for the chronically homeless (without mental illness) would amount to $25,899 saved per person, per annum.

Providing housing for the homeless is a smart, economical and humane way of eradicating a persistent problem. It works, so let’s roll it out and start making a difference to some of the more vulnerable members of 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 implementing a minimum annual income. Here's what you had to say:

– Minimum annual income sounds like an un-formed idealistic notion. Who is going to make sure the money is getting spent right

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

– Trudeau just called for annual income amount. Verb says it. Verb likes Trudeau? Hmmmm

the working poor. If it benefits people from a social aspect, then lefties are happy. And if it saves money righties are happy. So why aren’t we doing something like the minimum amount of money?

OFF TOPIC – Congratulations to Lucas Makowsky on representing your country at the Olympics. Proud to be Canadian!

In response to “An Olympic experience,” Local, #280 (March 7, 2014)

– People should work hard to make the money they need not expect to be given everything for nothing what a stupid idea

– I agree we need to fix the problem of wage discrepency and that increasing minimum wage over and over is not the way to do it. Providing people with the most basic of necessities allows them to make choices the better themselves and their community, and they can become contributing members of society. I think a minimum guaranteed income is a great idea.

– Re: Dollars and Sense. Dear Verb I was interested in your article about an annual minimum income.

I have worked myself in numerous jobs many at the same time in order to support myself and my family. Minimum wage increases certainly don’t help, particularly because they are so incremental and infrequent. Providing a set amount of money per year isn’t a hand out like some people think.

It doesn’t mean I will quit working and sit around. It means that I can contribute more meaningfully to my family, my city and my country. It makes a difference. Not all poor people choose to be that way or want to be that way or anything like that. But not everyone starts off in the same position. Leveling the playing field would make such a difference.

– We need to fix the way we perceive low-income earners and – A guaranteed minimum income would help end poverty. Period.

It would cost us less as taxpayers, and contribute to this great country as a whole. We should do this definately. Just my two cents.

– V. interesting to hear about the Olympic village and event from an athlete’s perspective. Congratulations to Mr. Makowsky on his showing!

In response to “An Olympic experience,” Local, #280 (March 7, 2014)

sound off – I think Voldemort in real life would be a jackass obviously

– We may be the most emotional animal on the planet and had to develop high intelligence to manage and use many high emotions.

– We have such a disconnect from our food and where it comes from.

Support local farmers! Grow your own food. Connect with what you put into your body. You’ll be happy :)

– If you blow your nose without a Kleenex, you might be DOWNtown.

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– There is no need for drivers to splash pedestrians. It could be avoided. You either slow down or you change lanes to avoid splashing.

– Got splashed walking downtown yesterday, but the guy pulled over up ahead and apologized! I couldn’t believe. This is a hard time of year for bikers but he was so sorry, so wanted to give him a shout out for being so courteous!

– Alcohol and anger do not mix.

– E. I., welfare, old age pension, student salaries and anything similiar should all be one national program with housing and medicare. Labor costs would plummet!

– Farming used to be blood, sweat and tears. Now its diesel, steel and money!

– We are more alike than different.

So let’s try and cut each

other a little slack and have a little empathy.

Next week: What do you think about

providing housing for the homeless?

We print your texts verbatim each week. Text in your thoughts about our content or anything else.

–Cue pothole complaints in 5, 4, 3, 2, ....... GO!

– All i got to say is u r missing out on it all babe u need to get ur s*%& right n cuz u low down

– People are consumers! Try to do without, live without, stop buying so much crap you’re drowning in stuff you don’t need and it’s so stupid. Free yourself! Once you do you will realize how imprisoned you were.

– Feel bad buy something feel sad buy something had a hard day buy something you are a slave and you don’t even know it! Make create look to art walk talk to people and FREE YOURSELF!

– Take care of each other you never know what’s going to happen at any time.

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New Country Rehab Toronto alt-country band updates the old and brings in the new on Ghost of Your Charms by Alex J MacPherson

N

ew Country Rehab started life as a cover band. But instead of simply rehashing old country tunes, the four Toronto-based musicians tore up old arrangements and substituted their own.

After releasing their eponymous debut, a collection of covers with a few original songs thrown in for colour, and playing dozens of raucous shows, John Showman, Anthony da Costa, Ben Whiteley, and Roman Tomé turned their attention toward writing new material. Ghost Of Your Charms, which was released last March, builds on the success of its predecessor, combining a deep love of country, roots, and bluegrass music with gritty arrangements and powerful rock-influenced hooks. But whereas most of the songs on New Country Rehab were heavily reworked covers, Ghost Of Your Charms consists almost entirely of original songs.

From the grimy fiddle line that drives “Luxury Motel” to the

rollicking backwoods stomp of “Lizzy Dying of a Broken Heart” to the swampy blues crunch of “Lost Highway,” the new record demonstrates that the four members of New Country Rehab are as comfortable writing new songs as they are resurrecting old ones. Last week I caught up with fiddle-player and singer John Showman, who was enjoying breakfast in a West Virginia diner, to talk about writing songs, recording live, and the massive popularity of roots-rock.

into the sound that we had on the first record, and so I think there’s definitely a continuity. We did the first record pretty quickly, and it’s fairly bare-bones. We were proud of the result given that, but we took a little more time with the second record for sure. It’s a little more layered. But in its essence it’s still essentially the same — a bunch of guys in a room playing music at the same time together, live. And then changing the needle as necessary and putting it out.

Alex J MacPherson: After recording and touring in support of the first record, did you have an idea of where you wanted the album that became Ghost Of Your Charms to go?

AJM: Playing live has always been an integral part of how New Country Rehab works. How important was it for Ghost Of Your Charms to play live in the studio, as opposed to multi-tracking?

John Showman: I think the only mandate we had was that we wanted to make sure we had more original material on the album. I think we were all interested in and

JS: Well, it’s hard to say. At some point you do need the live energy in a recording but for me it’s all about everybody being in the same headspace and everybody being on the same wavelength. It’s a silly word, but it really applies in the Continued on next page »

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is what you want, but it can be synthesized. So once that energy’s there, then you can step back and let it go in different directions.

AJM: Speaking of different directions, Ghost Of Your Charms exists within the country-roots framework, but that didn’t seem to stop you from experimenting with different sounds and musical ideas JS: I think it’s also a function of the fact that the four of us have pretty different musical backgrounds.

When we bring ideas to the table, they tend to be very different.

One of the challenges is finding a common ground. I mean, I think we have a sound but there’s a pretty wide palette of stuff going on. As much as anything, I think it’s just a function of who we are as people.

AJM: Can you give me an example of how that works in practice?

Photos: courtesy of david leyes

studio. If you create a good live environment than you can record a couple of tunes live, and then somebody will have some great ideas and then suddenly you find yourself multi-tracking the next song but it still has the same energy.

JS: Sure. If you look at “Empty Room Blues,” it’s essentially a fiddle-driven tune, so that’s a good example of my background, playing fiddle and playing a lot of bluegrass and old-time music comes into play. Then you take a song … like “Lost Highway,” and

When we bring ideas to the table, they tend to be very different. john showman

As much as anything it’s just a matter of energy and figuring out ways to synthesize and create that.

AJM: In other words, if the band is firing on all cylinders the recordings should have that energy?

JS: I think good producers — and we had a good producer for this record, Chris Stringer — are able to help synthesize that energy in a band. And once the energy’s there, I think whether it’s multi-tracked or live really isn’t quite as important.

I think what you’re saying, which I agree with, is that the live energy

it’s sort of driven more by a bluesy riff on the guitar. The challenge is for the guitar to figure out a way to play the traditional-sounding fiddle stuff and for the fiddle to play the bluesier, more roots-rock sound of another song.

AJM: So it’s more about starting with a simple idea and then letting it steer itself?

JS: Generally, we’ll start with a skeleton of a song and then chip away at it until everybody’s satisfied. In the process we’ll usually change things and assimilate some

of the characteristics of each of us as players. And I feel like we usually try and start with fairly simple song ideas, which I think is an advantage. Obviously the arrangements can get a little dense, but I think that simplicity lies at the core of most of the stuff we do.

AJM: Some of the songs on the record, especially “Lizzie Dying of a Broken Heart,” wouldn’t seem out of place in an arena or on rock radio.

I’m curious what you make of this roots music renaissance we’re in right now.

JS: It’s funny. To me, to call it a renaissance seems like it would have to have been dead for a long, long, long time. But to me it really hasn’t ever gone away or died; it just goes through this little cycle. Maybe right now it’s at a bit of a high point.

But I don’t feel like it’s ever really gone away. I think that a lot of people would sort of consider this as a big renaissance, and they may be right, but I don’t know. I’m so close to it that it’s pretty hard to see the forest for the trees, you know?

AJM: It’s been a year since the record came out and you’ve been touring pretty steadily. At this point are you playing new material, songs that people can expect to hear on another release?

JS: Absolutely. We’re going to release an EP in a few months. It has two brand-new tracks on it.

They are cover songs, but they’re new. We’ve been writing some new material and actually just started performing the first batch recently, so there’ll be one or two new songs in there at least. But I think the goal is to find time in the late spring and summer to really bang out a whole bunch of new music.

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Drawing the World Around Us

Contemporary Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada explores new themes and ideas in an ancient medium

by Alex J MacPherson

O

nly in the last few decades has drawing emerged as a serious rival to other, more established art practices. For centuries drawing was thought to lack the intellectual depth and emotional weight of oil painting and sculpture. Artists have always sketched furiously, but their drawings were often preparatory, outlines for projects that would be cast in bronze or daubed on the canvas. According to Lisa Baldissera, chief curator at the Mendel Art Gallery, the winds began to shift with the rise of conceptual art and the privileging of thought over form.

Since the middle of the 20th century, drawing has become not only a means of communication, but also a conscious attempt to re-assert human presence in a world increasingly defined by the virtual.

“Drawing really lends itself so well to a thinking process,” Baldissera says.

“As artists started to make visible what was happening behind the curtain of creativity, making that part of the work, drawing became really crucial.

Artists might be doing preparatory sketches, which they would then exhibit, and that would be kind of daring. But now the drawings themselves becomes the finished works.” This shift is evident in Contemporary Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada, an exhibition featuring drawings made since 2000 by twenty-five artists and collectives, both Canadian and international. The exhibition, which was curated by Rhiannon Vogl, expands on and draws attention to the multitude of ways in which drawing is used to frame ideas — as well as how the form has evolved over time.

One of the most visible themes running through the exhibition has to do with the notion of what drawing is.

Photos: courtesy of national gallery of canada

Tristram Lansdowne, Axis Mundi (detail), 2012, watercolour and graphite on wove paper.

It is natural but wrong to think of drawing as the interaction between pen and paper; Baldissera prefers to think of it as gesture- and mark-making, a definition that contains room for experiments with materials. Sandy Plotnikoff, for example, created mountainous landscapes by forcing collisions between pieces of foil — an example of process determining result. Ed Pien, on the other hand, carved shapes out of a massive sheet of plasticized material to create a richly-detailed negative drawing. Daniel Barrow’s “I’m Sorry for the Killing” uses transparencies and an overhead projector to transform drawing into performance art.

Another important idea built into the exhibition is that of relating oneself to the world. This manifests in many different ways. In the five-panel Northern Landscape, Simon Hughes depicts a contested north in which traditions are juxtaposed with unmistakable elements of modernity — Buckminster Fuller geodesic domes, log cabin skyscrapers, and buses packed with gawping tourists. Other works, like Qavavau Manumie’s “Untitled (Becoming a Community)” and Pia Lenz’s “Mile End Park” are deeply personal acts of cartography, maps made to scales that are measured not in miles and inches, but in experience and meaning.

Contemporary Drawing also speaks to the notion of obsession — of how

so many artists are prepared to devote hours and hours of hard work to a single drawing. “There’s something about drawing that still invites obsession, in a way,” Baldissera says. “It can be a process, it can be a meditative practice. So there’s the drawing, which is the output, but with some of these works you think, what were they doing, how do they do that?”

This is perhaps most evident in the work of Kelly Mark, a conceptual artist who lives and works in Toronto.

Because she suffers from insomnia, Mark often works at night, using Letraset to create intricate patterns that suggest not only the mechanical nature of repetition and obsession, but also the rupture between one world and another.

Obsession also ties into what Baldissera calls the “deeply romantic” nature of drawing. “When you are surrounded by virtual culture this is something that insists on the body in a certain space creating something,” she says, referring to the visceral and human nature of the act of making marks. “I mean, this is not about getting something done in an afternoon, for the most part. These are huge undertakings.

If you think about that, taking hours and hours and hours to produce an artwork that reveals thinking over hours and hours and hours, it is a

deeply romantic gesture within a landscape of scarcity around time and production.” In other words, thinking and drawing assign value and meaning to time and, more importantly, affirm the presence of a human being — someone who thought and someone who made.

Contemporary Drawings Through March 30 @ Mendel Art Gallery Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Shakespeare In Doubt

Bill Cain’s Equivocation jams the famous playwright between a rock and a hard place by Alex J MacPherson

L

ife is complicated. That is the overarching theme of Equivocation, a fiery drama that finds a fictionalized William Shakespeare navigating a map littered with intrigue, manipulation and outright deception.

Written by Bill Cain and premiered in 2010, Equivocation is ostensibly a political play, an exercise in historical fiction that weaves Shakespeare’s mysterious life into the fabric of a famous plot. But it also explores knotty family relationships, the meaning of artistic integrity, and the art of bending and distorting the truth. “It talks about equivocation, which is defined in this play as the skill of being able to tell the truth in difficult times,” says Scott Bellis, who plays Shakespeare in the play’s Canadian premiere. “Or, as Shakespeare puts it, telling the truth without getting caught at it.”

Equivocation begins when Shakespeare, whom Cain refers to throughout as ‘Shagspere’ or ‘Shag,’ is commissioned by King James to write the history of the gunpowder plot, the infamous 1605 conspiracy to blow up the House of Lords for which Guy Fawkes and several other conspirators were hanged, drawn, and quartered.

Before long, the playwright — who is working on the half-finished script

of King Lear — begins to wonder exactly what story the monarch and his henchmen want him to tell. As the play unfolds, Shag must balance the desires of his political masters against his own instincts while maintaining his integrity, both as an artist and as a human being. And, of course, dealing with an insubordinate daughter and a host of unruly actors.

“It’s very ambitious in terms of the number of topics,” Bellis says of the play, which features six actors, some of whom portray many different characters, and dozens of different scenes playing out across 17th century London . “It wants to talk about politics and conspiracy; it wants to talk about the difficulty of being an artist; it wants to talk about family relationships, both immediate family relationships and greater family, the people who become closer to you though life’s circumstances.” In other words, Equivocation is like life itself: complicated, messy, and rarely linear.

But that does not keep a few important themes from rising to the top.

Perhaps the most important idea explored in the play is the murky relationship between art and politics.

Bellis suggests that this may operate on several levels, considering that Cain is American and wrote Equivocation in a time of much conflict, uncertainty, and truth-manipulation. In the

play itself, Shag must examine what is actually the truth, and how it has been bent and distorted — a problem facing many artists working today. “The most failure we can have as artists in Canada is that our work doesn’t speak to anybody,” Bellis says. “Whereas in Shakespeare’s time, you could get arrested — or worse. And what I find sad about that is that there are countries where that can still happen to you as an artists or a journalist or a political activist. You can be arrested, jailed, imprisoned, executed, for making a statement, of truth or whatever your truth is, whatever you happen to want to say.”

Equivocation is also a meditation on posterity, on what it means to leave a legacy. This idea emerges not only through Shag’s determination to preserve his artistic integrity, but also through his troubled relationship with his daughter. The root cause of these familial problems is the absence of her twin brother, who died at the age of eleven, depriving Shag of his chance at posterity. “It’s lost a lot of its meaning,” Bellis says of the convention that legacies hinge on the presence of a son. “But the idea of wanting to leave something behind is still, I think, universal. Like, what do you want to leave behind?

Is it going to be a legacy of love that you leave your children? Is it going

to be a great play that you write? Is it going to be something you said in a political arena? These are the questions that are popping up.”

These are complex questions and Equivocation offers few answers.

Instead, Cain’s cunning metatheatrical narrative, which employs plays within a play, forces viewers to consider for themselves what matters — and why. It is a role to which Shakespeare is perfectly suited. “We all know who he is, but we really don’t know that much about him,” Bellis says. “Yet we’re so fascinated by his inner workings because of

all the great work he left behind.” In other words, the unusual combination of familiarity and pliability allows Cain’s Shag to become a stand-in for everyone who wants to tell the truth in difficult times.

Equivocation Through March 30 @ Persephone Theatre Ticket info @ persephonetheatre.org Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Feature

Islands Are Forever

Photo: courtesy of anna larina

Nick Thorburn, Ski Mask, and the long search for musical identity by Alex J MacPherson

N

ick Thorburn is always in motion. Islands, the band he helped found in Montreal in 2005, has spent the last nine years reinventing itself with each album cycle. This sonic volatility has won fans and baffled critics across the continent; many people have enjoyed Islands records while wondering what, exactly, Thorburn has been trying to achieve. The band’s latest record is no different. Released in late 2013, Ski Mask folds a vast array of influences and ideas into an expansive collection of amorphous pop songs. It has also been touted as a crossroads record, with Thorburn himself declaring: “Like the third act of a movie—just after it seems like all hope is lost, that’s when the big breakthrough moment happens. For Islands, this is us waiting for the breakthrough moment.”

This is more than anything else a reflection of the fact that Islands cannot be shoehorned into a specific genre. But this is also business as usual for the group, a band for whom identity is always in motion, always being constructed. In other words, Ski Mask is exactly the same as every other Islands record: it is the product of a band determined

to keep growing, evolving, changing direction.

Islands emerged onto the Montreal scene following the extinction of the Unicorns, an innovative garage pop band that included Thorburn and drummer Jaime Thompson. The band’s first record, Return To The Sea, was released in 2006. Its combination of rough-yet-refined pop sound and mercurial songwriting generated praise from critics and fans alike; it also led to a tour with indie rock heavyweights Metric. Islands followed Return To The Sea with four more records and plenty of lineup changes, including two

has been playing with the band since 2010. Nevertheless, multiple changes of personnel can devastate even the stoutest bands. Islands has been kept afloat on the strength of Thorburn’s songwriting. This ability to produce consistently strong records has allowed the band to explore different musical avenues without losing any of its verve; in fact, Ski Mask is probably the most sonically diverse album the band has ever released.

“I think that Islands has gotten to a point where we don’t really have much to prove, and we’ve kind of flexed all of our muscles,” Thorburn says from

I don’t think it can be properly assessed, what the identity of the band is, until maybe after it’s no longer a band… nick thorburn

separate departures for Thompson.

Some critics have characterized the band as an expanded solo project, but Thorburn has been playing alongside Evan Gordon and Geordie Gordon for five years; drummer Luc Laurent

a tour stop in London, England. “I feel like we’ve pivoted in enough different musical directions that there’s no expectations on us to sound a certain way: we can kind of achieve anything we desire musically.” According to Continued on next page »

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Thorburn, Ski Mask was compiled from songs old and new, including some that date back to 2007, shortly before the band released its sophomore album, Arm’s Way. Thorburn also says Ski Mask was recorded at the same time as its predecessor, 2012’s A Sleep & a Forgetting. “I just held onto it for a few years until I was out of contract with my old label,” he says. “It was very intentional to put these songs together.” Perhaps not surprisingly, Ski Mask explores a much wider variety of musical themes and ideas than A Sleep & a Forgetting, which Thorburn wrote on a piano during a self-imposed exile in Los Angeles.

The new album features a wide array of sounds, from gossamer pop hooks and bracing synth-driven rock to driving Gracelend-style epics and tropical indie anthems. “Death Drive,” for example, hints at the cabaret piano pop that shaped so much of A Sleep & a Forgetting. “Hushed Tones,” on the other hand, unfolds into a dense layercake of ringing guitars and unusual percussion overlaid with a breezy synthesizer riff and Thorburn’s simple yet poignant lyrics: “When you hear thunder / You come running / Ain’t it something / You come running back to me.” After a moment of consideration, Thorburn agrees that Ski Mask can be regarded as a summary of the band’s various sonic experiments and musical adventures, from the charmingly ragged pop of Return to the Sea to the macabre garage showtunes of A Sleep & a Forgetting. “I think it sums it up,” he says. “I don’t know if it was a conscious decision, but looking at the collection of songs, it does feel like

Photo: courtesy of justin kuo

a good representation of every style and direction I’ve tried to take on.”

Which suggests that Islands are indeed at a crossroads. And Ski Mask offers some hints as to where the various open roads might lead. On “Wave

Forms,” Thorburn sings: “I won’t ride another wave / and I won’t write another word after today / no wave forms out here adrift amidst an endless sea / and there’s nothing to return to / you’ll find me floating endlessly.” These lines can be read in numerous ways: as an expression of frustration with an entire industry, or merely an unwillingness to deal with the chaotic lifestyle that accompanies membership in a successful pop band. “It’s kind of demonstrative of just feeling a little worn down by constantly putting my emotional self on the line, and feeling just kind of resigned to the fact that I don’t want to necessarily do this forever I guess,” he says before framing Ski Mask as a sort of reflexive reaction to the emotional openness of A Sleep & a Forgetting.

“It’s just kind of exhibiting exhaustion but forging ahead, but tempered with something that’s cautionary.”

Ski Mask is also shot through with anger, which is perhaps not surprising given its darkly evocative title and alarming cover art, a still from the 1986 film Ozone! Attack of the Redneck Mutants. Thorburn attributes his anger to “sh*t that I’ve put up with from sh*tty people” as well as “being misunderstood [and] being misrepresented.” At the same time, Ski Mask balances frustration and moments of outright anger with some of the most beautiful music Islands has ever produced. Artistic tension is often a product of juxtaposition, and by casting moments of uncertainty and despair against upbeat, achingly beautiful musical backdrops, Thorburn forces listeners to evaluate what, exactly, each line means. This is apparent on “Wave Forms,” which mates some of the darkest lyrics on the record — “In the golden hour / holding on to burning embers / There’s no sound / It’s over now can / return to sender” — to a propulsive, soaring pop melody. “I’ve always been into contrasted lyrics and music,” Thorburn says, hinting at one of the great strengths of his songwriting. “It’s always been something I’ve tried to do, to have things play off each other.”

The uncertainty bound up in “Wave Forms,” and nearly every other track on the record, for that matter, can be seen as a metaphor for the band itself. Progress implies risk and evolution is inextricably

tied to chance. Islands’ refusal to stop growing carries with it an immense element of danger — critical and commercial, as well as emotional.

But Thorburn is already starting to unravel some of his frustrations with the music industry. He began by releasing Ski Mask on his own label, Manqué. “We were out of contract with our label, and I was looking around for another label and no deal seemed particularly flattering or enticing,” he says. “The other option required a little bit more work, but [I] was able to get a really great deal set up with a distributor called Redeye, who basically helped me set up the label, my own label. And it’s been fantastic.” It is becoming more and more common for significant bands to release music on small labels, and for good reason: independence is creative control, which is vital for a band like Islands.

Islands has built a career by constantly reinventing itself and on doing the unexpected in an engaging, entertaining way. Each of the band’s records are different, linked by little more than a fondness for pop music in all of its forms and Thorburn’s ability to write smart, arresting songs. In other words, Islands exists outside the traditional music industry framework in which identity is

a fixed concept, something a band can discover and adopt. “I think I’ve gotten better as a musician, better as a songwriter,” Thorburn says. “I just think everything’s tightened up a bit and gotten more focused.” At the same time, he is reluctant to place the band into any kind of musical context: “I think it’s still unclear. I don’t think it can be properly assessed, what the identity of the band is, until maybe after it’s no longer a band — and I don’t know when that

will be.” After a pause he adds, “But I’m still going: Islands are forever, you know?”

Islands March 23 @ Amigos $10 @ Ticketedge.ca Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Service with a smile Photo: courtesy of adam hawboldt

Samosa King offers great food and a welcoming dining experience — especially for a food court restaurant by adam hawboldt

H

ave you ever tried kadaai chicken before?” asks the man behind the counter.

Where I am is at the food court in The Centre Mall, standing at the Samosa King’s counter. And to

chicken, just to make sure I don’t make the wrong choice. It didn’t take more than one bite before my mind was made up, so I put in my order: kadaai chicken it is, with naan bread, a side of chickpea masala and two samosas, please and thank you very much.

The man gives me the samosas first (along with a healthy serving of both tamarind and mint dipping sauce), and tells me the kadaai chicken will be out in a minute.

Taking a seat in the food court, surrounded by teenagers drinking Orange Julius and old couples noshing on New York Fries, I dig into the samosas.

The insides are a svelte mash of potatoes, spices, peas, coriander and lentils, while the outside is crispy and not greasy at all. Perfect.

When I’m on my last bite of my second samosa, the man in the green

be honest, I’ve never tried kadaai chicken before. Heck, I’ve never even heard of it.

I tell the man in the green plaid shirt this and he says it’s spicy, before offering me a taste of butter chicken and then a taste kadaai

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide Blueberry Rum Smash

Ingredients

Spring hasn’t arrived quite yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some truly awesome spring drinks. If you’re in the mood for something fresh and delicious, give this recipe a try.

2oz rum 3/4oz freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tbsp brown sugar ginger ale blueberries

Directions

Fill the bottom of a mason jar (or an old fashion glass) with blueberries. Add brown sugar and lemon juice. Muddle until the sugar is melted. Now fill the glass with crushed ice. Add rum. Top with ginger ale and serve.

plaid shirt waves at me, smiles, and holds up a plate of kadaai chicken to tell me it’s ready.

Now, let me tell you something.

That first sample of the chicken he gave me was good. It was spicy and moist, with a real comfort-food feel.

That was the first bite. The second bite was even better.

Why? Because along with the chicken, I also took a heaping forkful of the sauce it’s cooked in. And, man, is it good! A combination of tomato, garlic, turmeric, cumin, ginger, onions, green peppers and a bunch of other stuff I’m probably missing, the sauce is thick and spicy and delicious. I know this is a food court and all, but the kadaai chicken at Samosa King

is just as good as any dish I’ve had in other Indian restaurants around town. Same goes for the naan (which was big and buttery), and the chickpea masala.

When I’m finished eating, the man behind the counter looks at me and gives me a thumbs up, as if to ask, “Was it good?” I give him a big thumbs up back and smile.

Samosa King 3301 8th Street East | (306) 979 3030

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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Next Week

coming up

Rosie and the Riveters

Tim Hicks

Queen + Adam Lambert

@ The Bassment Friday, March 21 – $17+

@ O’Brians Event Centre Saturday, March 22 – $39.50+

@ Credit Union Centre Monday, June 23 – Tickets TBD

Watching Saskatoon’s Rosie and the Riveters live in concert is kind of like taking a trip to the past. Their music — a fusion of gospel music, African American spirituals, folk, bluegrass, jazz and so much more — harkens back to a simpler time. But there’s nothing simple about the songs these charismatic, talented women play.

Consisting of Alexis Normand, Melissa Nygren, Farideh and new member Allyson Reigh, Rosie and the Riveters draw upon each member of the band to create an infectious and at times hilarious show that mixes seductive vocal arrangements with acoustic music and sensational choreography.

If you’re fond of having a good time (or just fond of hearing good music), drop by the Bassment next week and check these ladies out.

It’s been a helluva few years for Tim Hicks. After opening for Dallas Smith and Chad Brownlee on the 2012 Boys of Fall tour, the country musician from St. Catharines, Ontario released his debut single, “Get By” — co-written by the guys from Florida Georgia Line and Neil Sanderson of Three Days Grace.

The song cracked the Canadian Hot 100 (#57) in February 2013 and was later certified gold. And rightfully so — lzike most of the songs on his excellent debut album Throw Down, “Get By” is an upbeat country anthem that’ll pull you out of your chair and make you want to party. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to crack a beer and hang out with your friends. Hicks will be performing at O’Brians next week, so come on down! Tickets available through Ticketmaster.

Replacing Freddie Mercury is no easy task. The former frontman of Queen had a four-octave range that allowed him to be one of the best frontmen of all time. He was so good that Rolling Stone ranked him #18 on its 100 Greatest Singers list. Yes indeed, replacing a guy like that is no easy task. But it’s a task that Adam Lambert is willing to take on. The runner-up on Season 8 of American Idol, Lambert first teamed up with Queen on the show in 2009. They played together again in 2011 at the MTV European Music Awards in Belfast. Now they’re going on tour together across North America singing original Queen songs.

And by all accounts — or at least according to Rolling Stone and others — the show is astounding. Tickets through Ticketmaster.

– By Adam Hawboldt

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

Saskmusic Preview SaskMusic wishes all Saskatchewan nominees luck at the 2014 JUNO Awards in Winnipeg on Sunday, March 30. Regina’s Rah Rah is up for Alternative Album of the Year for their release The Poet’s Dead, and George Leach, also from Regina, has picked up a nomination in the category of Aboriginal Album of the Year for Surrender. SaskMusic also sends congratulations to Moose Jawborn Kevin Churko and his son, co-engineer Kane Churko, on their nomination for Recording Engineer of the Year; to director Matt Barnes for Video of the Year for The Sheepdogs’ “Feeling Good”; and to former Saskatchewanite Little Miss Higgins & The Winnipeg Five on their nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year: Group.

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

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16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Friday 14

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover Young Benjamins / Amigos — With John Antoniuk + more. 10pm / Cover TBD Martin Janovsky / The Bassment — It’s piano Fridays! . 4:30pm / No cover The Fretless / Bassment — Award-winning musicians from TO. 9pm / $20/$25 Flashback Fridays / Béily’s — The best of the ‘80s, ‘90s & more. 9pm / $5 Whiskey Jerks / Bon Temps — Folk meets country meets jazz. 8:30pm / No cover RipperTrain / Buds — Rock/alt/metal from a local band. 9pm / Cover TBD Black Rain / Dakota Dunes Casino — Featuring The Rebels. 7pm / Cover TBD BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/ vocal house music. 10pm / $5

DJ Eclectic / The Hose — Local turntable whiz pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits.. 9pm / $5 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm Purdy Bird / Prairie Ink — Local folk/ acoustic music. 8pm / No cover Nightswitch / Rock Bottom — With Broken Roads. 8pm / Cover TBD Toon Town Big Band Dance / Royal Canadian Legion — Big band music to dance to. 8pm / $15+ (call Larry @ 229-1315 for advance tickets.

DJ Fudge / Freehouse — Local DJ spinning your favorite songs. 9pm / No cover Darrin Roy / Stan’s Place — Come on down for a good time. 9:30pm / No cover VIP 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 The Faps / Vangelis — With Bad Decisions and more. 10pm / Cover TBD

DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s — These two DJs throw down. 9pm / $5 RipperTrain / Buds — Rock/alt/metal from a local band. 9pm / Cover TBD get lucky / Diva’s — Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day! 10pm / $3 Ray Richards / Finn’s Irish Pub — Come celebrate St. Paddy’s Day! 8pm / No cover Liverpool / German Cultural Club — Covering the Beach Boys + more. 8pm / $15 DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Dr. J / James Hotel Lobby Bar — Spinning funk, soul, and more. 9pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax — Ladies night with the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music. 8pm / $4 cover Bass Kleph / O’Brians Event Centre — With Mat the Alien + more. 8pm / $40 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5 Crooked Timber / Prairie Ink — An an eclectic acoustic duo. 8pm / No cover Classy Chassys / Rock Bottom — With Myles and the Blanks. 8pm / Cover TBD Fuse Collective / Freehouse — The gang is back doing their thing. 9pm / No cover DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD At the Movies / TCU Place — Featuring songs from Up! + more. 7:30pm / $35+ Bleed Green St. Patrick’s Day Party / Tequila — Featuring Mern, Kindo and Gibshow. 6:30pm / $5+

Saturday 15

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes. 9pm / No cover Concert for Change / Amigos — With Wolfen Rabbits + more. 10pm / Cover TBD Diana Panton Quartet / The Bassment — A singer who charms. 8pm / $30+

DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD Sleepy Sunny / Vangelis — With The Moas and The Jay of Spades. 10pm / $12/$15

Harmful Effects / Vangelis — Featuring Exes for Eyes + more. 9pm / Cover TBD

Sunday 16

17 Seconds of Fuel / Buds — Come out for a rockin’ party. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Double Deuce — Able to rock any party, this crowd favourite has always been known to break the latest and greatest tracks in multiple genres.

9:30pm / $4 cover DJ Nick Ruston / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD Matt Webb / O’Brians Event Centre — With Amy Hef, Fake Shark-Real Zombie! + more. 7pm / $15 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

Electric Six / Amigos Cantina — Detroit rockers with The Mohrs. 10pm / $15 (ticketedge.ca) 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 industry staff Siamasa / Bon Temps — Come celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with us. 7pm / No cover Martin Sexton / Broadway Theatre — A talented singer/songwriter from New York.

7:30pm / $27 (informationstation.ca) DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Blues Jam / Vangelis Tavern — The Vangelis Sunday Jam is an institution, offering great tunes from blues to rock and beyond.

7:30pm / No cover

Monday 17

Wenches and Rogues / Amigos Cantina — Also appearing: Across the Pond. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ Audio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD Ray Richards / Finn’s Irish Pub — Come celebrate St. Patrick’s Day! 8pm / No cover

Tuesday 18

Wednesday 19

DJ Modus / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Spinning all your favourite tracks. 9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter Salsa Night / Béily’s — Latin music and salsa dance lessons. 8:30pm / Cover TBD Undercover Pirates / Buds — Local rock/ alt-metal music. 10pm / Cover TBD 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

Continued on next page »

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Buck Wild Wednesdays / Outlaws — Come out and ride the mechanical bull!

9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff Marchmallow Treat / The Refinery — Featuring Sylvia Chave. 10:30 am / $7+ Conor Coughlan / Rock Creek (Willowgrove) — Come good ol’ down-home music.

8pm / No cover Celtic Women / TCU Place — Come check out The Emerald Tour. 7pm / $39+ Kyprios / Vangelis — With Cquel and Animal Nation. 9pm / $15/$20

Thursday 20

Cover the Nights / Amigos Cantina — Featuring The Pxrtals. 10pm / Cover TBD Steve Dawson / The Bassment — A Junowinning guitarist. 8pm / $17/$23 Undercover Pirates / Buds — Local rock/ alt-metal music. 10pm / Cover TBD DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music. 8pm / $4 cover Marchmallow Treat / The Refinery — Featuring Sylvia Chave. 10:30am, 7pm / $7+ Blackout City Kids / Rock Bottom — Playing mashups. 8pm / Cover TBD Triple Up Thursdays / Tequila — Featuring DJ Dislexic. 9pm / Cover TBD Spring / Vangelis — With Comments and Concerns. 9pm / Cover TBD Open Stage / The Woods — Hosted by Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

The Standards Trio / Prairie Ink — A local jazz ensemble. 8pm / No cover Marchmallow Treat / The Refinery — Featuring Sylvia Chave. 10:30am, 1pm / $7+ Blackwater / Rock Bottom — With Bye Bye Baby. 8pm / Cover TBD DJ Ivar / Freehouse — Coming all the way from Edmonton. 9pm / No cover Red Blaze / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ country good time. 9pm / No cover VIP 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 Whiskey Songs / Vangelis — With DJ Market Mall. 10pm/ Cover TBD

Saturday 22

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes all night long. 9pm / No cover Untimely Demise / Amigos — With Vulture Kult and Singularity. 10pm / Cover TBD Solstice / The Bassment — Some fine jazz vocal stylings. 8pm / $15/$20

DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s — These two DJs throw it down all night long. 9pm / $5 Then Benny Stirs / Bon Temps — A local quartet you should hear. 8:30pm / No cover Screamlyne / Buds — A hard Saskatchewan rock quintet. 10pm / Cover TBD SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax — Ladies night with the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover DR j / James Hotel — Spinning funk, soul + more! 9pm / no cover DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music. 8pm / $4 cover University Cup Cabarets / O’Brians — Featuring Tim Hicks. 8:30pm / $10 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5 Rayney / Prairie Ink — A contemporary, local folk artist. 8pm / No cover Misterfire / Rock Bottom — With The Population + more. 8pm / Cover TBD

Charly Hustle / Freehouse — Local DJ spins groovy tracks. 9pm / No cover Red Blaze / Stan’s Place — A rockin’ country good time. 9pm / No cover DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD Saturday Night Social / Tequila — You will be grooving. 9pm / Cover TBD Amati Quartet / Third AveUnited Church — Featuring Beethoven. 2pm, 7pm / $15+

DJ Thorpdeo / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD Absofunkinlutely / Vangelis — Groovy stubble-funk. 10pm / Cover TBD

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

Friday 21

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover Head Hits Concrete / Amigos — With Cetascean and more. 10pm / Cover TBD Neil Currie / The Bassment — Come down for Piano Fridays! 4:30pm / No cover Rosie and the Riveters / Bassment — A local vocal collective. 9pm / $17/$23 Flashback Fridays / Béily’s — The best of the ‘80s, ‘90s & more. 9pm / $5 Screamlyne / Buds — A hard Saskatchewan rock quintet. 10pm / Cover TBD BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/ vocal house music. 10pm / $5 West My Friend / Gillian Snider’s House — Third-wave indie prog. 8pm / $10 DJ Eclectic / The Hose — Local turntable whiz pumps snappy beats. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits..

9pm / $5 cover University Cup Cabarets / O’Brians — Featuring DJ Charly Hustle. 8:30pm / $10 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm

21 Mar 14 – Mar 20 @verbsaskatoon

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Photo: Courtesy of walt disney studios motion pictures

It has speed, but it needs something else Need for Speed: a high-octane movie with not much of a screenplay by adam hawboldt

A

s the old saying goes — there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

And there’s definitely more than one way to make a good car-chase movie. You can make it funny, like Talladega Nights or The Cannonball Run. You can base it on real life — see: Senna or Rush. You can make it all badass like Death Race, epic like Days of Thunder, or cool like The Fast and The Furious.

Or you can put Steve McQueen in it, call it Bullit, focus on character, and rest easy knowing you’ve created a masterpiece.

Unfortunately, Scott Waugh’s Need for Speed doesn’t really do any of these things. Sure, it tries to capture character and humour while making the film cool and epic. But to its detriment, Need for Speed tries to be too many things at once. And because of this, it ultimately falls short of whatever mark

The story revolves around a guy named Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) who has spent some time in the clink for a crime he didn’t commit.

What was the crime?

Well, once upon a time ago, Tobey — a talented racer who ran a car repair shop — was challenged to a race by a guy named Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Dino is the kind of guy you love to hate, a handsome car-racing hotshot with a sh*t-eating grin and a penchant for the ladies. And hate him Tobey does, especially when one of his friends is killed during the contest and he is blamed (when in truth it was Dino’s fault). Tobey is sent to jail. Then, to make matters worse, Dino also steals his girlfriend.

Needless to say, Tobey is pissed.

And when he gets out of prison, he sets out to exact his revenge on Dino the only way he knows how — by beating him in a race.

they may have been aiming for.

Starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, Need for Speed is based on the Electronic Arts video game of the same name. And by “based on” I mean it has fast cars that race and stuff. That’s about it. Without any in-game storyline to adhere to, Need for Speed races from point A to point

…to its detriment, Need for Speed tries to be too many things at once.

Adam Hawboldt

B in a haphazard, clichéd, plot-holed kind of way.

So that’s the plot. Not really Oscar material, but not terrible, either. What’s terrible about Need for Speed is the screenplay. The dialogue is stilted and meaningless and vapid. So vapid, in fact, that even though nearly everybody in the film delivers a good performance, none of them really have anything to work with.

That’s the bad news. The good news? Director Scott Waugh (a former stuntman) refused to use CGI for the movie, so what you get is good old-fashioned car racers driving good old-fashioned cars, tearing through good old-fashioned streets like a bunch of bats out of hell.

And while, dramatically, Need for Speed makes a movie like The

need for speed Scott Waugh Starring Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper + Imogen Poots Directed by

170 minutes | PG

Fast and The Furious look like Hamlet, there are more than enough high-octane driving scenes to keep action fans glued to the screen.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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The other Dickens

The Invisible Woman tells the story of Charles Dickens, Nelly Ternan, and the illicit love affair that changed their lives by adam hawboldt

Photo: Courtesy of BBC Films

W

ho, exactly, was Charles Dickens?

Yes, yes. We know he is one of the most famous authors in history. The guy who wrote classics like Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and The Tale of Two Cities. But who was he as a man, as a person?

If we are to believe The Invisible Woman, he was a complex individual who lived two distinctly different lives. On the surface, he was a rock star of Victorian England, the most famous person in the nation (outside of the monarchy). In public, he was sentimental and charming and had a certain allure about him. In private, though, Ralph Fiennes’ second movie as a director shows the author in a different light. It shows Dickens as a control freak. As a vain, dark, child-like man with a wandering eye and not much aversion to cruelty — especially when it comes to his poor wife, Catherine (played by Joanna Scanlan).

Based on a biography by Claire Tomalin, The Invisible Woman explores the clandestine and lasting love affair between a middle-aged Dickens (Ralph Fiennes) and an 18-year-old actress named Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones).

The story begins in the 1870s.

Dickens is dead and Nelly is remarried to a schoolmaster in Margate. Her

the invisible woman Ralph Fiennes Starring Ralph Fiennes, Felicity Jones, Joanna Scanlan + Kristen Scott Thomas Directed by

111 minutes | NR

the love affair between Dickens and Nelly begins.

This is [Nelly’s] story, and Felicity Jones does a terrific job…

Adam Hawboldt

days with Dickens are behind her. But when students at the school (where both she and her husband work) begin rehearsing for a play written by Dickens and his friend Wilkie Collins, we’re transported back to the 1850s, when

Nelly is reciting lines from a play Dickens has written and the great author falls for her, immediately.

A romance begins to blossom.

Then the movie jumps back to the 1870s, then back to the 1850s. Back

and forth it goes, and along the way we get a glimpse into the inner world of Dickens. A world that consists of a wife, 10 kids, great wealth and fame, and a burning love for Nelly that lasts until the day he dies.

But don’t be mistaken. Dickens isn’t the star of this movie. The main character is Nelly. This is her story, and Felicity Jones does a terrific job of bringing it to life. Ralph Fiennes is pretty good as Dickens, too. Heck, nearly everything about The Invisible Woman is good. The costumes are terrific, the cinematography is lush and sweeping, and the music (when it’s used) is fitting and atmospheric.

Yet for all that, there’s something about The Invisible Woman that comes up short. That something is the script

… or lack thereof. See, not too much is said in this film. It seems as though it’s a story told through heart-breaking looks, regretful images of letters being burned, and a wife suffering in stoic silence. The Invisible Woman is a subtle film that, at times, feels a bit too subtle.

Still, though, it’s well worth a watch.

Especially if you’re a fan of well-produced, beautiful period dramas.

The Invisible Woman is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

23 Mar 14 – Mar 20 /verbsaskatoon

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tuesday, march 11 @

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The Double Deuce 3510 8th Street East (306) 477 7000

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

29 Mar 14 – Mar 20 @verbsaskatoon

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crossword canadian criss-cross of words 29. Repeat verbatim 32. Place where travellers can stay 36. Increases 37. Leopards have them 39. Show approval 40. Horned viper 41. ‘Arabian Nights’ name 42. Down in the dumps 43. Run off the tracks 46. Talkative 49. On edge 50. Roof overhang 51. Orange-coloured vegetables 52. ‘You betcha!’

DOWN 1. Turn around an axis 2. Announcement to passengers, for short 3. Have its place 4. Phonograph records 5. Highest card of its suit 6. Louse egg 7. Have as an accompaniment 8. Display by wearing 9. Of leaves 11. Fly without an engine 12. Wind instrument 14. God of love 17. It has the potential to intoxicate drinkers 20. Bad habits

21. Bottomless hole sudoku answer key 24. Gangster’s pistol A 26. Current unit 28. Look at with interest 29. Figure skating jump 30. Knock over 31. Fish-eating hawk 33. Arched part of the foot 34. Layers of paint 35. Countercurrent B 38. Fence stakes 44. Collection of anecdotes 45. Distinctive doctrine 47. Cow chow 48. Address abbreviation

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

1. Boxing official 4. Wind direction indicator 8. Recurring theme 10. Hockey infraction 12. Starchy vegetable 13. Weed with stinging hairs 15. Crete’s highest mountain 16. Set down 18. A flat needs it 19. Favourite 20. Country estate 22. Altar answer 23. Mournful 25. Bundles of hay 27. Initial letters of a group

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

ACROSS

© walter D. Feener 2014

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

Leo July 23–August 22

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

Your mind isn’t likely to be focused this week, Aries. You might find this to be problematic at work or school.

If you’re not careful, Leo, this could very well be a week full of needless, bang-your-head-against-thewall frustration.

Normally your intellect governs your actions, Sagittarius, but this week your emotions will be the boss.

Enjoy the ride!

Taurus April 20–May 20

Virgo August 23–September 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Spring is in the air, which means you’ll find yourself with a renewed sense of physical vigor this week, Taurus.

We all know you’re a passionate creature, Virgo. But this week your passion could surprise even you.

Get out there!

Don’t be overly concerned with your appearance this week, Capricorn. Vanity doesn’t suit you. Try to look outside yourself for meaning.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Libra September 23–October 23

Aquarius January 20–February 19

If you find yourself in a romantic mood in the coming days, Gemini, don’t ignore your impulses. The universe could be telling you something.

This week, try to communicate in the clearest, most open, honest and loving way possible, Libra. Someone may need to hear from you.

Have you been dreaming about faraway lands lately, Aquarius?

If so, start making plans to visit. New horizons are in your future!

Cancer June 21–July 22

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

You ever hear the old saying about the calm before the storm, Cancer?

Well, for you that’s this week. Bask in the peace while you can.

Things are going to come at you faster than you’re able to process, Scorpio. Do your best to keep up, but don’t freak out. Things will be normal soon.

Don’t get down on yourself this week, Pisces. You’re good enough, you’re smart enough and doggone it, people like you.

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

crossword answer key

A

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

B

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