Verb Issue S294 (June 13-19, 2014)

Issue #294 – June 13 to June 19

arts

culture

music

saskatoon

TEGAN A N D SARA +

punching through On comics + community library voices + tanya tagaq Album reviews 22 jump street + belle Film reviews

Photo: courtesy of chris buck

contents

On the cover:

tegan and sara

On transforming indie rock. 16 / cover

Photo: courtesy of chris buck

NEWs + Opinion

sex trade overhaul

short stories, long bus rides Nicholas Olson’s

Our thoughts on prostitution laws.

stunning new collection. 4 / Local

8 / Editorial

punching through

comments

Jody Cason on comics + community.

Here’s your say about ending supply management. 10 / comments

6 / Local

culture

Q + A with old man markley Cali bluegrass punk rockers still going strong. 12 / Q + A

dead rock stars

a step back in time

SK artist changes direction.

We visit Pink Cadillacs.

14 / Arts

18 / Food + Drink

reviews

Music

We review Library Voices + Tanya Tagaq. 15 / Album reviews

Big Dave McLean, Mac DeMarco + Modest Mouse. 19 / music

entertainment

listings Local music listings for June 13 through June 21 20 / listings

22 jump street + belle

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 29 / comics

The latest movie reviews. 22 / Film

verbnews.com @verbsaskatoon facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Nightlife Photos

Games + Horoscopes

We visited Winston’s + Sutherland Curling Club. 24 / 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 + Dylan Giesbrecht

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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Short stories, long bus rides Photo: Courtesy of Nicholas Olsen

Regina author Nicholas Olson talks about his new short story collection by adam hawboldt

M

y short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left.

I remember exactly where I set down each and every one of them, and how I felt when I did.” — Haruki Murakami.

Nicholas Olson remembers exactly where he was when the idea

for “Cancelled Due to Plague” took hold — a story about a hockeyloving academic who loses his job and starts discussing philosophy under bridges and on houseboats in Poughkeepsie, New York.

It was three, maybe four years ago.

Olson was on a train leaving Montreal bound for New York. Sitting there, watching the lush wine country of

Hudson Valley roll past the window, he had an idea.

“I remember sitting on the train thinking about a dream I had a few nights before,” says Olson. “In the dream, the entire city of Montreal exploded when I was travelling, and I claimed that I knew that it was going to happen. So I was thinking about that, and stewing on leaving a rela-

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tionship and a city I really liked for no real good reason, and I began to wonder if the dream and my trip made me somewhat uncertain. This led to the idea of the subjectivity of normal, and how it all depends on who or how you look at it. The Adirondack Trail train that I was on passed by the city of Poughkeepsie and the ideas went from there.”

From there the story began to take form. He got the name of the main character, Mark Rolon, from a decal on the train window. Other ideas followed. But he didn’t start writing the story on that southbound train. That would come later, on a bus ride out of New York.

The trip Olson was taking was a long one. He’d been living in Montreal and decided to move back home to Regina, but there would be some stops along the way — Oklahoma, Mexico, California, B.C., Alberta and everywhere else in between. The point of the trip was to visit friends, to see this vast continent of ours, and to write stories about what he’d seen and experienced.

Prior to the trip, Olson had never written a short story before. He had a blog, and in 2011 released a book of essays called To Call Them To Wander.

But short stories were a new form to him — a form he desperately wanted to try his hand at.

“If I wanted to get an idea across, initially I had a hard way of subtly doing that in an essay,” says Olson. “In those, the idea would

just kind of be blunt and straightforward. Nothing gentle about it.

But with short stories, it’s different.

If I wanted to get something across, an idea that people would take seriously, maybe this would be the medium to do it. It wouldn’t be so heavy handed.”

So as Olson snaked his way across the U.S., down into Mexico and back up the west coast into Canada, he took notes. Lots of notes. And he wrote.

He wrote at friends’ houses along the way, he wrote in parks while his friends were at work, he wrote while riding the bus from one state to another.

His short story “Nobody Beats Mitch” was written largely on a bus.

“PayDay” too.

Olson spent a lot of time on buses, an estimated 10-12 days in total during his trip. The bus is where he jotted down notes and typed paragraphs into his computer. Little did he know it then, but the 200-plus hours he spent on those buses would one day shape the ethic and feel of what would become his first short story collection.

The Adirondack Haystack Still Floats is Olson’s debut collection of short stories. A collection that begins with the line “I ever show you how to break a man’s wrist, thumb and collarbone at once?”

It’s a line from the story “The Unknown Collarbone.” It’s also a line

that sets a mood and a tone for the 11 stories that follow.

There’s something vaguely threatening in these stories, as though the main characters can come undone at a second’s notice. Plot twists pull you into new, dark places. There are episodes of quick, visceral violence in these stories. Moments of laughter, of sorrow, of the fantastical, too.

There’s also booze, sports, and elements of Americana.

At the centre of it all, though, stands the working class. Everyday, unexceptional people doing everyday things — more or less.

“In our culture, there’s a lot of wealth and celebrity and idol worship,” says Olson. “I’ve read The Great Gatsby and really liked it, but I had a hard time relating to the people in that story. My book, these stories, tend to show the type of person who are often overlooked in society. People who are considered mediocre or worthless. I tried to show the lives of these people, tried to tell their stories. They are important stories.”

But as Olson was creating these stories, meeting people and listening to them on long bus rides, he didn’t realize they would form the basis of his book.

That came later.

“I started drafting the first half of the book and realized the stories were inspired by the setting I’d put myself into,” says Olson. “It wasn’t on purpose. It was something that just kind of happened.”

After that realization, Olson began to focus on the working class, began to purposely write about them. He wanted to give them a voice, bring their stories to life.

That didn’t happen while he was traveling, though. While Olson was on the road, he mostly came up with ideas and wrote first drafts. The real work happened when his trip ended and he returned home.

The basement of the Norwood Shop — located on 11th Avenue in Regina — is big. It’s dark and dirty too.

No internet.

This is where Nicholas Olson gave shape to The Adirondack Haystack Still Floats. Where he edited and wrote stories about his isolated, sometimes degraded characters. At the far end of that basement, Olson set up a makeshift desk using paint cans and plywood. When he wasn’t working in the shop upstairs, Olson was down in the basement. Sometimes he wrote and edited before his shifts, sometimes after, usually five or six hours at a time.

“By the time I got home from my trip, I had about half of the stories drafted,” says Olson. “And I had notes for the other half written down in a little notebook. I got to work on them in the Norwood basement. It was a good quiet place to write, better than where I was living. Less people, a whole lot quieter … I really enjoyed the writing part of it. But the editing, I despised it. I think the editing process took just as long as the drafting process, maybe two years.

It was so extensive, but it would’ve been a mess without editing. Some of the stories changed minimally from the first or second draft.

Other stories, they went through 10 or 15 drafts.”

Stories that began on a train bound for New York four years earlier.

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punching through illustration: drawn by Ken Savis and coloured by Jordan Ratzlaff

Punch creator Jody Cason on comics and community acceptance

by ADAM HAWBOLDT

A

sk Jody Cason about comic book writer Warren Ellis, and this is what she’ll tell you: “Ellis is like nobody else. He’s out there, has a really big imagination. You know, he just released a new series with Image called Trees.”

Ask her about recommendations, about writers like Ellis, and she’ll tell you, “There’s really nobody quite like him.” She pauses for a second, then says, “But [Grant] Morrison is really good too, kind of a similar vein. Jonathan Hickman is a great writer, too.

And [Brian Michael] Bendis. Oh, and Daniel Clowes, too … His Eightball is the single best comic I’ve ever read in my life.”

Cason knows all this because it’s her job. She works at a comic store in Saskatoon called Amazing Stories which — along with Comic Readers in Regina — is one of 10 comic stores nominated for the 2014 Harry Kremer Award for best retailer in the country.

Cason has been working at Amazing Stories for more than two

years now, helping those on the prairies who love comics find new and exciting material.

“There are so many people who come in and are passionate about what they’re reading,” says Cason. “They want to talk about it, discuss it. And this is the place where they can come and do that. Just being there to talk with them, that’s a big part of my job.”

But interacting with customers is not the only part. From Monday through Thursday, Cason is constantly busy getting invoices ready, planning events, making posters and more.

In the last couple of years, however, Cason has also been busy doing something else. She’s been busy editing a magazine called Punch.

There was a time, not so long ago, when comics weren’t so mainstream.

That isn’t to say they weren’t popular, because they were. It’s just that, for a long while, reading comics was an esoteric hobby of sorts. Something done by so-called geeks and comic nerds.

“In the past, you’d go to your neighbourhood comic store and there really wasn’t a super strong community,” explains Cason. “You might have felt isolated in your love for, oh I don’t know, say, Dr. Who or whatever obscure thing you were into because you didn’t really know anybody else who was into it … People would tend to do their thing in the shadows, and often there was a stigma attached.

You really didn’t talk about the fact that you were a comic book collector or a nerd or whatever.”

Recently, though, that’s all changed.

Comics have become more accepted by the general public than they’ve ever been. They’ve moved from arcane geek culture into the mainstream. Movies based on comics are popping up all the time, television shows too. Less and less are people looking down their noses at comic books.

“The internet had a really big impact on that,” says Cason about the culture’s shift towards the mainstream. “Now you can go on the internet and there are millions of people who are into it. So that stigma of ‘I’m the only one who likes this, I must be a loser’ … you automatically feel connected to other people. There’s a pride that happens with that, the stigma is gone, all of a sudden it’s cooler. It’s okay for me to like Wonder Woman or Zatanna as a result of just being connected and meeting people you share a passion with.”

That’s not the only reason, though.

ComiCons, once small events attended by only hardcore fans, have exploded to the point where major news outlets like CNN are covering them.

And then there’s the money factor.

Or, more specifically, who is in charge of the money.

“A lot of what we see in pop culture tends to be 30 years out,” says Cason. “You have people who were into comics early in life then, thirty years later, these are people who are in power. Who are in charge of marketing companies, in media, in production, in making decisions about what gets out in the world.

These people have a lot of influence over what gets out to the public, what movies are going to be made … what books are going to be published … what characters toys and t-

shirts are going to be made for. They go back to the things they love.”

The result has been an expanded interest, an expanded acceptance, and an ever-expanding community.

Community. That’s the ticket.

That’s what Cason is trying to enhance with Punch Magazine — the local comic community.

These days there are a lot of first issues of comics that come out with a blank cover. You know, so that fans can attend ComiCons, take these issues with them, and have their favourite artist draw a cover for them.

A few years ago, when Amazing Stories was having an anniversary sale, they took a few of these blank cover comics and asked local artists to do some art work on them. What they got back was awesome. So awesome, in fact, it gave Cason an idea.

“We have all this talent in our back yard, so my first thought was, well, why don’t we do something with it?” remembers Cason. “Why don’t we make a magazine?”

And from that thought, Punch was born. A full-colour, glossy magazine with real aesthetic appeal, Punch aims to strengthen the local comic community here in Saskatchewan. To give beginners and professionals a chance to get their work published.

In the most recent issue, the third one that has been put out since the magazine was launched last year, there’s a little bit of everything for comic lovers.

There’s artwork by Tom Grummett, a local artist who does work for Marvel, DC and many more. There’s work by local creatives who have made webcomics. There are profiles and advice columns and graphic novel reviews.

“A lot of beginners submit work to us, and we put it in the magazine,” says Cason. “There is so much passion in this community, so much talent. I don’t want to discourage any of that. I want to give everyone an opportunity to have their work seen.”

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editorial

Sex trade overhaul Proposed prostitution laws targets johns, does not increase the safety of sex workers

L

ast year, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the prostitution laws in our country. It did so because it found that existing laws‚ some of which dated back to British law from the 17th century, severely diminished the security and safety of sex workers. The Supreme Court also said existing prostitution laws stood in direct violation of section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That was in December.

The Supreme Court of Canada then handed the ball to the government and told them to come up with a new set of laws. People held their breath (figuratively speaking, of course) and waited to see what the government would come up with.

Well, the wait is over and we think the results are far from satisfactory.

Introduced in the last couple weeks, Bill C-36 (if passed) will essentially create a new protection of communities and exploited persons act. Here’s the gist of what the government is proposing: it will be an offence to purchase sexual services or to communicate for that purpose in any place where anyone under the age of 18 may be reasonably expected to be present. The new law also makes it an offence for anyone to profit off the prostitution of another person. Oh, and it also prohibits the advertising of sexual services in publications or online.

The thinking behind the government’s new proposed laws is that it will target “the perpetrators, the perverts [and] the pimps,” as Peter MacKay, Attorney General of Canada, said. They also aim to get prostitution out of communities, hence the under-18 stipulation.

There are a number of reasons why we think this is a terrible way to approach the issue.

Now, don’t get us wrong. We’re all for making our communities safer (which also includes making them safer for sex workers), but the newly proposed prostitution laws — which experts believe are “even money” to get the go-ahead — are wrongheaded.

Simply put, they do absolutely nothing to enhance the security of sex workers, which, as we mentioned above, was the primary reason the old laws were shot down in the first place.

Think about it: if it is an offence to communicate for the express purposes of sexual services anywhere there might “reasonably” be a person under the age of 18 present, if it is an offence to advertise in newspapers or online, where will people go to find prostitutes? And make no mistakes about it, people will go to find them.

People have been paying for sex since time immemorial, regardless of what laws were in place.

So where will these sex workers be able to ply their trade? Not in the safety of a regulated brothel, that’s for sure. They’ll be forced to the streets

and to the outer edges of communities, to industrial zones and dock areas and whatnot, where their personal safety will be at far greater risk.

In numerous studies, including one out of the University of British Columbia and a peer-reviewed report in British Medical Journal Open, it’s been found that targeting johns in no way enhances security for sex workers. All it really does is force prostitutes to work harder to avoid the police. When this happens, it’s highly unlikely that those who are in the profession will be be able to screen clients beforehand, an important process in determining whether or not a prospective john is a safe bet. It also inhibits sex workers from inquiring about potential health risks.

Bill C-36 is clearly not designed to improve the safety of sex workers, so how can we meaningfully help those in the industry operate in a manner that is both safe and secure? Check back next week to see how we think the sex trade in Canada should be revamped.

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

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comments

On Topic: Last week we asked what you thought about how we can transition away from supply management.

Here's what you had to say:

ing $18 billion worth of farm equity as per your suggestion of book not market value is draconian. This equity owned by dairy farmers was paid to buy quota to buy cows, build new barns, automated equipment, inheritance for their kids, retirement for themselves. They never created this system, they had to adjust and live with it.

text yo thoughtsur to 881 ve r b 8372

ods that are the result of supply management and consequently cause lethargy due to “support all regardless of efficiency”.

– Supply management thought... transitioning away will make the industry more viable by allowing those in the industry to grow by using the FreeMarketSystem which will reward those who develope more efficient methods as opposed to less efficient meth

– A few years ago producers in the USA got so little for their milk they couldnt even cover the cost of medications for their cows

– While am in favor of dismantling the supply mgmt system, destroy

– Yes Despistado I can’t wait for there reunion show! One of the best bands to come out of Regina EVER! Go to see them when you have the chance!

In response to “Despistado,” Feature #293 (June 6, 2014)

– Great interview with Despistado I have been waiting a long time for these guys to get out there again.

They really changed the music scene here and are so talented.

Love them!!! :D In response to “Despistado,” Feature #293 (June 6, 2014)

OFF TOPIC

SOUND OFF

– Interesting story about the young lady pianist going to the same acting studio as those famous actors!

In response to “Chasing a Dream,” Local #292 (May 30, 2014)

– What a cowardly act to kill and injure the RCMP officers in Moncton. The real heroes are those who serve and protect.

– It saddens me to know that there can be such hatred for authority that someone would take the lives of RCMP officers who are trying to protect the community. Rest in peace to the fallen officers of Moncton.

– Solution for our traffic congestion downtown: make all of the streets one-way. Then you’ve got lanes for people to move around in. Once we remove the now unnecessary boulevards we also have room for bike lanes.

Next week: What do you think about the proposed prostitution laws?

Text in your thoughts to Verb to get in on the conversation.

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

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Old Man Markley California bluegrass punks on covering NOFX, writing new songs, and musical evolution by Alex J MacPherson

P

unk rock has been around in one form or another for almost fifty years. Over the last several decades more than a few bands have attempted to transform the genre with new musical flavours and textures. One of these is Old Man Markley, a group of seven musicians from Los Angeles, California who decided to infuse traditional American bluegrass with the energy and wit of a seminal punk rock record. Formed in 2007 after an impromptu jam session revealed a wellspring of talent and a desire to explore the outer reaches of punk music, Old Man Markley was inspired by bands like Old Crow Medicine Show, as well as genre-benders Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys. Over the last several years, the band has developed a sound that weaves together a multitude of threads: cheerfully sardonic lyrics, unrepentant political activism, tightly-coiled arrangements, and the sort of frenetic energy that characterizes so many iconic punk records. After signing to Fat Wreck Chords, the band released a pair of albums as well as several 7-inch singles.

Old Man Markley’s latest offering includes a new original song and a hyperkinetic cover of the NOFX anthem “Reeko.” Like their 2013 album Down Side Up, the new 7-inch finds Old Man Markley blurring the line between tradition and innovation — and expanding the idea of what punk can be. This is a potent combination, and it translates well to the stage. Which is why, on the eve of the band’s return to Canada for a string of raucous, beerdrenched shows, I spoke with autoharp player and vocalist Annie DeTemple about the past, the present, and the future of Old Man Markley.

Alex J MacPherson: You’ve got a new single out, with an original song and a cover. What’s the appeal of covering punk classics?

Annie DeTemple: When we first did it, it was because we were going to be new on Fat Wreck Chords. Nobody had heard of us from that label, and we figured that it would be a good way to give the punk rock fans a familiar song that they know, and then hear how we

do it. It was to lend them a reference point, you know? And since then, it’s just been so fun to continue that format and keep doing some of our favourite songs bluegrass style, or punk-bluegrass style. Hopefully one day we’ll have enough to do a little release of all of our cover songs. That’s kind of a fun thing to aspire to.

AJM: How do you decide which songs to cover? Is it a difficult process?

AD: Yes, and that is usually up to Johnny [Carey] and Joey [Garibaldi].

This last time, they toyed around with a few songs. I think they were trying a Toy Dolls song. They did some demos of a Descendents song. When they finally demoed “Reeko,” just with guitar and bass, it was the winner by far.

AJM: It’s been awhile since Down Side Up came out. Are you working on a new record at this point?

AD: We have been touring so much, so the 7-inch was really more of a, ‘wow, we haven’t done any releases in awhile, so we should do something.’ Really, we’ve been on tour since the end of December. It’s been nonstop: not in our home studio, away from everything. After this Continued on next page »

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Photos: courtesy of the artist

tour I’m hoping we can get in for a longer stretch and do some recording. Maybe a full album, maybe an EP, I don’t know. But we’re definitely feeling the urge to release something, since we haven’t since March of 2013.

AJM: How has the band grown sonically since Down Side Up came out? How does all that touring affect the sound?

AD: Oh gosh. Well, we’ve definitely, as far as recording goes, gotten a lot better about how we mic our

AJM: Is balancing the bluegrass and punk rock influences something you find difficult, or does it just sort of happen?

AD: Absolutely. Especially with having a drum set. Drums are not typically a bluegrass instrument. It’s kind of shunned by the bluegrass community, having a drummer.

AJM: At the same time, there’s something about that combination that people find compelling, even if it’s unorthodox. What do you think attracts people to the music you’re making?

Sometimes, bands get pigeonholed … that’s just silly.

ANNIE DETEMPLE

instruments to get the actual true sound of our instruments across on an album, to stay true to the bluegrass side of things. I think that’s something we’ve gotten really good at, from recording and from touring: knowing what our instruments sound like in the room, what they sound like in the studio.

AD: You know, after sets a lot of times people will come up to me. They’ll be punk rockers, or they’ll just be regular guys or girls. But no matter who they are or what they look like, someone always says, ‘Your set reminded me of growing up. My dad used to play banjo, and it reminds me of going camping with my family,’ or something. I think

that no matter who you are, America folk music in the U.S. — and probably Canada, too — has been in peoples’ lives no matter what. So to do it in such a fun way, with high energy, it’s new — it’s newer than the old-time music. I think it brings a smile to people’s faces.

It’s nostalgic in a new way.

AJM: So you’re embracing this idea that even the most traditional forms of music can grow and change and evolve?

AD: Exactly. Everything changes.

Our first album wasn’t the same as our second. The 7-inch we put out now doesn’t sound the same as our first.

And I think that’s important. Sometimes, bands get pigeonholed into, like, ‘I liked their first album, and I can’t believe their second album doesn’t sound anything like it.’ That’s just silly.

Everything has a natural progression of growth — and it should, you know?

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Dead Rock Stars Saskatoon artist changes directions with a book project and a new exhibition by Alex J MacPherson

I

n 2008, Wes Funk selfpublished Dead Rock Stars, a novel about a gay record store owner who leaves the city for small town Saskatchewan and his father’s funeral. The Saskatoon author has since published several other books, including a memoir, but Dead Rock Stars remains a fixture of the local literary scene.

Which is why he decided to release a new edition illustrated by Kevin Hastings, a Saskatoon heating technician who recently gave up his career to concentrate on making art — and whose illustrations for Dead Rock Stars became the nexus of his first solo exhibition.

“I thought I could make more money in the trades, but I found that the money wasn’t that important, and that I wanted to do something that I truly enjoyed,” says Hastings, who cultivated a love of nature — his primary subject — while growing up in Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

“My wife had been encouraging me for years to try and do art full time, so I finally took her up on the offer. She agreed to pick up a few more shifts and I’d be able to do this full-time.”

This was not an easy transition.

Hastings knew that his family and friends liked his charcoal drawings — or at least pretended to, he laughs — but wasn’t sure how they would be received by the wider public. His fears were assuaged in 2009, when he entered two works — drawings of a mule deer and a goshawk — in the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation’s annual competition, Reflections of Nature. To his surprise, both works won prizes. “That’s when I went, ‘Okay, maybe this is something I’m good at,’” he says.

But Hastings is also interested in popular culture, especially music.

Although he is best known for his stark line drawings of wild animals, he also enjoys recreating memories of rock concerts and other musical

Photos: courtesy of the artist

Steven Tyler (Aerosmith), Kevin Hastings, charcoal on paper, 2014

events. These are the works that attracted Funk’s attention, and which make up his first solo exhibition, also titled Dead Rock Stars. Each chapter in Funk’s book is named for an iconic rock and roll song, and Hastings represented each with a drawing. The exhibition includes portraits of Chuck Berry, Joni Mitchell, and David Bowie.

“It’s something to do with that person’s music,” Hastings says of his drawings of musicians, which are darker and more dramatic than his images of wildlife. “The pictures I choose are ones where either it’s some kind of iconic image that really captures a moment in time or it’s that emotion, that passion, where you can almost see it in the picture.” After a pause he adds, “Music has always really stirred my soul.”

This is evidently what attracted Funk’s attention, because Hastings completed the drawings with little guidance from the author.

“Wes kind of cut me loose,” Hastings says with a laugh. “I said I’d read the book and looked at the chapters, and most of them were people I listened to and probably would end up drawing at some point. So I was like, why don’t I just go through, do a bunch, and we’ll see how it works.”

Of the twenty-five drawings Hastings completed for the project, seventeen will be on display in Dead Rock Stars — the exhibition and the book. For an artist who until recently spent most of his time working a regular job, Hastings couldn’t be happier. “Hopefully this is just the beginning,” he says.

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Library Voices — For John Prairie Shag, June 2014

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON For John is the most unusual record Library Voices has ever made. The seven-track EP was conceived as a tribute to John Farrell, a radio personality from Buffalo, New York who became an ardent supporter of the Regina indie pop ensemble. After Farrell’s unexpected death last year, the band decided to honour his friendship and contribution to their success. Not surprisingly, For John jettisons the buoyant, infectious pop sound of 2011’s Summer Of Lust for a darker, grittier sonic palette.

The plodding, psychedelic groove of the opener, “Some Mezcal Morning,” sets the tone for what follows: a collection of sparse, brooding rock songs.

“Space Age” opens with a recording

of Farrell muttering, “Boy, does it look like a good night to stay right where you are,” before launching into a fuzzy sixties-style pop groove, complete with chugging guitars and a piercing organ line. One of the strongest tracks on the EP is “Snowshoe Training Might Save Your Life,” a conflicted instrumental that doesn’t need lyrics to convey grief and regret.

These themes are echoed in the lyrics. “Antimatters of the Heart,” a spacey desert rocker, finds frontman Michael Dawson ruminating on Farrell’s influence, the joy of his friendship, and the hollowness that accompanied his death: “We never showed you what we could have been / Gone and gone / Vultures picking at the bones of better days / Come on and on and on / John, you know I see you sometimes.” On “John Farrell Buffalo,” the EP’s most triumphantly melodic song, he sum-

marizes Farrell’s legacy: “John Farrell Buffalo / The golden age of radio / Still believed in rock and roll / Still believed in rock and roll.”

This might seem idealistic or even anachronistic, but it’s true. Rock and roll matters to Library Voices, just as it mattered to Farrell. Which is part of the reason For John can sometimes feel like a celebration of life, or at least the ineffable power of music to bring strangers together. Ultimately, though, For John’s existence undercuts Dawson’s worry about meeting Farrell’s expectations, or anyone’s. Already established as purveyors of smart, engaging pop, Library Voices have proven themselves capable of an entirely different musical feat — and, one hopes, made a record their friend and tireless supporter would have loved.

Tanya Tagaq — Animism Six Shooter, May 2014

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON It is easy to dislike Tanya Tagaq’s new record, Animism. The song structures are unfamiliar, the instrumentation unconventional. But while the shape is different, the result is the same: on her third album, Tagaq uses sound to compress and convey emotion. It may not be a traditional pop record, but that doesn’t mean Animism can’t be wildly beautiful.

Tanya Tagaq was born in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. She practices throat singing, a traditional Inuit technique that produces a visceral, sensuous sound. Inuit throat singing is customarily performed as a calland-response, but Tagaq sings alone.

Animism is anchored by her voice, which ranges from harsh and guttural to smooth and airy. Produced by Jesse Zubot and featuring ethereal sound-

scapes by programmer Michael Red, percussionist Jean Martin, and opera singer Anna Pardo Canedo, Animism frames Tagaq’s throat singing as part of a larger musical continuum.

The album’s most straightforward track is its opener, a densely orchestrated cover of the Pixies’ “Caribou.”

Besides introducing one of the album’s major themes, “Caribou” acts as a conduit into the much less rigid middle section. Concentrating on atmosphere and texture, Tagaq uses her voice to slice through the spectrum of emotion.

“Uja” spins around a repetitive, fluttering vocal phrase, building itself into a spongy tower of electronic sounds and percussion. “Tulugak” is more scattered, a collection of disjointed vocal contortions threaded together by a sense of impending resolution. “Fight” is a powerful ode to resistance, “Fracking” an agonizing appeal that finds Tagaq’s haunting vocal writhing above a bed of unsettled strings.

As Animism unfolds, its themes become clearer. As the title suggests, Tagaq is interested in connections between people, animals, the environment, even inanimate objects; Animism is a record about harmony, and about understanding. Although it will never be easy, it can be mesmerizing, even rapturous. And Tagaq’s message is worthy of consideration. Just as she turned Inuit throat singing into a bridge between tradition and innovation, past and present, her songs emphasize connections that transcend politics, cultural differences, and the banality of everyday life. This is important; it may be all there is.

Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Photo: courtesy of Chris Buck

Heartthrob How Tegan and Sara’s new album transformed the indie rock duo into national stars by Alex J MacPherson

T

egan and Sara’s latest album is unlike anything else in their catalogue. After years spent mining a rich vein of upbeat folk-rock, the Quin sisters from Calgary, Alberta traded in their battered acoustic guitars for racks of synthesizers and compressors, and recruited producer Greg Kurstin to transform their sound. Released last year to near-universal acclaim, Heartthrob elevated Tegan and Sara to the upper echelon of Canadian pop. After its release, Heartthrob won the sisters a slew of awards, including three Junos

and a spot on the Polaris Music Prize shortlist. It also generated a great deal of radio play, including spins on stations that had spent years ignoring the duo’s incisive songs about love and lust and loss.

Perhaps most importantly, Heartthrob introduced Tegan and Sara — beloved by many in the music community — to a much wider audience. Put another way, in an industry where marked changes of direction can be career suicide, Tegan and Sara are flourishing.

Identical twins Tegan and Sara Quin were born in Calgary in 1980.

By the time they turned fifteen,

they were writing and performing original songs using acoustic guitars. In 1999, they released their first album, Under Feet Like Ours, and began touring western Canada.

They played in tiny clubs, for even tinier audiences. And then their debut album’s stark arrangements and smart, cathartic lyrics captured the attention of Neil Young’s manager, Elliot Roberts. Charmed by the sisters’ confessional songs and raw, unpretentious approach to songwriting and performing, Roberts signed Tegan and Sara to Young’s label, Vapor Records. Over the next several years, the sisters continued Continued on next page »

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to release albums and tour extensively. They began to generate serious momentum in 2004, after releasing So Jealous. The record’s darkly introspective lyrics generated a wide response, amplified by song placements on the television medical drama Grey’s Anatomy and an American radio hit in the form of “Walking With A Ghost” — a simple yet powerful exorcism of an unnamed lover.

Following the success of So Jealous, Tegan and Sara released two more records, 2007’s The Con and 2009’s Sainthood, both of which injected their stripped-down, confessional songs with richer textures and more elaborate instrumentation. And then, in 2012, Tegan and Sara left Canada for Los Angeles to start work on their seventh album.

“We intentionally went looking for a producer who wouldn’t dwell on

a group whose earlier albums can be divided into groups of “Tegan songs” and “Sara songs.”

“No one will confuse this with any of our other records,” Sara said of the group’s new direction. Her sister added, “I kept asking myself: Can I hear this in an arena? Can I hear this on a teenager’s iPod as they’re riding the bus to school?”

The answer to both questions is yes. But not because of the album’s glacial pop treatments or its driving rhythms. Heartthrob works because of the songs. The first single, “Closer,” a relentlessly upbeat ode to lust, features one of the most infectious hooks the duo has ever written: “It’s not just all physical / I’m the type who won’t get oh so critical / So let’s make things physical / I won’t treat you like you’re oh so typical.” Like “Closer,” most of the songs on Heartthrob aspire to the universal, rather

Being in my thirties has made me feel less introspective. I feel calmer, more confident… sara quin

protecting the signature Tegan and Sara sound,” Tegan said in a press release, hinting at the group’s desire to experiment with new sounds and textures — and perhaps escape the tendency of the industry to apply labels and definitions. The duo hired Kurstin, who, according to Sara, “took everything we do and put it on steroids.” The sisters also began writing songs together, rather than separately — a significant change for

than the personal. Tegan and Sara have traditionally lived inside their songs, telling stories and confessing sins in real time. But tracks like “I’m Not Your Hero” and “Now I’m All Messed Up,” as well as the sprawling piano ballad “I Was A Fool,” find them contemplating the past — rather than living it.

The upshot is that Heartthrob is the most accessible record Tegan and Sara have ever made. By coating the

unalloyed humanity that characterized their early career with an icy pop sheen, the sisters found the perfect fulcrum of accessibility and meaning. Heartthrob is the sort of album that can — and already has — endeared itself to a wide audience. The singles have been heard by countless thousands of people, and the group’s stunning new stage show has been seen by thousands more. Even today, more than a year after its release, Tegan and Sara are still promoting it — touring hard, and touring often. Which is why I caught up with Sara Quin, who splits her time between Montreal and New York when she isn’t on the road, to learn more about Heartthrob and the incredible response it generated from longtime fans and brand-new listeners alike.

Alex J MacPherson: There’s no question that Heartthrob marked a significant step away from the sound of Sainthood. Did you write the record with that step in mind, or did the songs you were writing dictate the musical direction?

Sara Quin: A little bit of both. We definitely discussed both the sound and approach to the album before we actually made it. We wanted to surprise people, inspire our audience while also gaining new fans, and that seemed achievable to us. We wanted to make an undeniable record, something that was both appealing and pop but also intelligent and with depth. So those conversations and ideas certainly influenced the writing and the selection of producers.

AJM: In music there’s always an element of risk attached to moving in a new direction. Was that something

you worried about before the album was released?

SQ: My experience has been that some people won’t like it. No matter which album, song, tour, t-shirt, hair cut, interview, there are always people who have critical feedback.

So I try to imagine that none of that matters, that I want to make something purely for artistic joy, to inspire myself and Tegan. Of course doubt or fear or excitement sneak in to the process, but I manage it as much as possible!

AJM: Was it a struggle to maintain the sense of identity that has endeared you to so many people while writing and experimenting with a new sonic palette?

SQ: I don’t think it [was]. We are still the same and we mostly approach the actual writing and recording of our records the same way. Certainly we wanted to make something that would help us reach a new level of success and visibility, and we definitely wanted a BIG sound … but the message and heart of what we do will always remain intact.

AJM: A lot of the themes on Heartthrob aren’t dissimilar from those on your earlier records — anxiety, heartache, lust, complicated relationships — but these songs seem to be striving toward the universal, rather than looking inward. Why do you think that is?

SQ: I imagine it has a lot to do with the age we are at. Being in my thirties has made me feel less introspective. I feel calmer, more confident about the person I am and the partnerships I’ve built. The songs still

focus on the rockier side of our personal lives, but there is a wiser and more confident analysis at the root.

AJM: How did the new sound affect the way you approached live performance?

SQ: It definitely has forced us to re-approach our live sound. Updating our equipment, moving into the future. Its also a very intense record for us performance-wise, so there was some training involved to get our voices and bodies into shape.

We are two years in to the album cycle and only now do I feel truly strong enough to perform at the level I want to be at. I’m pretty hard on myself.

AJM: Obviously you’ve released successful and critically acclaimed records before, but Heartthrob seems to have struck a chord with a much wider audience. How has the success of the album affected the crowds at your shows, and the people who come up to you in the street?

SQ: In a way it almost feels like we are a new band. We love seeing the fans who have been with us for the long haul, and there is an awareness and passion for our older material, but in general I feel an energy that had been absent for a long time.

We’re thrilled!

Tegan and Sara June 26 @ Saskatchewan Jazz Festival (Bessborough Gardens) Sold Out Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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Photo: Courtesy of adam hawboldt

A step back in time

Pink Cadillacs has a throwback atmosphere and delicious burgers by adam hawboldt

S

oon as you walk into Pink Cadillacs Malt Shop & Diner you know you’re in for an interesting dining experience, a step back into time.

Pink Cadillacs, which opened about a month ago in Willowgrove, is set up like a ‘50s diner. Black and white checkered floors, vintage dining tables and booths, posters of icons of yesteryear plastered all over the walls.

There’s Muhammad Ali, Elvis, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Liz Taylor — the list goes on. There are old Coca-Cola ads, too, red vintage Coca-Cola napkin holders, the names

in the mood for a burger? There are hotdogs with names like The Greaser and The Beatnik, and sandwiches called the James Dean Quinoa Blackbean or the Sloppy Joe DiMaggio.

When I was at Pink Cadillacs the other day, I found that I couldn’t get my mind off Elvis Presley. Maybe it was the music or the posters, but The King was suspiciously on my mind, so I ordered the Doo Wop Burger.

Now you may be thinking, that makes no sense. Why didn’t I order the Aloha Elvis burger?

The answer is simple. It’s no great secret that Elvis was a huge fan of peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

So when I saw the Doo Wop Burger (seasoned pork patty, maple jalapeno bacon, caramelized bananas and creamy peanut butter), my mind was instantly made up.

And you know what? Great decision. The spice of the burger and bacon melded exquisitely with the caramelized bananas and peanut butter to provide a scrumptious taste explosion in my mouth. And talk about big! The Doo Wop is a formidable burger to say the least.

It was easily one of the better burgers I’ve eaten since moving to Saskatoon. No jokes. And from the

of famous Hollywood stars scrawled on the wall outside the bathrooms.

The entire place is spacious and clean and a near spot-on replica of what a diner from that era should be.

Songs like “Jailhouse Rock” and “Locomotion” drift through the restaurant while the Three Stooges’ antics play on the television near the entrance.

It’s not just the decor and ambience that makes the place unique, either.

The menu is also filled with dishes that boast era-appropriate names.

On the burger side of things, you have the Aloha Elvis burger, The Danny Zuko, and the Lamb Bamba. Not

let’s go drinkin’ Verb’s mixology guide GIMLET

INGREDIENTS

Since the restaurant this week was a throwback, let’s keep the theme up with the cocktail, shall we? And what better drink to do that with than the gimlet? It’s simple, classic and delicious.

1 1/4oz gin 1oz lime juice 1 lime twist

DIRECTIONS

In a shaker half filled with ice, ad the gin and lime juice. Shake until frosty. Pour the concoction into a cocktail or martini glass. Garnish with the lime twist and serve.

looks of all the other meals people around me were ordering (confession: I peaked at a couple of other peoples’ plates), all the other burgers at Pink Cadillacs look enormous, filling, and pretty delicious. Might have to return a couple of times and run through the burger menu.

Pink Cadillacs Malt Shop & Diner 412 Willowgrove Ave | (306) 374-7465 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

18 June 13 – June 19 entertainment

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Next Week

coming up

Big Dave McLean

Mac Demarco Modest Mouse

@ Buds on Broadway June 18-22, 22 – Cover TBD

@ Amigos Cantina Wednesday, June 25 – $15

@ O’Brians Event Centre Saturday, July 26 – $40

If you’ve been looking for one of Canada’s best bluesman, look no further than Big Dave McLean. He’s right up there with guys like Colin James, albeit not as well known. A mesmerizing guitarist and an accomplished harpist with a voice more gravelly than an old dirt road, McLean is a time-tested artist who has been in the music game for a long time. How long? Well, let’s just say he once toured with the incomparable Muddy Waters. Yes, that Muddy Waters. McLean started out in the early ‘60s playing harmonica, then in 1969 he got his first guitar lesson from the great John Hammond Jr. After that he spent his time learning from the masters of blues, dedicating his life to the music he loves. These days, McLean is still making music and wowing fans.

Check him out next week at Buds.

Mac DeMarco has had some interesting jobs in his life. He’s worked in a vet clinic putting animals in body bags, he’s worked on road paving crews, he’s even made money by being a guinea pig — selling his body to science for medical experiments. But the job he has now — touring around playing his own, odd brand of blue wave/slacker rock — suits him best. Born in B.C., raised in Edmonton and now living in Montreal, Mac DeMarco puts on a show you won’t soon forget. Playing a style of music he’s called jizz jazz, the 24-year-old is an oddball on stage.

Whether he’s telling lewd jokes, giving the audience brief glimpses of nudity or something like the infamous drumstick incident, DeMarco never fails to shock and awe and entertain. Tickets available at the door.

There’s a passage in Virginia Woolf’s story “The Mark on the Wall” that reads: “I wish I could hit upon a pleasant track of thought, a track indirectly reflecting credit upon myself, for those are the pleasantest thoughts, and very frequent even in the minds of modest, mouse-coloured people, who believe genuinely that they dislike to hear their own praises.” That’s where the indie rock band Modest Mouse got its name. Formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, Modest Mouse released its first EP in 1994. However, it wasn’t until the 2000s that they began receiving critical acclaim, with the album The Moon & Antarctica. From that point on Modest Mouse was adored by critics and fans alike. You can see them live when they roll into town next month.

Tickets at obrianseventcentre.ca.

– By Adam Hawboldt

Photo courtesy of: the artist/ the artist/ zoe

Sask music Preview SaskMusic is presenting a number of great educational workshops in the coming weeks. These are free for SaskMusic members, and $30 for non-members.

On June 21 check out “How to Write a Killer Marketing Plan with Farideh Caesar,” which will be taking place at The Bassment in Saskatoon. Following that will be “Managing your Career in the Music Industry,” which is happening at the Den in Saskatoon on June 28, and the Exchange in Regina on June 29. Please call 1-800-347-0676 or visit www.saskmusic.org/workshops for a complete listing of workshops and full details on times, presenters, and registration!

19 June 13 – June 19 /verbsaskatoon

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June 13 » June 21 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

Friday 13 House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover MosoFest 2014 / Amigos Cantina — Featuring Close Talker, Solids + more. 8:15pm / $27+ Jesse Brown / The Bassment — Come enjoy some smooth jazz. 4:30pm / No cover Laura Lee McFarlane / The Bassment — With In With The Old. 9pm / $15+

Flashback Fridays / Béily’s — The best of the ‘80s, ‘90s & more. 9pm / $5 cover Apollo Cruz / Bon Temps Cafe — Playing high-octane blues. 9pm / Cover TBD MosoFest 2014 / Broadway Theatre — Powder Blue + more. 9pm / moso2014.com Screamlyne / Buds — A local rock quartet.

9pm / Cover TBD Little Brothers / Capitol — With Shamus of The Sheepdogs. 9pm / 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 MosoFest 2014 / Kinsmen Hall — Featuring Humans + more. 9pm / moso2014.com DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5 Ian Martens / Prairie Ink — Playing acoustic/folk. 8pm / No cover

DJ Stikman / Rain — Come and get your weekend started! 9pm / Cover TBD MosoFest 2014 / The Refinery — Mahogany Frog + more. 9pm / moso2014.com MosoFest 2014 / Rock Bottom — Featuring KEN Mode + more. 9pm / moso2014.com Gorgeous Blue Dogs / Somewhere Else — Great tunes. 9pm / No cover Jomama / Stan’s Place — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 9pm / No cover Natalie Struck / Underground Cafe — With Fabian Minnema. 9pm / Cover TBD MosoFest 2014 / Vangelis — Featuring Fiver + more. 9pm / moso2014.com

Saturday 14

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes. 9pm / No cover MosoFest 2014 / Amigos — Featuring Kay the Aquanaut + more. 9pm / moso2014.com

The Bassment Big Band / The Bassment — With The Saskatoon Community Jazz Band. 8pm / $15+ DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s — These two throw it down. 9pm / $5 MosoFest 2014 / Broadway Theatre — Timber Timbre and Andy Shauf. 8:30pm / $22+ Screamlyne / Buds — A local rock quartet.

9pm / Cover TBD Five Two Four / Capitol Music Club — With Electric Grapevine. 9pm / Cover TBD SaturGAY Night / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes. 10pm / $5 DJ Kade / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up. 8pm / No cover MosoFest 2014 / Kinsmen Hall — Library Voices + more. 9pm / moso2014.com DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music. 8pm / $4 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5 Rayney / Prairie Ink — Playing contemporary folk. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Rain — Playing all the ladies’ favourites. 9pm / Cover TBD Mosofest 2014 / The Refinery — With Chad Munson + more. 8pm / $12 MosoFest 2014 / Rock Bottom — Featuring Public Animal + more. 9pm / moso2014.com Gorgeous Blue Dogs / Somewhere Else Pub — Great tunes. 9pm / No cover Jomama / Stan’s Place — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 9pm / No cover

DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD MosoFest 2014 / Vangelis — Featuring Despistado + more. 9pm / moso2014.com

Sunday 15

Industry Night / Béily’s — With DJ Sugar Daddy. 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff Acoustic Night / Buds — Featuring Travis Pankiw. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ KADE / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Blues Jam / Vangelis — Blues to rock and beyond. 7:30pm / No cover

Monday 16

Hat Trick / Buds — Saskatoon-based rock band. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Audio / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD Rhythm of Cruelty / Vangelis — With Exotic Functions + more. 9pm / Cover TBD

Tuesday 17

Apollo Cruz / Buds — Playing high-octane blues. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ SUGAR DADDY / The Deuce — This crowd favourite rocks. 9:30pm / $4 cover DJ Nick Ruston / Dublins — Spinning dope beats. 9pm / Cover TBD Aaron Carter / O’Brians Event Centre — Pop music that’ll make you move. 7pm / $15 Verb presents Open Mic / Rock Bottom — Rock the stage! 9pm / No cover Open Mic / Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover

Wednesday 18

DJ Modus / 302 — Spinning all your favourite tracks. 9pm / $3 after 10pm

Continued on next page »

20 June 13 – June 19 entertainment

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Salsa Night / Béily’s — Latin music and salsa dance lessons. 8:30pm / Cover TBD Big Dave McLean / Buds — One of Canada’s top bluesmen. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ Memo / Dublins — Spinning dope beats.

9pm / Cover TBD DJ Kade / The Hose — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. 8pm / No cover Havok / O’Brians Event Centre — Thrash metal done right. 7pm / $15 Buck Wild Wednesdays / Outlaws — Ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4 Kevin Barrett / Rock Creek (Willowgrove) — Laid back tunes. 8pm / No cover Jon McKiel / Vangelis — WIth Wizards + more. 9pm / Cover TBD

Thursday 19

Big Dave McLean / Buds — One of Canada’s top bluesmen. 9pm / 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 Open Stage / The Woods — Hosted by Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

Urban Outlaws / Stan’s Place — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 9pm / No cover Fire Next Time / Underground Cafe — With Castaway + more. 8pm / Cover TBD Jazz Festival / Vangelis — Featuring Old Man Markley. 10:30pm / Cover TBD

Saturday 21

House DJs / 6Twelve — Resident DJs spin deep and soulful tunes. 9pm / No cover Jazz Festival / Amigos — Hypnotic Brass Ensemble + more. 10:30pm / Cover TBD Jazz Festival / The Bassment — Featuring Laila Biali Quartet. 7pm / $17 DJ Aash Money + DJ Sugar Daddy / Béily’s — These two throw it down. 9pm / $5 Jazz Festival / Bessborough Gardens — Ben Harper.. 7pm / SOLD OUT The Northern Lights / Bon Temps — Local band playing pop rock/folk. 9pm / Free

Jazzfest / Broadway Theatre — Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood. 7:30pm / $45 Fear of Knowing / Buds — A local heavy rock quartet. 9pm / Cover TBD Cher / Credit Union Centre — With Cyndi Lauper. 8pm / $36.75 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 Jazz Festival / James Hotel — Featuring BC Read Duo. 10:30pm / Free DJ Goodtimes / Longbranch — Playing the hottest country music. 8pm / $4 cover DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5 Jazz Festival / PotashCorp Stage — The Stone Frigate Big Band. 5pm / Cover TBD Jazz Festival / PotatoCorp Stage — Jack Semple. 9pm / Cover TBD

Conor Coughlan / Prairie Ink — Playing folk/pop/rock. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Rain — Playing all the ladies’ favourites! 9pm / Cover TBD The 11th Octave / Somewhere Else Pub — A night of good tunes and great company.

8pm / No cover Urban Outlaws / Stan’s Place — Come out for a rockin’ good time. 9pm / No cover

DJ Anchor / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD The Wrong Omar / Underground Cafe — Rockin’ music you can dance to. 9pm / Cover TBD Jazz Festival / Vangelis — Featuring Young Rival. 10:30pm / Cover TBD

Friday 20

House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover Jazz Festival / The Bassment — Featuring Jane Bunnet & Maqueque. 7pm / $20 Flashback Fridays / Béily’s — The best of the ‘80s, ‘90s + more. 9pm / $5 cover Jazz Festival / Bessborough Gardens — Colin James + more. 7pm / $45 Then Benny Stirs / Bon Temps Cafe — Acoustic local band. 9pm / Cover TBD Jazz Festival / Broadway Theatre — Featuring Arturo Sandoval. 7pm / $45 Big Dave McLean / Buds — One of Canada’s top bluesmen. 9pm / 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 Jazz Festival / James Hotel — Aaron Adair and Megan Bzowy. 10:30pm / Free Super Smash Summer Sizzla / O’Brians — Charly Hustle, Conrad Divine. 7pm / $15 DJ Big Ayyy & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws — Round up your friends. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm Jazz Festival / PotashCorp Stage — Dr. Don and the Black Mambas. 7pm / Free The Nobels / Prairie Ink — A father/ daughter duo. 8pm / No cover DJ Stikman / Rain — Come and get your weekend started! 9pm / Cover TBD The 11th Octave / Somewhere Else Pub — A night of good tunes. 8pm / No cover Jazz Festival / Spadina Freehouse — Oral Fuentes Reggae Band. 10:30pm / Free

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We’re going meta Photo: Courtesy of columbia pictures

Tatum shines as 22 Jump Street pokes fun at its very existence by adam hawboldt

A

t the New York premier of 22 Jump Street, Amber Stevens — who plays Jonah Hill’s love interest in the new movie — had this to say about her co-star, Channing Tatum: “The most annoying thing about him is that he’s way funnier than he needs to be, because he’s so attractive. He’s the perfect husband, the perfect father.

Go f*ck him.”

My sentiments exactly. I remember a few years ago when they first announced the cast of 21 Jump Street. Hill, I thought, was an excellent choice for a funny action film of that ilk. Channing Tatum? Not so much. Up to that point, I’d only seen Tatum in serious movies. Some — A Guide to Recognizing Your

much the exact same plot as the first Jump Street.

When we last saw Jenko (Tatum) and Schmidt (Hill), they’d just finished breaking up a high school drug ring. Now they’re being sent to college to break up yet another drug ring, this time featuring the new drug whyphy. Schmidt falls for another girl, Maya (played by Amber Stevens). There’s a bunch of slapstick humour. There’s a bromance. There’s a chase and explosions and, well, everything you saw the first time around.

But don’t go into 22 Jump Street expecting a simple retread of the original. Do that, and you’d be way off base. I mean, sure, 22 Jump Street follows the same premise as the first, but it does so in a meta,

Saints, Stop-Loss — were excellent, while others, like Dear John and The Eagle, left much to be desired.

For me, Tatum was just another pretty boy who, if given the right role, could do a decent job. Then I watched 21 Jump Street and all those perceptions shifted. Sure, he was still a pretty boy, but as Jenko he was also hilarious. His comedic timing was spot-on. It was almost as though he was born to play a lovable meathead who was as funny and adorable as a confused golden retriever pup.

Tatum was so good that he stole scenes from Hill. And in the franchise’s second installment he does it again.

Time and time again, to be precise.

So what is 22 Jump Street about?

Well, to be honest, it has pretty

tongue-in-cheek kind of way. One of the first times you realize this is when Deputy Chief Hardy (Nick Offerman) says to the officers, “Nobody gave a sh*t about the Jump Street reboot.” Or when he says, “We’ve doubled the budget, as if that would double the profit.”

On the surface, yes, what is being talked about is the actual Jump Street program. But at the same time, what’s also being talked about is the movie, in and of itself.

This is just the first of a long line of self-aware, inside jokes littered throughout the film. Jokes about sequels and franchises set amidst funny set pieces, featuring cameos from people like Seth Rogen and Queen Latifah and a host of characters from the first movie.

22 jump street Directed by Phil Lord, Chris Miller Starring Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Ice Cube + Amber Stevens 110 minutes | 14A

And through it all, there’s Channing Tatum — being funnier and more adorable than anybody who looks like him has the right to be.

Damn that Channing Tatum.

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Remembrance of things past

Photo: Courtesy of fox searchlight pitures

Belle tackles the issues of race, class and responsibility in 18th-century England by adam hawboldt Belle Amma Asante Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Wilkinson + Emily Watson Directed by

104 minutes | G

T

he painting hangs in the Scone Palace in Perth, Scotland.

It’s an 18th-century painting, artist unknown. In it, there are two beautifully garbed ladies, dressed in gowns and pearls. The lady on the right holds a book in her left hand, her right hand resting casually on the other lady’s waist. This girl, the one on the left, is holding a basket full of fruit. She has a mysterious smile on her face, a finger points to her cheek. And she’s biracial.

This last fact is what inspired director Amma Asante to make a movie about these two girl, who turn out to be cousins. When Asante saw this painting she was taken by how the biracial girl — whose real name was Dido Elizabeth Belle — was positioned slightly higher in the picture than her white cousin.

She was also fascinated at how the painting “flipped tradition and everything the 18th century told us about portraiture.”

Asante saw an opportunity to tell a story combining art and politics. The result is a sumptuous, visually delightful period piece called Belle.

The movie stars British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the title character. Early on in the film we learn that Belle’s father was a Royal Navy Admiral (Matthew Goode) who had an illegitimate child with a slave woman named Maria. When Belle’s mother dies, her father sends her to live with her great uncle, the Earl of Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson), a lord justice of the British Courts, and his wife (Emily Watson).

Growing up, Belle and her cousin Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) — the other lady in the aforementioned painting — are inseparable. Inseparable, but not equal. Sure the girls pal around and are close, close friends. But when guests visit, Belle has to eat alone at a different table. When they’re out in society, people stop and whisper.

This is late 18th-century Britain, after all, and the slave trade is still alive and well. This doesn’t sit too well with Belle; after all she’s as proper and cultured as any of her peers.

And as she and Sarah approach marrying age, the difference between the two is felt more deeply.

Eventually, Belle’s father dies and leaves her a hefty inheritance. Suitors

come calling, namely in the form of a poor aristocrat named Oliver Ashford (James Norton). But something is off with Oliver, and Belle finds her fancy drawn to John Davinier (Sam Reid), a lawyer and staunch abolitionist.

While all this is happening, Belle’s great uncle, the Earl of Mansfield, is dealing with passing judgement on a legal issue that could very well alter the status of slaves in the U.K. Will his love for Belle influence his judgement? Or will he adhere to tradition and opt for the status quo?

Based on a true story, Belle is an engaging historical film that shows England’s 18th-century battle between tradition and progress. A film that touches on the ideas of class,

race, responsibility and principles.

Yes, at times it’s a bit slow and a touch didactic. But the whole thing is driven

by Mbatha-Raw, whose expressive eyes and tough-yet-tender performance steal the show and make Belle a movie well worth watching.

Belle is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

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FriDAY, June 6 @

Winston’s

Winston’s English Pub & Grill 243 21st Street East (306) 374 7468

Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, June 20. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by Patrick Carley Continued on next page »

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saturday, June 7 @

sutherland curling club

Honor Fight Fourth Battle @ Sutherland Curling Club 141 Jessop Avenue (306) 374 8400

Check out our Facebook page!

These photos will be uploaded to Facebook on Friday, June 20. facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by DillyBat Productions Continued on next page Âť

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

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crossword canadian criss-cross 1. Self-satisfied 5. Attack with a knife 9. Roll in the aisles 10. Picks out 12. Not married 13. Connected to the Internet 15. Contraction 16. Prefix with red 18. Car fuel 19. German tennis player 21. Male sheep, in Britain 22. Large seagoing vessel 23. Sun prefix 25. With little weight 27. Distinctive taste 29. Before birth

© walter D. Feener 2014

32. Brass instruments 36. Glutinous 37. Liquor made from molasses 39. Powerful wind 40. Not even 41. Computer language 43. An untruth 44. Make tidy 46. Screw feature 48. Bee injury 49. Musical sounds 50. Sword with a bowl-shaped guard 51. Distance between bridge supports

sudoku

Horoscopes June 13 - June 19 Aries March 21–April 19

Libra September 23–October 23

You’ll be left alone with your anxieties and questions this week, Aries. Do what you will with them.

The solutions you’ve been looking for will pop up in the most unusual of places, Libra.

Taurus April 20–May 20

Scorpio October 24–November 22

Have you been working hard lately? Maybe too hard? It’s time to take a bit of a break, Taurus.

You may find yourself bursting with energy in the coming days, Scorpio. Don’t let it go to waste.

Gemini May 21–June 20

Sagittarius November 23–December 21

In times of trouble, don’t forget about your friends. You may very well need them this week.

If people have been in conflict around you lately, it’s best to keep them at arm’s length.

Cancer June 21–July 22

Capricorn December 22–January 19

Forget about all your many faults, Cancer. It’s better to focus on your strengths this week.

You need to cut down on stress, so stop sweating the little things in life. Why get upset over nothing?

Leo July 23–August 22

Aquarius January 20–February 19

Be pragmatic in all endeavours this week, Leo. Fanciful thinking will get you absolutely nowhere.

Try to avoid arrogant people this week, Aquarius. They’ll get to you in ways you never thought possible.

Virgo August 23–September 22

Pisces February 20–March 20

Your actions this week will have lasting and important consequences in the months to come, Virgo.

This week it’s important that you embrace both the joy and the pain of existence, Pisces. Very important.

sudoku answer key

DOWN

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

1. Flip-flop, e.g.

2. Coffee cup 3. Jamaican fruit 4. Capital of East Flanders 5. Zodiac sign 6. Canned fish 7. Everything 8. Plant disease 9. Unit of petrol 11. Slow mover 12. Sound of relief 14. See at a glance 17. Tawny-coloured 20. Half of 100 22. A gesture involving the shoulders 24. Spanish cheer

A

26. Remove the intestines of a fish 28. Put in order 29. A Monopoly token 30. Protuberances 31. Inform with the latest information 33. Whalebone B 34. Another name 35. Plant of the future 38. Baseball gloves 41. Nota ___ 42. Cut of meat, containing a section of a rib 45. Knock over 47. Genetic carrier, for short

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

ACROSS

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

timeout

crossword answer key

A

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

B

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