Verb Issue S251 (Aug. 2-8, 2013)

ISSUE #251 – AUGUST 2 TO AUGUST 8

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CULTURE

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THE POET’S DEAD

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WANTING TO BE HEARD Talking with A Voice for Men MAJICAL CLOUDZ Music for the edge of oblivion 2 GUNS + THE BLING RING Film reviews PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHRIS GRAHAM

CONTENTS

ON THE COVER:

RAH RAH

and The Poet’s Dead. 14 / FEATURE

PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHRIS GRAHAM

NEWS + OPINION

ENTERTAINMENT

CULTURE

LISTINGS

Q + A WITH GREAT BIG SEA PARKS AND REC Michael Clancy and the parks of Saskatchewan. 4 / LOCAL

20 years and counting. 12 / Q + A

Local music listings for August 2 through August 10. 18 / LISTINGS

CONFESSIONS OF A FAIRY’S DAUGHTER

2 GUNS + THE BLING RING

Alison Wearing takes on Fringe. 13 / ARTS

MAJICAL CLOUDZ Making music for the edge of oblivion. 13 / ARTS

The latest movie reviews. 20 / FILM

NIGHTLIFE PHOTOS We visit Double Deuce + Fox and Hounds 22-28 / NIGHTLIFE

WANTING TO BE HEARD Talking with A Voice for Men. 6 / LOCAL

ONLINE FREEDOM

DELIZIOSO!

ON THE BUS

Our thoughts on Internet censorship.

This week we visit Bottega Trattoria.

8 / EDITORIAL

16 / FOOD + DRINK

Weekly original comic illustrations

by Elaine M. Will. 30 / COMICS

COMMENTS

MUSIC

GAMES + HOROSCOPES

Here’s what you had to say about cops with cameras. 10 / COMMENTS

Crestwood, Moon King + Matt Good 17 / MUSIC

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

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EDITORIAL

BUSINESS & OPERATIONS

PUBLISHER / PARITY PUBLISHING EDITOR IN CHIEF / RYAN ALLAN MANAGING EDITOR / JESSICA PATRUCCO STAFF WRITERS / ADAM HAWBOLDT + ALEX J MACPHERSON CONTRIBUTING WRITERS / R.A. PARKER + JEFF WILSON

OFFICE MANAGER / STEPHANIE LIPSIT ACCOUNT MANAGER / NATHAN HOLOWATY MARKETING MANAGER / VOGESON PALEY FINANCIAL MANAGER / CODY LANG

ART & PRODUCTION

CONTACT

DESIGN LEAD / ANDREW YANKO DESIGNER / BRANTIN FIX

COMMENTS / FEEDBACK@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 881 8372

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS / PATRICK CARLEY + ADAM HAWBOLDT

DESIGN / LAYOUT@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 8474

ADVERTISE / ADVERTISE@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 2253 GENERAL / INFO@VERBNEWS.COM / 306 979 2253

2 AUG 2 – AUG 8 VERB MAGAZINE

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LOCAL

PARKS AND RECREATION Michael Clancy, his family, and the parks of Saskatchewan BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

M

ichael Clancy loves the outdoors.

Growing up as a kid in Pinehouse, Saskatchewan, the woods, water and wilderness were his refuge. A place for him to get away from everyday life and be at one with nature. A place of personal comfort.

When Clancy moved south in 1974 to attend the University of Saskatchewan, this love of the outdoors remained steadfast. When he got married, it was still there. When his children came along, it never wavered.

“My family and I would, since the kids were little, go on these voyages of discovery — if you want to call them that,” says Clancy. “We would travel all over the province, camp, explore. We started off in tents, then bought a claptrap old tent trailer. And as we were driving around, we saw all these regional park signs and realized we didn’t know anything about them.”

This didn’t sit well with Michael or the rest of the Clancy clan.

Being the kind of family that doesn’t want to waste their vacation on the unknown, the kind of family that likes to have information about where they’re going to camp beforehand, they decided to do something about it.

“Back then, the Internet wasn’t what it is now,” says Clancy. “We

couldn’t really find any information So, by guess and by golly, we went to a couple of these regional parks and liked what we saw. And we thought, if no one else is going to put the info out there, why don’t we?”

That was 1997.

In the summer of 1998, the Clancys set out to visit all 107 regional summer parks in Saskatchewan.

Their goal?

To collect information about the regional parks in the province, take pictures, and turn their love of nature into a published book.

A book that came to be known as A User’s Guide to Saskatchewan Parks.

“If I’d known what I was getting myself into with that book, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into it,” says Clancy.

Not because he didn’t enjoy traveling nearly 15,000 kilometres and visiting more than 100 parks in the summer of ’98. Nah, that wasn’t it. Michael enjoyed the heck out of traveling with his wife, Anna, and their three kids (two of whom were teenagers at the time.) Before hitting the road, he knew that part of the project would be fun.

What Michael didn’t know, however, was how hard it would be to write a book after, compiling notes on park after park, from one end of the province to the other.

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“I’d done some technical writing at work,” Clancy explains, who worked for the government for 34 years as a microbiologist, “but I’d never done anything like write a book before. You look at how many regional parks are in Saskatchewan, you look at about a three to four-page writeup of each park.

Plus an intro, a table of contents … it comes out to something like 400420 pages. Pretty daunting.”

Daunting, perhaps. But definitely not impossible.

So after the summer of ’98 ended and the research was done, Michael sat down, with reams and reams of research in front of him, and started writing A User’s Guide to Saskatchewan Parks.

It wasn’t as easy as you may think.

“After I started writing, I came to the realization that [writing the book] was kind of like eating an elephant,” says Clancy. “You have to do it one bit at a time. You start writing a piece, you finish it, get it behind you, move on to the next one. You can’t look at the project as a whole. Keep your eyes off the horizon.”

Month after month, that’s precisely what Clancy did. While his wife took care of the kids and kept the house running, he stowed away in isolation and wrote for a few hours every day after work.

Then one day he looked up from the computer, stared at the horizon and said to himself, “Holy smokes!

I have quite a manuscript here and it’s almost done.”

A User’s Guide to Saskatchewan Parks was published in 1999. In 2006 they published an updated version which included federal and provincial parks.

Then, just last year, Clancy decided to revisit the User’s Guide series and add historical parks to the mix.

“In ’06, the book we published featured around 10,800 campsites.

The new one now covers about 14,000,” says Michael. “But, regrettably, the publisher we’ve worked

ple were convinced we’d be leaving a litany of shallow, unmarked graves in our wake.”

Nothing of the sort happened.

Instead of simply hauling his kids around the province while he and his wife amassed information about Saskatchewan parks, Clancy asked his children to contribute.

“My eldest, who was 15 at the time, became quite a beach expert,” says Clancy. “He’d go out, explore, come back and report on the quality of the sand for sand castle build-

Everyone was delighted that we wanted to talk about their community, their parks.

MICHAEL CLANCY

with through the years isn’t putting out trade books anymore, so we’re going to have to shop it around.”

With two guidebooks published and one in a publishing queue, the question remains: what drives a guy like Michael Clancy to visit all these parks and keep writing about them?

Well, in the beginning, it was a need to inform people and to spend time with his family.

“When we did the first one, everyone thought we were crazy,” says Clancy with a chuckle. “We had two teenage boys … and peo-

ing, beach volleyball, how big the beaches were. Our middle guy is a fitness nut, always will be. So we’d have him attack the playground equipment and report back to us.”

And the youngest of the Clancy brood? “He was always hitting me up for two dollars for onion rings at all these concessions around the province,” says Clancy. “So I said, ‘Why don’t you report on all the best concessions?’”

The result was an onion-ring index, found in all the books, that reports on the best cuisine in the regional system. “It was a real family affair, that first book,” says Clancy,

“but the other projects [the second and third books], we didn’t do those for ourselves. We did them from three different audiences.”

The first was the people of Saskatchewan. “Everywhere we went in this province the people were wonderful,” says Michael. “Everyone was delighted that we wanted to talk about their community, their parks. They’d invite us in for coffee and pie and we’d just chat. They were so affable that we were kind of doing it for them.”

They were also doing it to help attract interest in the smaller parks of the province.

And the third reason?

“Of course, we wanted to help the people who use these books, who want to take their families out and go camping. You can’t get Internet everywhere and these books are designed to fit in your glove box.”

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5 AUG 2 – AUG 8 @VERBSASKATOON

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LOCAL

WANTING TO BE HEARD Speaking with A Voice for Men BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

H

ave you ever heard the parable about the blind men and the elephant?

No? Well, it goes something like this: once upon a time, six blind men were brought into a room where an elephant was standing. Each man is asked to feel a different body part and determine what the elephant looks like. The one who gets the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch, the one who gets the leg says it’s like a pillar, the one who gets the tail says it’s like a rope — and so on.

Eventually a conflict arises between the men because each is certain their perspective is right.

“Their solution to [figure out] what the elephant looks like is to shout everyone else down,” says Alison Tieman. “To say, ‘No! Your experience is invalid. You have to agree with me because this elephant is a rope or a snake or a tree.’”

Sitting in the upper level of a book store, perched on the edge of her chair, Tieman’s hands flit this way and that as she talks about the elephant parable. Her voice is steady and assured.

The reason she’s discussing the parable? To explain the backlash at something she did not so long ago.

See, Tieman is part of A Voice For Men — a men’s rights organization “dedicated to addressing social, legal and cultural norms that negatively impact the lives of men and boys” — and a few weeks back, she put

up some of the group’s posters in downtown Saskatoon. Posters that said things like: “Canada is the most frightening place to be a man” and “Feminism = Male Disposability.”

Public reaction was swift. People began tearing the posters down, and national media ran stories calling the posters anti-feminist.

“I read a bit of the media attention,” says Tieman. “[A certain news agency]

are more likely to get longer sentences or sentences — period. About how men have fewer resources than women when it comes to rape and domestic violence.

Tieman talks about a lot of things, and when the topic of the posters in Saskatoon comes up (specifically the Feminism = Male Disposability one) she says, “It’s gotten to the point where feminism

…feminism just isn’t listening to the male point of view anymore.

ALISON TIEMAN

concluded this is the resurgence of machoism. But to that I say men actually expressing their vulnerabilities and owning them is the opposite of the macho persona of strength.”

Tieman shifts in her seat and says, “In the traditional attitude towards manliness, you don’t talk about the problems you have. You just shut up about them. That’s what this movement’s all about — bringing those problems, those things men can’t talk about, to the table and saying that they are just as valid as women’s concerns.”

Hands still flitting about, Tieman goes on to talk about how men experience discrimination when it comes to the criminal justice system, how they

just isn’t listening to the male point of view anymore. It’s actively making it unacceptable. It’s like “shut up, don’t speak.’ I understand, in part, why [they’re doing this]. I understand why people are upset about this. You get attached to your solution. And, especially if you’re a woman, you don’t want to hear … how women affect men in negative ways. You don’t want to hear that stuff. It’s hard to hear.”

If this is so hard for people to swallow, then why, pray tell, would A Voice for Men put up posters that were so intentionally provocative?

Wouldn’t taking a softer line be more beneficial? After all, the

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plethora of YouTube videos of feminists protesting men’s rights groups around the country prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is contentious subject.

Alison Tieman wasn’t always so involved in men’s rights. No, there was a time, a couple of decades ago, when she was an ardent feminist.

“In my teens I was a feminist and I was becoming very radicalized,” she says. “My mother was concerned with the way I was going. She had been a feminist herself, [but] had distanced herself from the movement later in life.

[When I was 16] she took me aside and gave me a book called The Princess at the Window.”

The book served as her introduction to feminist critical literature.

From there she gradually began formulating her own theories on gender and created a blog at genderratic.com.

“I focus more on men because I think their vulnerabilities aren’t being heard right now,” says Tieman of her blog.

That focus soon attracted the attention of Paul Elam, the founder of A Voice for Men, who asked her to write some stuff for his group. At first the group did most of its stuff

on-line, with articles, forums, discussions and such. But eventually, perhaps inevitably, they wanted to spread their message to a larger audience. Hence the posters.

And it wasn’t just in Saskatoon the posters were put up, either. There were also A Voice for Men posters in Regina, ones that didn’t raise any red flags.

Why? Because their messages weren’t as provocative as the ones in Saskatoon.

“The posters are intended to raise awareness and get attention,” says Tieman. “I don’t think it’s our preference [to use provocative posters] … but the reality is this is what got attention.”

And what does Tieman hope all this attention accomplishes?

“What should be happening is that both experiences, men’s experiences of powerlessness and disenfranchisement and women’s experiences should be heard on equal footing,” explains Tieman.

“Then we will have a better understanding of the problem. Then we can create a solution and an intervention that works.”

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@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com PHOTO: COURTESY OF A VOICE FOR MEN

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EDITORIAL

ONLINE FREEDOM We should never condone any form of Internet censorship

I

n case you missed it, the Calgary Herald ran an editorial last week in support of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal to impose a country-wide Internet filter that would block access to pornographic websites. This, according to the Herald’s editorial board, is a noble idea we should replicate here in Canada, and one which they claim will help children grow into “healthy, well-adjusted adults” that have a “healthy concept of sexuality.”

The British Prime Minister is counting on the public and commentators to be so distracted by the porn aspect of his proposal that they fail to notice its true terrify-

ing nature, and for the most part it seems to be working. So far, the debate has centred almost exclusively around whether people should be able to watch porn online without first having to request access from his or her Internet service provider — as people would have to under Cameron’s proposal — or on the potentially awkward conversation between partners as one admits that he or she would like to lift the filter to watch sexually explicit content online.

But all of this porn talk is obscuring the real issue. The suggestion that banning access to sexually explicit content online in order to protect children is merely a smokescreen; in actuality, the filter is a

brazen attempt to implement widespread, high level censorship of the Internet in a modern, developed country. That should scare the crap out of everybody — it certainly does out of us — and we think it should never, ever be allowed to happen.

See, what Cameron is actually proposing is far more extensive than simply filtering out porn. The British government is trying to do something more dire, under the pretence of protecting the innocence of children. To get a sense of where Cameron is trying to go, we can look to an existing filter program called HomeSense, which the British PM himself praised while rolling out his own proposal. In

addition to pornography, HomeSafe blocks a variety of other web content including sites about dating, drugs, alcohol and tobacco, file sharing, gambling, weapons and

sites the government decides we’re allowed to see. Because at the end of the day, state-sponsored censorship is a very dangerous thing.

All you have to do is look at

…at the end of the day, state-sponsored censorship is a very dangerous thing.

VERB MAGAZINE

violence, games, social networking, and suicide and self harm.

When it comes to the availability of content on the Internet, we think the default should be the complete Internet, not only the

China, a country where access to the Internet is controlled by the State, where any dissident information spread online could result in jail time, where websites that are politically unpalatable are forbid

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den. BBC News and other foreign media websites are also occasionally blocked there, depending on the topics they’re writing about, and according to Amnesty International China has the largest recorded number of imprisoned journalists and cyber-dissidents in the world.

Besides China, what other countries currently filter the Internet, and what do they do with that ability? Well the list includes such friendly places as Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Syria, and the governments of those countries generally tend to block anything that might threaten their rule or societal stability. In addition to the list of topics blocked by programs like Homesafe, opposition political parties’ sites are frequent targets, as are sites that are critical of ruling monarchies, majority religions or ethnic groups, sites that expose governmental abuses such as Wikileaks and any sites that report on these issues, like independent newspapers offering political satire. Worryingly, many of these countries filtering systems were originally implemented and continue to be supported under the

same ‘save the children’ justification currently being paraded in Britain.

If you think comparing Britain to China is a stretch, we should point out that the company behind the HomeSafe program Cameron thinks so highly of is China-based Huawei, whose close ties to the Chinese army and that country’s communist government have made most countries wary of doing business with them. Huawei pulled out of the United States entirely after facing congressional scrutiny, and even the UK government’s own Intelligence and Security Committee recently warned of Huawei’s spying potential (Cameron must not have read that particular report).

This is not where we want to end up. It is naive to believe that Cameron’s proposal to filter out porn is anything other than the latest skirmish in the war to allow central control over the Internet.

It’s simple: governments want a way to restrict the kinds of ideas its citizens can access, and right now, at least in the developed world, they can’t. Cameron’s filter, under the ruse of protecting children,

would give Britain this power, and once implemented it would be trivially easy to start adding sites to the blacklist.

True Internet freedom is essential to maintaining and protecting democratic values. In fact, we believe that a centrally censored Internet, especially when the censor is the government, is ultimately incompatible with a free and democratic society, so the long-term stakes in this fight couldn’t be higher.

So no to Cameron, and no to the Calgary Herald’s idea of having government censored Internet here in Canada. Implementing such a filter — for any reason — is simply the first step down a long, dark road.

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 putting cameras on police officers. Here's what you had to say:

Text yo thoughtsur to 881 VE R B 8372

– I agree that cops should be outfitted with cameras Saskatoon police often use excessive force when arresting people and it needs to stop!

– If this increases police accountability and reduces needless violence by police officers on the public then I’m all for it.

– I think police everywhere should wear cameras. As you said they help everyone

– This sounds like it’s worked good for that cop force in California let’s bring it here god knows our cops here are pretty quick to rough people up.

– Cameras on Police Officers helps provide clear records of arrests and other use of state force and helps verify police accounts of arrest procedures followed.

– What’s the point of outfitting police with cameras when the only footage would be of them sitting at Tim Horton’s with their thumbs up their arses?

– Cameras on police officers is a great idea, and one we should absolutley follow. It makes sense to have a visual recording rather than relying on what they are saying and what the other person is saying. Protects everyone, makes sense, let’s do it.

OFF TOPIC – To those who want to get rid of the queen, which would mean spending millions of tax paying dollars on opening the constitution and everyone fighting with each other to and we know how our politicians do things to change something that’s working and change to what exactly we see how good things are going in America right now which some think we should join and if we not careful will be. No thanks leave it or go down south if u want.

In response to “Independent Day,” Opinion, #249 (July 19, 2013)

– I thought we already did sever our ties with the monarchy.

– Would be great if those cops that shot that kid on the bus in TO had been wearing cameras, we’d have a better idea of what went on.

The videos from civilians are too obscured and hard to see what’s happening. This could prevent needless injury or death and protect society better. And protect police to .

– Having cameras on police officers is a huge invasion of privacy.

I wouldn’t want that at all and it’s dangerous to suggest.

In response to “Independent Day,” Opinion, #249 (July 19, 2013)

– I don’t have any strong feelings about the queen and I do get the appeal of Kate and Will, trying to make the royal family seem more relateable, but there is no good reason why we should be keeping them around. Yes, at one point being under their wing was important, but that time is no longer. It’s time we rolled with the punches.

In response to “Independent Day,” Opinion, #249 (July 19, 2013)

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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POWERED BY THE CREW AT MOGA MOBILE

– Yes! To everyone saying it’s tradition so we should stick with the monarchy, look at all the bloody stupid traditions we’ve gotten rid of. This should be one of them. It’s embarassing that we are keeping them around. It’s just old people who like it, but it’s time the youth vote takes over!

In response to “Independent Day,” Opinion, #249 (July 19, 2013)

– While STARS is certainly a worthy and interesting program, it’s not the first air ambulance in Saskatchewan like your subtitle says :).

In response to “Shooting for the Stars,” Local, #250 (July 26, 2013)

SOUND OFF – It’s a shame that 6 teenagers tragically lost their lives. Teenagers these days think they are invincible and can do whatever they want except act responsibly. Because of the actions of the driver, 6 people full of life lost their lives. Teach your children to act responsibly so tragedies like this don’t happen again.

– You know your DOWNtown when a car passes you with a takeout cup chasing it

– It’s not about having what you want it’s about wanting what you have.

– The best time to take care of any problem is when it’s a little problem.

– Mayor Don was. The. First to.

Walk across the Finally!. Completed bridge Im. Sure to cheer. Of. JUMP JUMP! (chris cross) and. FOR. SASKATOON !. KEEP. On. Walking

– You know you are driving in Saskatoon when the driver following you on resedential street becomes agitated at the speed limit and decides to blow by at 70 kmh only to be at the next stop light at the same time as you.

– RIP to that young man who was shot by police. A sad and tragic loss, and I hope the police actually do cooperate with the investigation instead of covering up and making it difficult. That family deserves closure.

– Summer is almost overrr :( – Hawaii has a problem. Some U.S. welfare dpmts give their homeless 1 way tickets to Hawaii. I suspect the offer is anywhere in the U.S. with H being popular.

– This econ boom isn’t so good socially. There’s the smell of money in the water! Seems to be making a good fraction of the population a little frantic manic crazy in the head. Resembles a crack epidemic.

– Verb texters have the best comments ever!

– A relentless thirst for the truth is the most important thing to have

NEXT WEEK: What do you think of censoring the Internet? Pick up 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

11 AUG 2 – AUG 8 /VERBSASKATOON

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Q+A

GREAT BIG SEA

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF DAVE HOWELLS

Twenty years and counting for Canada’s best party band

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

G

reat Big Sea are a national treasure. In a career spanning twenty years, Alan Doyle, Bob Hallett, and Séan McCann have released ten albums blending traditional Newfoundland music with elements of rock and pop. And while their sound has evolved since the days of Up and Play, their talent for crafting lively songs and telling meaningful stories has always been consistent. The band’s latest project, a retrospective called XX, sums up their career in forty songs — old hits, deep cuts, and a handful of new creations. I caught up with Bob Hallett to talk about the past, the present, and the future of this country’s best party band.

Alex J MacPherson: XX is a retrospective, and I’m wondering if there was a moment in the past when you realized that this project was going to work?

Bob Hallett: We were always looking forward. And also there was no kind of “A-Ha!” moment for us where the sort of critical and public perceptions of the band came together.

At an early stage of the band we were crudely feted while the public ignored us, and later we were largely ignored critically, or just kind of mocked for the approach we’d take to stuff. Our career has been largely an accumulation of smaller things done well consistently over a long period of time.

AJM: Given that you’ve been looking forward, was putting XX together a

jarring experience? Was choosing the songs difficult?

engaged? You can’t do that by making the band ninety percent of your life for the entirety of your life.

BH: We looked more at the songs than we did at the albums, and that was more of an interesting exercise: you notice what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. There was fifteen songs that were obvious, because they were successful. And then there was

AJM: Over the years, the band’s sound has changed. How do the new songs reflect your musical vision?

BH: If there was any target we were trying to hit it was to cover the gamut

When you’re twenty years old you join a band the way people join a cult…

BOB HALLETT

another probably 15 that had videos attached to them or were otherwise notable. And so they had to be there.

Then it was like there was three left, so everyone picked one they liked.

of what we’ve done well. There was the pop cover, something we did very early on. There was the experimental piece, “Live This Life.” There was the kind of folk-rock stuff like “Heart of Hearts,” and the very traditional things like “Le Bon Vin.” And then there was the stuff we wrote ourselves that was designed to sound traditional. If we were going to do something new we wanted not just four songs that sound like the hits of the day, but songs that actually captured all the nuances of our careers.

As best we could, anyway.

AJM: Alan and Séan are both making records, and you’ve written a book and are managing bands. Does branching out change the band dynamic?

BH: I think for us it’s a recognition of the fact that if you’re going to be in a band for your life then at some point in time the band has to be a little more fluid. When you’re twenty years old you join a band the way people join a cult: you don’t want to do anything else at all. As you get older your personal life changes and everything around it, and the goal becomes: how do we find a place for the band and that collaboration and do it in such a way that everybody remains happy and

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ARTS

CONFESSIONS OF A FAIRY’S DAUGHTER

Alison Wearing transforms a difficult experience into an uplifting play BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

C

onfessions of a Fairy’s Daughter is Alison Wearing’s story about growing up with a gay father in the 1980s, a time when the gay rights movement was in its infancy and homosexuals were regularly ostracized. The one-woman show tells the story of how Wearing’s childhood, a happy blur of music and dancing and laughter, was disrupted by a startling revelation — that her father, who was always unusual, was gay. But Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter is also a story about everyone — a story about the truth and how we come to find it.

“It’s about a person coming into the truth of who they are, despite what everyone might want them to be and despite how many obstacles there are,” explains Wearing, who has written and performed a previous one-woman show and written a book about Iran. “In my father’s case it had to do with sexual orientation, but we all, at some point in our lives, come into the fullness and the truth of who we are.”

Several years ago, Wearing wrote a series of vignettes about her childhood and her father, whose love of singing and dancing and pure, unalloyed laughter set him apart from his contemporaries. Un-

sure of what to do with the stories, she stashed them in a drawer and began working on other projects.

Only after writing and performing Giving Into Light, her first onewoman show, did she decide to transform a series of sketches into a script.

A moving journey from disbelief and confusion to acceptance and raw joy, Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter is shot through with humour and music, which Wearing describes as her “mother tongue.”

Laughing has always been among the best ways to defuse tension and lessen the blow of serious revelations, but Wearing is more inter-

ested in exploring duality — “that dance between light and dark, and creating shadows in both realms.”

Perhaps more importantly, Wearing felt compelled to write Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter as a playful romp because that’s exactly how she remembers her childhood. “It was really, really fun,” she says with a laugh. “My dad was in some ways this stereotypical flamboyant father who would skip around the garden and sing and do these crazy things.”

And while Wearing admits that his secret forced her “into the closet,” she feels comfortable today because the truth, painful and difficult as it may be, will always set you free.

PHOTO: COURTESY OF MINDY GOUGH PHOTOGRAPHY

Confessions of a Fairy’s Daughter Aug 1, 3-6, 8, 10 @ Fringe Theatre Festival @ Victoria Upstairs Auditorium $12

MAJICAL CLOUDZ

Devon Welsh and the stark beauty of Polaris-longlisted Impersonator

D

evon Welsh is interested in making music for the edge of oblivion. Impersonator, the album he made with synthesizer wizard Matthew Otto under the name Majical Cloudz, explores the

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF SARAH O’DRISCOLL

moments when the stately pace of life is fractured. Using little more than his sonorous baritone and the faint pulse of an electronic soundscape, Impersonator unfolds into a sophisticated example of how much can be achieved with very little.

“I think I wanted to focus on the lyrics of the songs, and I think in order to do so I wanted to keep the instrumentation as minimal as possible, or as non-invasive as possible,” Welsh says of the spare textures that make up Impersonator, the blank space between the sonic heartbeats. “The music would be kind of a vessel for communicating ideas, or communicating statements.”

The music on Impersonator is devastatingly simple, often no louder

BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

than a whisper. This simplicity, this purity, echoes Welsh’s lyrics, which are uncomfortably direct. “Hey man, sooner or later you’ll be dead,” he sings on “Notebook,” leaving unsaid the idea that forms the broad theme of the record: life is short and basically the truth is the only thing that matters.

“I will just sit down and I’ll want to cut to the heart of something that I’m feeling,” he says of the record’s stark lyrics, which feature lines like “If this song is the last thing I do / then I’ll still feel good.” “It’ll be a memory or emotion or something that is not clear to me until I’ve actually written the lyrics. And then it sort of becomes externalized, and I can think about it.”

This is the essence of nearly every song on Impersonator, from the bewitching “This Is Magic” to the relentlessly intense “Bugs Don’t Buzz.”

There is a sense that the songs do not reveal their secrets until the sound has faded away. Impersonator is a record that demands not just attention, but also reflection.

But Impersonator is more than just an inventory of raw experience.

It is also a staggeringly beautiful expanse of sound, a record that, for all of its simplicity, is still bigger than any one person. And Welsh lives for the moments when he can find those connections.

“It is what I think and what I feel, and there’s nothing that’s closer to

me than that,” he says. “I’m not saying something that’s vague.” And by stripping away the metaphors and the analogies, the excess weight, Majical Cloudz have created a record that mimics the contours of everybody’s life, celebrating the peaks and mourning the valleys, before sinking back into eternal silence.

Majical Cloudz August 15 @ Amigos Cantina $12 @ Ticketedge Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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RAH RAH Finding success with The Poet’s Dead BY ALEX J MACPHERSON

R

ah Rah, a rock and roll band from Regina, recently made the best album of their career. But they couldn’t do it alone. They needed somebody to push them. To challenge them. To tell them they could be better. “It’s hard when you have someone come in and tell you that you aren’t that good,” Marshall Burns says with a laugh. “It was a pretty steep learning curve for the band.” Burns helped found Rah Rah in 2005. The band has spent the last several years touring relentlessly, building a strong following across Canada. Critical and commercial success, however, proved elusive.

In October, the band released their full-length album, The Poet’s Dead.

Brimming with infectious melodies and disarmingly earnest songs about growing up and growing old, The Poet’s Dead became a critical darling. It was nominated for a pair of Western Canadian Music Awards, longlisted for the Polaris Music Prize, and positioned its creators as one of the most exciting bands in the country. Burns attributes the record’s success to a fundamental change in the way he and his bandmates approached the recording process — asking a pair of strangers to push them beyond what they thought possible.

“The thing about this record that stuck out to me was that we took a lot longer in terms of recording, just making sure we got the sound we really wanted to get on for each track,” he says, pointing to the influence of producers Gus Van Go and Werner F, who rose to prominence after producing albums by the Stills, Priestess, and Hollerado — records

a song and that was the song,” he says. “There was no going back and saying, ‘Was this really the best way to do it?’”

Gus Van Go and Werner F are famous for producing records that sound edgy and raw. Burns wanted to make a record that showed off Rah Rah’s natural scrappiness without sacrificing sound quality.

We put in the work and practiced a lot … because we knew these guys were like, ‘You can be better than you are.’

MARSHALL BURNS

that combined strong songwriting and the frantic sounds of garage rock. “We had producers that had a real vision for the album and for the band. They were there in the preproduction and the earliest stages of the writing process right through until the end. They gave us the guidance that we needed.” In the past, Burns explains, Rah Rah tended to work quickly; songs were recorded as soon as they were written and there was little thought given to how each part contributed to the whole. “We wrote

The Poet’s Dead lands somewhere between tattered alt-country and pop-influenced rock and roll. Unlike the band’s earlier works, 2008’s Going Steady and 2010’s Breaking Hearts, The Poet’s Dead sounds ragged without ever quite crossing into the realm of lo-fi aesthetics or fractious garage rock. Perhaps more importantly, the producers were instrumental in pushing the band to their limit and beyond, forcing Burns and his compatriots to consider every chord change, every CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE »

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PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHRIS GRAHAM

keyboard note, and every lyric. The results are obvious. Each song on the record, from the rollicking “Art and a Wife” to the gently swelling “Saint,” demonstrates a sense of pacing and dynamics absent from the band’s other albums, which tended to favour instrumental pyrotechnics over cagey songwriting.

“We put in the work and practiced

PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHRIS GRAHAM

a lot to get ready to record, because we knew these guys were like, ‘You can be better than you are,’” Burns recalls. “You can always bet better at anything, I guess, but sometimes that’s what you need — someone to come in and kick you in the butt, give you a bit of a challenge.”

The songs that make up The Poet’s Dead are among the most sonically diverse the band has ever recorded.

The most straightforward are sung

by Burns, whose thin, nasal voice conjures up images of his musical

hero, Neil Young. “Art and a Wife” is a simple and effective rocker driven by a chunky guitar riff; it features one of the strongest vocal performances Burns has ever delivered.

It also lays out one of the album’s prominent themes. “I used to want to make out / make out with every girl,” he howls, “but now I just want a life / full of art and a wife.” The album’s title track, which delves into country matters, also addresses the disconnect between youthful idealism and the dark shadow of reality. “Like all of us socialists / born to hope raised to fail,” Burns wails in the second verse before conceding a moment later, “Though the poet’s dead / the poetry’s in your head.” (These lines are deeply political and probably representative of the band’s broad ideological outlook, but they can also be interpreted as an example of how idealism stands opposed to cynicism, innocence to experience.)

These ideas surface again and again as the album unfolds. On “20s,” Kristina Hedlund delivers an epitaph on the simple pleasures of playing rock and roll at an age where responsibility is just a speck on the horizon: “I spent my twenties on rock and roll / I’ll spend my thirties feeling old.” These lines are profoundly depressing, yet “20s” is one of the most energetic and upbeat rock songs on

the album; as the winding guitar introduction fades into a sustained blast of high octane rock and roll, it is clear that Rah Rah are still a long way from burning out or fading away.

Erin Passmore, the band’s third lead vocalist, addresses a similar idea on “Prairie Girl,” as she ruminates on the notion of home and the cruel relationship between time and distance: “I am a prairie girl / straight to the bone / I’ll cut you off on the drive back home / I spend my winters alone.” This strain of sombre reflection also emerges on “I’m A Killer,” a brittle rock anthem that casts Passmore in the role of unrepentant lover.

“I’m a killer / but you can always make it up to me,” she sings again and again, as if repeating the phrase will change the unchangeable.

Burns says he and his bandmates didn’t plan on writing a record about the gulf between the unalloyed pleasure of being young and the inevitable fear of growing old. But he wasn’t surprised when the songs began to emerge. “The first few years of the band, we were super young,” he says, referring to himself, Passmore, and Hedlund, who are younger and less experienced than their bandmates Joel Passmore, Leif Thorseth, and Jeff Romanyk. “We were playing for almost nobody most of the time, but it didn’t matter: we were just out

there and it was exciting. As you get older, other considerations come into your life and you re-evaluate everything. I think it’s an interesting point in a person’s life.” And while The Poet’s Dead dwells on the concerns of all rock and roll bands faced with an uncertain future, its dour musings have been eclipsed by a year of massive success for the band.

“We’ve just been lucky that the shows are going better, the tours have gotten a bit better – it’s been this progression,” Burns says of the band’s trajectory. “If we were still playing those same shows it would be difficult, but the fact that we’ve been on some pretty good tours and played for some bigger audiences, that’s been exciting.

As long as it keeps going like that,

that’ll be enough.” Ultimately, The Poet’s Dead answers the very question it poses. By taking on responsibility for making the best album possible, and by choosing to push themselves harder than ever before, the members of Rah Rah launched themselves into a future that is becoming more certain with each passing day.

Rah Rah August 10 @ Regina Folk Festival (only current tour date in Saskatchewan) $55.65+ @ reginafolkfestival.com Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com

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DELIZIOSO!

Photo: courtesy of Adam Hawboldt

Bottega Trattoria does Italian right BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

A

ttention lovers of Italian food: there’s a new restaurant in town that is imponente, delizioso, and a bunch of other Italian words I don’t know the meanings off.

It’s called Bottega Trattoria, and if you’ve been craving some authentic, home-made Italian fare, drop what you’re doing and head there. Like, statim.

Located on Second Avenue in the building where Olympia used to be, Bottega is the kind of place Saskatoon has been begging for.

First thing you notice when you walk in is the decor. Simple, elegant and classic, Bottega has both a welcoming and romantic feel to it, ideal for either a quaint lunch or an evening soirée. There’s a long black bench running along the left wall with wooden tables strategically placed along it. There are dangling exposed lights, a section up front

with a street view, a room out back for private functions and the staff … did I mention the staff? They’re knowledgeable and friendly and extremely customer-oriented.

On the surface, Bottega has everything a good, urban Italian restaurant should have. But what about the kitchen?

Led by head chef Amedeo Vallati, who hails from southern Italy, the kitchen staff has been pumping out the kind of food people tell their friends about.

Before I’d ever stepped foot in Bottega, I’d heard nothing but great things about their pizza and about the lasagna, which comes from a old Vallati family recipe that has been passed down from the chef’s great-grandmother. Both looked tempting, but in the end I went with bruschetta al parmigiana and ravioli de casa, accompanied by a cool, crisp glass of pinot gris.

Naturally.

The bruschetta — consisting of roma tomatoes tossed with garlic, basil, olive oil and Parmesan shavings — was light and delectable. The best part? Well, you know how some bruschetta is served on bread that’s too crispy while some comes out on soggy bread? Not a problem here. The Italian baked bread at Bottega is at once crunchy and moist.

As for the homemade ravioli, it was stuffed with sausage, sweet red pepper and cheese. Then it was lightly breaded and sautéed in a basil white-wine garlic cream sauce. Talk about delicious! The pasta was crispy on the edges, tender in the middle and tasty all the way through.

And the sauce? Umm … I’m not sure if addictive is the right word to describe it, but it certainly isn’t the wrong one.

And as I sat there, contemplating whether it would be rude of me to lick my plate clean, I knew I’d just had the best plate of pasta I’ve ever eaten in this city.

Can’t wait to try the rest of it.

LET’S GO DRINKIN’ VERB’S MIXOLOGY GUIDE AMERICANO

INGREDIENTS

Usually a pre-dinner drink, the Americano cocktail was created in the mid-1800s by a guy named Gaspare Campari. It’s an iconic Italian cocktail that is at once sweet and bitter. Salute!

1 oz sweet vermouth 1 oz campari liqueur club soda (chilled)

Bottega Trattoria 120 2nd Avenue North | (306) 954 2932 Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372

DIRECTIONS

Pour both the vermouth and campari into a chilled Collins glass with ice cubes. Stir. Garnish with an orange slice and serve.

@VerbSaskatoon ahawboldt@verbnews.com

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MUSIC

NEXT WEEK

COMING UP

CRESTWOOD

MOON KING

MATT GOOD

@ LYDIA’S FRIDAY, AUG 9 – $TBD

@ AMIGOS THURSDAY, AUGUST 15 – $12

@ ODEON EVENTS CENTRE FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8 – $35

Crestwood is the musical trio of talent know formally as Steven Maier (vocals/guitar), Gent Laird (bass) and Roger Mercier (percussion/vocals).

These three guys believe music should move you, make you want to groove, and it’s apparent in their tunes, which leave you invigorated and wanting more. Influenced by everyone from Paul Simon and The Band to James Taylor, Crestwood has a solid foundation from which to grow. Fusing the emotion of a smoky blues bar with the haunting harmonies of a church choir, a dash of rock and some pop for good measure, Crestwood’s performances do not disappoint. Marked by mature melodies, catchy beats and a live show worth checking out, this band is certainly on the rise. Tickets at the door.

Daniel Benjamin and Maddy Wilde are the brilliant duo behind Toronto’s Moon King. The pair have been collaborating for most of their young lives, producing some ethereal soundscapes and wicked harmonies layered over crunchy guitars and dope percussion that have made critics and fans alike sit up and take notice. Their live shows are nothing to sneeze at, and they’ll be fine-tuning their performances as they embark on an international tour with Majical Cloudz, Born Ruffians and Austra this summer. Check ‘em out next week when they swing into town and rock the stage at Amigos in advance of Majical Cloudz’s set.

Tickets for the show available through ticketedge.ca.

The leader of former Canadian alt rock group, the Matthew Good Band, Matt Good has worn many hats in the years since that popular group ate up the charts. He has worked as both an activist and a blogger, as well as keeping his hands in the music business with a solo career. And while Good has rocked out well enough to have won a handful of Juno Awards over the years — including Rock Album of the Year and Best Group of the Year — both on his own and as part of a group, he has refused to accept any of them. He’ll be hitting the road again this year in support of his latest album, 2013’s Arrows of Desire. Check him out when he plays the Odeon in November; tickets available at theodeon.ca – By Jeff Wilson

PHOTOS COURTESY OF: BARB REIMER/ COLIN MEDLEY / THE ARTIST

SASK MUSIC PREVIEW “An Idea, a Song and a Story!” is a songwriting workshop presented by SaskMusic and the Regina Folk Festival. Featuring Marshall Burns, Andy Shauf and Reuben Bullock, the workshop will provide an opportunity to hear from these talented musicians about what inspires them, how they go about creating new material, and more. The seminar takes place August 8 at 7pm at the Artful Dodger; admission is free for SaskMusic members and $20 for everyone else.

To pre-register call 1-800-347-0676 or email info@saskmusic.org Keep up with Saskatchewan music. saskmusic.org

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AUGUST 2 » AUGUST 10 The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

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FRIDAY 2 HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve, every Friday night.

9pm / No cover RIDE ‘TIL DAWN, CAT DAD / Amigos Cantina — A little power-pop and country for your listening pleasure. Cat Dad will be warming up the crowd. 10pm / Tickets at the door DJ AASH MONEY / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a highenergy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/vocal house music every Friday night. 10pm / $5 DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats. 8pm / No cover

DJ STIKMAN / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits.. 9pm / $5 cover DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm IAN MARTENS / Prairie Ink — Acoustic folk rock for your listening pleasure.

8pm / No cover DEAD CITY DOLLS / Rock Bottom — Unfiltered rock and roll out of Edmonton, so come on down and check it out. 9pm / Cover TBD BLUE HIGHWAY / Stan’s Place — A little music to get your weekend started right.

8pm / Cover TBD DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 PARTY ROCK FRIDAYS / Tequila — Featuring DJ Anchor. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ NICK RUSTON / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD SPOILS W/ GUESTS / Vangelis Tavern — Riva Racette and Dustin Gamracy will rock your socks off! Also appearing is Shockflesh. 10pm / $8 FLYING FOX AND THE HUNTER GATHERERS / Vangelis — Check out Spoils,

then stick around for this late night set of operatic indie gypsy jazz, musical theatrics and more. Midnight / $8

SATURDAY 3

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

9pm / No cover FRANKIE MCQUEEN / Amigos Cantina — Blues-heavy rock from Calgary. Also appearing will be The Department Heads and Spade the Shovelhead. 10pm / Tickets at the door DJ AASH MONEY + DJ CTRL / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a high-energy top 40 dance party.

9pm / $5 cover THE MAVERICKS / Dakota Dunes — A country-steeped garage band from Miami. 8pm / $55 (www.tickets.siga.sk.ca) SATURGAY NIGHT / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DJ STIKMAN / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover MIKEY DANGEROUS / Odeon Events Centre — A Juno-winning reggae sensation. 8pm / $20+ (theodeon.ca) DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up

your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5 NO HURRY TRIO / Prairie Ink — Acoustic classic rock in an intimate setting. 8pm / No cover TIM VAUGHN, NINJA FUNK ORCHESTRA / Rock Bottom — A multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter will be rocking the stage at Rock Bottom. Also appearing will be these breakbeat assassins from Toronto. This is one show you won’t want to miss! 9pm / Cover TBD BLUE HIGHWAY / Stan’s Place — For your listening pleasure. 8pm / Cover TBD DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 DJ ANCHOR / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! Come on down and see what the fuss is all about 10pm / Cover TBD SEXY SATURDAYS / Tequila — A night of hot tunes. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ THORPDEO / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD WE WERE LOVERS, ONES / Vangelis — Swirling atmospheric tunes and dancey beats will have you up and grooving.

10pm / $8

SUNDAY 4

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 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 5

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

TUESDAY 6

MACKLEMORE AND RYAN LEWIS / Credit Union Centre — This outstanding hip hop duo has been tearing up the charts, and now they’re bringing their show to Saskatoon. 8pm / $62.25+ (Ticketmaster) 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

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18 AUG 2 – AUG 8 ENTERTAINMENT

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BIG & RICH / Prairieland Park — These country stars will be taking the stage at the SaskTel Grandstand for the Ex! Head on down and check it out. 8:30pm / Free with Ex admission OPEN MIC / The Somewhere Else Pub — Come out to show your talent. 7pm / No cover PETUNIA / Vangelis Tavern — Some high and lonesome vocals that’ll sear your soul. Also appearing is the always entertaining Wolfen Rabbits, featuring Melissa Gan and Ryan Holday. 9pm / $10 (advance), $15 (door)

WEDNESDAY 7

HUMP WEDNESDAYS / 302 Lounge & Discotheque — Resident DJ Chris Knorr will be spinning all of your favourite songs and requests, every Wednesday night. 9pm / No cover until 10pm; $3 thereafter TIM CHAISSON, SIX MOONS LATER / Amigos Cantina — The former offers up a little folk, pop and country straight from the East Coast, the latter a little folk surf rock from right here in Saskatoon.

Together, it’s a night that won’t disappoint.

10pm / Tickets at the door 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 FABER DRIVE / Prairieland Park — Canadian pop punk band will be playing the SaskTel Grandstand for the Ex! 8:30pm / Free with Ex admission THE AVENUE RECORDING COMPANY PRESENTS OPEN MIC / Rock Bottom — Hosted by Chad Reynolds. Sign up and play at this weekly event. 10pm / No cover CJWW KARAOKE / Stan’s Place — Your talent, aired on the radio! 9pm / No cover WILD WEST WEDNESDAY / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Hosted by DJ Big Ayyy & DJ Henchman. Come out and ride the mechanical bull! 9pm / $4; no cover for industry staff DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / No cover

THURSDAY 8

TROUSER MOUTH / Amigos Cantina — A little hardcore drunk rock from Winnipeg. Also appearing will be Black Hell Oil, offering up some stoner rock and

old metal. 10pm / Tickets at the door THROWBACK THURSDAYS / Divas — All your favourite hits from the past. 8pm / No cover THROWBACK THURSDAYS / Earls — Come experience the best in retro funk, soul, reggae and rock provided by Dr. J. 8pm / No cover DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon DJ lights it up with hot tunes. Come on down and get the weekend started early! 8pm / No cover COME HELL OR HIGH WATER / Louis’ Pub — Some pop punk tunes, courtesy of Keegan, Dave and Matt. Also appearing is 10th Avenue, Decisions Made, Halfway to Hollywood and GOFL. 6:30pm / $10 (advance), $12 (door) THE OFFSPRING / Prairieland Park — Punk rock band will be playing the SaskTel Grandstand for the Ex! 8:30pm / Free with Ex admission THUNDER RIOT W/CONKY SHOWPONY / Rock Bottom — Come dance the night away as this local DJ plays the kind of music that’ll get your feet moving. 9pm / $5 TRIPLE UP THURSDAYS / Tequila — Featuring DJ Dislexic, doing his thing every Thursday night. 9pm / Cover TBD

FRIDAY 9

HOUSE DJS / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul & lounge DJs liven up the atmosphere at 6Twelve every Friday night.

9pm / No cover WEAK ENDS / Amigos Cantina — These hardcore punk rockers from Saskatchewan are having their album release party! Head on down and get the party started! 10pm / Tickets at the door DJ AASH MONEY / Béily’s UltraLounge — DJ Aash Money throws down a highenergy top 40 dance party every Friday night. 9pm / $5 cover BPM / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin electro/vocal house music every Friday night. 10pm / $5 DJ ECLECTIC / The Hose & Hydrant — Local turntable whiz DJ Eclectic pumps snappy electronic beats, so come on down and get your weekend started right. 8pm / No cover DJ STIKMAN / Jax Niteclub — Kick off your weekend with all your favourite party hits, as Stikman does his spinning thing. 9pm / $5 cover DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. 8pm / $5; ladies in free before 11pm

PENNY REIGH / Piggy’s — A little badass tunes to start your weekend off right.

9pm / No cover JENNIFER LANE / Prairie Ink — A singersongwriter and poet from Saskatchewan, playing in an intimate venue.

8pm / No cover STUCK IN THE ‘80S! / Prairieland Park Exhibition — Hit up the Bud Big Rig beer gardens for some ‘80s classics.

GREAT BIG SEA / Prairieland Park — Iconic Canadian rockers will be playing the SaskTel Grandstand for the Ex! Come on down and check ‘em out!

8:30pm / Free with Ex admission WEST OF HELL, WRATHED, LAVAGOAT / Rock Bottom — It’s the Demon Sent 2013 Tour. 9pm / Cover TBD DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 PARTY ROCK FRIDAYS / Tequila — Featuring DJ Anchor, doing his thing every Friday night. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ NICK RUSTON / Uncle Barley’s — Come and check him out! 9pm / Cover TBD CLASSY CHASSYS / Vangelis Tavern — This local rockabilly four-piece will bring you a little rock, blues, punk and jazz. Also appearing are rock act Blackwater. 10pm / $10

WAYNE BARGEN / Prairie Ink — Rocking some finger-style acoustic guitar and a set of originals, in an intimate venue.

8pm / No cover BURTON CUMMINGS / Prairieland Park — The Guess Who’s frontman will be playing the SaskTel Grandstand for the Ex! Come on down and check ‘em out!

8:30pm / Free with Ex admission DUELING PIANOS / Staqatto Piano Lounge — Terry Hoknes, Neil Currie and Brad King belt out classic tunes and audience requests, from Sinatra to Lady Gaga. 10pm / $5 PENNY REIGH / Piggy’s — A little badass music to start your weekend off right, so head on out to hear some toe-tappin’ tunes. 9pm / No cover DJ ANCHOR / Sutherland Bar — It’s the world famous video mix show! 10pm / Cover TBD

SEXY SATURDAYS / Tequila — A night of hot tunes. 9pm / Cover TBD DJ THORPDEO / Uncle Barley’s — Spinning hot tunes all night. 10pm / Cover TBD ADOLYN, BREATHE KNIVES, CATGUT, SOUL MATES / Vangelis Tavern — A hardcore night with badass bands from Calgary, Edmonton and beyond.

9pm / $10

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SATURDAY 10

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

9pm / No cover DJ AASH MONEY + DJ CTRL / Béily’s UltraLounge — These two DJs throw down a high-energy top 40 dance party, so come on down and party the night away. 9pm / $5 cover SATURGAY NIGHT / Diva’s — Resident DJs spin exclusive dance remixes every Saturday. 10pm / $5 DJ KADE / The Hose & Hydrant — Saskatoon’s own DJ lights it up with hot tunes.

8pm / No cover DJ STIKMAN / Jax Niteclub — Ladies night with DJ Stikman and the Jax party crew. 9pm / $5 cover FACTOR / Odeon Events Centre — This local hip hop producer will be rocking it at the Odeon. 9pm / $15 DJ BIG AYYY & DJ HENCHMAN / Outlaws Country Rock Bar — Round up your friends ‘cause there’s no better country rock party around. Big Ayyy and Henchman throw it down every Saturday night! 8pm / $5

19 AUG 2 – AUG 8 /VERBSASKATOON

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2 GUNS AN EXCITING ROMP

PHOTO: COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Wahlberg and Washington a potent combination for onscreen action BY R.A. PARKER

L

ast year, the Iceland filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur made Contraband, which featured Mark Wahlberg, a slew of dramatic action sequences, and an extraordinarily convoluted plot.

Kormákur’s latest offering is called 2 Guns. It also features Mark Wahlberg in bad boy action hero mode, armed to the teeth and enmeshed in a fantastically complicated story.

This time, however, he is paired with Denzel Washington, one of

Stig and Trench, Greco employs a large number of henchmen (led by a villainous Bill Paxton), who have no qualms about shooting people.

The other catch? Stig and Trench may be partners, fond of bantering and trading jokes, but they aren’t entirely honest with each other.

There is never a good time to discover that your partner in crime is actually a double agent. But it emerges that Trench works for the DEA while Stigman is employed by the U.S. Navy Intelligence — and that both men have different plans for the money. After an

2 GUNS Baltasar Kormakur Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, James Marsden + Paula Patton DIRECTED BY STARRING

109 MINUTES | 14A

of guys with guns engaged in a furious car chase. The action feels real because it is real. There is very little CGI, and the film profits from the great clouds of dust generated by desert fighting.

2 Guns doesn’t lack intensity, but Kormákur is adept at balancing raw action with legitimate plot development. It doesn’t feel awkward or forced or lame — just fun and engaging.

The biggest problem with 2 Guns isn’t really anyone’s fault. Wahlberg and Washington play morally ambiguous characters with a lot of spunk and verve, and their dialogue is witty and amusing and entertaining. But after watching The Fighter and Training Day, it’s difficult to conceive of either man in a tightly focused action role.

It’s important to think of films for what they are, rather than what they could be, and while 2 Guns doesn’t squander its talent, it doesn’t make the best use of it, either.

…Kormákur is adept at balancing raw action with legitimate plot development.

R.A. PARKER

the best actors working today.

Sounds promising.

2 Guns, which is based on the BOOM! Studios’ comic series by Steven Grant and Mateus Santolouco, follows Bobby Trench (Washington) and the splendidly named Marcus “Stig” Stigman (Wahlberg) as they conspire to rob a New Mexico bank of three million dollars. The catch? The money belongs to an irritable Mexican drug lord called Greco (expertly played by Edward James Olmos). Unfortunately for

unfortunate incident involving a gun and a misunderstanding, the two men are forced to work together when Stigman’s ruthless boss (James Marsden) sends his own thugs after the money.

Stigman and Trench are, naturally, forced to work together to stave off the forces of evil. Which is when it starts to get really entertaining.

Kormákur is a man of many talents.

Although he rose to prominence making Icelandic art films, including the 2012 Oscar-nominated The Deep, he is equally comfortable shooting a couple

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CELEBRITY HOUSE CRASHING

PHOTO: COURTESY OF A24

The Bling Ring: a true story about celebrity obsession and vapid teenagers BY ADAM HAWBOLDT

W

hat is it with people these days? Everywhere you look, people — young and old — are obsessed with celebrity culture. And we’re not talking “oh, I think this person is a good actor” obsessed, either. No buddy. We’re talking “break into your house, steal your underwear, and wear it on my head” obsessed.

Seriously. That happened.

Well, maybe not the underwear on the head bit. But five years ago a bunch of teenagers from suburban Los Angeles did burglarize the homes of a few local celebrities — Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Orlando Bloom (to name a few) — and stole their personal possessions.

They kept or sold the possessions and, if the items were clothes or jewelry, wore it around town. All $3 million worth of it.

True story. And in 2010, after they were arrested, this gang of teens became celebrities themselves (albeit minor celebrities) when a piece about them called “The Suspects Wore Louboutins,” written by Nancy Jo Sales, appeared in Vanity Fair.

Now they’re recapturing what little fame they once had thanks to Sophia Coppola’s latest film, The Bling Ring.

Shot from a detached point of view, The Bling Ring begins when Rebecca Ahn (Katie Chang) and Marc Hall (Israel Broussard) meet

at an alt-high school in Calabasas.

They become fast friends who have a penchant for petty thievery. You know, they like the thrill and stuff.

The petty thefts soon turn into fullblown burglaries and it isn’t long before their gang (if you can even call it that) grows.

Enter Chloe (Claire Julien), Sam (Taissa Farmiga) and Nicki (Emma Watson aka Hermione aka the scene stealer of this movie.)

Since you already have a bit of the backstory, there’s no real need to

These characters are so vapid, so vacant, so morally bankrupt, it’s hard to relate to them.

ADAM HAWBOLDT

talk too much about what this gang — who the LA Times dubbed “The Bling Ring” — does in the movie.

All you really need to know is this: they rob celebrities, party, rob celebrities, party, rob celebrities … you get the idea.

There isn’t much of a plot, so to speak. Just a group of meaningless teens, living a meaningless existence forever going around in a circle. Until

THE BLING RING Sofia Coppola STARRING Emma Watson, Katie Chang + Israel Broussard DIRECTED BY

90 MINUTES | 14A

they get caught, of course. And for the most part, The Bling Ring is a pretty good movie. As a satire, it skewers celebrity obsession and the media that perpetuates it. As an exercise in acting, it’s solid — with Watson stealing the show.

But as a movie on whole, there’s something missing. Something important. Something called sympathy. These characters are so vapid, so vacant, so morally bankrupt, it’s hard to relate to them. They’re loathsome, one-dimensional little bastards, and the movie suffers because of it.

To her credit, though, Coppola never judges these characters. Just observes and films them with cool detachment. But still, it would’ve nice if there’d been at least a sliver of meat on this fame-seeking bone.

The Bling Ring is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

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21 AUG 2 – AUG 8 @VERBSASKATOON

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MONDAY, JULY 29 @

FOX & HOUNDS

Fox & Hounds Pub & Brewery 7 Assiniboine Drive (306) 664 2233 MUSIC VIBE / Alternative & rock FEATURED DEALS / 35 cent wings DRINK OF CHOICE / Caesars and

paralyzers TOP EATS / Wings SOMETHING NEW / Moosehead beer

now on tap, and new daily specials: $8 half nachos on Tuesdays, $8 burger and beer on Wednesdays, and $5 import bottles on Thursdays

22 AUG 2 – AUG 8 ENTERTAINMENT

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23 AUG 2 – AUG 8 /VERBSASKATOON

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NIGHTLIFE

TUESDAY, JULY 31 @

DOUBLE DEUCE

The Double Deuce Bar & Grill C1-3510 8th Street East (306) 477 7000 MUSIC VIBE / Top 40 FEATURED DEALS / 29 cent

wings, and $4 for domestic beers or highballs DRINK OF CHOICE / Domestic beers and highballs TOP EATS / Wings SOMETHING NEW / New patio door

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26 AUG 2 – AUG 8 ENTERTAINMENT

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27 AUG 2 – AUG 8 /VERBSASKATOON

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

30 AUG 2 – AUG 8 ENTERTAINMENT

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TIMEOUT

CROSSWORD CANADIAN CRISS-CROSS DOWN 1. An infant wears one 2. Angry outburst 3. Curved shape 4. Exclamation of excitement 5. Square-rigged ship 6. Sheltered side 7. Chinese gelatin 8. Give some of to each 9. Worthless stuff 11. Photograph with a brownish tone 12. Very dry, as champagne 14. Plant starter 17. Innocent young woman 20. Religious doctrine 21. Creamy salad dressing

24. Consume SUDOKU ANSWER KEY 26. Cut and dried grass A 28. Wheeled table 29. Bygone days 30. Hawaiian greeting 31. Plant with a bitter milky juice 33. Exclamation of surprise 34. Arm of the sea 35. Gives permission to B 38. Tropical fruit 41. Cooking fat 43. Spiked wheel attached to a rider’s heel 45. Took by the hand 47. Cat’s foot

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

32. Knowlton Nash’s first real name 36. High mountain 37. Hard to chew 39. Nautical heading 40. Immaterial part of a person 42. Romanian monetary unit 43. It’s used on sidewalks to melt ice 44. One in bondage 46. Orchard fruit 48. Come to an understanding 49. Arched ceiling 50. Canadian match maker 51. Crooked

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

ACROSS 1. Cart without sides 5. Delighted 9. Pope’s crown 10. Sponsorship 12. Tree limb 13. Foliage 15. Completely interested 16. Lubricant 18. Ready to eat 19. Work with 20. Laser printer ink 22. Pass away 23. Afternoon hour 25. Proceed at once 27. It receives information through the air 29. Part of a horse’s foot © WALTER D. FEENER 2013

HOROSCOPES AUGUST 2 – AUGUST 8 ARIES March 21–April 19

LEO July 23–August 22

SAGITTARIUS November 23–December 21

You’ve been feeling overly frustrated lately, Aries, but cut yourself some slack. Not everything is in your control, so let it go and breathe.

Don’t forget to stand up for yourself too, Leo. You’re always busy taking care of others, but you deserve the same love and attention.

All of your wildest dreams could be realized this week, Sagittarius.

All you need to do is fit in that last piece of the puzzle.

TAURUS April 20–May 20

VIRGO August 23–September 22

CAPRICORN December 22–January 19

It’s time to give in to that sense of adventure that’s been occupying your thoughts lately, Taurus. New horizons await, so get to it!

An obligation you see through could turn out to be more exciting than you could have imagined. Ain’t it grand when things turn out that way?

Your sense of humour might take a bit of a blow this week, but don’t worry. Things will soon right themselves and you’ll be back to your old ways in no time.

GEMINI May 21–June 20

LIBRA September 23–October 23

AQUARIUS January 20–February 19

You’ve been privy to some secret information, Gemini. Though it may be tempting to share, the ramifications could be greater than you’ve ever imagined.

Be wary of those who tend to take advantage, Libra. You don’t need people in your life that take, take, take without giving anything back.

Put your mind to anything, Aquarius, and it’s yours. But ask yourself: what is it you really want? The answer could surprise you.

CANCER June 21–July 22

SCORPIO October 24–November 22

PISCES February 20–March 20

A chance meeting could set you on an entirely new path this week, Cancer. Try not to resist the little pushes the universe is giving you.

It’s time for you to cut loose, ditch responsibilities and have some fun, Scorpio. Life is short, and etc. So get out there and embrace it!

A long-lost friend could wander back into your life this week, Pisces. Hear them out. What they have to say could shock you.

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

CROSSWORD ANSWER KEY

A

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

B

31 AUG 2 – AUG 8 /VERBSASKATOON

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