Madonna in Vancouver

Impromptu rendition of "Like a Virgin" with crowd at BC Place.

Florence K. in Alberta!

After selling 85-thousand copies of her album "Bossa Blue", Québec chanteuse Florence K. is bringing her show, in a more intimate setting, to Edmonton. Florence K.'s music is a mixture of bossa nova's, salsa and swing. She'll be performing in the theatre of la Cité Francophone in Edmonton on November 22nd @ 8 p.m. Tickets are 25$ and can be purchased by calling (780) 469-4401.

Pink's "Funhouse" more like a welcoming broken home.

I usually review albums while at the gym. It's the only time I have to listen to all the music I throw onto my I-Tunes. So when I added Pink's new CD "Funhouse" to my I-POD, with a title like that I thought it would be perfect for my work-out. Wrong! I was expecting something similar to the stellar lead single "So What" but what I found were a bunch of slower songs all-inspired by her break-up with hubby Carey Hart. As she says "in songwriting, happiness is a useless emotion". But don't get me wrong - this is a pretty solid album. What I like most about Pink is that altough she has mainstream success she still has that "independant" artist feel to her. She has an amazing and powerful voice and she is a terrific songwriter (think "Dear Mr.President" off her "I'm not dead" album). Releasing "So What" a stomp-on-the-dancefloor song is perfect because it will draw people into the album and they'll see that there is more then meets the "Pink" eye (ok...bad joke). There's a bit of everything for everyone here: some accoustic stuff, some bluesier songs, a taste of country and of course, pop-rock. Stand-outs are "I Don't Believe You", "Crystal Ball", "Glitter in the Air". When I listen to "Funhouse" I ask myself why I've often overlooked Pink as an amazing artist. Pink's new CD "Funhouse" is in stores now.

Since we met Chantal Kreviazuk....

Chantal Kreviazuk is set to release, tomorrow, a best-of compilation titled "Since We Met: The Best of 1996 - 2006". It's a collection of 18 songs. I didn't think that Chantal had that many hits as she doesn't garner a lot of radio play, or at least hasn't been getting a lot of airplay over the last few years. Her last studio album "Ghost Stories" was a lack-luster and dull offering that shouldn't have even seen the light of day. I think the Manitoba-born artist is a brilliant songwriter and composer, but on the last few albums there has only been one or two good songs and the remainder of the album always comes off as filler. It's been now 12 years since she blew onto the music scene and I think it's time that Chantal offers up something a little more substantial and creative. The material is getting tired and boring. In the meantime, this collection reminds us why she is relevant - she just needs to work on staying that way.

Celine Dion @ Rexall Place

"It's been way too long", said Celine Dion last night as she performed for 17-thousand people at Rexall Place. "And I'm going to make up for all that lost time", and did she ever. Celine performed for a solid 1 hour and 50 minutes. One power ballad after another certified that her voice is still in impeccable shape and that she still has the energy to carry off what was a flawless and high-energy performance. She was backed by excellent musicians and 8 dancers. Jamie King (who’s produced Madonna’s “Confessions” tour) was the artistic director for the “Taking Chances” tour that meshed, seamlessly, a moving-stage and an LED-screened cube that enabled everyone, and I mean everyone, to see Celine. Where Vegas was more about the dancers and the artistic direction, this tour was all about making Celine’s voice front-and-center. When she wasn’t on-stage with them, I didn’t even notice the dancers. They served mostly as entertainment while Celine went under-stage to change outfits.

Oddities: near the end of the show she did a series of covers going from Queen’s “We Will Rock You” to “The Show Must Go On” and then on to James Brown’s “It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World”, then into Tina Turner’s “River Deep Mountain High”. The songs did pack a punch but it was unfortunate that they were all clustered together in one-part of the show instead of being dispersed throughout ballads. Outfit-wise, one all-white ensemble including boots with leather straps that wound their way up Celine’s legs with zippers in the back were atrocious and clunky. She did only one song in french, “Pour Que tu m’aimes encore”. Judging by the cheers there was a fair amount on francophones in the venue, and Celine didn’t do nearly enough in her introduction to the french song to reach out to them personally. Some anglophones seemed bored by the french song, which is her best-selling french single of all time.


Celine Dion performs again tonight in Edmonton before heading off to Winnipeg. The “Takings Chances” tour will have visited 5 continents, 25 countries and 88 cities. Dion will have performed over 120 shows.

Honey, Honey - Feist

Feist really has a knack for being different and unique. This is the new single off of Feist's brilliant third album "The Reminder". The video was shot in Calgary with the help of the Old Trout Puppet Workshop. The video was written by Palmer and directed by Anthony Seck. You'll notice that Feist doesn't even appear in the video but regardless, the story of a fisherman and his wife is compelling, beautiful and lush.

"Comme des enfants" - Coeur de Pirate

Béatrice Martin, a.k.a Coeur de Pirate, is currently all the rage in french music. The buzz around her is huge right now in Québec. She released her first, self-titled album in September. Frenchies will likely compare her style to that of Pierre Lapointe. One or two songs are, in my opinion tolerable, but her entire album is really redundant. Her songs are sweet but in my opinion she still has a lot of maturing to do.

"Paper Planes" - M.I.A.

This is just a great song! It's taken from M.I.A.'s album "Kala". If you haven't picked it up yet, you are missing out on a pretty solid record.

"Hardline" - Jill Barber

The Ontario-born, now Nova Scotia residing, singer-songwriter has just released her third album "Chances". It's reminiscent of the sound from the golden ages. Think a mix of Etta James, Patsy Cline and Edith Piaf. This song "Hardline" was taken from her 2006 release "For All Time". Jill Barber will be performing in Calgary on November 14th and in St-Albert on November 15th.

Feist @ Rexall Place

This is Feist last night @ Rexall Place. She offered up a solid 90-minute set. Not sure Rexall is a good venue for her.I had floor seats but I felt for those all the way in the back. She promised the crowd she'd do "4 nights at Dinwoodie Lounge", next time. Good idea, but her label will never let her do that, they'd stand to lose too much money. As for the artistic direction, the use of a projector on stage was simple but unique and interesting.

It's Britney B***H. No...really...IT IS Britney!

The Americans love nothing better then a comeback. And Britney Spears is giving them just that. After a three-year slump that felt more like a train-wreck you couldn't help but watch, Britney is back (in shape and capable enough to actually dance) with this new video for her new song "Womanizer".

Ani Difranco's "Red Letter Year"

On September 30th, Ani Difranco released her new studio album, "Red Letter Year". It's a much mellower collection of songs. We got to hear some of them when she performed, last July, at the Winspear Centre. I had always enjoyed her songs but had never seen her in concert, until then. I was completely blown-away by her stage presence but also her mass appeal to both men and women. Her messages are relevant and she epitomizes, in my mind, what a true artist should be: an agent of thought provoking and change.

"My Love" - NEW Celine Dion

The third single off of Celine's "Taking Chances" album is "My Love". This is the official video for the song. Celine will also be releasing, on October 28th, a greatest hits collection called "My Love". It comes in two packages, one-disc and a deluxe two-disc edition. It spans the entirety of her illustrous career and could be a perfect stocking stuffer for fans.

"The Fiddle And The Drum" - collaboration between Joni Mitchell and the Alberta Ballet

Last year, two of Alberta's institutions came together to present "The Fiddle and The Drum". This unique collaboration between Joni Mitchell and Alberta Ballet, combines Joni's music with her paintings and dance. The production revolves around social themes of AIDS, the environment and politics.
The 60-minute production was so popular, that they have now extended the production to a full-length 90 minute ballet. I sat down with Joni over a month ago to talk, exclusively, about this project that will be presented again in Alberta next February.
If you haven't seen it yet - I highly recommend you purchase tix.

Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore - Céline Dion

"Pour Que Tu M'Aimes Encore" is without a doubt the biggest selling song of Celine's french career. It was recorded on the Jean-Jacques Goldman produced album "D'Eux" that went on to sell 6 million copies and is, to this day, the best-selling french album of all time. You don't have to speak french to appreciate the beautiful lyrics and melody. And whether they are fans or not of Celine's work, there isn't a french-speaking person on this planet that doesn't know at least partial lyrics to this song.
It's the only french song she will sing when she stops in Edmonton on October 24th and 25th @ Rexall Place.

"Not As We" - Alanis Morissette

This is the new video for "Not As We", by Alanis Morissette. It's the second single off her amazing and outstanding "Flavors of Entanglement" album, which was produced by genius Guy Sigsworth. If you haven't bought this album yet - you are definitely missing out on a whole new Alanis. The arrangements for the song in the video are somewhat different then on the album - I wonder why? If you are wondering what is written on her forearm in the video it's the word "gentle". One of two tattos she got after her break-up with Ryan Reynolds. The other tattoo, which I believe is on the other arm says "Breathe".

"Passchendaele"

I had a chance to see the press screening of "Passchendaele", yesterday. The movie was written and directed by Paul Gross, who also stars as the main character. It was shot in Alberta. It's an ambitious project, one of the most expensive in the history of film in this country. The cinematrography is the closest I've ever seen a Canadian film come to an American film. It was one of the rare times I was watching a movie and didn't feel like it felt, typically...Canadian. So "yay" to that if it gets butts in the seats at theatres. The battles scenes are epic and believeable. However, the film loses ground with poorly written dialgoue, which has no nuances or subtlety it,a cheesy and cliché love story between Gross and Caroline Dharvenas and a musical score that is way, way too sweepingly dramatic. Actor Joe Dinicol, who plays the role of David Mann, a love-struck young man who wants to go to war to prove his masculinity and love for the girl of his dreams, offers up some annoying acting that borders on whinny.
It's an ambitious project, that, regardless of all the impressive bells and whistles falls flat because it tries to be too much.