Verb Issue S294 (June 13-19, 2014)

Photo: courtesy of chris buck

punching through on comics + community

library voices + tanya tagaq Album reviews

22 jump street + belle film reviews

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T E G A N A N D S A R A

issue #294 – June 13 to June 19

arts culture music saskatoon

Verbnews.comVerb magazine

2June 13 – June 19

contents local editorial comments q + a arts reViews feature food + drink music listings film nightlife comics timeout

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editorialPublisher / PArity Publishingeditor in chief / ryAn AllAnmanaging editor / JessicA PAtruccostaff writers / AdAm hAwboldt + Alex J mAcPherson

art & productiondesign lead / Andrew yAnkograPhic designer / bryce kirkcontributing PhotograPhers / PAtrick cArley, AdAm hAwboldt + dylAn giesbrecht

business & operationsoffice manager / stePhAnie liPsitaccount manager / nAthAn holowAtysales manager / vogeson PAleyfinancial manager / cody lAng

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contents

sex trade overhaulOur thoughts on prostitution laws.8 / editorial

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

q + a with old man markley Cali bluegrass punk rockers still going strong. 12 / q + a

nightlife photos We visited Winston’s + Sutherland Curling Club. 24 / nightlife

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

22 jump street + belle The latest movie reviews. 22 / film

on the bus Weekly original comic illustrations by Elaine M. Will. 29 / comics

dead rock starsSK artist changes direction.14 / arts

a step back in timeWe visit Pink Cadillacs. 18 / food + drink

reviews We review Library Voices + Tanya Tagaq. 15 / album reViews

entertainment

news + oPinion

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

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

on the cover: tegan and saraOn transforming indie rock. 16 / coVer


culture

short stories, long bus rides Nicholas Olson’s stunning new collection. 4 / local

punching throughJody Cason on comics + community. 6 / local

Verbnews.comnews + oPinion


Continued on next page »


Photo: courtesy of nicholAs olsen

short stories, long bus rides

m

regina author nicholas olson talks about his new short story collection by AdAm hAwboldt

local

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.” — Ha-ruki Murakami.

Nicholas Olson remembers exactly where he was when the idea

for “Cancelled Due to Plague” took hold — a story about a hockey-loving 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 won-der 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 south-bound 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 Mon-treal 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 straight-forward. 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 col-larbone 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 threat-ening 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 ele-ments 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 wor-ship,” 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 pur-pose. 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 writ-ten 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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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. Jona-than 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 eso-teric 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 collec-tor 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 cul-ture 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 pub-lished … 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 at-tend 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 com-munity 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 Grum-mett, 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.”

Punch creator Jody cason on comics and community acceptanceby AdAm hAwboldt

a

punching through

illustrAtion: drAwn by ken sAvis And coloured by JordAn rAtzlAff




sex trade overhaul

l

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

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 Char-ter of Rights and Freedoms.

That was in December. The Supreme Court of Canada

then handed the ball to the govern-ment 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 es-sentially create a new protection of communities and exploited persons act. Here’s the gist of what the gov-ernment 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 an-other person. Oh, and it also prohibits the advertising of sexual services in publications or online.

The thinking behind the govern-ment’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 noth-ing 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 pur-poses 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 communi-ties, to industrial zones and dock areas and whatnot, where their per-sonal 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 work-ers, 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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commentscommentscommentscomments

text your thoughts to881 verb

8372

on topic: last week we asked what you thought about how we can transi-tion away from supply management. here's what you had to say:

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

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

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

ing $18 billion worth of farm eq-uity 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 equip-ment, inheritance for their kids, retirement for themselves. They never created this system, they had to adjust and live with it.

– 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

off topic

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

In response to “Chasing a Dream,” Local

#292 (May 30, 2014)

– 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)

sound off

– What a cowardly act to kill and injure the RCMP officers in Monc-ton. 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 pro-posed prostitution laws? text in your thoughts to Verb to get in on the con-versation.

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

Verbnews.comculture




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 sem-inal 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 fre-netic 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 offer-ing 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 Mar-kley blurring the line between tradition and innovation — and expanding the idea of what punk can be. This is a potent combina-tion, 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, beer-drenched 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-blue-grass 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 fi-nally 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 some-thing.’ 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

q + a

old man markley

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california bluegrass punks on covering nofx, writing new songs, and musical evolution by Alex J mAcPherson

@Verbsaskatoon culture



Photos: courtesy of the Artist

@verbsaskatoon

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

Annie detemPle

tour I’m hoping we can get in for a longer stretch and do some record-ing. Maybe a full album, maybe an EP, I don’t know. But we’re definitely feeling the urge to release some-thing, 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 definite-ly, as far as recording goes, gotten a lot better about how we mic our

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

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?

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. Some-times, 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?

Old Man MarkleyJune 20 @ vangelis tavern$tbA

Verbnews.comculture



n 2008, Wes Funk self-published 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 tech-nician 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

events. These are the works that at-tracted 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 Mitch-ell, 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 real-ly captures a moment in time or it’s that emotion, that passion, where you can almost see it in the pic-ture.” 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,” Hast-ings 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, Hast-ings couldn’t be happier. “Hopefully this is just the beginning,” he says.

Dead Rock Starsthrough July 10 @ the gallery at frances morrison library

i

saskatoon artist changes directions with a book project and a new exhibition by Alex J mAcPherson

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


Photos: courtesy of the Artist

arts

dead rock stars

steven tyler (Aerosmith), kevin hastings, charcoal on paper, 2014

/Verbsaskatoon culture



reViews

album reviewslibrary voices — for John Prairie shag, June 2014

by aleX J macPherson

tanya tagaq — Animism siX shooter, may 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 be-came 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, grit-tier sonic palette.

The plodding, psychedelic groove of the opener, “Some Mezcal Morning,” sets the tone for what follows: a col-lection 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 front-man 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 inef-fable 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.

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


It is easy to dislike Tanya Tagaq’s new record, Ani-mism. The song structures are

unfamiliar, the instrumentation un-conventional. 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 Cam-bridge Bay, Nunavut. She prac-tices throat singing, a traditional Inuit technique that produces a visceral, sensuous sound. Inuit throat singing is customarily performed as a call-and-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 orches-trated 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, flut-tering vocal phrase, building itself into a spongy tower of electronic sounds and percussion. “Tulugak” is more scat-tered, a collection of disjointed vocal contortions threaded together by a sense of impending resolution. “Fight” is a powerful ode to resistance, “Frack-ing” 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 environ-ment, 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 wor-thy 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.

Verbnews.comculture




egan and Sara’s latest album is unlike any-thing else in their cata-

logue. 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 trans-form 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, Heart-throb 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 perform-ing 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 cap-tured 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

t

how tegan and sara’s new album transformed the indie rock duo into national stars by Alex J mAcPherson


feature

heartthrob

@Verbsaskatoon culture



to release albums and tour ex-tensively. They began to generate serious momentum in 2004, after releasing So Jealous. The record’s darkly introspective lyrics gener-ated 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 un-named lover.

Following the success of So Jeal-ous, Tegan and Sara released two more records, 2007’s The Con and 2009’s Sainthood, both of which injected their stripped-down, con-fessional songs with richer textures and more elaborate instrumenta-tion. 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

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

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 Heart-throb aspire to the universal, rather

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 sprawl-ing 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 character-ized 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 audi-ence. 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 writ-ing and the selection of producers.

AJM: In music there’s always an ele-ment 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 some-thing 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 defi-nitely wanted a BIG sound … but the message and heart of what we do will always remain intact.

AJM: A lot of the themes on Heart-throb aren’t dissimilar from those on your earlier records — anxiety, heartache, lust, complicated relation-ships — 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 thir-ties has made me feel less introspec-tive. 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 per-sonal 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. Updat-ing 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 SaraJune 26 @ saskatchewan Jazz festival (bessborough gardens)sold out

being in my thirties has made me feel less introspective. i feel calmer, more confident…

sArA quin

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


Verbnews.comentertainment



food + drink

a step back in time

s

Pink cadillacs has a throwback atmosphere and delicious burgers by AdAm hAwboldt

let’s go drinkin’ verb’s mixology guide

gimlet

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.

ingredients

1 1/4oz gin1oz lime juice1 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.

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


Photo: courtesy of AdAm hAwboldt

oon as you walk into Pink Cadillacs Malt Shop & Diner you know you’re in

for an interesting dining experi-ence, 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 Bo-gart, Liz Taylor — the list goes on. There are old Coca-Cola ads, too, red vintage Coca-Cola napkin holders, the names

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 “Lo-comotion” 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

in the mood for a burger? There are hotdogs with names like The Greaser and The Beatnik, and sandwiches called the James Dean Quinoa Black-bean 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 deci-sion. The spice of the burger and bacon melded exquisitely with the caramel-ized 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

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 & diner412 willowgrove Ave | (306) 374-7465

/Verbsaskatoon entertainment



music

Photo courtesy of: the Artist/ the Artist/ zoe

Coming upnext Week

big dave mclean

If you’ve been looking for one of Canada’s best bluesman, look no fur-ther than Big Dave McLean. He’s right up there with guys like Colin James, al-beit 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 incompa-rable 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 mas-ters 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.

@ buds on broAdwAyJune 18-22, 22 – cover tbd

@ Amigos cAntinAwednesday, June 25 – $15

@ o’briAns event centresaturday, July 26 – $40

Mac DeMarco has had some inter-esting 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 drum-stick incident, DeMarco never fails to shock and awe and entertain. Tickets available at the door.

mac demarco

There’s a passage in Virginia Woolf’s story “The Mark on the Wall” that reads: “I wish I could hit upon a pleas-ant 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 receiv-ing 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.

modest mouse

sask music previewSaskMusic is presenting a number of great educational workshops in the com-ing 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 Cae-sar,” 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 list-ing of workshops and full details on times, presenters, and registration!

– by Adam hawboldt





listingslistingslistingslistings

The most complete live music listings for Saskatoon.

june 13 » june 21

friday 13House DJs / 6Twelve Lounge — Funk, soul

& lounge DJs liven it up. 9pm / No cover

MosoFest 2014 / Amigos Cantina — Fea-

turing 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 — Featur-

ing 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 — Mahoga-

ny 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 14House 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 / Bé-

ily’s — These two throw it down. 9pm / $5

MosoFest 2014 / Broadway Theatre — Tim-

ber 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 — Saska-

toon’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



rayney / Prairie Ink — Playing contempo-

rary 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 15inDustry 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 16Hat 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 17apoLLo 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 18DJ MoDus / 302 — Spinning all your favou-

rite tracks. 9pm / $3 after 10pm

@Verbsaskatoon entertainment



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



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 19Big Dave McLean / Buds — One of






open stage / The Woods — Hosted by

Steven Maier. 9pm / No cover

friday 20House 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 — Fea-

turing Arturo Sandoval. 7pm / $45

Big Dave McLean / Buds — One of


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


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

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 21House 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 / Bé-

ily’s — These two throw it down. 9pm / $5

Jazz FestivaL / Bessborough Gardens —

Ben Harper.. 7pm / SOLD OUT

tHe nortHern LigHts / Bon Temps — Lo-

cal 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





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




film

t the New York pre-mier 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 fun-nier than he needs to be, because he’s so attractive. He’s the per-fect husband, the perfect father. Go f*ck him.”

My sentiments exactly. I re-member a few years ago when they first announced the cast of 21 Jump Street. Hill, I thought, was an excel-lent 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

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

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 bro-mance. There’s a chase and explo-sions 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,

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, “No-body 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 charac-ters from the first movie.

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

Photo: courtesy of columbiA Pictures

a 22 jump street

directed by Phil Lord, Chris Miller

starring Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill,

Ice Cube + Amber Stevens

110 minutes | 14a

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


tatum shines as 22 Jump Street pokes fun at its very existence by AdAm hAwboldt

we’re going meta




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 delight-ful period piece called Belle.

The movie stars British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw as the title char-acter. 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 differ-ent 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 prop-er and cultured as any of her peers. And as she and Sarah approach mar-rying 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 tradi-tion 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 perfor-mance steal the show and make Belle a movie well worth watching.

Belle is currently being screened at Roxy Theatre.

film

Photo: courtesy of fox seArchlight Pitures

t

Belle tackles the issues of race, class and responsibility in 18th-century england by AdAm hAwboldt

remembrance of things past

@verbsaskatoon

[email protected]


belle

directed by Amma Asante

starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom

Wilkinson + Emily Watson

104 minutes | g





nightlife friday, june 6 @

winston’sWinston’s English Pub & Grill243 21st Street East(306) 374 7468

Photography by Patrick Carley

cHeck out our FaceBook page! These photos will be uploaded to

Facebook on Friday, June 20.

facebook.com/verbsaskatoon




Photography by Patrick Carley





saturday, june 7 @

sutherland curling clubHonor Fight Fourth Battle @ Sutherland Curling Club141 Jessop Avenue(306) 374 8400

nightlife

cHeck out our FaceBook page! These photos will be uploaded to

Facebook on Friday, June 20.

facebook.com/verbsaskatoon

Photography by DillyBat Productions




Photography by DillyBat Productions

entertainment


@Verbsaskatoon

© elaine m. will | blog.e2w-illustration.com | check onthebus.webcomic.ws/ for previous editions!


comics




horoscopes June 13 - June 19 sudoku crossword answer key

a baries march 21–April 19

You’ll be left alone with your

anxieties and questions this week,

Aries. Do what you will with them.

taurus April 20–may 20

Have you been working hard

lately? Maybe too hard? It’s time to

take a bit of a break, Taurus.

gemini may 21–June 20

In times of trouble, don’t forget

about your friends. You may very

well need them this week.

cancer June 21–July 22

Forget about all your many faults,

Cancer. It’s better to focus on your

strengths this week.

leo July 23–August 22

Be pragmatic in all endeavours

this week, Leo. Fanciful thinking

will get you absolutely nowhere.

virgo August 23–september 22

Your actions this week will have

lasting and important conse-

quences in the months to come, Virgo.

libra september 23–october 23

The solutions you’ve been looking

for will pop up in the most unusual

of places, Libra.

scorpio october 24–november 22

You may find yourself bursting

with energy in the coming days,

Scorpio. Don’t let it go to waste.

sagittarius november 23–december 21

If people have been in conflict

around you lately, it’s best to keep

them at arm’s length.

capricorn december 22–January 19

You need to cut down on stress, so

stop sweating the little things in

life. Why get upset over nothing?

aquarius January 20–february 19

Try to avoid arrogant people this

week, Aquarius. They’ll get to you

in ways you never thought possible.

pisces february 20–march 20

This week it’s important that you

embrace both the joy and the pain

of existence, Pisces. Very important.

sudoku answer key

7 4 1 5 94 1 9 3 6 2 86 9 1 3 6 4 8 2 2 8 7 6 5 4 7 3 2 1 5 38 9 5 7

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

crossword Canadian Criss-Cross

timeout

© walter d. feener 2014

a

b

3 5 2 8 7 9 6 1 47 8 6 4 2 1 5 3 94 1 9 5 3 6 2 7 86 4 8 1 5 2 3 9 71 7 3 9 6 4 8 2 59 2 5 3 8 7 4 6 15 6 4 7 1 3 9 8 22 9 7 6 4 8 1 5 38 3 1 2 9 5 7 4 6

1 7 5 2 3 9 8 6 44 3 9 8 6 1 5 7 22 8 6 5 7 4 3 1 95 6 1 7 4 2 9 3 83 9 4 6 1 8 2 5 77 2 8 9 5 3 6 4 16 4 2 3 8 7 1 9 59 1 3 4 2 5 7 8 68 5 7 1 9 6 4 2 3

across 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

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

down 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

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

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

Documents

Verb Issue S294 (June 13-19, 2014)