Tag Archives: Saint John

Stage

In Review: Red Necklace Productions’ ‘It’s All The Rage’

Art has always been used as a platform for social commentary. Shakespeare’s Othello taught us about gender inequality and racism. Picasso’s Guernica was a statement against atrocious Nazi bombings. Red Necklace Productions’ It’s All The Rage, directed by Alicia Drisdelle, exposes this generation’s biggest double edged sword—social media. Continue reading In Review: Red Necklace Productions’ ‘It’s All The Rage’ →

Music

New Music: Reversing Falls’ ‘Reversing Falls 2’

The Sophomore Slump is a very real and measureable thing that looms before every new band: the almost certainly doomed second album. There’s never any guarantee of safety for anyone – not The Doors, not The Who, not Arcade Fire, and most certainly not MGMT. For some, it’s a slight downward dip from the genius of their opening act to the level of ‘still pretty fantastic’. But for more, it’s their seemingly Deus Ex Machina powered debut sputtering out under the pressures of touring, of turning out a face melting follow-up, or simply admitting their drug-addled fledgling effort was a one-off. So if Reversing Falls needed a gap year or three to get their heads screwed on, who can blame them? Their second album has been worth the wait, and instead of a slump, it makes their debut look more like a warm-up. Continue reading New Music: Reversing Falls’ ‘Reversing Falls 2’ →

Music

Retrospective: Wooden Wives (2005-2015)

“Sunset and evening star,

And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

When I put out to sea.”

— “Crossing the Bar” Alfred Lord Tennyson

For a lot of us, Wooden Wives has been a fixture in the Saint John landscape, a benchmark for experimentation, collaboration, and what the local music scene can achieve by rolling up its sleeves. If you’ve gone to nearly any two shows in the Port City, chances are you’ve seen somebody play three sets by now. Hyperbole aside, this is the collaborative nature of the arts in Saint John, and for my five cents Wooden Wives embodies this ethic of building together and facilitating a thriving arts community. Continue reading Retrospective: Wooden Wives (2005-2015) →