Best band name ever

OK, well maybe not EVER ... but it's pretty awesome: Call Before You Dig. They're from Edmonton. Here are three of their tunes. Next gigs: Sept. 5 at The ARTery, Sept. 18 at Brixx Bar & Grill.

Don't miss this show!

Fresh off their stint at the Fringe, Edmonton’s Christian Hansen & The Autistics will perform Saturday, Aug. 29 at Alberta Avenue Hall, 9210 118th Ave. Hansen and two of his three electro-pop bandmates — wife-to-be Molly Flood and Scott Shpeley — starred in Cowboy Mouth, a rock ‘n’ roll play written by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith, at one of the Fringe’s BYOVs. (If I’m not mistaken, the local couple will walk down the aisle next Saturday ... congratulations!)

Saturday’s gig features two more local powerhouses, Michael Rault and Eamon McGrath, and Winnipeg’s indie-rockers, The Paperbacks. The show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $13 at the door.

Oh, and since I'm not posting this on my Journal blog, I can actually write about the fifth and final act on the bill ... The Fucking Lottery, featuring members of The Wolfnote and Desiderata.

Yawn

Reggae-pop star Sean Kingston is returning to Edmonton. Not tomorrow, but with Tomorrow, his second album, due Sept. 22. The voice behind Fire Burning and Beautiful Girls will perform Friday, Oct. 2 at Edmonton Event Centre. Tickets are $29.50 and $34.95 plus service charges. On sale: Friday, Aug. 28 at Ticketmaster.

Kingston, 19, is one of the world’s first MySpace stars — he used the social-networking site to send messages to producer J.R. Rotem, who eventually signed and worked on the teen’s 2007 self-titled debut. The Florida native is now trying to break new ground with Tomorrow and his website. Fans can sing along with Lil Sean, a virtual version of Kingston, and record their karaoke duets for their friends and family to watch.

(Editor's note: Kingston may be a cyber-savvy guy, but he's a TERRIBLE interview subject. I talked to him a few years ago. BOOOORING. It sounded like he was too busy playing video games -- and/or surfing on the Internet to even want to talk.)

Gig-o-rama

Dragonette! Dethklok/Mastodon! Matthew Barber! City and Colour! These Arms Are Snakes! Classified! Collective Soul! Chantal Kreviazuk! 3 Inches of Blood! Yup, they're all coming to Edmonton. Here are the details.

Paul Banks vs. Emily Haines

Here's Julian Plenti's video, Games For Days, featuring Metric's siren Emily Haines. Julian Plenti is Interpol's frontman Paul Banks, who happened to write the lyrics which inspired the name of this blog.

R.I.P. John Hughes

I'm sitting in the basement with my boyfriend, listening to a selection of songs from John Hughes films — including OMD's If You Leave, Psychedelic Furs' Pretty In Pink, Wayne Newton's Danke Schoen.

I have two favourites: Yello's Oh Yeah and The Dream Academy's cover of The Smiths' Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want. Both were used in Ferris Beuller's Day Off.

Clipped wings

It doesn't look like Drake will be making his Aug. 18 date with Lil Wayne at Rexall Place -- or any of his other western Canadian stops. Read more here.