Music Biz Headlines, Sept. 7, 2018
Canadian cultural protections become a NAFTA issue, Bruce Springsteen ages well on Broadway, and Asian rappers face stereotypes. Others in the headlines include Tsianina Redfeather, Prince, Toby Mamis, Dolores O'Riordan, Aretha, Sistema Toronto, fentanyl, kindie rock, Dilly Dally, Garbage, Drake, Skookum, Paul Brandt, Vancouver opera, and Chinese Festival Halifax.
By Kerry Doole
Protecting Canadian culture a surprise sticking point at NAFTA talks
Ottawa insisted on cultural protections in the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and in the Canada-EU free trade agreement. And Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he’ll insist on it now, threatening to "walk away" from a deal if Canadian cultural protections are eroded in a new NAFTA. – Tonda MacCharles, Toronto Star
Perspective: Bruce Springsteen is aging just fine on Broadway
As smartly scripted as Springsteen’s show is, skillfully touching on different phases of his life in parallel with his recent autobiography, my conclusion after belatedly catching up with “Springsteen on Broadway” is that it’s not fundamentally different than the countless Springsteen concert performances I’ve attended over the last 40 years. – Randy Lewis, LA Times
Forgotten Indigenous opera singer Tsianina Redfeather has her story spotlighted on a Toronto stage
The issue of who gets to tell whose stories and how is a deeply complex and potentially painful one. – Carly Maga, Toronto Star
'My eyes looking Korean': can Asian rappers defeat stereotypes?
US rappers often fetishise Asian culture – but are a new crop of their east Asian counterparts fighting back, or falling into self-parody? – Olly Telling, The Guardian
Drake cancels appearance at 'Monsters and Men' TIFF premiere
Organizers at the Toronto International Film Festival have suffered a major setback to their opening night celebrations after Drake pulled out of his appearance with little notice. – David Friend, CP
Prince's estate sues alleged European piracy network
The singer's estate is suing what it says it a European piracy network that is selling his music around the world, including his final concert. – AP
This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Toby Mamis, manager, Alive Enterprises
You are going to have to wait for a film to make much sense of Toby Mamis’ fabulously winding career. In conversation, Mamis ducks, dives and weaves through accounts of moments in his career like a junkie searching for a fix on Sunset Boulevard on a Saturday night. – Larry LeBlanc, Celebrity Access
Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan died by ‘drowning due to intoxication’
O’Riordan died by drowning due to alcohol intoxication, an inquest was told Thursday. The Irish singer was found dead in the bath of a London hotel in January. The inquest heard that there was no evidence of injuries or self-harm and the coroner ruled her death was an accident. – Stewart Clarke, Variety
Family of Aretha Franklin calls Pastor's eulogy distasteful
Aretha Franklin’s family have blasted the eulogy delivered by Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. at the singer’s funeral on Friday, calling it “distasteful”. “He spoke for 50 minutes and at no time did he properly eulogize her,” a spokesperson said. – Noise11.com
Musicians and parents speak out against PC cuts to Sistema Toronto
Doug Ford's government rescinded $500,000 in funding to the at-risk youth music program, and artists like Brendan Canning have thoughts about it. – Nick Flanagan, NOW
Robert Lepage’s controversial play Kanata to be staged in Paris this December
A previously cancelled play by a Quebec playwright about the relationship between whites and Aboriginal Peoples will finally be presented in Paris despite criticism from Indigenous communities that its content is culturally insensitive. – CP
So far the 2018 summer music festival season has passed without the spike in fentanyl overdoses Canada feared
Kids are heading back to school, which means the music-festival season is just about finished. Thankfully, a wave of drug overdoses that authorities feared would come with the 2018 summer's parties has not materialized. – Travis Lupick, Georgia Straight
Kindie rock is right on with The Oot n' Oots
Kindie rock is the term applied to children's music that adults can enjoy too. – Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun
Garbage review – scrappy cyberpunks make a strident homecoming
Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Version 2.0, Shirley Manson’s ‘mongrel pop’ band channel robotic beats into an endearingly human performance. – Graeme Virtue, The Guardian
Georgia Straight guide to SKOOKUM
The Killers, Florence and the Machine, Father John Misty, Arkells, Metric, St. Vincent, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and many other acts will be converging on Vancouver's fabulous Stanley Park for the first SKOOKUM from September 7 to September 9. – Staff, Georgia Straight
Paul Brandt, High Valley, Moskaluke form country super-team at Rogers Place Feb. 2
How much country can you handle? If you answered, “bring it on,” you’ll be pumped to know an all western-Canadian lineup of Paul Brandt, High Valley, Jess Moskaluke and Hunter Brothers is hitting Rogers Place Feb. 2 — a Saturday-night hootenanny. – Fish Griwkowsky, Edmonton Journal
Classical music: Vancouver Opera season has much in store
Vancouver Opera’s season starter, Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow, is still a few weeks away. But both City Opera Vancouver and the Turning Point Ensemble are right off the mark with 2018/19 productions. – DG Duke, Calgary Herald
Chinese Festival Halifax announces inaugural lineup
New event showcasing Chinese culture and music runs September 8-22. – Tara Thorne, The Coast
Mediation efforts suspended between locked-out stagehands, Exhibition Place
Efforts to resolve a months-long labour dispute between locked-out stagehands and Exhibition Place in Toronto are suspended, the venue’s board of governors said Wednesday, as an impasse over contracting out jobs threatens to mar events scheduled in the coming months. – Sara Mojtehedzadeh, Toronto Star
