Dad Religion Live at The Temple in Edmonton August 23rd 2025

 This was a super fun show to see with my buddy A-Bomb and Buzzard. An all local act show featuring headliner Dad Religion. This would be my second time seeing them. The show was a release party for the Spartan's Club Comics SNFU inspired comic book (Come With Me, I'm On My Way: Four Tales Of Misfortune Inspired By SNFU) and the accompanying seven inch single release by Dad Religion.

 The first band of the evening was The Uninvited Guests. A group of musicians doing a bunch of punk/metal covers. It was a good start to the evening, my favourite part of their set was seeing Steve, the drummer from dad Religion get on stage with the band and do some Ramones covers, with Steve doing his great impression of Joey Ramone.

The Uninvited Guests.

 Next up was a band called The Strand. They too did a bunch of cover songs from old school rock like The Who and some punk classics. One such cover song they did was by the old Edmonton band Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra. Another fun set.

The Strand.

 Next up was the band Western Death Ballads. This was one of the main reasons I came to the show. My brother introduced me to this Edmonton band a while ago and I finally got out to see them. I had been listening to them for a while now thanks to Spotify. They have three releases, two EP's and a full length album, only available digitally at this time (check your favourite streaming service). Really hope they release some physical copies of these. Their music is a mix of folk, punk and country. they're a three piece band with Cam McDonnell on guitar and lead vocals, Christi Mac on bass and James Mullet on mandolin. They were the only group of the evening that played all originals. And holy fuck were they good. Despite some sound issues at the start, Cam and the band kept it professional. All three members are great musicians and write some awesome lyrics. I highly recommend checking them out. can't wait to see them live again. Oh ya, I got to talk with cam after the show, and what a super nice gentleman he is. If you are a fan of Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and such, you will love this band.

Western Death Ballads.

 Headliner of the evening Dad Religion was up next performing the debut SNFU album ...And No One Else Wanted To Play in its entirety, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the album. And what an amazing job the band did playing this album. Lead singer Kristian Basaraba fucking nailed the vocals on this. The whole band was excellent. Joining the band on some songs was bassist Dave Bacon (1985-1987 / 2014-2018) who had two stints in the band SNFU, so that was super cool to see as well. All and all a great set and such a fun night, ran into a bunch of old friends I hadn't seen in a while and made some new friends too. Good times!!!

Oh ya, Kristian also is one of the guys that runs the Rad Dads Edmonton Chapter also has a cool podcast that is well worth checking out.

Dad Religion.

Comic book.

Seven inch single.

September 12th

 My ticket stub from the September 12th, 2015 Primus concert I saw at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.

September 11th

  It was on September 11th, 2010 that I saw the Greg MacPherson Band with local act Sleeping Girl play the short lived bar LYVE on Whyte.

September 8th

  It was on September 8th, 2010 that I saw this excellent triple bill of The Gaslight Anthem headlining with openers The Menzingers and Fake Problems play the Edmonton Event Centre.

Everclear Live in Edmonton August 17th 2025

  I'm so far behind on concert reviews that I'm making these all very short. Starting with this Everclear show that my buddies Nazz, A-Bomb, Melanie and I went to at the Fan Park in the Ice District in Edmonton. A venue I had never been to before, all it is, is a big tent outside of Rogers Place. I was surprised that the sound was actually much better than I was expecting. I was also surprised by the small turnout for this show, but with it being on a Sunday and the price of tickets, I guess I shouldn't have been. Eighty plus dollars for Everclear is just way too much. Thankfully I had won tickets to this show, otherwise I would have passed, having just seen Everclear in April last year. This wold be my third time seeing them in concert.

 The first band of the night was a local alt-rock band Hungry Hollow, who apparently have been around since 2013. Never heard of them before, they have a very 90's alternative rock sound reminiscent of bands like Third Eye Blind, 3 Doors Down among other shitty bands. They did nothing for me at all, just very generic sounding.

Hungry Hollow.

 Next up was another local act, this being Lucette (Lauren Gillis). I had never seen her perform but had heard good things about her and her band, so i was looking forward to seeing her. Not sure how to describe her music, kind of a pop alt rock with a dash of country. She recently released an EP called Nice Girl From The Suburbs. She has worked with producers Dave Cobb and Sturgill Simpson, pretty damn impressive, I say.

 Her set was quite good, I enjoyed it. I didn't realize that she played keyboards, she has a great voice and am a fan of her writing. Overall I thought she was excellent and would certainly go to see her again. Speaking of, she has a show happening Thursday October 16th at the Temple here in Edmonton.

Lucette.

 Next up was headliner Everclear. By the time Everclear came on the place had filled up a bit more, but still a smaller crowd. The band led by Art Alexakis on vocals and guitar opened with "So Much For The Afterglow" and then "Everything To Everyone", both from So Much For The Afterglow. Most of their set was made up of songs from said album and Sparkle And Fade which is celebrating it's 30th anniversary. Both those albums have stood the test of time, they sound great, live the songs sounded good as well, though I found it just didn't pack the punch Art once did, but then Alex is getting older too (63 years old), and found that he missed a lyric here and there during the show.

 I was surprised to hear them do the Van Morrison song "Brown Eyed Girl", I think this is the third band this summer I have heard cover a Van Morrison song, kind of weird. Everclear did a great rocking version of it. And of course the band closed with their biggest hit "Santa Monica". Good times!!!

Everclear.

September 2nd

  My ticket stub from the first of a two night stand by Ween at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver on September 2nd, 2001. These shows were so awesome!

August 27th

  My ticket stub from the time I had front row seats for the Bob Dylan show at the Skyreach Centre in Edmonton on August 27th, 2002. This was an excellent show.