Refused w/ The Bronx in Edmonton Aug.25th 2012

Saturday night I went to the Refused and The Bronx double bill at Edmonton Events Centre. The show was originally supposed to be at the Shaw Conference Centre in downtown Edmonton got moved because of lack of ticket sales. The Shaw Conference Centre holds 5,000 people as EEC holds about 1700 people, so tickets sales weren't as good as expected. The EEC is at West Edmonton Mall of all places. I have never been a fan of the venue and a big part of that is because it is a long ways from the southside of Edmonton. Regardless, I wasn't going to miss this show. When the show was first announced, they hadn't named the opening band, so I was hesitant on paying the 50 dollars to see Refused. But about a month ago they announced that The Bronx was opening, I was then all over this show. I love The Bronx, and the chance to see the reunited Swedish hardcore punk rockers Refused was to good to say no to.

Openers The Bronx from Los Angeles have been a band I have wanted to see for about 6 years now and this evening was going to be my opportunity. The band last played here last fall opening for Foo Fighters, but that version of The Bronx was their Mariachi version (Mariachi El Bronx), that's right, they also perform as a Mariachi band, how cool is that. But for Saturday nights show, it was balls to the wall punk fucking rock. Lead singer Matt Caughthran hit the stage in a ball of fury screaming at the top of his lungs, and holy fuck can this guy scream. I think he had a lot to release after doing the mariachi thing for the past year. His stage presence, the way he moved and shook his head while singing reminded me a bit of Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip only amped up by a million. The Bronx played for a full hour and were full on through out their set. At one point during the song 'Knifeman' Matt jumped in to the crowd and moshed among the rest of the moshers on the floor, still singing and not missing a word. Some other songs they played this night were 'Shitty Future', 'Six Days A Week', 'Heart Attack American', 'White Tar', 'False Alarm' as well as at least two new songs from their upcoming new release The Bronx IV. An amazing hour of some hardcore punk rock music.

The Bronx Live.

Next up were headliners Refused from Sweden. I don't know their music as well as everyone in the crowd. The crowd was definitely worked up for the reunited band. I have listened to and do own there classic album "The Shape Of Punk To Come" but that is the only album I own of theirs. The band sounded good, but they almost sounded melodic compared to The Bronx. Refused are well known for being a political and anti-establishment band, and the irony of them playing at a shopping mall wasn't lost on lead singer Dennis Lyxzen, as he went on a bit about it. This was my second time seeing lead singer Dennis perform, as I had seen him years ago fronting his other band The (International) Noise Conspiracy. I would have to say I enjoyed this show way more. Dennis Lyxzen swings and tosses his microphone around comparative to Roger Daltrey of The Who. Refused played about an hour and a half of full throttle punk. A great night of punk rock, old and new bands.Good times!!!

Setlist for Refused in Edmonton.

1.Worms of the Senses / Faculties of the Skull
2.The Refused Party Program
3.Liberation Frequency
4.Rather Be Dead
5.Coup d'état
6.Summerholidays vs. Punkroutine
7.The Deadly Rhythm
8.Hook, Line and Sinker
9.Refused Are Fucking Dead
10.Life Support Addiction
11.The Shape of Punk to Come

Encore:
12.New Noise
13.Tannhäuser / Derivè

Refused Live.

After the show I had some frustration and some good laughs. Like I had said earlier, one of the reasons I hate the venue EEC is because it is so far away from home. So after the show, I find a phone and order a cab, only to wait a half hour and still not even see a cab. So I said fuck this, I still had time to catch a bus for the long hour ride back to the southside. After another 20 minute wait for the bus, it finally shows, and by then there are about 10 other people that had been to the show also waiting for the bus. This made for an interesting bus ride home, as everyone had a good buzz on, and about 6-8 of them all boarded the bus with king size beers in their hands. The bus driver didn't say shit, they just walked on without even trying to hide them. The guy that sat next to me was kind enough to share his beer with me, which was really nice, cause dry mouth was getting the best of me and it was going to be a long ride home. These guys not only shared their beer, but made the ride home quite entertaining as they had most of us in stitches. Not so sure the people at the front of the us took too kind to the drunk punks in the back of the bus, but oh well. Thanks to whoever you guys were for the beer. Good times!!!!

T-shirt.

SNFU Book Review

I just finished reading the book "SNFU - What No One Else Wanted To Say" written by Chris Walter and published through his own Go Fuck Yerself Press. This is a book about a punk band called SNFU who got there start here in Edmonton back in the early 80's but is now based in Vancouver. I wasn't a fan of the band back in their hey days which was the 80's, as I was more a metal head then a punk rocker. Over the years I have grown to respect the band and the music they put out over the years.

The book is well written and follows the band through the past 30 years. What I found really interesting is all the stuff about lead singer Chi Pig (Ken Chinn), this man has been through a hell of a lot, between traveling the world, and North America many times over, he has also had to fight battles with alcohol and drug abuse, record labels, band members (there has been 22 different members play in SNFU) and also mental health issues. The book isn't just about Chi Pig though, as there is a lot about all the members,especially the Belke Brothers.

If you are interested in learning more about Chi Pig, there is a documentary out about him called "Open Your Mouth And Say...Mr.Chi Pig". It is a great documentary and well worth checking out.

Chris Walter the author of the SNFU book is a Vancouver punk rocker who has wrote at least twenty different books to do with the punk genre and lifestyle. This is the first book I have read by Chris Walter but I will be sure to read more of his books.

Chris Walter will be here in Edmonton at a bar called DV8 Tavern on Friday September 14th promoting the SNFU book "What No One Else Wanted To Say". There will also be three bands playing this night including Zero Cool, The Mange and Rebuild Repair.

Metallica Live in Edmonton Aug.18th 2012

Last night my buddies Hurl, A-Bomb and I went to the Metallica show here in Edmonton at Rexall Place. This was the second of a sold out two night stand. Metallica are only doing 4 shows in Canada this year, two here and two in Vancouver next weekend. All the shows are being filmed for an upcoming 3D Metallica movie.

This was my eighth time seeing Metallica in concert, and yet I still get excited about seeing Metallica, as I grew up on these thrash metal pioneers. Thirty years they have been together now and are still going strong. A-Bomb and Hurl were pretty excited about this show as the last time either one of them had seen Metallica was back in 1992. The last time I saw them was in 2008 when they were touring for the Death Magnetic album.

We got there early as I was expecting a gong show getting into the venue, but it all went rather smooth,no line up, light pat down and in. Plenty early, so lots of time for drinks and get a good position on the floor, with the show being general admission on the floor. We payed no attention to opening band Striker whom are a local metal band.

The show was billed as the Full Arsenal, as in lots of props and flash pods, and there was plenty of both, even lasers too. The stage was massive taking up the whole floor surface, so there wasn't a bad seat in the whole place. An hour after the opening band was done Metallica finally hit the stage to loud applause and a very packed hot and sweaty Coliseum.

Metallica's set started with three of the first four songs coming from the Ride The Lightning album 'Creeping Death' then in to 'For Whom The Bell Tolls', 'Fuel' (from Re-Load) and then the title song 'Ride The Lightning'. Metallica covered all aspects of their career playing a little something from almost all their albums. My favorite part of the show was the three song punch of 'Fade To Black', 'Master Of Puppets' followed by 'Battery', the bangers were going strong now. The band is running on all cylinders, super tight, with all of the members all over the stage, they didn't miss a beat at all. You've got to be a tight band when you are all on and aren't anywhere near each other. Lead singer James Hetfield could easily put away the microphone and let the audience sing the whole show, cause everyone in the crowd was singing word for word with him. A lot of people put down drummer Lars Ulrich for his drumming skills, but I thought he kicked ass, holding down the fort with Rob Trujillo very well. And of course guitarist Kirk Hammet was ripping it up as usual.

What I didn't like about the show was all the props used, each prop represented an album or time period in their thirty year career. I found all the props to be a distraction from the music, that and all the camera people on stage doing the filming for the upcoming movie. But that was to be expected as there were notices letting the fans know that the show was being filmed.

Then there was a part in the show when a supposed light crew guy falls from the lighting rig onto the stage,and at the same time a roadie catches fire. It fooled some people in the audience, as you could hear gasps from a few fans. The band stopped playing like there was an emergency or something, a bit dramatic and whole lot cheesie, or so I thought anyways. But I guess for the film, they are putting on a big production, but I found it needless.

All and all the show was good, they did the same set both nights here, which is unusual for Metallica, but again because of the filming, everything is choreographed. So I would expect Vancouver may have the same sets that we saw here in Edmonton. I have to say I would have enjoyed the show more minus the props and such and just see the band play their music like they did in 2008. Still, was a fun show to be a part of for the two hours they played. Good times!!!!

Setlist for the Edmonton show.

1. Creeping Death
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls
3. Fuel
4. Ride the Lightning
5. One
6. Cyanide
7. The Memory Remains
8. Wherever I May Roam
9. Sad But True
10. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
11. ...And Justice for All
12. Fade to Black
13. Master of Puppets
14. Battery
15. Nothing Else Matters
16. Enter Sandman
Encore
17. Hit the Lights
18. Seek & Destroy

Some pictures I took at the show.

T-shirt front.

Back of t-shirt.

Bob Marley Coffee Drink

The other day while looking through a cooler at the local corner store I stumbled upon yet another drink with Bob Marley's face on the label. This time it was a cold coffee drink called "One Drop". I decided to pick one up and have to say it was quite tasty, but a tad on the expensive side, close to four dollars for 9.5 ounce drink. The drink comes in two flavours, coffee and mocha, I tried the coffee one.

According to the website, Marley's One Drop is an all natural blend of gourmet coffee which uses coffee beans from Jamaica. As well a percentage (not sure what %) from each drink purchased is donated to 1love.org. To find out more about this organization checkout the website by clicking here.

Bob Dylan in Concert, Lloydminster,SK Aug.10th 2012

On Friday my buddies Hurl, Buzzard and I made the two hour drive to Lloydminster,Saskatchewan to catch Bob Dylan in concert (thanks to Hurl for driving us). When I first heard about this show I was super excited to get tickets as it had been about 4 years since I had last seen Bob Dylan in concert, which is way too long to go without seeing him play. Why Bob picked Lloyminster to start his latest tour of North America is beyond me, as Lloyd. is only a town of about 30,000 people. Nonetheless I figured this was going to be a cool place to catch Dylan in concert, this was an outdoor show at Exhibition Grandstands, which looked to me like it was or is an old horse racetrack. There were only 4500 tickets availavle for the show, all of them being general admission. I would guess the crowd for the show to be close to 4000. Bizarre how the show wasn't a sell out. A legend playing in a small town like Lloydminster and you can't sell out the show, I don't get it. This was my ninth time seeing Bob Dylan in concert and first time seeing him play an outdoor show.

We got into town mid afternoon, enough time to find and rent a hotel room in a seedy looking place, that's ok though, as the place we did get allowed smoking in the room, always a bonus to me. We went out had dinner and a few beers and then off to the show, which was within walking distance to the venue from our hotel, another bonus. Before the show there were some dark looking clouds moving in and some lightning happening. I was starting to think this could be a gong show. But the weather gods were on our side for this evening, as it turned out to be a beautiful evening, no rain, no wind, just some lightning in the background behind the stage.

The show started right at 8pm with no opening band, this was going to be just an evening with Bob Dylan. Bob put on a two hour show and looked to be in great spirits as he was striking poses and smiling through out the show. The show opened with the song 'Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat' in which Bob played keyboards, after the Bob went to the grand piano and played a cool version of 'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright'. If you don't know Dylan well or have never seen him perform live before it may have taken you some time relizing what song it was that he was playing, but being what I call myself "a Dylan veteran" it didn't take me long to figure out what songs he was playing. Bob Dylan sounded good (to me anyways) he still has the nasally and warbly voice but was still understandable. I was hoping Bob would maybe play a new song from his upcoming new album Tempest coming out September 11th but to no avail, nothing new at this show. As always Bob changed up every song he did, Bob never plays a song the same twice, which must make it hard to be his back up band, especially when Bob is sitting behind a big old piano now. Only once did Bob put on the guitar on this night and that was for the song 'Simple Twist Of Fate'. Dylan did come out from behind the piano a few times to sing at the front of the stage and play harp and that was for the songs 'Things Have Changed', a bit of 'Tangled Up In Blue' (one of my all time faves) and 'Ballad Of A Thin Man'. Bob looked to be having a good time up on stage. The only time he spoke to the audience at all was when he introduced his five piece band, whom did a great job backing him up. The only member I recognized was his long time guitar player Charlie Sexton, who looked a little creepy to me. The show closer was the song 'Blowin' In The Wind'. All and all another great Bob Dylan experience. My only complaint was how restrict security was about taking pictures. I mean really, why bother, everyone has a camera nowadays on their phones. That didn't matter though, as they were all over you if you tried to take a picture. I gave up even trying, as the security really made me feel uncomftorable.

After the show Hurl, Buzzard and I walked back to our seedy hotel room and drank til 5:30 in the morning. When you only have one bed in the room and there is three of you, drinking sounded a whole lot better then all of us trying to sleep on one bed. So drinking and passing out on the floor was what was in order. Good times!!!

Setlist for the show.

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Things Have Changed
Tangled Up In Blue
Rollin' and Tumblin'
Sugar Baby
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Trying To Get To Heaven
Summer Days
Desolation Row
Highway 61 Revisited
Simple Twist Of Fate
Thunder On The Mountain
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower
Blowin' In The Wind

In concert news...Bob Dylan with opener Mark Knopfler will be playing in Edmonton at Rexall Place on Tuesday October 9th. This promises to be a great double bill.

Idyl Tea at Permanent Records Aug.4th 2012

On Saturday afternoon after sitting around having a few beers, my buddy Hurl and I decided to make our way to Permanent Records to see a free show they were putting on by the Edmonton band Idyl Tea.

Idyl Tea are a band that had some success in the early 80's and late 90's. I remember them back then and never really payed any attention to them as they just weren't my cup of tea at the time. Well the band got back together last year and released the album 'Songs That's Not Finished Yet/The Unthology' a double CD. This time around they are promoting the re-release of their debut album 'How I See This Table'.

The band is back together with all original members Everett LaRoi on guitar, Hank Engel on bass and Craig Metcalfe on percussion. Hurl and I downed a few quick beers on the way to the record store and got there just as they were about to start. The band mentioned that this was only the second time they have ever done a in store performance as the last time they did was in the late 80's at HMV in West Edmonton Mall. There were only a few people at the store, lack of any kind of advertising would be to blame for this, or it could be that no one cares about the reunion.. We stuck around for about a half hour and then left before it was done. They still aren't my cup of tea.

Anvil at The Pawn Shop in Edmonton Aug.2nd 2012

On Thursday night my buddy Leo and I went to see Anvil play at The Pawn Shop here in Edmonton. This was the second time in 14 months that Leo and I have seen Anvil. We missed opening bands Titans Eve and Bad Acid. Timed it perfect thought for Anvil, enough time to grab a few beers, find a decent spot on the dance floor, which wasn't hard as there were only maybe 150-200 people there. Then the curtain opened and Anvil started with 'March Of The Crabs' with Lips jumping off the stage and playing the whole song in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by his adoring fans, pumping their fists and banging their heads, what an awesome way to start the show.

Lips ripping it up on the dance floor.

After 35 years it's so good to see Lips and drummer Robb Reiner still banging out the old school metal to the old bangers like myself and to some of the youngsters in the crowd who weren't even born when Anvil released their first album 'Hard N'Heavy' back in 1981 (the band formed in 1977). Lips gave a shout out to the baldies,the grey beards and the young ones. Even with a small crowd Lips still looked like he was having the time of his life,smiling,slapping hands and telling awesome stories. I loved his story of running into the late great 'Ronnie James Dio' whom we all lifted our beers, gave the devil horns salute and gave a huge cheer to. Anvil have been riding the success of their 2008 documentary 'Anvil! The Story Of Anvil' (a must see) and touring all over the world. I thought the band sounded even better this time then they did last summer. They have a new bass played since then, his name is Sal Italiano and holds down the back end very well. The only thing that kind of bothers me is drummer Robb Reiner, he still kicks ass on the drums, but would it kill him to smile once in a blue moon, especially when you see how happy and how much fun Lips is having. Smile Robb, it would do you a lot of good.

Robb Reiner, it's so hard to get a good picture of him with him wailing away constantly.

Bass player Sal Italiano.

Some of the songs played on this evening were '666', 'School Love', 'Winged Assasins', 'Thumb Hang', 'On Fire', a newer song from their last album 'Juggernaut Of Justice', 'Mothra', 'Fuken Eh' which had everyone singing along, and of course their biggest song 'Metal On Metal'. An excellent evening of some old school Canadian metal. Good times!!!

T-shirt front.

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