Last night I went to the triple bill of local band
Fire Next Time whom just keeps getting better and better every time I see them live, with Montreal band
East End Radicals and headliners Vanccouver band
The Real McKenzies at the
Pawn Shop here in Edmonton. Thank goodness this club is right across the street, otherwise I probably would not have gone, but because it was, I booked the following day off from work and thought I would go and have a good time at the show on St. Patricks Day. The place was packed and full of guys in skirts, ok they were kilts, but to me it looked like a bunch of guys in skirts. I'm not Irish, so I don't get it, kudos to those that have the guts and heritage to pull it off. But I have to say, if they followed traditions the guys in kilts with not wearing anything under them, you could sure tell, cause man, it smelled like shit more then a few times during the evening. I don't know what they were eating and drinking, but fuck me, it reeked of shit, put on some underwear and filter them damn farts dudes. Nonetheless the place was packed for a Sunday night show, and by the looks and feel of the crowd, everyone had more then a few drinks in them, including me :)
The first band of the evening was locals
Fire Next Time led by James Renton, whom reminds me of
William Elliot Whitmore and
Tim Barry of
Avail solo. This guy and his band bring it every time I see them in conert, and this being my third time seeing them. They just keep getting better and better, or maybe it's just me knowing their tunes better, anyways, this is a band well worth checking out. They will be going out east this spring/summer playing the
NXNE Festival in Toronto, if you are out that way, see them, you will not be disappointed. On this night, they played a short set of about a half hour, but they got the point across with their music, even with a few technical problems, buddy on bass broke his bass strap as it was already taped up, get that looked after before you head east hey. Other then that, I wish these guys the best, beacuse they have talent,attitude, great song writiing, great musicians backing James Renton up and a wicked front man that knows how to put on a show. For this show they had the crowd up front and singing along with them, they definitelly have a following in this city. And for good reason, all around good band!!!!
Fire Next Time.
Next up was a band from Montreal called
East End Radicals. This was their first tour out west and they seemed to have won some fans at this show.
East End Radicals have that punky
Rancid sound to them, lots of ohhh's and oi's and sing-alongs, but in all truth, I didn't much care for them. There was nothing really original about them, but that didn't stop them from putting on a energetic set and had the crowd moshing through out there 40 minute set.
East End Radicals.
The headliners were the Vancouver Celtic punk band
The Real McKenzies who are on tour promoting their latest release Westwinds. This was my second time seeing the band having seen them back in 2001. The first time I saw them I was in awe of them, I thought they rocked the fuck out, and got a kick out of a punk band playing Scottish celtic sounding music and having a bagpipe player in the band. Well this time i didn't enjoy the show near as much as I had back in 2001. They still sounded good, and drank lots while performing, lead singer Paul McKenzie is starting to show his age, but he still belted out the vocals like a mad man.
The Real McKenzies are a band I think that once you have seen them play, your not going to miss anything new by seeing them again. I found myself getting bored about half way through their set and the bagpipes were really starting to grate on me. Even today twelve hours after the show, I can still hear them damn things ringing in my ears. The crowd was eating it up though, with most people pretty inebriated from celebrating St. Paddys Day, while it wasn't Irish music, I guess Scottish tinged punk songs will do the trick. All and all not a bad night, but not great either. Good times!!!
The Real McKenzies.
T-shirt front.
