3 Years Ago Today...April 30th

It was three years ago today that I saw Paul Rodgers play at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton.



Stats for the month of April...

I have been to shows 29 out of 30 days in the month of April.

And have seen 50 different shows out of them 29 days.

Levon Helm Book Review

I just finished reading the book "This Wheel's On Fire, Levon Helm and the Story of the Band" by Levon Helm with Stephen Davis, this book came out in 1993.

This was a great read about the Band, and how Kevon got his start by playing drums for the legendary Ronnie Hawk, playing mostly in Canada and Arkansa. While playing in the Hawks, Levon and Ronnie met the other four members that made up The Band in Canada, them being Garth Hudson,Robbie Robertson,Rick Danko and Richard Manuel. After some enticing, all these guys would end up with the Hawks only to finally disband and start up their own band, called The Band that got there start in Woodstock, NY. Eventually backing up Bob Dylan for a few years and tours.

Something I learned from the book was how little respect Levon ended up having for guitarist Robbie Robertson. Robbie schmoozed it up with their manager Albert Grossman eventually becoming the leader of the band and getting more royalties and song-writing credits then he deserved. Levon never forgave him for that. As well the last concert The Band played that was billed as The Last Waltz performed at the Fillmore was a show that Levon wanted no part of right from the begining. Levon had no intentin of disbanding, but eventually did do the show, much to his chagrin.

Of course the book also has the stories of the drugs and alcohol battles. Stories of musicians he had met and performed with. All and all an interesting read.

It was just over a year ago that Levon Helm passed away. RIP Levon Helm.

3 Years Ago Today...April 28th

It was three years ago today that I saw Alice Cooper with Rob Zombie play Rexall Place in Edmonton.

24 Years Ago Today...April 27th

It was twenty-four years ago today that I saw Tesla open for Poison at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

10 Years Ago Today...April 26th

It was ten years ago today that I saw Misery Signals play at Stars on Whyte Ave, in Edmonton.

7 Years Ago Today...April 25th

It was seven years ago today that I saw Franz Ferdinand with Death Cab For Cutie play at the Shaw Conference Centre here in Edmonton.





Also four years ago today I saw Leonard Cohen play at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

The Ford Pier Vengeance Trio in Edmonton April 20th 2013

On Saturday I had the chance to see Vancouver based band The Ford Pier Vengeance Trio play at Permanent Records here in Edmonton as part of the Record Store Day celebration. This was my first time seeing Ford Pier perform and hoping it won't be my last, they rocked the place big time. The Ford Pier Vengeance Trio whom is rounded out by Brad Lambert on drums and bassist Eric Napier are touring in support of their latest release called "Huzzah!" on Saved By Vinyl Records.

On this afternoon at Permanent Records the band played about a fourty minute set rocking the joint to the point of framed pictures falling off the wall at the store. They had a great turn out for the performance which was nice to see. Ford Pier was belting out the vocals with Eric and Brad holding down the bottom end. They sounded tight and it was nice to see the band full of energy and looking to have fun performing, which is something I always like to see in a performance. Drummer Brad Lambert was awesome and reminded me of Keith Moon, not so much his drumming style but all his facial expressions as he was playing. Now I don't know the band well enough to tell you what songs were played as I haven't listened to the album yet. But what I heard rocked with a little bit of jazz elements included in a few of the songs. A couple of songs reminded me of NoMeansNo. This is a band well worth checking out and can't wait to see them play again.

As well Ford Pier has a record store called Red Cat Records in Vancouver that is well worth searching out if you are in the Vancouver area or visit the fine city.

A few pictures I took at the in-store performance of The Ford Pier Vengeance Trio.









After the show I picked up their latest release "Huzzah!" from the band, had the chance to have a quick chat with a few members of the band, all were super nice guys. Checkout the picture of the vinyl, the record comes with a flexi disc, when was the last time you saw one of them?

20 Years Ago Today...April 24th

It was twenty years ago today that I saw The Black Crowes play at the Agricom here in Edmonton.





As well it was seven years ago today that I saw Social Distortion play in Edmonton at the Edmonton Events Centre.

4 Years Ago Today...April 23rd

It was four years ago today that I saw Neil Young play at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

26 Years Ago Today...April 22nd

It was twenty-six years ago today that I saw Iron Maiden play at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.





It was also ten years ago today that I saw Blacken and Embrace Today play at Stars here in Edmonton.

Record Store Day 2013 Purchases

Well it was that time of year again where it feels like Christmas to me, yes I am talking about the annual Record Store Day, which is held the third Saturday in April every year.

This year I did my usual route of visiting the independent record stores in Edmonton on Whyte Avenue. I started at Permanent Records (8126 Gateway Blvd) lining up at 9:30 in the morning, and I was fourth in line. Permanent Records is the newest of the shops on Whyte Ave. being open for almost three years now. My purchases from there were the following...

Blind Melon - The reissue of the self titled 1992 debut album on double vinyl which was a Record Store Day exlusive with side four having the "Sippin' Time Sessions" previously unreleased material. This was a limited edition pressing of 2000 copies.





Grateful Dead - The reissue of the album Rare Cuts & Oddities 1966 first time on vinyl (double vinyl). Another RSD exclusive with a pressing of 6600 copies.



Pink Floyd - Reissue of the 1967 seven inch single of "See Emily Play" on pink vinyl backed with "Scarecrow" a limited pressing of 5000 copies.





The Rolling Stones - "Five By Five" seven inch, five song EP, all songs were originaly on the 1964 album 12X5. This too is a limited pressing of 4500 copies.



Another RSD exclusive I picked up was the split seven inch picture disc single of Misfits with The Lemonheads. Side one is Misfits doing their song from 1982 called "Skulls" and side two The Lemonheads covering the song. This is a limited pressing of 4000 copies.

Next up is the seven inch orange vinyl of The Stooges 1969 song "No Fun" with side two having The Black Keys covering the song. Side two is red vinyl. Limited pressing of 7500 copies.





Also picked up the RSD exclusive Whitehorse seven inch on white vinyl side A being the live version of the song "Devil's Got A Gun" and side B with the unreleased song "Lipstick".



I also picked up a book at the store, which goes in hand with Record Store Day called "Last Shop Standing, Whatever Happened To Record Shops?" written by Graham Jones.



Other purchases that weren't RSD exclusives were...

Blind Willie McTell - Volume 2 released on Jack White's label Third Man Records.

I also picked up a record that was recommended to me by Clint,whom is one of the owners of Permanent Records, that is the beauty of actually going to a record store. The record I got was by a band called Iceage from Denmark, the album is called "You're Nothing".

Also at Permanent Records as part of the festivities of the day thay had a couple of bands playing later in the afternoon. I only caught one of the bands, the band I did see was from Vancouver and were called the Ford Pier Vengeance Trio who played a fourty-five minute kick ass set. I also p[icked up their latest release on vimyl called "Huzzah". Watch for pictures and a review of the performance coming soon. The other band of the afternoon was a local band called Swear By The Moon whom I unfortunately missed.

Next stop of the day was the oldest of the record stores in Edmonton, a place called Sound Connection (10016-82nd ave), sadly they had very little there and didn't even have a sale going on like they usually do. Nonetheless, I did pick up a CD there by the local band Junior Gone Wild called "Simple Little Wish" that came out in 1995.

Something I did get at Sound Connection that I didn't see anywhere else was a RSD t-shirt.



And finally the last stop of the day later in the afternoon, when there was finally no line up to get in to the damn place, I am not good with line ups. Was Blackbyrd Myoozik (10442-82nd ave) who were also celebrating there 20th year of being in business,kudos to them. By the time I got there, most of the good exclusive RSD releases and been picked through. But something I did find which I really wanted was the Cream triple cream coloured vinly album "Live at Royal Albert Hall" from 2005. This too is a very limited pressing of 1500 copies. So I was quite happy to find this.



I also picked up the latest release by The Flaming Lips called "Terror".

All and all a very fun day of record shopping. Good times!!!

12 Years Ago Today...April 21st

It was twelve years ago today that I saw Danko Jones play at Red's here in Edmonton.





As well, it was two years ago today that I saw Marcy Playground play at the Century Casino here in Edmonton. I won tickets for this show of one hit wonders.

21 Years Ago Today...April 20th

It was twenty-one years ago today that I saw Chris Whitley in concert at the Dinwoodie Lounge in Edmonton.

1 Year Ago Today...April 19th

It was a year ago today that I saw Joel Plaskett Emergency play at the Winspear Centre here in Edmonton. This was a special night for myself as I got the chance to go backstage with my girlfriend Janis and a few buddies to meet the band and have a few drinks with them. All super nice guys and a wicked show too.







In concert news...Joel Plaskett Emergency will be playing in Calgary on Friday June 21st at Flames Central as part of the Sled Island Festival.

8 Years Ago Today...April 18th

It was eight years ago today that I saw Motorhead with Corrosion Of Conformity play at Red's here in Edmonton.





As well, it was seven years ago today that I saw Taj Mahal play at the Jubilee Auritorium in Edmonton.





In concert news...Taj Mahal will be playing in Edmonton at the Winspear Centre on Sunday April 28th.