Thursday, October 31, 2013

29 Years Ago Today...October 31st

It was twenty-nine years ago today that I went to my very first concert. This was the Canadian metal double bill of Helix and Kick Axe at the Golden Garter in Edmonton.


Also on this day twenty-one years ago, I saw local metal band Mary Prankster play the Golden Garter.


And it was eight years ago today that I saw Jon Spencer's band Heavy Trash with The Sadies opening and then backing up Heavy Trash play the Sidetrack Café here in Edmonton.



Stats for the month of October...
I have been to shows 26 days out of 31 in the month of October.
And have seen 64 different shows out of them 26 days.



Wednesday, October 30, 2013

3 Years Ago Today...October 30th

It was three years ago today that I saw Kris Kristofferson in concert at the River Cree Casino just outside of Edmonton.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

23 Years Ago Today...October 29th

It was twenty-three years ago today that I saw Judas Priest with openers Megadeth and Testament play Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. An amazing night of heavy metal!!!



And it was five years ago today that I saw Bob Dylan play Rexall Place in Edmonton.


Monday, October 28, 2013

16 Years Ago Today...October 28th

It was sixteen years ago today that I saw Jethro Tull play the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton.



And it was eight years ago today that I saw Grady play Red's in Edmonton.



Seven years ago today I saw The Sadies with Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo play the Power Plant here in Edmonton.



And it was two years ago today that I saw the Los Lobos with Leeroy Stagger opening play the Century Casino in Edmonton.



In concert news...Blue Rodeo will be playing in Edmonton on Friday January 17th and Saturday January 18th at the Jubilee Auditorium.

Saturday, October 26, 2013

21 Years Ago Today...October 26th

It was twenty-one years ago today that I saw Jethro Tull play the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton.



And it was ten years ago today that I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers play the Skyreach Centre in Edmonton.

Friday, October 25, 2013

18 Years Ago Today...October 25th

It was eighteen years ago today that I saw Montreal band Grimskunk play at the Apocalypso in Edmonton.


And it was two years ago today that I saw Jeff Beck with opener Tyler Bryant play the Winspear Centre here in Edmonton.


Thursday, October 24, 2013

17 Years Ago Today...October 24th

It was seventeen years ago today that I saw Neil Young with Crazy Horse play the Coliseum here in Edmonton.



Also on this day five years ago I saw Stephen Malkmus and Blitzen Trapper play at the Starlite Room in Edmonton.


Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Sadies at Arden Theatre Oct.19th 2013


On Saturday night my buddies Hurl, Buzzard and I went to The Sadies concert at the Arden Theatre in St.Albert, which is about 15 minutes north of Edmonton. Why there was no gig booked in the city, I have no idea. Thank god for Hurl having wheels and giving us a ride to and from the show. Thanks Hurl!!!

This was my tenth time seeing The Sadies play live, and the first time I have seen a show at the Arden Theatre. The Arden is pretty decent venue holding about 500 people. I would say there were about 350 at the show on this night.

The Sadies are on tour promoting their newest release Internal Sounds which just came out on October 1st on Outside Music. It is a great album by the way and available here and at your local record shop or itunes. Support your local shop and buy it at an independent record store. Either way, just buy it, it's well worth it.

Anyways, what can I say that I haven't said before about this band. They are an amazing band to see live. The dynamics between brothers Travis and Dallas Good on guitar is incredible the way they feed off each other. Both brothers take turns singing and when Travis gets on the fiddle you can guarantee a foot stomping and hand clapping hoe down. Drummer Mike Belitsky and bassist Sean Dean are no slouches either. Always nice to see a band stick together with no member changes in the ten plus years I have been following them. There mix of country/rock, surf, psychedelic music guarantees you will never be bored with their performance in a live setting.

There is no opening band on this tour, The Sadies do two sets each night, with the first set on this night being forty-five minutes and the second set about an hour and a half. They played lots from their new album songs such as "The First 5 Minutes", "Starting All Over Again" among many others. I am still getting familiar with the album, so not to sure of all the titles. The Sadies closed out their show with a cover song, something they do quite often is play an iconic cover, and this time it was a song by The Guess Who, they did "No Time", which sounded great. Again this was another amazing show by The Sadies. A band you must see. Good times!!!


Tuesday, October 22, 2013

2 Years Ago Today...October 22nd

It was two years ago today that I saw Canadian singer/songwriter Lou Canon perform a free show at Permanent Records in Edmonton.

Monday, October 21, 2013

21 Years Ago Today...October 21st

It was twenty-one years ago today that I saw Canadian ska band King Apparatus play the Bronx in Edmonton.


And it was seven years ago today that I saw Hatebreed play the Starlite Room here in Edmonton.



And it was four years ago today that I saw Grady play the Pawn Shop in Edmonton.


Sunday, October 20, 2013

Edmonton Music Collectors Show


It was another successful haul at the Edmonton Music Collectors Show. This was the fall edition of the show, next one will be in the spring of 2014. If you are a collector of vinyl and music memorabilia this a great event to checkout.

Here are my purchases of the day.

20 Years Ago Today...October 20th

It was twenty years ago today that I saw this awesome blues double bill of Buddy Guy with John Mayall opening, this show was at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.



And it was eighteen years ago today that I saw Green Day play the Coliseum here in Edmonton.


Saturday, October 19, 2013

The Mahones w/ Louise Distras and Whiskey Wagon at The Pawn Shop Oct.16th 2013


On Wednesday evening I went to the Whiskey Wagon, Louise Distras and The Mahones concert at the Pawn Shop here in Edmonton. This was the second time I had seen The Mahones in concert this year, having seen them in January.

The first band of the night was a local band called Whiskey Wagon, while I have seen their name around a lot, I had never seen them play before. For an evening that was going to be headlined by the Canadian Irish punkers The Mahones, Whiskey Wagon was a good choice for openers. Whiskey Wagon is a folk punk band that sing a whole lot about drinking. Lead singer Landon Barrowman can sing with the best of them coming off as a lesser Shawn McGowan of The Pogues. From what I understand, the band is usually a six piece band. But on this night there were only four members, too bad, cause I would have liked to have seen them with their washboard player. Nonetheless, not only was the lead singer good, but so was the rest of the band, that included a mandolin player, drummer and horn player. I thought the horn player added a lot to the band, all and all a pretty decent band.

Whiskey Wagon at the Pawn Shop.


Next up was Louise Distras from Wakefield, England. I had never heard of her before so I thought I would check out her website before I went to the show. What I heard from her site I figured she would be worth looking into. Am I ever glad I went to the show early, as she put on an awesome show. This tour with The Mahones was her first time in Canada. It was just her with her guitar and wicked voice. Louise was promoting her debut album "Dreams From The Factory Floor" on Street Revolution Records. Which just came out at the end of September. Her performance on this evening was amazing. She could start a song with this nice soft voice and within a nano second she had this incredibly strong punk rock vocals that would just floor you. I had the opportunity to talk to her before her show, she was a super nice lady, and said she was nervous as hell, as she had just drank some Timmy's coffee which wasn't helping her as she seemed to be buzzing good from a caffeine high. Once she hit the stage, you would never know she was nervous at all, as she put on one hell of a show. I can see Louise Distras making some waves in the music scene in the near future. Well worth checking out. I picked up her album after her performance as did a few others in the audience. She definitely won over some fans on this night. Good on her!!!

Here is a video for the single from Louise Distras debut album.



Louise Distras at the Pawn Shop.


Headliners of the night The Mahones put on another great show. Hard to believe this band has been around for over twenty years, and yet this was only my second time seeing them. The first time I saw then which was in January, in which I got to see the show for free thanks to accordion player Katie(Kaboom)McConell. I had messaged her on Facebook asking if there was a chance I could get on the guest list for the show, She said yes, and I thank her for that. If I hadn't seen that show, chances are I probably wouldn't have gone to this one. So ya, putting someone on a guest list for a show will get you out to a future show.

The first time I saw The Mahones at New City Legion, I thought they put on a good show but the sound was awful. So I was looking forward to seeing them at the Pawn Shop which usually have a great sound system, but again I found the sound not up to standard. This time with The Mahones they had their tin whistle player Michael O'Grady with them, while he added a new sound to the band. I thought the whistle was too loud in the mix, the vocals and accordion needed to be louder. Maybe they are just a really hard band to mix. Having said that they still put on a great show of Irish punk rock drinking music. I swear every song has to do with drinking in one way or another. Some of the songs they played were "Past The Pint Of No Return", "Paint The Town Red", "A Great Night On The Lash", "Down The Boozer", "A Drunken Night In Dublin", "Ghost Of A Whiskey Devil" and "Queen And Tequila" you get the theme here.

Accordion player Katie(Kaboom)McConell is the highlight of the show as usual, she is just a blur of energy on stage, sounds awesome and looks amazing as usual too. Lead singer/guitar player Finny McConell comes off as a party waiting to happen, his vocals were good, other then needing to be louder. All and all a fun night of live music. Good times!!!

The Mahones at the Pawn Shop.