Throwback Thursday...Gwar

A couple of Gwar posters from shows I have been to.

In concert news...Gwar will be playing in Edmonton on Monday November 17th at Union Hall.

Supersuckers Live In Edmonton Oct.24th 2014

Last Friday night my Cuz and I went to the Supersuckers, Dolly Rotten and Penetrator triple bill at the Pawn Shop here in Edmonton.

First band of the evening was Penetrator who are from Edmonton and play a punk style of music. I believe this was there first show. They were alright, nothing special, there lyrics all had to do with sex. The lead singer had big presence, taking over the stage like a mad man.

Penetrator at the Pawn Shop.

Next up was another local band that I had not heard of before, they were called Dolly Rotten and led by female singer Lacy. I was quite surprised by this band, they were good playing there hard rock with a little country influence, and lead singer Lacy was very easy on the eyes and had a decent voice as well. A great band leader, the rest of the band was really good too. The steel guitar was a nice touch to the band and music as well. All and all a great up and coming Edmonton band.

Dolly Rotten at the Pawn Shop.

Headliner of the evening from Arizona was the self proclaimed "Greatest Rock'N'Roll Band in the World" the Supersuckers. This was my fifth time seeing the band play live, and second time within the last year and a half. If you have seen the band before you pretty much know what your in for, and again they didn't disappoint. Nice to see that it is still all the same members in the band from the last time I saw them which is Dan 'Thunder' Bolton on guitar an original member all the way back from 1988, 'Metal' Marty Chandler on guitar, 'Captain' Chris Von Streicher on drums and of course Eddie Spaghetti on bass and vocals. The Supersuckers are on the road touring for their latest album "Get The Hell" which is the best album they have released in a long time. The band sounded super tight and were full of energy and rocked the shit out of the Pawn Shop, even though the venue was far from sold out.

The Supersuckers opened the show with the title song "Get The Hell" from their 2014 release, then into "Fuck Up" along with other such classics as "Bad Bad Bad", "Gluttonous" "I Want The Drugs", "Pretty Fucked Up", you get a sense of what the Supersuckers are all about, having a fucking good time drinkin' and druggin'. Good times!!!

The Supersuckers at the Pawn Shop.

Eddie Spaghetti autographed cloth tour poster.

Throwback Thursday...Big Sugar/Grady

Posters from Big Sugar and Grady shows I have seen over the years, both bands that are lead by Gordie Johnson.

In concert news...Big Sugar will be playing an acoustic show in Sherwood Park at Festival Place on Thursday February 26th.

Throwback Thursday... Alice Cooper

A couple of posters from Alice Cooper shows I have been to.

In concert news... Alice Cooper will be playing in Edmonton at Rexall Place on Tuesday November 18th opening for Motley Crue.

Ryan Adams Live in Edmonton Oct.9th 2014

Last Thursday I went to the Ryan Adams and Butch Walker double bill here in Edmonton at the Winspear Centre. This was my first time seeing both artists. I knew nothing about Butch Walker, but once I found out he was opening, I did some research to learn about him. To my surprise Butch has been very active in the music scene for many years, not only as an artist playing in bands Marvelous 3 and South Gang and solo, he has also produced a many an album by such artists as Pete Yorn, Pink, Weezer, Avril Lavigne just to name a few. Butch Walker has also put out six solo albums with a new one called "Afraid Of Ghosts" that is due in February.

Butch's half hour set was quite good, the first two songs he did were on the piano, so it started a little slow, but he then switched to guitar which seemed to pick up the pace of his show. He did a couple of new songs, one of which was called Chrissie Hynde. He also told a great story about going to his very first concert which was with his Dad and was KISS on the Love Gun tour, a hilarious story. Butch closed out his set with Ryan Adams band backing him up, with Ryan on drums, the song that they performed was "Maybe It's Just Me". An awesome choice for an opener, I would love to see Butch Walker and his band play a headlining show. Hope to see Butch make his way up here again.

Butch Walker at the Winspear Centre.

Next up was headliner Ryan Adams, Ryan is out touring to support is first album in four years his self titled release. This show started out interesting, before the show had even started a guy about six rows in front of me came to his seat double fisted with a beer in each hand and holding them over his head, yelling at the top of his lungs, lets fucking party. This guy was obviously drunk, and his voice sure did carry, especially in a venue like the Winspear Centre. Just before Ryan hit the stage, this guy goes right to the front of the stage and is screaming like mad, telling everyone to stand up and blah blah blah. Didn't take long before security was on this guy, trying to escort him out, that is when Ryan Adams hit the stage and saw what was going on. Ryan went on to tell security to leave him alone, as he was only having a good time and this is a rock n' roll show, yes we are here to party. So thanks to Ryan Adams, this guy was able to stay for the show, had to go back to his seat, but was still allowed to stay. Kudos to you Ryan.

Ryan Adams and his new band The Shining opened the show with the song "Gimme Something Good" from his newest album. Through out his two hour show he played almost the whole new album, but sprinkled the rest of the show with some older material, one song "Why Do They Leave" from his debut album that came out in 2000. Also doing one song from his 2001 album Gold, that song being "New York, New York". I would like to have heard a few more songs from that album, but that is a minor complaint considering the vast catalog of music he has to choose from.

Something else I noticed about this show was how vocal the audience was, there was lots of banter between the audience and Ryan Adams through out the entire concert. Ryan was really good about it, dealing with it with his dry sense of humour, he was actually quite funny. With the banter between the audience and Ryan, he did two improvised songs that brought a few laughs. All and all this was a great show, even better then I was expecting. Good times!!!

Ryan Adams at the Winspear. Terrible picture, but the only one I took.

Ryan Adams setlist for the Edmonton show.

Gimme Something Good
Let It Ride
Stay With Me
Dirty Rain
New York, New York
A Kiss Before I Go
Easy Plateau
Am I Safe
Fix It
Shadows
Why Do They Leave?
I Just Might
Peaceful Valley
Trouble
Kim
I Love You But I Don't Know What To Say
Rats in the Wall
When The Summer Ends

Encore:
This House Is Not For Sale

T-shirt front.

T-shirt back.

Throwback Thursday... Tragically Hip

Some posters from Tragically Hip shows I have been to.

In concert news... The Tragically Hip will be playing in Edmonton on February 12th next year at Rexall Place as part of their Fully And Completely tour in which they will perform that album in its entirety.

Throwback Thursday...Maximum RnR

A couple of posters from Maximum RnR shows I have been to.

High Kicks at Wunderbar Sept.26th 2014

Last Friday after work I was sitting around having a few beers listening to tunes, trying to decide if I was going to go to the High Kicks show at the Wunderbar. Well after a few more beers, I thought what the hell, who knows how much longer the Wunderbar is going to be around. As the place is up for sale, would suck to see this venue shut down as it is one of my favorites in Edmonton. Word is, there is a potential buyer in place, just a matter of closing the deal. Anyways, the High Kicks are a wicked band out of Calgary, having seen them once before when they opened for Band Of Skulls here. So I decided, fuck it, I'm going.

I got there in time to catch the opening band Borrachera whom are a local band. They too, like High Kicks are a two piece band, bass and drums. I have to say I didn't much care for them. They are a new band and need some work, and got schooled by High Kicks. Kudos to them for getting out there and performing live though.

Borrachera.

Headliner of the night was High Kicks, and again, thse guys can rock the fuckin' joint. The Wunderbar had a decent crowd for the show considering there was no advertising done for this show. Danny Vacon on bass is rocking the shit out of his bass like it's a guitar and he also has an amazing voice and a great stage presence as well. And drummer Matt Doherty was flailing around like Animal from the Muppets. Last time I saw High Kicks in concert Matt was healing from a separated shoulder, so tis time around he was even more animated and sounded amazing. The High Kicks put on a kick ass show, I highly recommend checking this band out if you get the chance. And your next chance Edmonton to see them will be on Sunday October 12th at the Yellowhead Brewery as part of the Up + Downtown Festival that is going on all weekend October 10th til the 12th. Good times!!!

High Kicks.

A funny sign in the washroom of the Wunderbar.