Saturday, September 26, 2015

AC/DC Live in Edmonton Sept.20th 2015


Last weekend I ventured to Commonwealth Stadium along with 60,000 others to see AC/DC, this was an outdoor show, so of course it started raining just as the show was about to start. I wasn't going to bother seeing this show, but a week before the show I managed to get myself a ticket. Mind you it wasn't the best seat in the house, but hey, how many more chances is a person going to get to see the mighty AC/DC in concert.

The show started at 7:30 with opening act Vintage Trouble a rocking blues soul band from Hollywood, California. And as the band hit the stage, the rain started coming down, go figure. Vintage Trouble is a band I had never heard of before, but after a little research they seemed like a band I might enjoy. I was right on that account, the band played a great forty-five minute set. I was surprised by how many people were actually already in there seats for the opening act. Ty Taylor the lead singer for Vintage Trouble had a James Brown vibe to him, a great front man with a great voice. The band backing him up were damn good too. The band has four albums out with their newest release 1 Hopeful Rd. having just come out this year. This is a band I will definitely be looking into more. They would be a great band to see in a small venue or at festival like Interstellar or the Blues Fest, they would go over great at something like that. During intermission everyone I heard talking about the band seemed to enjoy them. Opening for AC/DC isn't an easy thing to do, but it sounded like they won over some new fans, good on them.

Vintage Trouble at Commonwealth Stadium.

After a half hour break between bands, it was time for AC/DC. During the break I went to have a smoke outside and get a beer, what fucking gong show it was to get around the stadium. The main concourse was stupidly packed it was tough getting around, what should have been a two minute walk took a good twenty minutes if you were lucky. If you wanted to pick up a t-shirt or something you were looking at an hour line up, forget it. Line ups for beer weren't quite as bad, but still a line up. I was lucky and found a line up that took only about ten minutes, yay, lucky me.

I got back to my shitty seat just in time to catch AC/DC come on. And of course, the rain was still coming down. What was really cool, was just before the band hit the stage the stadium was dark and all you could see was about 30,000 people with blinking red devil horns on their heads, it was quite a sight to see actually. So blinking red lights and yellow rain coats and ponchos was the colours for this night. Just like six years ago when AC/DC last played here at the same venue, the rain continued on.

This was my fourth time seeing AC/DC in concert and first time in twenty-four years, having last seen them on the Razors Edge tour, back when they used to play small intimate venues like Coliseums. Having not seen them in that many years I was looking forward to this show. You know what your going to get at an AC/DC concert, a meat and potatoes rock n' roll show. and that is exactly what I and 60,000 others got.

This time around the band was missing a couple of members, that being guitarist Malcolm Young who is out because of health issues and drummer Phil Rudd because of legal problems. So the line-up was Brian Johnson, Angus Young, Chris Slade on drums, Steve Young on guitar and Cliff Williams on bass. This is the second time I have seen this version of AC/DC as this was the same line-up I saw when they played Edmonton in 1988 on the Blow Up Your Video tour.

AC/DC opened the show playing the title song from their latest album Rock Or Bust. And off we go, from there it was one great classic song after another. They did three songs from the new album, that being the title song, Play Ball and Baptism By Fire. The new songs went over well except for Baptism, which is when I and many others headed to the can and to buy merch. Which by the way, there was still a big line up at the merch tables. Other then that the band rocked the stadium like few bands can. Brian and Angus still rocked the hell out of the stage like they were way younger then they actually are. Even with the rain coming down it sure didn't stop Angus from bopping around like he always does, and Brian's vocals sounded great as well, none of them have lost a step that's for sure. because of where I was seated, I never did get to see drummer Chris Slade other then on the big screens they had on each side of the stage. The only breaks the band took was when the roadies had to come out and squeegee the puddles of water from the stage. The crowd were on there feet and singing along right from the first note to the bitter end in a cold and wet night.

Angus and the band put on a great two hour show, and thankfully this time around we didn't get the mooning from Angus, thank god. I guess he is getting too old show his ass any more. Even through all the rain the band put on a great show and I didn't see a person leave because of it. The rain did finally stop, yup, for the two song encore, go figure. All and all this was a fun show, AC/DC can still bring it and it was awesome to see a big rock n' roll show at Commonwealth Stadium again. Good times!!!

Setlist for Edmonton show.

AC/DC live at Commonwealth Stadium.


T-shirt front.

T-shirt back.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

A Bunch Of Marys Live Sept.19th 2015

On Saturday night my Cuz and I went to DV8 here in Edmonton for the Permanent Records Farewell Fundraiser show. Permanent Records was a record shop in Edmonton that was around for five years, sadly they ran in to problems and closed the doors on September 1st. DV8 a music venue that was under Permanent put on this farewell show. The show was made up of local bands A Bunch Of Marys, Cutoffs, Tallest To Shortest and The Fuzz Kings.

The first band of the evening was A Bunch Of Marys. This was my fifth time seeing them. The band is led by Mike McDonald who also plays in Jr.Gone Wild, Mike was also co-owner of Permanent Records. Mike has been a very busy man musically as of late having success with JGW and his solo work and now bringing this band back after a three year lay off.

A Bunch Of Marys played about a forty minute set, they sounded loose and a little rough around the edges, to be expected with very little rehearsal before this gig. Mike and his band which includes Kim Upright on drums and Duane Elias on bass held there own. Some of the songs done on this night, which were all A Bunch Of Mary songs, no JGW songs on this night. It's cool to see how Mike doesn't have to include songs from his other band, the man can write a song that's for sure. They did do one cover, which was the Beatles song Please Please Me. Other songs were Wuthering Heights, Living On The Northside and Lying To An Activist. I found the sound to be a bit muddy on this night, but then I have found that at all the shows I have seen in this venue.

There was a decent size crowd for this show considering that there was no advertising done for this show other then on Facebook. What did surprise me was the A Bunch Of Marys opened the show, I really thought they would be the headliner, but I wasn't complaining as I had been into the sauce most of the day, so I only stuck around for A Bunch Of Marys and called it a night. Good times!!!

A Bunch Of Marys at DV8


In concert news...Mike McDonald of A Bunch Of Marys and Jr.Gone Wild will be playing a free show on Saturday Oct.10th at the Cask and Barrel with Joe Keithley of DOA fame, this is a free show and part of the Up and Downtown Festival.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Seven Inch Saturday (Ween)


Today's seven inch single is by one of my favorite bands Ween. This is the single for the song Stay Forever that was released on their White Pepper album that came out in 2000. The B-side to this single is a song called Who Dat? that was an unreleased song. From what I have read it was a bonus track on the Japan release of White Pepper. This is a UK single released on Mushroom Records.






Friday, September 18, 2015

Primus Live In Edmonton Sept.12th 2015


Last Saturday my buddy RCD and I went to the Primus show here in Edmonton. This was my third time seeing Primus in concert, and have to say, way better then the last time I saw them which was three years ago. This time around Primus are on tour in support of their album Primus and the Chocolate Factory. This album is Primus doing the soundtrack to the 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and of course it is all done in Primus style, which makes it very weird.

The show was made up of two sets, the first set was an hour long and consisted of the three band members Les Claypool on bass and vocals, Tim Alexander on drums and Larry LaLonde on guitar, no special effects, no stage props and fancy lighting, just the band jamming out. The first set started and ended with the songs from my favorite albums of theirs Sailing The Seas Of Cheese. Opening with Those Damned Blue-Collar Tweekers and closing with Jerry Was A Race Car Driver. I have to admit the rest of the songs in the first set I wasn't all that familiar with, sounded great just didn't know them all that well, lots of jamming through out, more then I recall them doing before live. The best surprise in the first set was the little snippet of an old Stompin' Tom Connors song they did The Bridge Came Tumblim' Down, that's the second time I have seen Les pull out some Stompin' Tom in concert. Nice to see he appreciates a Canadian icon.

After a half hour break it was time for the second set, which means it was time for shit to get weird. The second set started with the Chocolate Factory album in its entirety. Primus brought out the Fungi Ensemble which was two more musicians Sam Bass on cello and Mike Dillon playing multiple instruments. Their rendition of the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack was well done with a sinister twist to it. The stage now was adorned with huge wrapped candys and blow up mushrooms, and with Les Claypool dressed up as Willy Wonka, drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander in some kind of bunny costume and the Fungi Ensemble wearing weird old man masks. Then of course you had the Oompa Loompas making an appearance though out the show. Like I say, things got weird. Along with all that there was a screen in the back ground showing clips from the 1971 movie. It looked like the Oompa Loompas got out and about during the day with clips of them visiting the Gretzky statue, the Edmonton Eskimos office, Muttart Conservatory among other places around the city. The Chocolate Factory set was very entertaining and it took me days to get that damn Oompa Loompa song out of my head.

Right after the Chocolate Factory album was done Primus went right into some classics to close out the show, playing Too many Puppies, in which the guy standing next to me sang his heart out to. This guy knew his Primus I tell you. Then Les asked for a request in which a fan in the front row yelled out Is It Luck, which is what Primus did next, and that song has some amazing bass in it, excellent choice for a request. Then of course Primus had to play what is probably the most well known song of theirs Wynona's Big Brown Beaver, then closing out the show with another classic from Sailing The Seas Of Cheese playing Here Come The Bastards. An awesome show, and it just amazes me how effortlessly Les Claypool can play the bass, the man is an amazing bass player. A great show this time around. Weirdest thing I saw all night, a guy dressed up in Peter Criss of KISS make-up, what the hell was that about! Good times!!!

Primus setlist for Edmonton.

Primus in Edmonton.


T-shirt front.

Back of t-shirt.

Limited edition black light poster bought at show.