Sunday, June 26, 2016

Seven Inch Sunday (Pornography)


Today's seven inch single is from a band called Pornography which is a punk rock band featuring Ryan Adams on guitar and bass, also in the band is Leah Hennessey on vocals and Johnny T. Yerington on drums. This seven inch is titled 7 Minutes In Heaven and was released on Ryan Adams' label PAX AM Records in 2013. The single contains seven songs none of which run more then a minute if that. In all reality, it's really not that good, in my opinion anyways.




Saturday, June 25, 2016

Danny Michel Live in Edmonton June 17th 2016


So after a good afternoon nap, I was refreshed and ready to head off to the Danny Michel concert at the Needle with my buddy Buzzard. This was my third time seeing Danny Michel in concert.

We missed the opening act, and by the time we got to the Needle the place was packed. Trying to get to the front of the stage was a pain in the ass, as they had a terrible set up for this show. Why the hell would you set up tables on the dance floor is beyond me. This wasn't billed as a cabaret show, yet set up like one. The venue isn't set up for that kind of show as the dance floor really isn't that big. Nonetheless, we did manage to get up to the front after a whole lot of squeezing between people and tables. There was very little room to move around and took away from the show if you wanted to grab a beer and dance. Needle, what the hell were you thinking, you could have sold more tickets as well if you had taken the tables out.

Again this show was just Danny Michel playing solo, and what a fucking show he put on. He played for about an hour and a half, playing lots of old and new material. Some of the songs he played from the new album Matadora were the title song, Paris Las Vegas, Good Old Days, Click Click, Nobody Rules You and Samantha In The Sky With Diamonds which is a song about European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti whom spent 200 days at the International Space Station. Danny told a funny story about this song in which he had sent the demo version to his buddy Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who turned around and sent it to Samantha. Danny wasn't too happy about it at the time as the song was only a demo, but he laughs now as it is a great tribute to her.

Danny is a very engaging performer telling great stories about his songs. Other songs played at the show were Feather, Fur & Fin, and songs When I'm You, Who's Gonna Miss You?, Wish Willy from his 2010 album Sunset Sea. He also played What Colour Are You?, Sad And Beautiful World from his album Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me which is my favorite album of his. There were other songs played as well but these are the ones that come to mind as I write this. Danny also brought out local musician Ayla Brook for a couple of songs which led into a guitar duel which was funny and entertaining. Danny produced an album of Ayla's called "After The Morning After" which is a great album in itself. The two of them looked to be having a blast playing together. Actually Danny looked to be having a great time all evening, as he always does. This was Danny's last show of his current tour.

One thing I can say about Danny Michel's music is if I am ever down or feeling in a funk I can out on one of his album's and it breaks me out of whatever funk it is I am in. His music resonates with me, his lyrics are very uplifting and honest and the music makes me wanna sing and dance.

After the show Danny was at the merchandise show signing autographs and meeting his fans. I stuck around to meet Danny and pick up his new album to get autographed. It was awesome to meet the man again, we had a nice chat, with Danny recognizing me from the show earlier in the day at CKUA and mentioning to me that he always picks a few people out of the audience that he feeds off while performing. Well, I was one of them people, he said to me "watching you sing along and dance all night made him smile and he really fed off my energy. That was so nice to hear from a performer like Danny, as I was feeding off his energy as well. Such a cool and humble and entertaining performer Danny is. He also said to me while pointing at me and then himself "you and I are friends, I can just tell" that made me feel incredible. Danny you rock!!! Good times!!!

After the show I went to Buzzard's for a few more beers. When I was ready to leave he asked if I needed a cab. I said no that's alright, I'm going to walk (about a 45 minute walk home). I was in such a good mood after the show I just wanted to throw on some Danny Michel music on my headphones and walk. Well my walk home was more like a dance and sing-along all the way home. I hope no one filmed me dancing and singing across the High Level Bridge as I am sure that shit would go viral as I am neither a good singer or dancer, but what a great walk home.

If you ever get the chance to see Danny Michel in concert I highly recommend going you will not be disappointed. Speaking of...Danny Michel will be back in Edmonton in December 2nd as part of the New Moon Folk Club concert series.

Danny Michel at the Needle Vinyl Tavern.

I didn't take many pictures at this show as I was too busy dancing and singing.

Autographed vinyl.






Thursday, June 23, 2016

Danny Michel at the CKUA Party In The Park June 17th 2016


Woke up Friday morning with somewhat of a hangover after the Voivod show, thank goodness I booked the day off. I got my shit together, had a couple of morning beers and made my way downtown to the CKUA building for their Party In The Park. For those that don't know about CKUA, they are an Alberta radio station that has been around since 1927. More then two-thirds of the station's funding is made by the audience that listens to this excellent eclectic station. Very little advertising, great DJ's and a very wide range of programming. It is the only station I listen to anymore, it's been about 7 years now.

Anyways, Friday June 17th CKUA were hosting their Party In The Park which included live music, tours of the new building they are in now, and because this was at lunch time, there were food trucks and previews of upcoming summer festivals.

I got there about 25 minutes before Danny Michel was set to perform, so I figured that was enough time to find a pub and have a couple of quick beers, which is exactly what I did. I got back to the CKUA building just in time to catch Danny play. He only did two songs, which were both new songs from his latest album Matadora. The songs he played were Click Click and Nobody Rules You both on acoustic. They sounded great and were a great build up to the show later that night which he was headlining at the Needle Vinyl Tavern. Kudos to Danny for coming out to perform at the Party In The Park at 1:15pm considering he had played the night before in Lethbridge which is about a five hour drive to Edmonton. The crowd had thinned out a bit by then, still a decent amount of people, hell we all know the Government workers downtown can take extra long lunches, especially on a Friday.

I was happy to see Danny Michel play a couple of songs, and now it was time to get home and have a nap before the show that evening. Good times!!!


Danny Michel at the CKUA Party In The Park.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Voivod Live in Edmonton June 16th 2016


Thursday night I went to the Voivod show at the Starlite Room here with my buddies Karie, Mike and Clint. Voivod is an old Canadian prog-metal band that has been around since 1982 in one form another. There are still two original members in the band that being Denis (Snake) Belanger on vocals and drummer Michel (Away) Langevin rounding out the band were Dan (Chewy) Mongrain on guitar and Domonique (Rocky) Laroche. I've always been a fan of the band but had never seen them in concert before, even though they have been through town a few times in the past two years. Well after getting an invite to the show from Karie I figured this is a good time to go. It was fun sitting around with swilling beers the guys before the show listening to them talk about there favorite era of Voivod, it was like listening to hardcore Rush fans talk about the different eras of Rush. Needless to say I sat in the background and just listened and learned a few things.

Voivod are on the road touring in support of their latest release an EP called Post Society. Sadly or maybe not so sad,we missed the opening bands King Parrot and Child Bite. From what I have heard they weren't all that good, still would have been alright to at least know myself. But I was busy with the guys trying to get into the show as I had an ID issue trying to get in. That's a whole other story, but the guys made some calls and texts and pulled some strings and managed to get me in. Thanks so much guys, you saved me 30 dollars, or maybe you cost me a whole lot more as I had to buy the guys a few rounds for the help, which was no problem. It's a good thing I got into the show as they needed all the people they could get as there were maybe a hundred people in attendance.

So by the time we got into the show it wasn't long before Voivod was on. Opening with Ripping Headaches from their 1986 album Rrröööaaarrr, I actually knew this one. And right from the start the hardcore Voivod fans were singing along and banging their heads like crazy fuckers. The band covered songs from their whole career including a few from the new EP. As well as doing there version of the Pink Floyd song Astronomy Domine. The show was a lot of fun, would have been nice to see a better turnout. Voivod remind me a bit of another great Canadian metal band Anvil where they just don't get the respect they deserve. Nonetheless, great show. Good times!!!

Voivod at the Starlite Room.

Setlist for Edmonton show.

T-shirt front.

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Saturday, June 18, 2016

Bombchan Live June 10th 2016


Holy shit, it's been over a week already since Hurl and I went to the Bombchan show at Bellevue Community Hall. This was my seventh time seeing Bombchan in concert and second time in the past month, and yet again the guys haven't been rehearsing. On top of that they had a guy sitting in on drums as drummer Grant Stovel had previous commitments with CKUA Radio in which he DJ's for.

We got there at the tail end of Cayley Thomas's set, the hall was pretty much empty therefore the sound was freaking awful, unless you got up close to the stage. Something we didn't do, as we were sitting in the back bullshitting with the guys from Bombchan and having some beers.

Bombchan this time around started slow, unlike most times they start strong and tail off, but this time it was the exact opposite which makes sense considering they had someone new on the drums. So the show got stronger as it went on but you could tell Mike Park, lead singer and guitar player seemed to struggle the most with the change in the line up. Nonetheless it was a fun show with cheap beers and the tickets were free. This would be a great place to see a show with a good crowd as the hall is nice size, as is the stage, but with no crowd the sound is awful. Thanks Hurl for the lift to the show and ride home. Good times!!!

Bombchan.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

James Taylor Live in Edmonton June 7th 2016


On Tuesday my love Janis and I went to the James Taylor concert at Rexall Place in Edmonton. What better way to celebrate our 12th anniversary then a James Taylor concert. This was my second time seeing James Taylor in concert, the first time was great but this was even better, part of that would be because I know his music better now then I did eight years ago when I last saw him. I felt like the youngest person at the show as this was an older crowd for sure.

The best way to sum up a James Taylor concert is Class Act!!! The man is not only talented as a guitar player and singer songwriter but he is also a gentleman, funny, gracious, humble and very generous as he donated all the proceeds from the Edmonton and Calgary shows to the Fort McMurray fire aid.

James is on the road touring for his new album Before This World his first new material album in thirteen years. Touring with James again is his seasoned All-Star band which includes Michael Landau on guitar, Steve Gadd on drums, Jimmy Johnson on bass, Blue Lou Marini of SNL fame on horns and many more. Just a great back-up band all very professional and looked to having as much fun as James is performing together.

At 68 years old James Taylor has still got his smooth vocal delivery. They played all the hits including Fire & Rain, Sweet Baby James, You've Got A Friend which was dedicated to the city of Fort McMurray, Angels Of Fenway a great song about the curse of the Bambino and the Boston Red Sox baseball team, Mexico, Carolina In My Mind, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)a Marvin Gaye song. he also told some great stories between songs, one story being about traveling to Europe at a young age and getting the break of playing his songs for Paul McCartney and George Harrison of the Beatles. He eventually got signed to the Beatles Apple Records, the first artist signed to the label. James did two sets on this night. He joked at the end of the first set, saying he didn't know why they took this 20 minute break as all he does is stand behind the curtain and look at his watch the whole time. Well that wasn't true as during the intermission James didn't leave the stage at all instead sitting on the edge of the stage signing autographs and taking selfies with many in the audience, and having fun doing it. Again very classy.

Both sets of the night were well over an hour. The audience was eating up his tunes, singing along, and near the end of the show when they let the crowd move up to the stage, some dancing broke out, as the songs got a little more rocking as well. Something that did bother me about the show was people in the crowd yelling out songs they wanted to hear. Give it up people, he didn't ask for requests, and yells of I Love You James, shut the fuck up people you're embarrassing. I like an enthusiastic crowd but that is a bit much. But James Taylor just rolled with it having fun and handling it professionally, saying thank you and yes I will be playing that song eventually. I just find it bothersome hearing that shit during a performance. All and all though a great show that I enjoyed immensely. Good times!!!

James Taylor at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Setlist.

First Set

Wandering
Secret o' Life
Everyday
Walking Man
Today Today Today
Country Road
The Frozen Man
Copperline
Carolina in My Mind
Up on the Roof
Fire and Rain
Shed a Little Light


Second Set

Instrumental
Snow Time
You've Got a Friend
The Promised Land
Shower the People
Angels of Fenway
Sweet Baby James
Steamroller
Mexico
Your Smiling Face

Encore
Knock on Wood
How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)
Wild Mountain Thyme


T-shirt front.

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Saturday, June 11, 2016

Blitzen Trapper Live in Edmonton June 4th 2016


So after seeing Dolly Rotten play, it was to downtown Edmonton for the Blitzen Trapper show at the Needle Vinyl Tavern. The show at the Needle was a double bill of two bands from Portland, Oregon. Opening the show was a band called Quiet Life, then headlining the night was Blitzen Trapper.

The first band Quiet Life is a band I had never heard of before, but had to be there to check them out as Blitzen usually tours with great openers. Well, after seeing Quiet Life I have to say I thought they were quite good, reminding me at times of classic rockers The Band.

Quiet Life

Next up were psychedelic folk rockers Blitzen Trapper, heavier on the rock more so then folk. This was my fourth time seeing them in concert. This band gets better and better every time I see them play. Blitzen Trapper is on the road touring for their eighth album All Across This Land. Opening their set with a new song called Rock And Roll (Was Made For You) and we were off for a great night of music. The band played for an hour and half mixing their set with songs from new album Love Grow Cold, Lonesome Angel, Cadillac Road and All Across This Land. Other songs done were Furr in which lead singer and song writer Eric Earley played the harmonica. The other guitar player Erik Menteer was unbelievable, playing some awesome solos and at times reminding me of Pavement freakouts. They also did a Neil Young cover but be damned if I can recall which song it was, fuckin' dumb ass. A great show by Blitzen Trapper yet again. Good times!!!

Blitzen Trapper.

T-shirt