Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite Live in Edmonton August 21st 2018

On Tuesday night my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite concert at the Jubilee Auditorium. We got the tickets for 20 dollars as part of Ticketmaster's summer concert deal they had, so the price was right for sure. I would have probably paid full price for this show as I really like the two albums these two have done together. The 2013 Grammy Award winning album Get Up! and this years release No Mercy In This Land. This would be my third time seeing Ben Harper in concert and second time seeing Charlie Musselwhite live, but first time seeing the two perform together.

When we got to the venue you could tell right away that this show didn't sell very well. When we went to go to our seats which were on the second balcony, hey what do you want for 20 dollars. As we got to the first balcony there was staff there telling people that seats in the second balcony had been upgraded to first balcony thanks to the promoter. So we ended up with seats in the third row of first balcony, pretty decent seats actually. So the venue was only about half full for this show.

The night started with opening band Hey,King from Los Angeles, California. I had never heard of the band before so we figured we would check them out. The are an indie rock band led by Natalie London and Taylor Plecity. Apparently they have an album coming out this fall that was produced by Ben Harper. We listened to about half their set and then went for beers. I found them to be kind of middle of the road music. They didn't do much for me.

Hey,King at the Jubilee.

Headlining the night was Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, I love this collaboration. I'm more a fan of the duo then I am of Ben Harper's solo stuff. Ben's bluesy soulful voice works so well with Charlie wailing away on the harp. The show opened with the song "When I Go" which is also the opening song from their latest release No Mercy In This Land. Right from the get go you got the feeling that this was going to be a kick ass rocking blues show. They followed up that song with "Bad Habits" which is also the second song from the same album. I was starting to think that maybe they were going to play the album in sequence, but they didn't, after that it was a Charlie Musselwhite song. Holy shit Charlie can still play the harmonica like a champ, very impressive. This show would have been very cool to see in a small blues bar like Blues On Whyte, but nonetheless, they did a great job of making it feel like a blues bar.

What did bother me through out the show was the idiots that persisted on yelling shit between songs, like really, shut the hell up and let the musicians play there damn music without the stupid interruptions. I thought every song was amazing but there were a few stand out tracks for me like "I'm in I'm Out and I'm Gone", "Trust You to Dig My Grave", "Get Up!" and "The Bottle Wins Again". I really enjoyed this show and would go see them as duo again anytime. Good times!!!

Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite at the Jubilee.

Ry Cooder Live in Edmonton Aug.11th 2018

Last Saturday my buddy Buzzard and I attended the Ry Cooder concert at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. We had intended on going down to the show in the late afternoon, as Ry Cooder was scheduled to hit the stage at 9:30 so we thought we would go down checkout some of the other acts and some of the side stage performances and work shops. But as we had a few beers before the show downtown, it started to rain, go fucking figure, my luck with outdoor shows this summer isn't exactly very good. Well we weren't about to stand in the rain for four hours before Ry Cooder as there were no other acts that we really wanted to see. So we hung at the bar waiting for the rain to stop. Well that wasn't happening very quickly. We ended up sitting in the bar until 8:30 when the rain subsided enough and the act we wanted to see was to start in an hour, so that is when we made our way down to Gallagher Park. By the time we got there, the place was starting to thin out quite a bit, as I am sure most people had been there for the better part of the day and were getting tired of the rain. We got there in time to have a beer in the beer tent as there was no line up, which was a bonus. After our beer it was off to the hill to catch Ry Cooder. Because the crowd had thinned out so much due to the shitty weather, we were able to get within ten feet of the stage.

This would be my first time seeing the slide guitarist blues legend in concert, I have wanted to see him for many years and now I was going to get my chance. It was going to take longer then anticipated as his set was delayed by about 45 minutes, luckily it was only drizzling and not a down pour.

The show started with Ry Cooder sitting on a stool playing his slide guitar and belting out an unbelievable version of the Blind Willie Johnson song "Nobody's Fault But Mine" which was followed by two more songs from his latest release The Prodigal Son "Everybody Ought to Treat a Stranger Right" and "Straight Street". After the new songs it was time for a song from his 1970 debut album a song called "Alimony" which had a lot of people singing along. Sharing the stage with Ry Cooder were The Hamiltones whom are three musicians from North Carolina. They added some soul and gospel sound to Ry Cooder's music, they were good but I myself found then to be a bit overbearing and taking away from Ry Cooder. I would much rather have seen just Ry Cooder play with his own band, but that's a minor complaint. The Hamiltones also did two songs without Ry.

Ry also played a couple older songs from the Bop Till You Drop album "The Very Thing That Makes You Rich (Makes Me Poor)" and "Little Sister". I was so impressed with Cooder's voice and his slide guitar playing was excellent. At times he reminded me a bit of Joe Walsh just with his facial expressions and the way he moved about the stage and of course his sense of humour. A great show and I really hope I get the chance to see Ry Cooder perform again in the near future.

After Ry Cooder's set there was still Michael Franti & Spearhead to play to close out the Saturday night of the Folk Fest, but we didn't bother staying for him as the weather sucked, it was wet and cold and I wasn't dressed properly for the elements as I had left home early in the day and wasn't prepared for the fall like conditions. All and all though it was a great hour long set and I got to see who I really wanted. Good times!!!

Ry Cooder at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

Amy Helm Live in Edmonton July 26th 2018

Well it's been over two weeks since this show, so it's about time I got around to writing a little something about it.

My buddy Buzzard and I went to this show at the Aviary, which is a small intimate room in downtown Edmonton with a capacity of 140 people. The show we went to was a great double bill of Amy Helm and local singer/songwriter Mike Plume. The last time Amy Helm played here I had to miss her as I already at tickets for another show. So I wasn't going to miss this one, especially when I saw that one of my favourite artists was opening.

The sold out show started with Mike Plume who has brand new album out called Born By The Radio which is amazing by the way. This would be my 14th time seeing Mike in concert, so as you can tell I am a huge fan. The venue was packed well before Mike hit the stage.

Mike opened his set with the song "Straight Back Home" from his 1997 album Simplify. A great opening song that had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the get go. He told some great stories, maybe a bit long winded, but the way he tells a story you can't help but be entertained.

Plume did some new songs from his most recent release Born By The Radio. Those songs were "My Old Friend", "Mama's Rolling Stone", "Long Long Line Of Fools" and "Western Wind" in which he told a story but him and the band back some 20 years ago getting to hang out with Levon Helm the drummer of The Band. Getting to rehearse at his place and sharing a smoke with Levon, when Levon said to Mike "I sure can hear that Western wind in your voice". Hence the song title Western Wind. I was surprised at how many people were singing along to the new tunes, obviously people had already heard the album lots. Nice to see the new songs go over so well.

Also played during his hour long set was a couple older ones like the Stompin' Tom Connors tribute song "So Long Stompin' Tom", where Mike told another great story about being invited to sing at Stompin' Tom's funeral.
Mike also played the great sing along song from his Red and White Blues album "Hey Hey What D'Ya Say (Coming Home Again).Another stellar show from Mike Plume. Looking forward to seeing Mike again on November 24th at The Station On Jasper (formerly the Needle Vinyl Tavern). Checkout Mike Plume's bandcamp page to purchase his new album plus many other titles.

Mike Plume at The Aviary.

Headlining the show was Amy Helm from Woodstock, New York who is the daughter of the late great Levon Helm who played drums in The Band. I had seen Amy once before back in 2010 at the Edmonton Folk Fest when she was playing in Levon Helm's band. This time around it was Amy fronting her own four piece band. Amy not only sings but also is damn good on the mandolin. Her back up band was quite good. Amy and her band performed a few new songs from her upcoming album This Too Shall Light!. She also did a few covers during the course of her set, including a couple by Ronnie Hawkins aka The Hawk whom Amy's Dad Levon played in back in the early 60's.

All and all I thought Amy's set was good, she sang with a lot of soul and was dancing and really feeling the music through out her set. The crowd thinned out quite a bit after Mike's set, but still a decent crowd for her. I just wish I knew her solo stuff a bit better. A great night out of live music. Good times!!!

Amy Helm at The Aviary.

Mike Plume t-shirt front.

T-shirt back.

The new Mike Plume CD I picked up at the show. Watch for the new album Born By The Radio on vinyl coming soon.