Swingin' Utters Live in Edmonton Sept.20th 2018

So last weekend my brother Captain Citrus and his girlfriend Sherry came to Edmonton from Vancouver for a visit, as luck would have it there were a couple of shows that we were able to get out to. The first show we attended was the Swingin' Utters concert at the Starlite Room. This show was originally booked for Friday but got flipped with the Calgary show, so it was now on the Thursday night instead of Friday. That was cool by me as I had the Friday booked off from work already and now opened Friday night for another show we wanted to go to.

My brother got here Thursday afternoon, so we met after I was done work and got some drinks in us before heading out to the show. This would be my first time seeing Swingin' Utters in concert. I wasn't all tat familiar with there tunes as I only have one of their albums. But hey, I'm always up for a concert, and if my bro says it will be good, I'm in, I trust his taste in music.

We got to the venue early as we wanted to see all the bands on the bill. When we got there, we learned that the show had been moved to the smaller venue The Temple, which is in the same building. Lack of ticket sales had the show moved. My estimate for the crowd would be probably be around a hundred people.

The first band of the night was local punk band A Gentleman's Pact. This would be my second time seeing them play, and like last time I saw them, I didn't think they were anything spectacular. I think if they had cut their set in half, 20-25 minutes would have been sufficient for an opener.

A Gentleman's Pact at The Temple.

The second band of the night was a band called The Last Gang from Orange County, California. This band was led by Brenna Red on lead guitar and vocals. Their style of music is in the punk vein and again, nothing really special. Middle of the road punk, exactly the kind of music you would expect from a Fat Wreck Chords signed band. I found them to be rather boring.

The Last Gang at The Temple.

The headliner of the night and the main reason we were at the show was the Swingin' Utters from Santa Cruz, California, another band that has been signed to Far Wreck Chords since 1996. This band is much different then most bands on that label. From what my brother had told me the Swingin' Utters don't tour very much anymore so to see them play live was going to be a treat. And he was right, they were a kick ass band to see in concert. While I didn't know there songs all that well, they sure put on a kick ass show.

Lead singer Johnny "Peebucks" Bonnel was full of energy and sounded great and looked to be having a whole lot of fun performing. The rest of the band was awesome as well. The band is currently doing a small tour in support of their first new album (Peace and Love) in four years. I had heard this album a few times and recognized some of the new songs which sounded great. This was a fun show, and I'd like to give a big shout out to my buddy JFK for putting my Bro. and I on the guest list for the show. Good times!!!

The Swingin' Utters at The Temple.

Swingin' Utters t-shirt.

Blitzen Trapper Live in Edmonton Sept.18th 2018

I'm so far behind on updates that it's about time I do a few. The first one I am doing from a show I saw last week. The Blitzen Trapper concert my buddy Buzzard and I went to last Tuesday. The show was originally booked for the Starlite Room but was moved to The Temple, still in the same venue, just a smaller room. With under 200 tickets sold, they moved it to the more intimate room.

The opener for this show was a three piece all female band called Candace hailing from Portland, Oregon. I didn't much care for them, I found their music to be boring.

Headliner of the night was Blitzen Trapper who also are out of Portland. This would be my fifth time seeing the band in concert. I've been a fan of the band since I first heard the album Furr. The tour they are on now is in celebration of the ten year anniversary of the album Furr, which Sub Pop has re-released in a deluxe double vinyl edition with previously unreleased material and a few live cuts.

The show started late, which sucked as it was a work night, which might also explain why there was such a small crowd, that and there was no advertising for this show. I saw no ads in the local entertainment magazine, no posters around town. A weekday show is going to need advertising no matter who the band is. My estimate would be maybe 125 people. With the show moved to a smaller room, it did feel intimate.

Blitzen Trapper started the show by playing the album Furr in it's entirety, which was super cool as there are a few songs on that album that I had never heard performed live before. And that album has bit of everything on it from psychedelic music, to folk music and just good old rock n' roll. Lead singer Eric Earley sounded great, at times he reminded me of a young Bob Dylan and at other times he was like an absolute madman on the guitar. After performing the Furr album, Eric did a couple of songs solo, before bringing the band back out to do some other material from there last album Wild & Reckless including the title song and a song called "Rebel". All and all I thought it was another amazing show by a brilliant band that deserves a better turn out then what they got here in Edmonton. Good times!!!

Blitzen Trapper at The Temple.

Limited edition silk screened tour poster 48/100.

Leeroy Stagger Live in Edmonton Sept.14th 2018

Last Friday night my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Leeroy Stagger concert at the Station On Jasper (formerly the Needle Vinyl Tavern). This was the first show I have seen at the venue since it has reopened under the new name, nothing has changed about the set up of the venue.

This would be the 14th time seeing Leeroy in concert. Opening the show was singer/songwriter Erin Kay whom makes Edmonton home. Erin played a solo set of music in the folk genre. She has a nice voice for her soft melody kind of music. I'd be interested in seeing her with her full band sometime. Overall she was pretty good.

Erin Kay at Station On Jasper.

Headliner was singer/songwriter Leeroy Stagger who is based in Lethbridge, although these days he and his band the Rebeltone Sounds have been living on the road, having been touring strong for well over a year now. Stagger sounded great and his band was super tight. I was really looking forward to this show as I haven't seen them play since July of last year.

They opened the show with the single "I Want It All" from his Love Versus album that came out in the spring of 2017. Actually the first four songs of the set ran in the same running order as on the album. Then it was time for a song called "Poison The Well" from his Dream It All Away album. Leeroy and his band even played four new songs and a couple of covers on this night. One of the new songs was called "Searchlight". Leeroy went on to mention that the summer of 2018 will always be remembered as the summer he fell in love with the Grateful Dead, they then went on to do a Dead song called "I Know You Rider" which sounded amazing that segued in to his song "Run Rabbit Run" which has a very Grateful Dead vibe top it.

Leeroy then brought out Erin Kay to do two new songs, "Caught In The Middle" and "Mother". Another new song the band did was called "Open Up Your Heart", all the new songs sounded great and am really looking forward to a new album. For the encore they did a Replacements song "I Can't Hardly Wait" that surprised me to see him do two covers. And for the closing song of the night they played "Dirty Windshields" from his Radiant Land album, that song is also the name of Leeroy's weekly radio show he does on Saturdays on CKUA. I was surprised that the place was only half full on a Friday night for a great artist like Leeroy Stagger, but then there was no advertising done for this show, no ads in the local weekly, or postering done. Word of mouth is great but you need to advertise too.

What an awesome night of music. Good times!!!

Leeroy Stagger at Station on Jasper.

Leeroy Stagger setlist for the night.

Jimmy Eat World Live in Edmonton Sept.8th 2018

Last Saturday I ended up going to the Sonic Field Day Festival held at Victoria Park here in Edmonton. I had absolutely no intention of going to this show, as from what I saw of the line up, the only bands I even knew were Jimmy Eat World and the Arkells. This is a festival that the local alternative radio station here Sonic 102.9 put on. They use to put on a tow day festival called Sonic Boom, but that got cancelled a few years ago. Looks like they have brought it back to life under a new name and only one day now. I guess I don't know much about these new bands as I don't listen to the station.

Well, as luck would have it, a buddy of mine "Metal" invited me to the festival as he had an extra ticket and was only interested in seeing Jimmy Eat World as well. So late Saturday afternoon I met him and some of his buddies at a local watering hole for some pre-drinks before we made our way to the show. I had been into the drinks for the better part of the day, so I was primed to get out and have some fun. After a few drinks we caught the shuttle bus to the festival site and got there about ten minutes before Jimmy Eat World started, talk about perfect timing.

As soon as we got there, I b lined it to find a drink and use the can, while I was doing that, I lost the whole damn group. But I made my way closer to the stage just as JEW were starting. As I was rocking out to the band, I turned around and lo and behold, there's the group I had came with. So that was cool, we all got to hang out and rock together, I figured I had lost them and I was on my own for the night, but nope.

I really don't know the band Jimmy Eat World all that well, I know a few of their songs, but not enough to say I am a huge fan or anything, just appreciate the pop punk songs that I have heard. Of course I think everyone has heard their biggest song "The Middle" which of course they played last, but man did that ever have the crowd singing along. That song really hit a nerve with me at this show with what's been going on in my life these days. Especially the chorus...

"It just takes some time
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride
Everything, everything will be just fine
Everything, everything will be all right"

I really enjoyed their set and wish they had played longer. After their set we headed to the back of the crowd close to the bar. Sadly they ran out of beer, which seems ridiculous for a music festival to run out of beers, so it was into the whiskey for a bit, until they ran out of that as well. Next up was rum. So needless to say we were all getting a pretty good buzz on by the time the last band of the evening the Arkells came on.

Jimmy Eat World at Victoria Park.

The Arkells a band out of Hamilton, Ontario closed out the festival. I had seen this band once before years ago when they opened for Wilco. I've never really listened to them and know next to nothing about them, so I wasn't expecting much. The gang I was hanging out at the show were all by the bar bullshitting and drinking as I was too, but I was actually surprised by the Arkells. They were entertaining and I had no idea they were as popular as they are. The band caught my attention here and there and overall were alright. Would I rush out to buy their albums or see them again, probably not, but kudos to them for getting as big as they have.

Overall this was a fun night out with a great bunch of people. Thank you Metal and JFK and rest of the group, I needed that. After the festival we caught the shuttle bus downtown and continued on with our evening with more drinks and laughs. It was nice to hang with an old friend and make new friends. Good times!!!

The Arkells at Victoria Park.

Seven Inch Sunday (Alice Cooper)

It's been a while since I have done a Sunday seven inch single. So today I will write about a Alice Cooper seven inch single I picked up last weekend at the Dead Vinyl Society monthly record swap. I had to pick this up as the cover itself is hilarious. Alice looks very John Travolta like on it.

This is a single that was released in 1977 featuring the lead off single "You And Me" from Alice Cooper's 1977 album Lace and Whiskey. This song is a ballad and went to number three here in Canada and number nine in the US. It was the last top ten single Cooper had until the song "Poison" from his Trash album 12 years later. Alice performed this song on the Muppet Show in 1978. I have included a video of said performance.

The "You And Me" official video.


The song "You And Me" performed on The Muppet Show 1978.


On the B side of this single is another song from the Lace and Whiskey album, a song called "It's Hot Tonight"

Alice Cooper Live in Edmonton August 23rd 2018

Well it has been well over a week now since Janis and I went to the sold out Alice Cooper show here in Edmonton at Jubilee Auditorium. This would be my seventh time seeing Alice in concert. This tour was dubbed a Paranormal Evening With, therefore no opening act, just Alice Cooper in all his glory. Paranormal is the album Alice released last year in which he is touring for.

Alice and his band opened with a song called "Brutal Planet", a song I wasn't that familiar with, it's the opening song and title song from his 2000 release. It was a rocking song and instantly had the sold out audience on their feet right from the start, there was no sitting down at this show. After that song it was right into the classics, which is what everyone was there for. "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "Under My Wheels", "Billion Dollar Babies" and "Be My Lover" were up next. What an awesome start to the show. Alice's back up band were excellent. Nita Strauss who has played in Cooper's band since 2014 was especially entertaining, she didn't stop running around the stage the whole show, she is an amazing guitar player and looked to be having a lot of fun. The rest of the band which included Chuck Garric on bass who has played in the band for the past 11 years, Ryan Roxie on guitar and has been since 1996, Tommy Henriksen also on guitar and been in the band since 2011 and rounding out the band is drummer Glen Sobel who has also been in the band since 2011. So this band was tight. And of course you have Alice Cooper in all his make-up glory who at the age of 70 still brings it to the stage every performance. His voice sounded great and still pulls out all the theatrics he has been come to known for. The guillotine and electric chair are being used for this tour, no noose hanging this time around.

After the four classics songs in a row it was time for some newer songs which sounded great at fit into the set list good, it did give me time to run up and grab a drink. One song he did do that really surprised me was the song "Serious" from his very underrated 1978 album From The Inside. Nita Strauss ripped out a decent guitar solo, but to be honest guitar solos, or any solos for that matter really just bore me. After her solo it was the song "Poison" next, this is a song I have always hated since it's release on Alice's 1989 album Trash. Well on this night I actually enjoyed this song with Alice belting it out and pointing his wand at members in the audience and singing it with some real attitude, and of course the crowd loves this song, and I now too don't mind it.

Alice brought out the electric chair in which he was put into during the song "Feed My Frankenstein" in which he turned into giant Frankenstein. Then it was two classic song from his album Welcome To My Nightmare, the songs "Cold Ethyl" and "Only Women Bleed", two songs in which Alice still can stir up controversy with. Alice was throwing around a rag doll and such. Then it was time "Ballad of Dwight Fry" in which Alice was put into a straight jacket, I love this song. Alice closed out his set with more classics like "Killer", "I Love The Dead" and "I'm Eighteen" and then for the encore "School's Out". A wickedly fun and entertaining show as usual from Alice Cooper and his band. Good times!!!

Alice Cooper at the Jubilee Auditorium.