The Sadies Live in Edmonton July 27th 2023

 

Another show my buddy Buzzard and I saw at Taste Of Edmonton was The Sadies. This would be my 15th time seeing the band in concert. And my second time seeing them perform without Dallas Good whom passed away in February 2022.

The Sadies put on a great show to a good crowd at Sir Winston Churchill Park. I really enjoyed their set but found myself really missing Dallas this time around. I miss the two guitar sound in the band. Travis does an awesome job of making up for the missing Dallas, but it's just not the same. The bands 75 minute set was made up of lots of songs from their latest release Colder Streams. All and all a great show and I will continue to follow this band and see them as often as possible. Good times!!!

The Sadies.

Whitehorse Live in Edmonton July 21st 2023

 My buddy Buzzard and I went to three shows during this years Taste Of Edmonton Festival held at Sir Winston Churchill Park in downtown Edmonton. This festival is a ten day event that features all kinds of different restaurants and food trucks and a wide variety of music every day. This years line up was pretty solid, and all the entertainment is free.

The first band we went and saw was the Hamilton based band Whitehorse. This would be my sixth time seeing the band in concert. There was a pretty good turnout for the show, which was good to see. To me this wasn't one of the better shows I have seen them perform. Not that the band was bad or anything, it was more the song selection that they played. I prefer their older material myself. This time around they played quite a few songs from their latest release "I'm Not Crying, You're Crying" which has a real country sound to it. I found the songs to be kind of flat sounding. When they did do some of the rocking songs from previous albums, the band sounded great. All and all for a free show, it's hard to complain, even though, I just it did! Good times!!!

Whitehorse.

Ruby Plume Live in Edmonton July 16th 2023

 My buddy Buzzard and I went to this show at The Temple on a Sunday, thankfully we had both booked the Monday off from work. So we were there to have a good time and checkout some bands we had never heard before. The main reason we went to this show was to see Ruby Plume play live. Ruby is a musician based in Boston these days. Ruby is the daughter of a good friend of mine Mike Plume. For those that read my blog on a consistent basis know how big of fan I am of Mike, so it was only right to support his daughter. I had seen Ruby sing with her father a few times live, and also saw her perform with her Dad and Mom (Jenny O) on YouTube. They did a Christmas Eve live stream on YouTube a few years ago, and it was amazing. That was the first time I saw Ruby not only sing but play a variety of instruments during this live stream. I was blown away by how talented she is and what a great voice she has. She stole the show on that Christmas Eve. So it was off to see her play with her band on this Sunday. What really surprised me for a Sunday show was how full the venue was. A younger crowd for sure, but a great turnout.

All the opening bands were from Edmonton starting with a band called Sudden Love. A three piece band playing a melodic style of rock n' roll with a decent groove to their tunes. Their half hour set was alright.

Sudden Love.

Next band up was Boosh, another three piece band. I don't know what the hell you would call their music. One of the members was using some gadgets set up on the floor of the stage. I believe they were old console hand held games, in which the sound bits were pumped through the PA. The band were incredibly loud and weird. The drummer was really good and entertaining. I thought they were very different and enjoyed them for the most part. My buddy Buzzard had no use for them, lol. Very very strange stuff.

Boosh.

Next up was yet another three piece band called Darlin'. This trio are a young bunch of musicians that play a style of rock, they seem to still be finding their sound. They were ok.

Darlin'.

Headlining the evening was Ruby Plume, the reason I was at this show. Backing up Ruby  was the guitarist and drummer from Darlin'. Ruby and her band sounded good but still seem to be trying to find their sound as well. I would describe the music has a mix of folk and rock n' roll. Ruby's singing was excellent, she has got an amazing voice. For the last song of the night Ruby switched to bass and did a Beatles cover which sounded great, although for the life of me I can't recall what song it was now. I believe that Ruby will have a very successful career in music and look forward to seeing her perform again and following her career. If you are interested in hearing some of her music click here, and if you would like to see the live stream of her and her family's Christmas show on YouTube click here. Good times!!!

Ruby Plume.

Off With Their Heads Live in Edmonton June 7th 2023

 

Another full house at The Buck for this show headlined by Off With Their Heads, Single Mothers and Vargouille.

 The evening began with a new Edmonton band called Vargouille. I had never heard of them before but it didn't take long before I realized that the lead singer was James Renton from another local band called Fire Next Time though he uses a different name in this band. The band is based on the game Dungeons and Dragons. The band consists of Hendrik Wraithsbane on vocals, Baron Von Drakonus Stormhammer on drums, PatheNeon Borelais on bass and on guitars you have Rayov Sickness and Erurainon Eraisuithon Beriothien. As you can tell just by the names that they take their DnD serious. Of course the songs are all DnD inspired done in a hardcore style of music. I'm no fan of DnD but they were actually quite good.

Vargouille.

 Next up was Hamilton, Ontario based band Single Mothers led by lead singer Andrew Thomson. I  had seen Drew Thomson play a solo show years ago and was impressed by him then. I'm not familiar with his band Single Mothers. I had heard of them before but had never listened to them. Much to my surprise, I was very impressed. They were heavier then I had expected and Drew was very energetic and did a great job of getting the sold out crowd pumped up. I'd certainly check them out again.

Single Mothers.

 Headlining the evening was Minneapolis punk band Off With Their Heads. The band was on tour in celebration of the 10th anniversary of their album Home, in which they played in its entirety. My brother Citrus got me into this band a few years ago and this was my first time seeing them play live.

 The band is led by lead singer guitarist Ryan Young. From what I understand the band seems to have a rotating cast of members. They did the whole album Home and few others. I enjoyed their set, just wish they had plated longer. Good times!!!

Off With Their Heads.