Favourite Concerts of 2025

  So another year has passed us by already, where the hell is the time going. I had pretty damn good year for going to shows in 2025, one of the better years for me. I made a decision at the start of the year that I wanted to see more shows, depending of course who came through town instead of buying more records. It's nice to own records that you can have for your collection, but with the price of records nowadays, it's getting tougher to afford them, and I'm running out of room for vinyl. So, I went with making memories and experiencing the thrill of a live show over buying more music. Don't get me wrong, there were still records bought, but not like I used to.

 So here is my top ten list of favourite shows of 2025.

1. Neil Young & The Chrome Hearts, September 6th @ Deer Lake Park in Burnaby, BC

 This show was a must see for me and Neil did not disappoint. His back up band The Chrome Hearts were awesome and brought a lot of energy to the show. A great venue for the show too.

2. Jon Spencer, March 1st @ Red Room in Edmonton

 To see Jon Spencer again was a treat especially in a small venue, surprisingly small crowd too, but so fuckin' good!

3. Kerry King & Municipal Waste, January 23rd @ Midway Music Hall in Edmonton

 Kerry King of Slayer fame with his own band in a club, wow. A heavy metal show that kicked ass, Municipal Waste was awesome too.

4. Drive-By Truckers & Deer Tick, June 12th @ The Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver

 This was worth the trip to Vancouver, two great bands at an awesome venue.

5. Weezer & Sam Roberts Band, July 12th at the Rockin' Thunder Music Festival @ Exhibition Lands Race Track in Edmonton

 A fun outdoor festival, great weather and to see Weezer again after 30 years was sweet, Sam Roberts Band was excellent as well. 

6. The Wallflowers, June 6th @ Midway Music Hall in Edmonton

 To see Jakob Dylan perform again in a bar setting was very cool. Great show!

7. Mike Campbell and The Dirty Knobs, June 20th @ Midway Music Hall in Edmonton

 Mike Campbell the guitarist of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers playing a bar, very cool, weird that they had seating at this show, still a very fun show.

8. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, May 11th @ The Winspear Centre in Edmonton

 Jason at the Winspear, the sound was amazing and what a show he put on.

9. Mike Plume, March 17th @ Temple in Edmonton

 If Mike plays Edmonton, his shows are always going to make my top ten. Such an amazing songwriter and performer.

10. Modest Mouse, July 3rd @ Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton

 A band I had never seen in concert before, and man were they good, way heavier than I was expecting. Amazing show!

So many good shows, it was hard to list my top ten without naming some honourable mentions, like, Wilco, Jr. Gone Wild, Corb Lund, John Garcia, Lee Aaron, Altameda, Headstones, Big Sugar, Western Death Ballads. 

2026 is shaping up to be another great year for shows. Three big stadium shows already announced for Edmonton, Foo Fighters, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses.

Wishes for 2026.

A healthy year.

A Ween reunion would be awesome.

Being able to afford to travel to a concert outside of Edmonton.

New Mike Plume music and tour.

Eamon McGrath Live in Edmonton December 18th 2025

  On Thursday night my buddies A-Bomb, Buzzard and I went to Bent Stick Brewing to catch Eamon McGrath play an acoustic show. I had high expectations of this show as this would be my fourth time seeing him in concert. 

 Eamon is a musician based in Windsor, Ontario, originally from Edmonton, so this would be a home-coming show for him. The show at Bent Stick was sold out and playing to a hometown crowd, this was going to be good.

 Looking back at previous shows I have seen by Eamon, they were all with a full band, and this show was just him on acoustic guitar. I have to say, I didn't enjoy this near as much as I had his other shows I have seen. I had seen him play a few songs with just him on guitar at the other shows, and it was great. But I guess a whole show of just him on guitar by himself, felt very boring. He seemed to lack the energy and grit of previous shows. Maybe because this was his third performance of the day, having played a set at CJSR (University radio station) and a set at CKUA radio. So maybe he was burnt out, I'm not sure, but this show really did nothing for me. The few standout songs for me on this night was his song "Guts" and the Townes Van Zandt song "Pancho and Lefty". Overall the show was a letdown for me. Having said that, I would still go see him with a full band again anytime!

Eamon McGrath.

December 19th

  The gig poster from the show I saw at New City on December 19th, 2004 in Edmonton featuring the.stars.wept, The Hollywood Ending, Tandum Vitalis, Life At Last, Vying For Solace and E-Town Beatdown.

Yuletide Bonanza 8 at The Starlite Room in Edmonton December 13th 2025

  Last Saturday my buddy A-Bomb and I made our way to the Starlite Room to take in the Yuletide Bonanza. This was the 8th edition of this festival, but the first time I have gone. A show featuring 16 mostly local bands and raising money and food donations for the food bank, so all for a good cause. The main reason we went, was to see Western Death Ballads, and I really wanted to see the band Barb Wire Choker. Being my first time to this event, I wasn't sure how this would work, what were the set times, who was playing when and such. Well, it starts with the hosts putting all the band names in a hat and then picking eight names, and the bands playing in the order they were picked, then a half hour intermission and doing the same for the rest of the bands on the bill. So if you weren't there early, you may miss the band you really wanted to see. In all there were 16 bands that played, with bands being added at the last minute. So it was going to be a long night of music with each band playing a 15 minute set. This is a great way to see a bunch of bands that you may not have seen before, and for me this would be my first time seeing most of them.

 The first band to get things started was The Unwashed a skate punk band. They were alright, I believe the guys in the band were the hosts.

The Unwashed.

 Next up was the Calgary band Citizen Rage. I've seen their name around for years and heard good things about them but had never seen them before. So I was looking forward to checking them out, and early in the night too. I thought they were great, a mix of thrash, skate punk and hardcore, reminded me a bit of Suicidal tendencies at times.

Citizen Rage.

 Next up was Edmonton's punk, rockabilly band The Devil's Sons. A band I have seen before, but not really a fan of. They're good at what they do,just not my taste in music.

The Devil's Sons.

 Next up was locals Livin Filth. A punk band leaning to hardcore style music. I had to laugh when my buddy said the lead singer looked like the rapper Ali G. Didn't much care for this band.

Livin Filth.

 The fifth band of the night was the Edmonton punkers 20/20s. This band has been around a while, I've seen the name around lots but don't believe I had seen them before. I enjoyed their straight up punk rock.

20/20s.

 The next band of the evening was another band I had never heard of or seen before. An Edmonton band called Messor, with a name like that, I wasn't sure what to expect. Well they were a death metal band, not my kind of music.

Messor.

 Next up was Barb Wire Choker. This was one of the bands I was looking forward to seeing. Lead singer Lacy Machell used to front a band called Dolly Rotten that I really liked, this is her new project that I had yet to see. And I wasn't disappointed, straight up rock n' roll with a twinge of country influence. Makes me think of a Supersuckers influence with female vocals. A great but short set by barb Wire Choker. Hopefully an album release from the band soon.

Barb Wire Choker.

 The eighth band of the night was Calgary's Sick Ritual. A fast paced hardcore band, short in your face songs with lots of energy.

Sick Ritual.

 After a half hour intermission, some time to catch your breath, get some fresh air, have a smoke or two and it was on to the second half of the show. Another draw for the rest of the bands on the bill, so another eight bands drawn.

 The first band of the second half was a three piece band from Fort McMurray called Supermodel Taxidermy. Great name for a band. They played a thrash/hardcore style of music.

Supermodel Taxidermy.

 Next up was Edmonton's Western Death Ballads. This was the band I most wanted to see and the third time I have seen them play live. After all the heavy music of the night, i was wondering how this three piece country/punk band would go over. And from what I could tell, they went over very well. Like the band name, some western death ballad music ending their set with a metal classic by Iron Maiden "Run To The Hills" done country style. Love this band!

Western Death Ballads.

 The eleventh band of the night was Edmonton band Culled. Their music would be described as sludge death metal music. Not to my liking.

Culled.

 It was after this band that my buddy and I called it a night. I had seen the bands I wanted to see, and after eleven bands and lots of heavy music, I'd had enough. I'm just not the fan of the heavy stuff as I once was. All and all though, this was a great event. It was run very well, one band after another, a great turnout attendance wise, with everyone in great spirits. And a great way to catch a bunch of bands you may not know, short sets, so if you didn't like the band, you didn't have to wait long for the next band. To the organizers of this event and the Starlite Room, awesome job! Good times!!!

 

December 13th

 The gig poster for the free in-store performance I saw by the band Yukon Blonde at Permanent Records in Edmonton on December 13th, 2012.

December 10th

  It was on December 10th, 2010 that I made the trip to Vancouver to see Roger Waters perform The Wall at Rogers Arena. Didn't think this show would make its way to Edmonton so made the trip to Vancouver. Such an amazing show this was!

December 7th

  My ticket stub and flyer from the Annihilator show I saw on December 7th, 1990 at the old Ambassador in Edmonton. A great show in a small venue. Wish I could remember who the opening band was.

December 6th

 On December 6th, 2008 I saw Richard Thompson play the Myer Horowitz Theatre in Edmonton. Always a pleasure seeing Richard in concert.

December 5th

 

 My ticket stub from the time I saw Grady with opener Murder City Sparrows play the jet Nightclub in Edmonton on December 5th, 2007.

Foxwarren Live in Edmonton November 30th 2025

 

 So on Sunday night I saw Foxwarren in concert at Midway Music Hall here in Edmonton. Thanks to my buddy Metal B for the free ticket. I really had no idea about this band other than seeing the name and posters for this gig around town. But having been off work a few weeks now because of a fractured elbow after slipping on some ice, I've been going stir crazy sitting around home doing sweet fuck all. So when my buddy put the ticket up for grabs, I figured I would take the chance to see Foxwarren live, and get to see my friend Metal B and his brother Derrick. Hell, I was doing nothing anyways and am always up for some live music and checking out new music. Especially for free.

 After accepting the ticket, I looked into Foxwarren a little bit and checked out to see who was opening. Well, the opening band was a trio from Australia called the Folk Bitch Trio. Well the name alone interested me. So I made sure to be at the venue early to catch them. Their music, like Foxwarren is best described as indie folk/pop music. I was hoping for more, but have to say their music did nothing for me.

Folk Bitch Trio.

Next up was Foxwarren a band from Regina, Saskatchewan led by Andy Shauf on lead vocals. Andy has also had a successful career as solo artist. This five piece band's music would be best described as indie rock I guess. Maybe if I knew their music better I might have enjoyed it more, but I found it to be boring. I like music with a little edge and bite. They're great musicians, I especially thought the drummer was great. Just not my kind of music. They did draw a decent size crowd for a Sunday night concert though.

Foxwarren.

What made this night special was getting to see my friend Metal B, who was in a motorcycle accident in August while on vacation in Ireland, laying his bike down and sustained a spinal injury among many other injuries. He is now in a wheelchair and may be for the rest of his life, which is very sad. Metal B is someone I have known for 20 plus years having met while working together. He is also a musician playing and having played in a handful of bands in Edmonton. As much as it hurt to see him in a wheelchair, it was also great to see him out and about, getting out to a show and enjoying himself. Still got his sense of humour, saying "look at the kind of view and seats I get being in a chair". The highlight of the evening was seeing Metal B get out of his wheelchair and stand with the help of a railing for about five minutes with a big smile on his face. Huge strides for him. A big thank you to Metal B for the ticket and it was awesome to see and spend some time with you. Hope things keep getting better for you.