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.

June 25th

 

 It was on June 25th, 2011 that I was at Wunderbar here in Edmonton and saw the great double bill of C'mon and Eamon McGrath.

Eamon McGrath Live in Edmonton May 26th 2022

Got to see Eamon McGrath play Edmonton at The Buck. This would be my third time seeing Eamon in concert and second time in 2022. Eamon is an artist based out of Toronto, originally from Edmonton. If you like Neil Young Crazy Horse inspired rock n' roll, this is the band to see. He rocked The buck on this night. Gritty rock n' roll with lots of energy and great lyrics. Highly recommend checking him out if you get the chance. God knows he always seems to be touring. Eamon McGrath at The Buck.

I missed the opening act Seth Anderson, but did catch Edmonton's Fire Next Time. This was my fourth time seeing them in concert. It had been a while since I had seen the band perform. I thought they put on a good show. They play a folk punk style of music. The hometown crowd were digging them. Good times!!! Fire Next Time at The Buck.

I now remember what else made this evening memorable besides the great music. It was game five of the Calgary Flames vs. Edmonton Oilers playoff game. I now also recall that I was there for opener Seth Anderson but the bar had the hockey game on and I was watching that more so then the band. It was the first time I have been in a bar watching a hockey game from start to finish in a very long time. The game went into overtime with the Oilers winning. The bar exploded with McDavid scoring in OT. That made for a huge celebration in the bar and on Whyte Avenue. So the patrons of the bar were in a great mood after that which made for an even more fun show. Good times!!!

Altameda Live in Edmonton March 31st 2022

The next show I saw was at the Starlite Room with Altameda headlining. This show was part of the Winterruption YEG 2022 Festival. The Starlite Room had both of their stages going for this show, the backroom which is called The Temple. I went to this show with Cuz and Buzzard. Starting the evening of music on the Temple stage which is the smaller of the two stages at the Starlite Room was Jillian Lake out of Vancouver. Her music was very folkish and wasn't really to my liking. Jillian Lake

Next up on the Starlite stage was Toronto based singer/songwriter Julian Taylor a folk roots soul style of music. Again, nothing that struck a chord with me. Julian Taylor

Back to the Temple stage, this time for ex Edmonton musician now based in Toronto Eamon McGrath. Now this is the shit. This was my second time seeing Eamon in concert and he and his band kicked ass. Awesome rock n' roll. Big fan of these guys I am. Very impressive! Eamon McGrath

Headlining the evening was another Edmonton band now based out of Toronto as well Altameda. This would be my 13th time seeing the band perform. Altameda released their newest album Born Losers earlier in 2022. At first I wasn't sure what to make of the new album as it is a much more chill album then their last one but after a few listens it is an amazing album, one of my favourites of 2022. And then to see and hear the band play the new stuff live, well they kicked ass. The new stuff sounds amazing. A great performance once again from Altameda. It was also really nice to hang with lead singer/guitarist Troy Snaterse after the show. Good times!!! Altameda

Setlist.

T-shirt

2 Years Ago Today...June 25th

It was two years ago today that I saw Toronto band C'mon play the Wunderbar here in Edmonton with opening bands Krang and Eamon McGrath.

C'mon with Eamon McGrath and Krang Live At The Wunderbar June 25th 2011

Last night my buddy Hurl and I went and saw Toronto band C'mon led by I an Blurton with local band Krang and ex-Edmontonian now Toronto based Eamon McGrath at the Wunderbar just off Whyte Avenue in Edmonton.

This was my first time going to Wunderbar which is just a little hole in the wall bar that holds maybe a couple hundred people at the most. It's got a cool dive bar feel to it, looking like a basement. I went to order a Budweiser when we first got there, only to find out that they don't sell any Molson or Labatt products. What they do have is, over 80 different micro brewery beers, cool. Nice to see a bar support the small breweries. So last night we had a fair share of different kind of beers. Which might explain why I feel like shit today.

Anyways, the show started off with Eamon McGrath and his old Edmonton band backing him up The Wild Dogs. This was my first time seeing Eamon perform, I have read and heard lots about him. He not only plays rock n' roll, but also folk and punk music. On this evening, it was good old rock n' roll. I thought they sounded real good and put on a hell of show, with lots of energy and good vibes. My only complaint was, I think you had to be over six feet tall to be at the front of the stage. Like, holy fuck, it's hard to see the band when you have a bunch of tall pumpkin heads obstructing your view. Stand the fuck back you tall bastards, so that everyone else can see the band too. Nonetheless good band and great music.







Next band up was Krang, a band I had never heard of before. When they first came on, I didn't think much of them, I just thought they were a loud bad metal band. Well after a few songs and a smoke outside, I started to really dig there fuzzed out, sludgy psychedelic style of metal. They were actually really a tight band and trippy. I have to say, by the end of their set, I was a fan. They kind of reminded me of the band Earthless. I didn't get any pictures of these guys, as I was standing near the back and was kind of tripping out. Good stuff though guys.

Next up were headliners C'mon from Toronto. This was my third time seeing this awesome three piece band play live. Lead singer guitar player Ian Blurton and drummer Dean Bentley and bass player Katie Lynn Campbell know how to play loud balls to the wall rock n' roll. Ian the guitarist never ceases to amaze me how fucking good he is, no pedals or effects, just all out giver shredding. By the end of the night, my ears were a ringing, I was sweating and drunk, a great night of music from three wicked bands. If you get the chance to see a band at Wunderbar, I highly recommend going,great venue, good selection of beers and great staff as well. Good times!!!











New ten inch C'mon vinyl EP I picked up at the show.




In concert news... Eamon McGrath will be playing in Edmonton again on Saturday July 2nd at The Empress Ale House on Whyte Avenue.

Krang at Wunderbar from Jonah Braun on Vimeo.