Edmonton Folk Music Festival (Featuring Robert Plant & Alison Krauss) August 11th 2024

  

 My buddy Buzzard and went to the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, the festival I love to hate. I've always have had issues with the folk fest here with their beer tent and tarp rules for the hill at Gallagher Park. But I'm happy to say that they have finally loosened the rules with the beer gardens. This was the 45th year of the festival and it was just last year that they now let you wander the whole festival with a beer. Wow, what a concept, no more lining up for an hour to get into the beer garden and ending up missing the acts you want to see because it took you forever to get in. And once your in, your not going to just have one beer, so with you being able to wander the grounds with a beer is a game changer. So nice to be able to do that, not sure why it took so long, I'm sure there was a whole lot of red tape they had to jump through. Now all they have to do is have more beer stands through out the grounds, but hey baby steps, maybe that will eventually happen, here is hoping.

 Now my other issue with this festival is the tarp run. People line up early in the morning of each day of the festival so that they can run to the hill and lay down there 8'X10" tarp and claim their space for that day. This such a bullshit idea, it's not gonna change as it has become part of the 45 year tradition. But laying down a piece of plastic and claiming it your piece of land for the day. This is for the main stage only, so now people wander around all day to the other stages and never sitting on their tarp. Which means those that don't bring a tarp are stuck sitting way the fuck up on the hill watching a screen because they can't get anywhere near the stage. To me the first 50 yards of the hill should be for standing and then have the tarps. Or even better lose the tarps all together, but that won't happen. Enough of my complaining, on with the show.

Here is what the hill looked like full of tarps at noon.

 The Folk Festival is a four day event but my buddy Buzzard and I chose just to go to the Sunday finale to see Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. This would be my sixth time seeing Robert Plant in concert having seen him four times solo and once with Jimmy Page. The last time I had seen him live was in 2005. So I was really looking forward to this performance with Alison. And this would be my second time seeing Alison Krauss in concert, having seen her with her own band in Toronto on the Outlaw Festival in 2019.

 As Robert Plant and Alison Krauss headlining set started my buddy and I tried making our way to down the hill and getting as close as we could. Of course with all the tarps this wasn't an easy feat. With security stopping is and asking if we had tarps, so of course I lied and said yes, which got us closer and closer, until finally we couldn't get much closer as it was super crowded. The last security guy to stop us asked if we had a tarp, this time I told him nope, and told him I thought this tarp thing was bullshit. To my surprise he agreed with me, he then asked the guy, who's tarp we were standing on if it was ok if we stood there. And lucky for us the guy said yes. So I talked to the guy who's tarp it was, and thanked him very much for letting us stand on his tarp. So we got to within about 30 yards from the stage which beat the hell out of sitting at the top of the hill and having to watch the show on a screen.

 When Plant and Krauss came out on stage the audience were on their feet and the applause was deafening. It was so great to hear and see. Backing up Plant and Krauss was JD McPherson on guitar, drummer Jay Bellerose, Dennis Crouch on bass, Viktor Krauss on guitar and keys and string player Stuart Duncan.

 Opening the set with the song "Rich Woman" from their Grammy Award winning album Raising Sand. Both Plant and Krauss sounded amazing together. Robert still has adapted his voice over the years to a blue grass music but still able to give that Zeppelin howl, maybe not as strong as back in the day, but at 77 years old he can hold his own. And when they did do some Zeppelin the crowd lost their shit to songs like "Rock And Roll", "Gallows Pole", "The Battle Of Evermore" and "When the Levee Breaks". It was also awesome to hear Plant do some his solo song "In The Mood" from his 1983 album The Principle of Moments.

 What a treat it was to see Robert Plant & Alison Krauss headline the Folk Festival on what was a beautiful summer day and evening.

Some pictures from the Plant & Krauss set.

 After checking to see what other bands were playing on Sunday we made our way to Gallagher Park early. The first artist I wanted to checkout was New York musician Eric Bibb. I haven't seen Eric in concert since the first time in 2001 at the Jasper Folk Fest. Eric was playing on one of the side stages for what was called the Sing Out Session. During the day they have different sessions or workshops on all the side stages of which there are stages including the main stage. This Sing Out Session was on sage 3 and included not only Eric Bibb, but also Black Umfolosi International, Danielle Ponder and Robert Finley.

 These sessions can be hit and miss, and this one was a miss. They just never found a groove and seemed really disorganized. Having said that, it was great to hear Eric Bibb play again and I thought Louisiana born blues soul singer Robert Finley really ripped it up. After about 40 minutes we had heard enough and made the long trek back to the beer tent. They really need to have beer service closer to stages 3,5, and 6.

Pictures from Sing Out Sessions.

Eric Bibb.

Robert Finley.

 Next up it was off to stage 1 which was close to the beer stand to see JD McPherson in concert. This would be my second time seeing JD live. The first time I saw him was at the 2017 Interstellar Rodeo, and he was awesome at that show. It was great to see JD McPherson and his band playing one of the side stages as he was also backing up Plant and Krauss. Mcpherson's who is from Oklahoma plays a 50's rooted style of rock and blues music. and again his set was great.

JD McPherson.

 The last act we caught before finding a bite to eat, some shade and a few beers was Winnipeg band Boy Golden, terrible band name but great artist. I had just recently got into Boy Golden's music, and holy shit am I ever a fan of his stoner/psychedelic, country style music. With two full length albums out 2021's Church Of Better Daze and his most recent album 2024 Eden. His set on stage 3 was packed and so much fun. he had the crowd up and dancing right from the get go. Songs I knew and recognized were mostly from his 2021 album, opening with "Something To Work Towards" and others such as "I Wanna Know", "Smoke On The Breeze",  and closing out his set with two songs I love "KD and Lunch Meat" and "Church of Better Daze". A very fun and entertaining show. I'm looking forward to seeong them in concert again.

Boy Golden.

 A very fun day of music, beers and beautiful weather. Good times!!!

T-shirt front.

Back.

August 6th

  

 It was on August 6th, 2010 that I saw Levon Helm headline the Friday night of the 2010 Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

August 5th

  

 My ticket stub from the time I saw Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit headline the Friday night of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.

August 4th

  

 On August 4th, 2010 I went to the opening night of the  Edmonton Folk Music Festival to see Van Morrison headline the evening. Opening for Van was Bobby "Blue" Bland.

Edmonton Folk Fest August 9th 2019

Last Friday my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Edmonton Folk Fest to see Jason Isbell in concert. Also playing on this night was Amanda Shires. Now I've never been a big fan of the Folk Fest (I'll get into that later), but sometimes there is an artist you just have to see, and this year it was Jason Isbell again. There was also John Prine that we wanted to see on the Sunday night, but unfortunately John Prine cancelled as he had surgery and cancelled all his summer dates. So it was just the Friday night for us.

We got to Gallagher Hill in time to catch Amanda Shires on one of the side stages. Having heard a few of her songs on CKUA I was very interested in seeing her in concert. Amanda is an American singer-songwriter, fiddle player from Texas that has released a handful of albums. She is also married to Jason Isbell and plays in his band The 400 Unit. Her latest album is called To The Sunset, I knew a few songs she played from that one, "Parking Lot Pirouette", "Leave It Alone" and "Breakout The Champagne". I was surprised by how rocking her set was, she has a great voice and great band backing her up. For the last two songs of her set, her husband Jason Isbell joined her and her band. That was cool. I had a feeling that would happen, one more reason I wanted to see her play. I was very impressed and will be looking into getting some of her albums.

Amanda Shires.

After Amanda's set we figured we would have a quick smoke and grab a beer. Well this is where the problems start. We headed to the smoking area that was close to stage 6 which is where we just saw Amanda play only to get there and be told it was closing, we would have to go to the main smoking area by the beer tent. Ok fine, why they would close a smoking area that early I don't understand. So off to the beer tent we go. Well that was a fucking shit show. Line up to get into the beer tent, line up to get beer tickets and then line up to get a couple beers, cause you might as well grab two as it took for fucking ever to get a beer. Now we have to slam back two beers as quick as possible so that we could have a smoke and get to the main stage to catch the opening of Jason Isbell's set.

We got to the main stage just as Jason was taking to the stage, but here is another reason this festival drives me crazy. The stage is at the bottom of hill, which makes it a natural amphitheatre, it's actually pretty cool. But people get there super early and lay out these huge tarps to mark there spot. Then take off and go see other acts on the other many stages. That's bullshit in my opinion. We got to the main stage and of course the only place you could find a spot was way the fuck up on the hill, where you are basically just listening to tunes and watching the performance on a video screen. So we walked amongst the tarps and found a few with no one sitting on them, so we sat our asses down and started watching Jason Isbell's show. Eventually a few come to there tarps and find us sitting on them. Well where the hell were you before the show started. The tarp I was sitting on the three ladies that came back, let me sit and share their tarp. But my buddy got hassled a bit but didn't move. So we had alright seats for Jason's set.

This would be my third time seeing Jason Isbell in concert and first time seeing him without his band The 400 Unit. This time around it was just Jason, his wife Amanda Shires on fiddle and Sadler Vaden on guitar who also plays in 400 Unit. Jason opened the set with the song "Tour Of Duty" from his 2011 album Here We Rest. He did a great selection of songs from his last three albums Southeastern, Something More Than Free and The Nashville Sound, songs like "Something More Than Free", "Molotov", "Last Of My Kind", "Speed Trap Town", "White Man's World" and "The Life You Chose", "Cover Me Up", "Stockholm" and "Elephant" to name a few. Of course there were a few songs I really wanted to hear but didn't, but that's gonna happen when you have such a solid discography. Jason's set was awesome, I find that each time I see him live he gets stronger as singer and performer. very impressed!

Jason Isbell.

After Isbell was Brandi Carlile closing out Friday nights festival. I was looking forward to seeing her as well. But after Isbell it was off to the beer tent for a cold one. Well, guess what, the fucking beer tent is closed already. What the hell, there is still another act to come on and there is no more beer to be had, not impressed. And by now the main walking area where the pissers are and food trucks and such is a mud pit and it's dark as hell too. Now the organizers did all they could do with the mud situation, bringing in sand, and rig mats to cover the muddy areas. With the shitty summer we have had, they did what they could. But nonetheless, now there is a whole lot of mud and it's dark and you can't see what you are walking in. They need more lighting in the food truck area. It was just getting messy, I was pissed about no more drinks, and then the thought of walking all the way back to the main stage and trying to find a place to see the band from was all too much. I was getting to be a grumpy fuck, so I just decided to call it a night. So I missed Brandi Carlile which bums me out, but I just wasn't having fun. And it was getting chilly out too!

A few things I would change about this festival is obviously the alcohol license issue, it would be SO much better if you could walk around and enjoy a beverage and sit on the hill and watch the show, ditch the damn beer tent already, beer stands all about the festival site would be much better, I'd ban the stupid tarps on the hill as well, more lighting on the main grounds, keep your smoke areas open later, and move the damn video screens you have at the front of the stage, yes it's nice that you can see them if you are not close, but move the screens to the back of the stage or raise them. The screens block so much of what could be good site views from the side of the stage and such. I've said it before and this time I am thinking of keeping to it, no more Edmonton Folk Fest for me until I either quit drinking or they change the beer policy here. I'll sit amongst the trees at the top of the hill outside the fenced area and enjoy the music and drink and have fun. Did it years ago and had a blast. And hell if you are sitting at the top of the hill in the grounds, all you are doing anyways is watching the screens. I'm obviously one of the few that has these complaints because the crowds prove me wrong, but I am sure that there are some that would agree with me. Anyways, the music was good, the vibes not so much.