Last Saturday Buzzard, Cuz, A-Bomb, Shultz and I attended the 35th Anniversary Street Party for the Starlite Room (The Bronx/The Rev/Temple). A venue I have been attending for 35 years now and have seen many shows at this venue and have some really really good times at. And this street party is one more to add. An excellent triple of local bands Whitey Houston, Jr. Gone Wild and Corb Lund and The Hurtin' Albertans, a show that they held on the street in front of the Starlite Room. A late afternoon start with the weather co-operating, wasn't exactly sunny and hot, but then with it being May long weekend, at least it wasn't snowing, cause we all know that can happen too.
The afternoon started with the two piece band Whitey Houston with Lyle (Whitey) Bell on bass and vocals and Rob (Gravy) Hoffart on drums and joining in on the fun was Kimballz on maracas, watching her is always fun. Whitey Houston has been around since 1999 but don't play very many shows anymore, (this would be my 5th time seeing them) but this show was excellent, playing songs from their self titled 2005 album, songs such as "Heavy Metal Parking Lot", "I Get Around", and fan favourite "I Got Fucked By Liberty Mutual". A solid set of fuzzed out bass heavy rock. We were off to a great start.
Next up was Jr. Gone Wild who were playing the last show of their four date tour. This would be my 16th time seeing them in concert. The band don't play too many shows lately, so it's always a pleasure to see the band live. And after three previous shows the guys were sounding good.
JGW opened their set with a couple of old songs such as "I'm So Glad" from their 1995 album Simple Little Wish and then into "I Don't Know About All That" from their 1990 album Too Dumb To Quit. And then in to a smattering of newer songs from their awesome 2021 album Still Got The Jacket. The new material goes over so well with their audience, playing such songs as "Five Million Songs", my favourite "Old And Ugly", "Girl In The Crowd", another fave of mine "Warren's Van" and "Fools Errand" that had the crowd singing fuck you to the sky. Such a great set by these Edmonton veterans. With how great their last album is, I'd love to see these guys put out a new album and play more shows. Keep up the great work Mike McDonald (guitar and vocals), Dove (bass), Steve Loree (guitar) and Quinton Herbert (drums).
Headlining the street party was Corb Lund and The Hurtin' Albertans. This would be my 12th time seeing them play live. Corb who was the bass player in the Edmonton metal band the smalls has played this room a many times not only with the smalls but with his solo band too. By the time Corb and the boys hit the stage the crowd had swelled to, hmm, by my guess I would say 900-1000 people. A very mixed crowd of cowboys, metal heads, scenesters and old time fans of Corb.
With Corb Lund reissuing his old material on vinyl for the first time here in the near future, Corb and The Hurtin' Albertans were treating us to two old albums from front to back. Starting with his 2002 album Five Dollar Bill and then for the second part of their set it was the 2005 album Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer. With Corb having 12 albums out, you don't get to hear too many of the older songs anymore. So it was so awesome to hear oldies like "Expectation and the Blues", "Five Dollar Bill", "Apocalyptic Modified Blues" and "Daughter You Don't Marry No Guitar Picker" and of course "Time To Switch To Whiskey" which is one song that has been in his sets forever and always has the crowd singing along.
And for the second part of the show it was the Hair In My Eyes album which included old favourites like the title song "Hair In My Eyes Like A Highland Steer", "Always Keep An Edge On Your Knife", "Big Butch Bass Bull Fiddle" and "All I Wanna Do Is Play Cards". Both these albums that Corb and band played are so damn good, and so nice to hear so many of these songs again. Corb and his band The Hurtin' Albertans sounded great and looked to be having a whole lot of fun playing these songs again. All and all this was an incredibly fun day, not only the great music by all three bands but, running into so many friends, seemed like every time I turned around I was running into someone I knew. Some great visits with friends I don't see often enough. This was a great start to what looks like should be a great summer of shows. And last but not least a very Happy 35th Anniversary to the Starlite Room. Here is hoping this venue will be around for many more years. Good times!!!
Corb Lund and The Hurtin' Albertans.
