April 24th

 My ticket stub and some concert ads from the time I saw Social Distortion with openers The Black Halos and I Hate Kate play the Edmonton Event Centre on April 24th 2007. The show I saw  was the second of a two night stand the band played here in Edmonton. Social D added a second show after the original date of the 24th sold out.

Social Distortion Live in Edmonton Sept.22nd 2024

 

 Last Sunday Cuz and I went to the Social Distortion show at the Midway Music Hall here in Edmonton. This would be my 6th time seeing them in concert. We have had the tickets for this show since May 2023. The show was originally scheduled for July 2023 but was postponed due to lead singer of Social D, Mike Ness being diagnosed with tonsil cancer. Thankfully Mike has made a full recovery and were able to make their way back up to Edmonton to play two sold out shows.

 Orange County, California's Social Distortion hit the stage opening with "So Far Away" from their self titled 1990 album. I was wondering how Mike Ness was going to sound after going through the health problems of last year, but happy to say Mike sounds like he always has, which is rough around the edges, just the way us Social D fans want. He also looked to be healthy and in good spirits. It seemed it took a few songs before the sound wasn't muddy, which is weird considering they had played the same venue the night before. But by the third song it was sounding good, or maybe it was just me getting used to the sound. Regardless, it was sounding better as the show went on. The band did a great job with their song selection doing at least one song from every album of theirs. They did two other songs from the self titled album including "Ball And Chain" and "Story Of My Life", the second last song of the night, which had the crowd singing along.

 It was awesome to hear "Mommy's Little Monster" and "Creeps" from their 1983 debut album. Like I say they did a great job of doing songs from almost all their albums. Have a look at the setlist and you will see. Ya, I'm getting lazy writing this review. As per usual, Mike and band closed out the show with a rocking version of Johnny Cash's "Ring Of Fire". A great night of old school punk rock.

Social D at Midway Music Hall.

 Opening the show was another California band The BellRays. I had never listened to the band until a few weeks before the show, and from what I listened to, I wasn't all that impressed. But I still wanted to see them live, so Cuz and I made sure to be there in time to see them. Well, I have to say they were much better live then on album. I didn't realize they had been around since 1990. A lot of the people in the crowd seemed to be into them. Lead singer Lisa Kekaula has got one hell of a voice and stage presence. Glad we caught them. Good times!!!

The BellRays.

T-shirt front.

Back.

September 4th

  

 Back on September 4th, 2011 I went to the Sonic Boom Music Festival here in Edmonton. I was looking forward to this festival as there were some good bands I wanted to see on the bill. Bands such as Cake, Social Distortion and Jane's Addiction. The show was originally supposed to be outdoors at the Northlands Grounds, but because of a weather forecast for rain, it was moved in doors to the Expo Centre. Well, the forecast was wrong and the weekend ended up being beautiful, but the show was indoors. And man did the venue ever suck. Sound was atrocious, beer garden was a joke, the whole thing just sucked. I did manage to see Social Distortion and Cake, but left before Jane's Addiction which is a shame because I love that band. You know it's bad when you leave before the headliner.

August 13th

 It was August 13tth-15th, 1993 that I attended the poorly organized Highwood Music Festival. The festival changed locations twice before settling on the Capital Raceway on the outskirts of Edmonton and that was only a few days before the start of the event. Because of the poor organization a lot of bands cancelled.

Still had a great time though seeing such bands as Social Distortion, The Muffs, Monster Voodoo Machine, D.R.I., Mudhoney, Skankin' Pickle and the Saturday was hosted by Tommy Chong. Of course there were a lot of other bands, local and from across Canada. Good time was had even if it was a shit show!

Social Distortion Live in Edmonton June 15th 2018

Ya, I'm really late on this review but here it is anyways!

After a really rough week, I was some happy that I had a concert to go to Friday night. Nothing like unwinding at a Social Distortion concert. This show was the second of two sold out shows in Edmonton at Union Hall. This would be my fifth time seeing Social D in concert. On tour with Social D this time around were a couple of artists I had not heard of before, they would be Jade Jackson and Aaron Lee Tasjan.

I made sure to get to the venue early as I really needed to have some beers and hear some live music and was very interested in checking out the two openers.

First band of the night was Jade Jackson. Jade is a singer/songwriter out of Santa Margarita, California. Jade was backed up by a full band and plays a alt-country style of music with some punk grittiness mixed in. I thought she had a strong voice and a lot of energy. Seemed those that were already at the show were digging her as well. Overall I thought she put on a great performance. Jade Jackson's new album Gilded was just released in May on Anti-Records. You can also checkout her music on her bandcamp page by clicking here.

Jade Jackson at Union Hall.

Next up was Aaron Lee Tasjan again backed up by a full band. Aaron is a singer/songwriter from New Albany, Ohio. I really enjoyed these guys, Aaron is a great songwriter and his guitar playing is top notch, I thought he kicked ass, as did his other guitar player Brian Wright. There sound is a mix of southern rock, a hint of jam music with lots of emotion and passion. At times they reminded me of Parker Millsap, The Sadies and Drvin' N' Cryin', which makes sense as Aaron has played in Drivin' N' Cryin'. The guitar dueling of Aaron and Brian was like watching and listening to Dallas and Travis good of The Sadies, very impressive. I didn't know his music at all when I saw him but I was impressed enough that I picked up his last album called Silver Tears. One of the songs from that album he played called the "Hard Life" was excellent as was "Refugee Blues". Aaron has a new album coming out on new West Records at the end of August. I'll be sure to be picking that one up as well. This show made me a fan.

Aaron Lee Tasjan at Union Hall.

Headliner of the night Social Distortion hit the stage with the attitude and presence that we have come to know from lead singer Mike Ness. I loved the 1-2-3 punch of "Reach For The Sky", "Highway 101" and "Don't Take Me For Granted". A great way to start the show and the crowd was eating it up.

You know what you're getting with a Social D show, a meat and potatoes rock n' roll show. Social D is almost like a classic rock band now, but only punk rock. Having not released a new album since 2011's Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes. There was at least one new song that I had never heard before, I believe it was called "Over You" about of course a relationship break up. Other songs played that I recall were "Don't Drag Me Down", "Machine Gun Blues", an oldie "Mommy's Little Monster" and "Bad Luck". What disappointed me about the show was that I thought it could have been a better setlist. Mike Ness was in great form I thought. Missing was "Prison Bound" and two songs I really wanted to hear as they are very dear to my heart "Angel's Wings" and "Live Before You Die". It was cool to see Jonny "2 Bags" Wickersham playing in Social D, he did a great job, again if only they had played "Angel's Wing's" which was co-wrote by him. Jonny also used to play in the Cadillac Tramps another band I was a big fan of. All and all this was a good show and a great way to unwind from a tough week. Good times!!!

Social Distortion at Union Hall.

Aaron Lee Tasjan album I picked up at the show.