November 9th

  On November 9th, 2002 I saw the Victoria punk band Nomeansno with local act Whitey Houston plat The Rev here in Edmonton.

The Starlite Room 35th Anniversary Street Party May 17th 2025 (Edmonton)

  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.

Whitey Houston.

 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).

Jr. Gone Wild.

 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.

May 17th

  My ticket stub from the time I saw this excellent triple bill of C'mon, Pride Tiger and Whitey Houston play the Pawn Shop here in Edmonton.

Change Of Heart Live in Edmonton Oct.7th 2017

On Saturday night I attended the Change Of Heart, Napalmpom and Whitey Houston concert at the Rocky Mountain Icehouse as part of the UP + DT Music Festival. This triple bill was going to be a loud night of rock n' roll.

The first band of the night was Edmonton's Whitey Houston, a two piece band that is made up of Whitey (Lyle Bell) on bass and Gravy on drums, also on stage with them is Kim Rackel on maracas. Lyle and Kim are also play in the band The Wet Secrets. This band is super bassy, loud and fun. And with Kim on stage shaking the maracas and dancing and whipping her hair around actually adds to the stage show.

Like I say they are a very loud band for only two musicians, so much so that it was about four songs in to their set that a wood paneling on the roof in front of the stage that had a spotlight on it came crashing down. The panel with light attached to it smoked a lady in the head. Luckily she didn't look to be hurt too bad as I saw her later in the night still at the show, but this could have been much worse then it was. After that incident I was sure to watch where I was standing the rest of the night making sure I wasn't under something that might come crashing down on my head. You could say the band certainly rocked the foundations of the Rocky Mountain Icehouse.

Whitey Houston's half hour set was excellent. They closed out the set with the song "I Got Fucked By Liberty Mutual". This was a great band to open this triple bill. Especially because they don't seem to do a lot of shows lately. Was great to see they still have it.

Whitey Houston at the Rocky Mountain Icehouse.

Next up was Calgary rockers Napalmpon. This was my second time seeing the band live and holy fuck, did they ever kick ass yet again. Napalmpom's music is like a mix of all the greatest classic rock and punk bands wrapped in one. Think AC/DC, Thin Lizzy riffs, MC5 and a band having a whole lot of fun up on stage performing. So much energy and full on giv'r mode. They played a good mix of songs from their two full length albums 2017's The Core Competencies Of Napalmpon and The Unconditional Love Of Napalmpom. Not a slow moment through out their whole 40 minute performance. These guys never disappoint.

Napalmpon at the Rocky Mountain Icehouse.

Headliner of the evening was Toronto's Change Of Heart. This was my third time seeing the band live, having seen them years ago opening for the Tragically Hip. I'm so much more a fan of the band then I was back then. So I was really looking forward to seeing them play again. This time around Change Of Heart have reunited with the original line up of Ian Blurton on guitar and vocals, Rob Taylor on bass, Bernard Maiezza on keyboards and Glenn Milchem on drums (whom also plays in Blue Rodeo) for some shows in Ontario and Alberta, celebrating the re-release of their album Smile which came out twenty-five years ago. They were doing the album in its entirety, so this was gonna be another loud performance. I have been a huge fan of lead singer and songwriter Ian Blurton for years now, liking all the projects he has done which include not only Change Of Heart but also Blurtonia, C'mon and Public Animal.

Their show was loud as all of Ian's bands are, but it wasn't so loud that you couldn't understand the lyrics, all the musicians kicked ass. I especially enjoyed watching and hearing Rob Taylor on bass, he was incredible. Ian Blurton hasn't lost a thing either, his guitar playing was spectacular, the old gritty sound that I love and his singing was bang on as well. The rest of the band were no slouches either. Just an amazing night of rock n' roll from all three bands. Good times!!!

Change Of Heart at the Rocky Mountain Icehouse.

Change Of Heart t-shirt front.

Back.

After the show I got the chance to chat with Ian Blurton and tell him how much I loved his music in all the bands that he has played in. He was nice enough to autograph my Public Animal/Napalmpon split 12 inch vinyl. Thank you very much Ian!!!

2 Years Ago Today...April 16th

It was two years ago today that I saw John Mellencamp play back to back in Edmonton at the Jubilee Auditorium having seen him the night before as well.



Also on this day two years ago I saw local band Whitey Houston with Vancouver band Vicious Cycles play at Permanent Records here in Edmonton as part of the Record Store Day celebration. Don't forget that this Saturday April 20th is Record Store Day again, get out and support your local record store.

Concert Shirt/Poster Of The Day May 9th (C'mon)

Today's t-shirt is from the first time I saw Toronto band C'mon play live. This show was a triple bill of some great Canadian rock at The Pawn Shop in 2009. The other bands on the bill were Vancouver band Pride Tiger and local band Whitey Houston, all three bands kicked ass on this evening. I went to this show with Hurl and A-Bomb. Good times!!!!

Front.

Record Store Day 2011

Yesterday Saturday April 16th was the fourth annual Record Store Day,the celebration of independent record stores around the world, for those that still actually buy their music. Record Store Day is held the third Saturday of April every year.

This year I didn't make it out to all the indie record stores in Edmonton, but I did make it to Blackbyrd Myoozik and Permanent Records on Whyte Ave. Both stores has sales and special releases and bands performing in store.

Permanent Records had bands playing all afternoon starting at 1pm. The first band I saw was a band from Vancouver called Vicious Cycles, they played a punk/garage rockabilly kind of music, kind of reminded me of The Reverend Horton Heat. I though they were pretty good and had the packed record store a rockin'.











The next act to play was local two piece band (Gravy on drums and Whitey on bass) Whitey Houston. The band haven't played too many gigs lately so it was cool to see them play a free show. This band always kicks ass and is loud for only two guys. I am sure the stores next to Permanent Records had their walls a shaking. Whitey Houston was excellent and I highly recommend seeing them play live.











It was good to see lots of people out supporting the record shops.



After Whitey Houston's set, I picked up the 7 inch single (I Got Fucked By Liberty Mutual b/w Turning) they were selling. These songs are also available on their full length self titled album that came out in 2005.

7 inch single.


Whitey Houstons song "I Got Fucked By Liberty Mutual"


My purchases for the day.

The Flaming Lips Box Set - Heady Nuggs 1992-2002 which includes 5 albums
- Hit To Death In The Future Head
- Transmissions From The Satellite Heart
- Clouds Taste Metallic
- The Soft Bulletin
- Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
This box set was limited edition release of 5790, the set I got is numbered 1242.







Bob Dylan's album "In Concert Brandeis University 1963".


Paul Simon's latest release "So Beautiful Or So What".


Mastodon and ZZ Top split 7 inch single "Just Got Paid" I like Mastodons version.


Blitzen Trapper 7 inch single "Maybe Baby b/w Soul Singer".


Bad Brains - "Pay To Cum b/w Stay Close To Me" 7 inch single.


The new Fucked Up album "David's Town".


I also bought a cassette yesterday for the first time in years. I got the Jr. Gone Wild tape called "Folk You,The Guitar Sessions".


Some old school flyers from the punk days of Edmonton at Permanent Records.