Lynyrd Skynyrd Live in Edmonton March 12th 2019

Last Tuesday Buzzard, Janis and I attended the Lynyrd Skynyrd Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour at Rogers Place. I was hesitant about going to this show as there is only one original member left in the band, but I heard nothing but good things about their show the previous times they have come through town, and Janis bought me a ticket for my up-coming birthday, so I was going now.

Opening the show was Canadian legend Randy Bachman who has played in the Guess Who and BTO previously. This time around he is touring with his own solo band. This would be my third time seeing Randy play solo. And he didn't disappoint at all. Opening the show with the Bachman Turner Overdrive song "Roll On Down The Highway", then into another BTO song "Let It Ride". We were of to a great start, it was one classic Canadian AM/FM classic rock after another. Lots of Guess Who songs as well such as "No Sugar Tonight", "American Woman" and "Laughing". Joining Randy in his band was his son Tal Bachman who did his one big song "She's So High". Randy and his band closed their hour long set with the BTO classic "Takin' Care of Business". A great opening set that had the crowd singing along and warmed up good for the headliners.

Randy Bachman's setlist.

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Randy Bachman Band.

Now it was time for southern rockers from Jacksonville, Florida, Lynyrd Skynyrd. The only original member left in the band is co-founder guitarist Gary Rossington. On vocals was Johnny Van Zant who took over vocals in 1987 when the band reformed after the death of his brother Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines died in an airplane crash in 1977 just after the release of their album Street Survivors. Also joining the band and a long time member was Rickey Medlocke on guitar who played briefly in the band in the early 70's. He has been back in the band since the reformation in 1987.

The band opened with the song "Workin' for MCA" and after that it was classic southern rock for the hour and a half show. It was like listening to a best of album "What's Your Name", "That Smell", "Saturday Night Special", "Simple Man" you get the idea, just great musicianship from the whole band. I thought Johnny Van Zant did a great job on vocals keeping the spirit of Johnny alive and well. I really liked the cover of J.J. Cale's "Call me The Breeze". Last song of the set before encore was "Sweet Home Alabama" which had the crowd on their feet as they were for most of the night. For the encore of course they did "Free Bird", but what was really cool is that they had on the big screen behind them archive footage of Ronnie Van Zant singing, with the band playing along, while his hat rested on the vacated mic stand. Along with that they had old photos of the band, paying respect to all those that have been in the band. A great night of badass southern rock. Way better then I was expecting. Good times!!!

Checkout the setlist.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Rickey Medlocke and Gary Rossington.

Dave McCann Live in Edmonton March 2nd 2019

Last Saturday my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Dave McCann and The Wildhearts concert at the Station On Jasper on what was a bitterly cold night, which might explain part of the reason for the small turnout.

This would be my third time seeing Dave McCann in concert but first time seeing him with a full band. The previous two times it was Dave McCann playing with Leeroy Stagger and John Wort Hannam (Highway Three Roots Revue). Those shows were acoustic affairs in which each performer played a few songs, a singer/songwriters circle I guess you would call it. I really enjoyed his songs both times, so it was nice to see him come through Edmonton this time with a full band promoting his new album Westbound Til Light.

We got there a little late and only caught the last 3 songs by Jake Ian, an Edmonton musician. What we heard was really quite good, a roots/country based style of music. Wish we had caught more of set. I'll be keeping my eyes open for another show of his.

Jake Ian.

Headliner of the night was Lethbridge based roots singer/songwriter Dave McCann. Dave and his band The Wildhearts sounded great, also sitting in with the band were the Mayhemingways from Ontario. Dave has got a great voice, his music is not only roots based but also a tinge of blues and rock. His harmonica player was good to, I liked that he wasn't overwhelming like some harp players can be. He did of course some new songs from his new album, a lot of the new songs are folklore stories, like the song "Can't Cheat The Mountain" which is about the Frank Slide, which was a rockslide that buried part of the town of Frank in the North West territories. Another new song was called "Swing Your Lantern" about some homeless people caught in a blizzard by Lake Superior in Ontario during the Great Depression.

Dave and his band also played some older songs from his album Dixiebluebird. I wish I knew the titles better, but I did recognize a few songs from that album as I do have that one in my collection. Overall I really enjoyed his show. It's really too bad he didn't get a better turnout for the show, but that certainly didn't stop him from putting on a hell of a show. A big thanks to Cuz for the tickets. Good times!!!

Dave McCann.

Matt Mays Live in Edmonton Feb.21st 2019

Last Thursday night I went to the Matt Mays show at Have Mercy here in Edmonton. I bought a ticket to this show on a whim, thinking I haven't seen Matt Mays in concert since the time I saw him open for the Black Crowes back in 2008. And at that show Matt Mays blew the Crowes away. I haven't heard much about Matt Mays in years, so for him to be playing an acoustic show at cool intimate venue like Have Mercy really intrigued me. After buying my ticket I looked into what he had done recently only to discover that he had put out an album in 2017 called Once Upon A Hell Of A Time a great straight up rock n' roll album, and his first in 5 years. And then just late last year he put out an album called Twice Upon A Hell Of A Time, which is the same album but done acoustically. I picked up the latter album and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to seeing this show. And with only 120 tickets available, which sold out in no time, this was gonna be cool.

Opening the show was Adam Baldwin whom also is from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia just like Matt Mays. Adam also plays in Matt Mays band playing guitar and keyboards. Adam has an EP coming out at the end of March called No Rest For The Wicked. From his short 20-25 minute set he played, I'm thinking this will probably be a pretty good album. It is available for pre-order by clicking here.

Adam Baldwin.

After a short break, enough time to have a smoke, a piss and grab a beer Matt Mays and his band hit the small stage for their performance. While talking to people at the show I didn't realize the following Matt Mays has, everyone I talked to had seen Matt multiple times, and not just once or twice like myself, but 5, 8 and 10 times. So there were some real die hard fans at this show. And you could tell as he got a great round of applause when he started playing with most of the crowd singing along to all the tunes. I myself only have one of his albums that being his 2008 one Terminal Romance, which to me is a killer album. Actually I picked up his latest album Twice Upon A Hell Of A Time after I bought the ticket for this show. So I didn't know the songs like the rest of the audience, but what I didn't know I enjoyed, and the ones I did know like "Terminal Romance", "Cocaine Cowgirl", "Spoonful Of Sugar", "Queen Of Portland Street", "Tall Trees" and "City Of Lakes" sounded really good. I wasn't sure what to expect from this show but I was highly impressed. Matt comes across as a down to earth guy too, great back up band, good crowd, good beers and great venue and with Conway Twitty watching over your shoulder. All made for a fun night out. Good times!!!

Matt Mays.

Mean Jeans Live in Edmonton Feb.7th 2019

Two Thursday's I went to the Mean Jeans, Mandates, Real Sickies triple bill at The Buckingham. Fuck I am getting terrible at writing reviews in a timely fashion. Oh well, here is a quick synopsis of the show.

The main attraction to me for this show were the two opening bands that both are Alberta bands. The first band of the night were Edmonton punkers Real Sickies.

This would be my third time seeing the Real Sickies in concert. This band is full on give'r punk led by Ben Disaster on vocals. The energy and enthusiasm Ben performs with is addictive. What I noticed right away this time around was that there was only one guitarist with them, and, it was someone different from the last time I saw them which was just in December. Looks like both guitar players have left the band, for reasons unknown to me. But the new guy, and I believe his name was Alex, but I could be wrong, did an incredible job. Especially considering they only had two rehearsals together before this show. There 30 minute set was all older stuff this time around, and they kicked ass. As I say, Ben was full on, just love the energy he plays with. Another great show by the Real Sickies.

The Real Sickies.

Next up was Calgary band The Mandates. This would be my second time seeing them live. This is another band I just recently got in to thanks to my Brother. The Mandates have a cool 70's punk rock groove sound to them. There latest album Dead In The Face is fucking awesome, as is their live performance. I really like how the two guitarists Brady Kirchner and Matt Wickens share in vocal duties, and drummer Warren Moon is great and the bass player Jimmy James, well he's just got that cool look about him and lays down some cool bass to keep it all together. A very impressive set by the Mandates.

Mandates.

The headliner of the night was Mean Jeans out of Portland, Oregon. This show was a fly in with the band doing three dates in Alberta, Edmonton, Calgary and Medicine Hat. To be totally honest I knew very little about this three piece band which is made up of Billy Jeans on guitar, Jeans Wilder on drums and bass player Junior Jeans. The band play short punk rock songs in the vein of the Ramones. They opened their set with a song that I actually knew called "Croozin". They are a fun band that reminded me a bit of a lesser NOFX. Another song they did was "Steve Don't Party No More". They were entertaining but the show seemed to lose flow as the band were having amp problems with both the bass and guitar, so that took away from it. All and all I thought they were alright but nothing special. Still a very fun night which made for a long day of work on Friday. Good times!!!

Mean Jeans.

The Trews and Altameda Live in Edmonton Jan.31st 2019

Last Thursday my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Starlite Room for The Trews and Altameda double bill. The main reason we went to this show was for Altameda. This was the second of a two night stand for The Trews and Altameda.

We got their early as we were there for Altameda. This would be my ninth time seeing them in concert and third time in the month of January alone. So ya, you could say I am huge fan of this Edmonton band. And they did not disappoint, scaled back down to a four piece band as they had two extra musicians for the St. Albert show, this is how I like to see them. They rocked the hell out to a full place, lots of people there to catch Altameda opening. The band have been on the road with The Trews for a couple weeks now having started the tour in Victoria with them and going as far as Regina with them. Altameda are currently on the road promoting their new album Time Hasn't Changed You, which is a kick ass rock album. They played mostly new stuff during their 45 minute opening set. Even doing a Bob Dylan cover "The Man In Me" which sounded incredible. They have a great mix of a classic rock band sound without sounding dated. A mix of The Band, Tom Petty, Ryan Adams, and I even hear a little hint of Wilco in some of their new songs. This band blows me away every time I see them and just keep getting better. A band to watch for in 2019.

Altameda.

I stuck around for a bit of the Antigonish, Nova Scotia band The Trews set, this would be my third time seeing them in concert, having seen The Trews open for Big Sugar in 2003 and Robert Plant in 2005. I have to say, I'm just not a fan of them. They aren't terrible by any means, just a good meat and potatoes kind of rock n' roll band. Nothing spectacular but nothing that really sticks out for me. Looked to me like the crowd had thinned out a bit as well after Altameda. I left myself after about a half hour, I had seen and heard enough.

A big thank you goes out to Troy for guest list, much appreciated! Good times!!!

The Trews.

T-shirt.