Interstellar Rodeo Fest Day 1 July 26th 2014

So last weekend was the third installment of the Interstellar Rodeo Festival in Edmonton. Sadly, the start which was supposed to be Friday night with headliners Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans was cancelled due to a fucking torrential down pour of rain for about twenty hours with wind gusts, so Friday was a wash out.

So Saturday was the start of the festival held at the Heritage Amphitheatre in Hawrelak Park. Saturday's weather wasn't looking all that good either with a forecast of rain off and on during the day, but hell, beat the shit out of the Friday weather, so therefore the show went on.

I got there nice and early with my sweetie Janis, our friend Erin and her Mom, cool Mom, I say. Anyways, first band was on at 12:30 which was the Dave Bidini Band. Dave of course used to be the lead singer of the Rheostatics from Toronto, Ontario, whom is also an author of books such as Tropic Of Hockey, For Those About To Write, Around The World in 57 1/2 Gigs, just to name a few. This was the second time had seen Dave Bidini solo in concert. I thought he put on a wicked show, also I am thinking that was Ford Pier on bass.

Dave Bidini Band.

Next up was another band from Toronto called the Strumbellas. Now I had heard lots about this band and heard some of there tunes on CKUA Radio. I kind of thought they were a hyped band and figured they were going to be a disappointment, why I thought this, I have no idea, jus hate being let down. Well, I have to say, they were fucking awesome live, way better then what I had heard recorded. A very energetic band, great songs, great characters within in the band. Reminded me of a mix of Edward Sharpe and Gogol Bordello. Great stuff, I will be seeing this band again for sure, and picking up some of their music.

The Strumbellas.

After the Strumbellas was band from Australia called Wagons. Wow, what a great one, two punch that was one after the other. The Wagons played an awesome hour long set of Americana country rock. They fuckin' kicked ass, very entertaining. There song Willie Nelson was a crowd favorite. Another band I will be watching.

Wagons.

Lee Fields and the Expressions were up next, yet another band I had never heard. Well, I can say they kicked ass, great soul music, easily compared to James Brown in his hey days. Tight band, had the crowd up and dancing. Surprisingly this guy has been doing this since the late sixties and just now getting his exposure. Good stuff!!!

Lee Fields & The Expressions.

Interlude between bands was Ford Pier out of Vancouver. While I had seen him before with his own band The Ford Pier Vengeance Trio, this time he was playing a solo show, well for the most part, he did have a drummer come up half way through. I enjoyed his set, I know many people found it weird, but that is what I expected. All and all, I thought he was alright. Ford played in many a bands before, checkout his page here.

Ford Pier.

The next band Hydra is what I guess you would call a super group, Canadian wise anyways, with Leslie Feist being in it, lots of other members from other bands I have no idea whom are, maybe I am out of the loop. Regardless, there music was fucked up, at times I thought they were incredible. other times, I thought they were gawd awful. Don't know what to make of this band other then interesting yet terrible. hmm, just plain weird.

Hydra.

To close out the first night of the Interstellar Rodeo was Andrew Bird & The Hands Of Glory out of Chicago. His brand of music was a little soul influenced, folky/indie rock. His voice was great as was his violin playing. All and all not a bad show. Overall, a great day of music, weather wasn't the greatest, but still good times!!!

Andrew Bird & The Hands Of Glory.

Takin' It To The Streets 3 July 6th 2014

On Sunday July 6th the Commercial Hotel and Blues On Whyte put on the third annual "Takin' It To The Streets" Festival on Whyte Avenue. This is a street party where they shut down a block of Whyte Ave. and have three stages with bands, the day starts with a pancake breakfast and bands starting at 10am. The three stages are, one on the avenue is the main stage, a stage in the beer garden and then also bands playing in Blues On Whyte.

I got down there in time to catch the first band which was Krystie Dos Santos from Edmonton but now based in Vancouver. Her soulful, jazz blues music was a nice way to start the morning. I was surprised by how many people were already on the avenue for her set. I guess the pancake breakfast probably helped with that. She had an awesome voice and even did an Alabama Shakes cover, in which she did a great job of.

Krystie Dos Santos.

Next up was a band from Saskatoon called Blue Mules, this three piece band played some rocking blues and had the beer garden happening before noon.

Blue Mules.

After taking a break from the hot sun on a beautiful day, I headed back to the beer garden to catch Saskatoon guitarist Tim Vaughn. He and his wicked back up band put on a great show, again, the beer garden crowd was up and dancing and enjoying the music.

Tim Vaughn.

After some supper and a few beers at home, it was back out to the main stage to catch headliner Wild T & The Spirit. This was my ninth time seeing Wild T play live. While he put on a good show during his one hour set, I still miss the days when he did all original compositions. he did lots of covers, including a Jimi Hendrix cover which went on way too long. Kudos to the Commercial Hotel and Blues On Whyte for pulling off another great street party. Hopefully this will continue to happen as it makes for a fun way to spend a Sunday, and thanks to the weather gods for the beautiful weather. Good times!!!

Wild T & The Spirit.

NQ Arbuckle in store July 4th 2014

On Friday July 4th I went to the free in-store performance by alt-country band NQ Arbuckle from Toronto play at Permanent Records here in Edmonton. I had never seen the band before, but had heard of them. They have just released their newest album "The Future Happens" on Six Shooter Records and are on the road promoting it, having just played The Artery the night before here in Edmonton. This the first new material from the band in five years. NQ Arbuckle played for an hour in-store and put on a great performance. Nice to see a good size audience for this show too. Good times!!!

NQ Arbuckle at Permanent Records.

RIP Johnny Winter 1944-2014

A sad day on the sixteenth of July with the passing of blues guitar legend Johnny Winter. Johnny passed away in a hotel room in Switzerland while on tour. I have always been a big fan of Johnny Winter from my late teens. I got to see Johnny Winter four times in concert, the first time being in 1989 at the Dinwoodie Lounge here in Edmonton. What an amazing show it was too. I instantly hooked on his music after this performance. So fun, that my buddies pushed me home in a shopping cart, ya good times!!!

Flyer from the 1989 show.

I had also seen Johnny Winter play one of the worst concerts I had seen in my life. It was a show in Edmonton back in April of 2001 at a short lived blues club called the R&B Club. This show was a disaster, as Johnny was not in good shape at all. He could barely hold himself up, could barely play and kept wiping and blowing his nose through out the show. Not good. I honestly thought he was going to die on stage that night, and if not that night, I wasn't going to be surprised if I heard about his death in the near future. Really sad to watch actually.

Ticket stub from 2001 show.

Next time I saw him was at Polish Hall in Edmonton with David Gogo opening in 2007, this was a much much better show by the guitar legend. I believe this is about the time that his second guitarist of his band Paul Nelson took over in being Johnny's manager. His old manager Teddy Slatus was keeping him away from everyone that cared for him, including his own brother Edgar Winter. A huge shout out to Paul Nelson for re-invigorating Johnny health and career. Good job Paul.

This show was a great concert with Johnny playing and sounding good and most importantly looking healthier then the disastrous show on 2001.

Few pictures from the 2007 show.

The last time I got to see Johnny Winter perform was in 2011, again at Polish Hall with James Cotton opening. Talk about a blues legend double bill. This show too was excellent as Johnny and his band put on a great hour and a half show with Johnny playing like no one's business and his voice really sounding good. Sadly, this would be the last time I saw him play. Such a shame. Thank god for his music being out there. Rest In Peace Johnny Winter, you will be missed. You put out and performed some amazing music in your seventy years on this earth. Long Live The Blues!!!

Few pictures from the 2011 show.