Concert Shirt Of The Day June 30th (Jeff Healey)

Today's t-shirt is from the time I saw Jeff Healey play at The Jubilee Auditorium in July of 1989 in Edmonton. He was touring for his first album See The Light.

Front.


Back.




The Saturday before this concert Jeff Healey did an in store appearance at the old record shop downtown at The Marquee where he played a few songs then did an autograph session.

Concert Poster Of The Day June 29th (Big Sugar)

Today's poster is from a great double bill I saw at The Shaw Conference Centre in 1998. Two great rock n' roll bands Big Sugar with Gov't Mule opening, an awesome evening of music.





In concert news... Big Sugar as reunited for a few shows this summer, they will be playing the Summer Slam Fest in Grande Prarie,Alberta on Saturday July 17 and then lead guitarist Gordie Johnson and harmonica player Kelly Hoppe of Big Sugar will be doing the two fools on stools acoustic set at The Beaumont Blues Fest on Saturday Sept.24th.

Concert Shirt Of The Day June 28th (Johnny Winter)

Today's t-shirt is from the Johnny Winter concert I saw at the R&B Club in Millwoods (club closed long ago) in April of 2001. I have to say this is probably the worst concert I have ever attended. It was my second time seeing Johnny live, having seen him in 1989 at The Dinwoodie where he put on an awesome show. But this show in 2001 was awful. I actually really thought he was going to keel over and die right there in front of my eyes. While he is getting old in age,he looked really frail at this show, having to sit on a stool for the whole show, that I can understand. It was the not being able to play the guitar and wiping and blowing his nose the whole show, he just didn't have his shit together whatsoever. He was right out of it,just an awful show and a huge disappointment.

Front.


Back.

Tim Hus Album Review

This album from Calgary singer/songwriter Tim Hus is his 5th album. The album is called "Hockeytown" and was released a few weeks ago on Stony Plain Records. The album is the most Canadiana album I have heard since Stompin' Tom used to release albums on a consistent basis.

Speaking of Stompin', you can't help but compare Tim Hus to him. Tim's songs cover all kinds of Canadian subjects and his singing sounds a lot like Stompin' Tom. With song titles like "Canadian Pacific" about the CPR railway, "Hockeytown" which could be about any town or city in Canada. The title song is a great hockey song, there seems to be a few more songs being written about our national sport these days. It used to just be Stompin's Hockey Song, but now you have Mike Plumes "More Than A Game" song and now Tim's "Hockeytown" song, which is also a great song. Tim Hus covers a lot of Provines in his songs, like "Red River"(Manitoba), "Saskatchewan Son-Of-A-Gun" which is obvious with this hilarious opening line "The prairie is a place you can watch your dog run away for days" to this great chorus,

"I'm a Pilsner drinkin',whitetail huntin'
Purple burnin',stubble jumpin'
Slough boggin',prarie doggin'
Rod and reelin',snowmobilin'
Genuine big sky son-of-a-gun
From Saskatchewan"

Other songs about Provinces are the Newfie song "North Atlantic Trawler" about the atrocity of the fishing industry in said province, the Ontario song would be "Hamilton Steel" about of course the steel industry in Hamilton, the British Columbia song "Sasquatch Hunter" is another great song with a sense of humour about hunting for, well,Sasquatch of course. This verse in the song will give you an idea of how funny this song is,

"I tracked him up to the snowy peaks
Along the ridge and down to the creek
Beyond the fire lookout station
Right on through a marijuana plantation
I followed him to the Okanagan Lake
And I found the Ogopogo by mistake
The two of them were sittin' right there
Smokin' cigars and drinkin' my beer"

The Nova Scotia song would be "Home Of Hank Snow", The song "Country Music Lament" would be about the sorry state of country music, especially the shit they play on the radio. The album closes out with the Tom Wilson written song "Talkin' Saskatoon Blues" all and all a really good album. I would give this album an 8 out of 10. Good stuff!!!

In concert news... Tim Hus will be opening for Stompin' Tom Connors here in Edmonton on Tuesday August 31st at The Jubilee Auditorium. Tim has been touring with Stompin' for a while now, you can sure tell he has been hanging with him and his highly influenced Tim's song writing.

Concert Poster Of The Day June 27th (Bloodhound Gang)

Today's concert poster is from a show that my buddy A-Bomb and I had tickets for but almost didn't go to, it was a weekday show, I think we may have been hungover from a previous night of drinking, we hummed and hawed about going, then decided at the last minute, hell, we got tickets, no sense in wasting them and we really like this band, so we went.
It was a show at The Rev (The Bronx/Starlite Room) back in 1997, the awesomely hilarious band Bloodhound Gang. They were touring for their "Hooray For Boobies" album. I sure am glad we sucked it up and went to the concert. It was an excellent show and a lot of fun. Good times!!!

Concert Shirt Of The Day June 25th (Judas Priest)

Today's t-shirt is from the Judas Priest and Bon Jovi concert I attended in 1986 with Nerraw and Cuz. Bon Jovi opening for Priest, weird double bill, this was before Jovi were big, I think they only had their debut album out at the time. Priest were touring for their Turbo album. This was the first time I had ever had row one on the floor for a concert, and wow, did I ever pay for that. My ears rang for three days, it is still probably the loudest coliseum concerts I have ever been to. The concert was during Klondike Days (exhibition) and I recall walking around the grounds after the show not able to hear a damn thing.

I wanna give a shout out to Marina Y. a friend of mine from Junior High School days whom sent me this t-shirt. I have no idea where my shirt went, as I have lost a few over the years. She found me on facebook, and was looking at my blog and messaged me asking if I still had my Priest shirt, which I didn't. She was nice enough to send me hers. Thanks Marina :)

Front.


Back.

Concert Poster Of The Day June 24th (Cinderella)

Today's poster is from the Cinderella and Slaughter double bill I saw in 1991 when Cinderella were touring for their third album Heartbreak Station. Cinderella actually put on a really good show, as for Slaughter, I thought they were awful.

Book Review

This is a book that I finally finished reading after having it for almost 6 months. It's a book called "The official Heavy Metal Book Of Lists" put together by Eric Danville, I actually won this book from Dee Sniders (he of Twisted Sister) website for his radio show called The House Of Hair. It's actually a really fun radio show tolisten to, with him playing all kinds of old school metal, from thrash to hair/glam metal. Dee's radio show plays on Edmonton classic rock station K97 (97.3 FM) on Saturdays from 9pm to midnite.

Anyways, back to the book. This book is a good for the shitter, like a bathroom reader book. It's got lists of all kinds, some interesting, some just stupid. here are a few examples of the lists.
- 20 Bands Singing the Praises of Necrophilia
- 13 Metalheads Who Died in Vehicle Accidents
- 51 Awesomely Violent Band Names
- 10 Fun facts About the Gibson Double Neck Guitar
- 11 Heavy Metal Gigs That Ended in Riots
and so on and so on. It's a fun read, but I have to say I noticed a few mistakes in the book as I was reading it. Another thing, the book I got is missing the pages from 13 to 44, what the fuck is up with that!

Concert Shirt/Poster Of The Day June 23rd (KISS/Anthrax)

Today's t-shirt is from the first time I saw Anthrax in concert when they opened for KISS at Northland's Coliseum in 1988. Anthrax were touring for their Among The Living album, by far my favorite album of theirs. Six months later they released State Of Euphoria, so we got to hear a few tracks from that album as well. As big of fan as I am of KISS, they were touring for their album Crazy Nights which is terrible, so I was definitely at this show for Anthrax.

Front.


Back.






When it comes to concert shirts, I have always been a fan of shirts that have the tour dates on the back. I think it makes them more authentic,especially when the year and date and city is listed. I have always really liked this Anthrax shirt, another one of my faves.



Note the autograph on the poster. The guitarist for KISS (Bruce Kulick) did a guitar clinic at Mothers Music the day of the show.

Concert Poster Of The Day June 22nd (U2)

Today's poster is from the U2 concerts at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton in 1997 with the Fun Lovin' Criminals opening. The first show sold out so quick that they added a second show, which made for a weekend of U2. They were touring for the Pop album at the time. I was never really a big fan of the band til I saw them play live. I thought they were very enjoyable shows.







In concert news...U2 were scheduled to play in Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium again for the first time since 1997, but the show has been postponed til next summer.

Concert Shirt/Poster Of The Day June 21st (Violent Femmes)

Today's t-shirt is from the Violent Femmes and Hawksley Workman double bill my buddy A-Bomb and I went to in 2000 at The Shaw Conference Centre. The Violent Femmes were excellent in concert and would love the chance to see them play live again.

Front.


Back.

Petty,Cocker and Hank III in Concert 06/16/10

Last night Wednesday June 16th was a busy night for live music in the city of Edmonton. The night started with Hurl,Buzzard,Mook,Doug and I heading out to see the Tom Petty and Joe Cocker double bill at Rexall Place.

This was my second time seeing Joe Cocker in concert (first time was 1995 at Jube) we got to the venue in plenty of time as to be sure to catch Joe. We were seated in the back of the coliseum in the upper deck. Not bad seats as we were right in the middle, sound is great but you can't see a fucking thing. Much to my surprise, a co-worker that I have just started working with also works at the Coliseum. I had told him earlier in the day where I was sitting, 2 songs in to the Joe Cocker set, he opened with Feelin' Alright, he found where Hurl and I were sitting and upgraded our seats to row 14 on the floor, fucking sweet :) A big shout out to A.T. for the new seats. Once we got down to our floor seats to catch the rest of Cocker made all the difference in the world, not only did it sound even better, but you could see Joe making all his facial expressions and twitching like he always has. The man was sounding awesome for someone that is 66 years old, he can still carry a song. He closed his set with the Beatles song "A Little Help From My Friends" I was very impressed with Joe Cocker's set, especially after scoring the floor seats. I would give Joe a 7 out of 10.





Front.


Back.


Next up was Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, this was my 3rd time seeing them (having seen them twice in 2008). The shitty part for me was that Hurl and I had to leave after only 35 minutes of the show in order to get downtown to see the Hank III show. What we did see of the Petty show was awesome. At times the crowd almost drowned out Petty's vocals as everyone was singing along at the top of their lungs. It was really a shame that we had to bail early as it was looking and sounding like it was going to be a great night of music. I would give the show a 9 out of 10.








After a quick drive to The Starlite Room in downtown Edmonton and few beers in the parking lot, we timed it perfect, walked in got a beer and Hank hit the stage. It was a sweaty night in the Starlite as the show was sold out and it fucking hot. Hank III (Hank Williams' grandson) and his back up band The Assjacks started the show with the hillbilly country stuff, which sounded excellent and had the place a rocking, dancing and singing along. His country stuff full of lyrics about drinking,drugging and having a good time and the crowd was following along, even a few doobies were smoked in the place during the show. As the show went on it got heavier with Hank and his back up band Assjack getting more into the punk thing, as this happened you could see the bar starting to empty out. Most of the crowd was there to hear his country music. I didn't much care for the punk stuff myself either, but stuck it out for the whole show. He played for close to three hours with about half the show country and half punk. All and all not a bad show, I would give it a 6.5 out of 10. At the end of the show Hank hung out at the front of the stage and signed autographs and shook hands with his fans. I was lucky enough to meet him and get an autograph, he was a nice guy and it was good to see him take the time to meet his fans.

It was a fun night of rock n' roll, thank god I booked the following day off.









Front.

Concert Shirt/Poster Of The Day June 16th (Glueleg)

Today's t-shirt is from a 3 piece band plus 2 horn players from Toronto that were around between 1990 to 1997. The band was called Glueleg, I saw them play at People's Pub here in Edmonton in 1995 and thought they were incredible, they reminded me a lot of Rocket From The Crypt with the punk/jazz sound with a couple of horn players. The album Heroic Doses that they put out was really quite good.

Front.


Back.


The slogan on the back of this shirt is a blatant rip off of a slogan that the band Primus used to use.

Lyrics Of The Day June 15th (Slayer)

"Have you ever danced with the devil
Has temptation ever summoned you
Ever penned your name in blood
Let possession slowly swallow you
When you stand under full moonlight
The attraction mesmerizes you
Have you ever wondered why
It seems that evil you're attracted to"

Lyrics from the song Temptation by Slayer from the album Seasons In The Abyss (1990), I can't believe it's been 20 years since this came out,wow!!!

Concert Poster Of The Day June 15th (Bad Brains)

I have decided I am going to start showing some posters from shows I have been to, but didn't get a t-shirt, as sometimes a guy just can't afford a shirt or they aren't worth it or they just don't have any for sale.

Today's poster is from the show Bad Brains concert I saw in 2001 at Suburbs bar here in Edmonton, an amazing show it was.