The Slates in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland July 19th 2012

I just got back from a two week vacation of the East coast of Canada. My girlfriend Janis and I were making our way to St. Anthony, Newfoundland (Janis' hometown) for "Come Home Year". We started our vacation in Nova Scotia, then Prince Edward Island and worked our way up to the northern tip of Nfld.

After booking our vacation I started looking into seeing what kind of shows I might come across while on vacation. I wasn't able to see anything in Halifax, but did notice that Edmonton band The Slates would be playing in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland at the same time that we would be there. We were staying overnight in Corenerbrook, so I decided I would make the trek to the bar called White Horse Whiskey Bar and Lounge to catch the Edmonton band The Slates play. Funny I would be across the country and I still end up seeing a band from my home city Edmonton play.

Things get started late in Newfoundland, so I didn't head out to the bar til about 11pm. I hung out for about a half hour sitting at the bar having a few when I got talking to a gentleman, he probably noticed I wasn't from around there and was wondering what was up,lol. After talking for a bit, he told me he was the owner of the bar. A younger guy, 33 years old and has had the bar up and running for 8 months now. Nice guy with a great attitude who is trying his damndest to get bands to play his bar. Hard gig I am sure as Nfld isn't an easy place to get around, with it being about a 10 hour drive between St. Johns and Cornerbrook. After talking for a bit, I asked him where a good place to go for a smoke is, he said follow me, in which I did and we went for a "smoke". His name is Kevin and is a super nice guy, and an Edmonton Oilers fan to boot too. I wish him the best in his endeavour, and really hope he gets lots of bands to come through Cornerbrook. The bar itself is upstairs and is a nice intimate venue for live music.

After a few beers and smokes, so around midnite The Slates came on, I figured they would be headlining, and they were supposed to, but they had to play first and then head out to catch the ferry back to Nova Scotia as they had a show in Dartmouth the following day. This was my third time seeing The Slates. They play a melodic punk rock style of music. I enjoyed them and thought they sounded good considering they had been on the road most of the day and still had a 4 hour drive in front of them to get to the ferry. The Slates played for about an hour to a crowd of about 30 people, playing lots from their album "Prarie Fires" and closed the night out with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" cover by The Band. Sounded fuckin' good too. I got to talk to the guys in The Slates for a bit after there set. It was there first time in Nfld. and were surprised to see me, a fellow Edmontonian in the audience. So we had a good chat about the excellent people of Nfld. and they said they wished they had more time in Nfld. They seemed to really enjoy themselve. Good guys they are in the band.

I stuck around for a bit to see the next band. They were called Mrk Hyles Band, a local band I believe. I stayed for two songs and didn't much care for them at all. I had a really good time at the show, go tot talk to some of the locals whom were all really great people too. Good times!!!

The entrance to the bar.

Sign outside the bar.

The Slates in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland.

Commercial Hotel's 100th Anniversary Celebration

On Sunday July 8th the Commercial Hotel in Edmonton celebrated their 100th Birthday. The hotel holds the club Blues On Whyte which has hosted live music 7 days a week since the mid 80's. To celebrate their birthday they closed off a block of Whyte avenue and had a street party. There were two stages set up, a main stage on the avenue and a smaller stage between the hotel and Greenwoods Bookshoppe that also was a beer tent,minus the tent. Live music started at 10am and went til 10pm with the music alternating between the two stages. Along with the music, they held a pancake breakfast and lots of local vendors from Whyte ave set up on the street selling there wares.

My buddy Hurl and I hit the ave at 11am, a bit hungover, but nothing a few cold ones can't cure, in which we indulged. But that didn't last long, we caught the local ska band King Muskafa (whom used to play every Sunday at the Commie), they are a fun band to see and had the packed beer tent up and dancing early in the day. In almost plus 30 weather already. We could only handle an hour or so of that, beers and sun beating on you when you are hungover will make mince meat of you in a hurry. Nonetheless, we did enjoy their set. After them it was time to bail, and get out of the sun for a bit.

King Muskafa.

I then went back later in the afternoon and caught another local band called Jk And The Static, they were a good blues band, nothing I found especially original, but fun. They too had the crowd up and danicng and carrying on, just like seeing a band in the Commie. Good times!!!

A funny thing I saw during Jk's set, a guy in the crowd whom ended up wearing all kinds of hats from the people in the crowd, a Commie moment for sure.

Back home it was for an hour or so to have a few beers and get out there in time to catch Wild T and The Spirit. This was my 8th time seeing them in concert, and have to say the best I have seen them out of the last three. It was good to see Wild T looking healthy and ripping it up again. He put on a great performance to a decent crowd on the main stage on Whyte Ave. I ran in to my buddy Mook at the show which was nice. We made our way to a side street for a quick smoke which made the show even more enjoyable. All and all a great day with aqesome weather, wicked music, cold beers and good people. The Commercial Hotel should be proud for the awesome street party they threw for the 100th Anniversary of the Commie. Good times!!!!

A Bunch Of Marys with Bombchan at New City July 7th 2012

On Saturday night my buddy Hurl and went to New City Legion on Whyte Avenue here in Edmonton to checkout local bands Bombchan and A Bunch Of Marys. We missed the first band of the night The Switchmen.

We got there just in time to catch Bombchan. This was my first time seeing this band perform, and will not be my last time. These guys were absolutely incredible. The band is led by lead singer and slide guitar player Mike Park, with Ayla Brook also on guitar playing mostly rhythm, but holy shit when he did get his time in the spotlight, Ayla could fuckin' rip it up. Mike Park was wicked on slide guitar and the man can sing with a lot of heart, amazing stuff. Rounding out the band is bassist Karie Brown and on drums you have Grant Stovel.

Bombchan play a mean brand of the blues adding there own twist to blues covers , but not your usual middle of the road blues. They cover such artists as RL Burnside, Bukka White, Fred McDowell and Robert Petway. They remind me of some the atrists that the record label Fat Possum was releasing in the 90's.

Bombchan played about a 30-40 minute set that rocked through out. I sat there in awe, and totally digged what they were playing. A very impressive set. They have an EP out called 'Do Me Right', which is well worth searching out.

A band I will surely be following. Can't wait to see them play live again.

Bombchan.

Headliners for the evening was Mike McDonald's band A Bunch Of Marys. This was my third time seeing them play live and first time seeing them headline. They had a hard act to follow and I think Mike knew it as well. The first thing out of his mouth as they hit the stage was something along the lines of "ok, now that you have seen the good guitar players, we are A Bunch Of Marys".

A Bunch Of Marys opened with the song 'Wuthering Heights', and mixed up there set quite a lot from the last two times I have seen them which was nice to see. Playing a longer set this evening I found that they stretched some their songs out with some extended jams. Maybe it was just me, but I thought I heard a little bit of a Rush influence in a couple of songs. Mike and the band sounded good, be nice if they would release an EP or something, can't wait to hear some new songs in the future. I enjoyed their set, which was about an hour long, but have to say I truly do think Bombchan stole the show on this night. All and all a good time was had to a small but appreciative crowd. Good times!!!

Metallica Tour Program 1992

Today's tour program is from the time I saw Metallica in 1992 on the 'Wherever I May Roam' tour. I saw Metallica in Edmonton and Calgary on this tour, and bought the program in Edmonton as in Calgary my buddies Hurl,Nerraw and I scored pit passes for that show.

The program is 28 pages in length with some cool pictures and a little bit of reading in it as well. In the centre of the program is a four page fold out shot of the stage set up. Overall not a bad program. This is one of the last concert programs I ever bought.

Front cover.

Back Cover.

Pit pass from the Calgary show.

In concert news...Metallica will be playing two shows in Edmonton this summer. The dates are Friday August 17th and Saturday August 18th at Rexall Place.