Shout Out Out Out Out Live Sept.28th 2012

On Friday night my buddy Hurl and I went downtown to catch a couple of local bands kicking off the Alberta Culture Days Celebration. This show was an outdoor show held just off of Jasper Avenue, they shut down a few blocks in the downtown area and set up a stage and kiosks for local vendors. The two bands playing were Mad Bomber Society a great ska band, which unfortunately we missed, as we had a few beers after work and were running late, but we did get there just in time to catch local dance/punk/electro group Shout Out Out Out Out. This was my fourth time seeing the band live and they never disappoint. The band is so full of energy and fun to see live. Their music is something I normally wouldn't listen to, but for some reason this band resonates with me. If I had never seen them live the first time at the Yesterday Was Everything Festival back in 2005, I probably would never have paid any attention to them, but live they are so damn good. There is no guitars in the band, just keyboards,bass and drums. All of the vocals are done through a vocoder which at times can be hard to understand the lyrics, although under the right influence I have been able to understand everything Nik Kozub is singing. What I always get a kick out of after every song the audience shouting "Shout Out Out Out Out". It was nice to see a good turnout for this outdoor show on a beautiful fall evening.

Shout Out Out Out Out played for about an hour playing some stuff from their newest album Spanish Moss and Total Loss which came out earlier this summer on their own record label Normals Welcome Records. Even if your not a fan of dance music, this band is well worth checking out live. Good times!!!

T-shirt from show.

Buddy Guy w/ Jonny Lang in Edmonton Sept.25th 2012

On Tuesday night at the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton, my buddy Buzzard and I attended the Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang double bill. This was my first time seeing Jonny Lang in concert and my third time seeing Buddy Guy live. This double bill was promising to be a great night of some blues music.

The evening started with Fargo,North Dakota phenom Jonny Lang opening. I had heard and read lots about this blues guitarist but have yet to pick anything up of his. And after his show Tuesday night, I won't be rushing out to get buy any, anytime soon. I found his set to be extremely boring, sure he can sing and play, but his style of the blues does nothing for me. It all felt very contemporary, I am more a fan of gritty rocking blues. My buddy Buzzard who is a fan and has some of his albums, also wasn't all that impressed, so I know it wasn't just me. His hour and fifteen minute set felt like it was never going to end. After all the hype about Jonny Lang, I was expecting more, a let down for me.

Headliner of the night and rightfully so was the living blues legend 76 year old Buddy Guy. Buddy and his band come out rocking opening with the title cut from his 1991 album Damn Right,I've Got The Blues. It was one of the few songs that Buddy Guy actually played from start to finish. Buddy would get in to a song and then stop and tell a story or break off in to another song, or do a bit of a cover, songs like 'Hoochie Coochie Man' by Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker's 'Boom Boom' and a couple of Cream songs 'Strange Brew' and 'Sunshine Of Your Love' were also covered, again not in full though. One of the songs he did do in full was the song 'Someone Else Is Steppin' In that had a full audience participation during this song. Another song he did was the song '74 Years Young' from his last album (2010) Living Proof it was during this song that Buddy Guy ventured in to the crowd playing away and hamming it up through out the crowd, at one point I lost sight of him only to have him show up right behind us in the first balcony and four rows up still playing away. Sure didn't expect to have Buddy Guy that close to me considering we were in balcony seating, so that was super cool.

Here are a few pictures of him behind us. He caught me by surprise, so the first couple of pics aren't great.

To close out the night Buddy Guy broke in to the Jimi Hendrix classic 'Voodoo Child (Slight Return)'. Oh ya, Buddy and his other guitarist also brought out the acoustics for a couple of songs, something I have never seen him do before, super cool. Again I really enjoyed seeing Buddy Guy in concert, he such an entertainer and an amazing guitar player as well. His set was also 75 minutes long, but I could have stayed for another couple of hours listening and watching Buddy Guy perform. You would never guess him to be 76 years old that's for sure. All and all a great show. Good times!!!

Because lately I always seem to have some kind of rant about the show. I do for this one too. This one has to deal with the posters they were selling at the merchandise booth. It is the poster at the top of this post. These posters were for sale for 15 dollars and were advertised as a limited edition poster of 300 only and all individualy numbered. Well I call bullshit on this one, have a look at the poster, do you see a number anywhere on it? Nope, nothing on the back either. False advertising on that one. I wish I had noticed this at the show. Damn!!!

T-shirt front.

Back of t-shirt.

John Fogerty Live In Edmonton Sept.22nd 2012

On Saturday night my buddy Buzzard,Charlene and I went to the John Fogerty concert at Rexall Place here in Edmonton. i was quite hesitant about going to this show as I have never been a big fan of John's old band Creedende Clearwater Revival, but have liked some of his solo material. I took the chance and bought the ticket from Buzzard. Only to find out a few weeks later that there were two other good shows announced for the same evening. Them being Joel Plaskett in St.Albert and Anthrax and Testament at the EEC. Regardless I committed to the Fogerty show. But then I heard that Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real(Willie Nelson's sons band) were opening the Canadian dates. That stoked my interest in the show, as I have really got into Lukas' music just recently. But then I find out a week before the show here that Lukas wouldn't be playing the Edmonton show as he would be playing the Farm Aidconcert down in the States,piss me off.

Saturday's night concert was just an evening with John Fogerty, no opening band. The show was good with a great turn out, a crowd of about 10,000 people with Fogerty playing for two solid hours. After about 40 minutes I realized what I already knew, I just am not a big fan of CCR. Maybe it's cause I grew up on the music, hearing my parents play it when I was a little kid. And you know your not supposed to like your parents music,right,lol. John and his back-up band were good, the songs sounded good. John played the classic CCR album Cosmo's Factory in its entirety, an album that I can actually tolerate. What did surprise me about John's concert was all the flashiness of the fireworks and flashes and big screens on each side of the stage. I was expecting a more stripped down rock n' roll show. And with the shitty seats I had for the show, it felt like I was watching a concert on DVD. I much prefer having seats closer to the stage where I can actually see the musicians without the help of a TV screen.

Nothing against John Fogerty or his music, like I say he put on a good rock n' roll show of 70's swampy southern rock. I'm just not that in to his music. For those that do enjoy his music, I am sure you walked away saying it was an amazing show. I myself, wish I had gone to one of the other two shows that were happening on this Saturday night.

Carolyn Mark at Permanent Records Sept.19th 2012

On Wednesday I had a Doctor's appointment which took up most of the morning and then had to go back in the afternoon for another appointment which took up the rest of the day which meant having to miss work after all was said and done. After spending the day waiting in waiting rooms and Doctors offices, being poked and probed and such, it was time to see some live music, which is just what the Doctor ordered. Luckily all my appointments were done in time to catch Carolyn Mark play at the local record shop Permanent Records here in Edmonton.

Carolyn Mark is touring to promote her newest release 'The Queen Of Vancouver Island' which came out the day before her in store performance here. This release came out on Mint Records and is available through Mint's website and at your local record shops, support your local store.

The performance at Permanent Records was another poorly attended show, which is very unfortunate, maybe it was because of the 4pm Wednesday afternoon start or the lack of advertising for the show, nonetheless, there were very few people in attendance.

That didn't stop Carolyn Mark and her three piece band from playing a 40 minute set. Carolyn plays a country/rock style of music and comes across as a very entertaining lady with a great sense of humour. She started her set with a song called 'Fuzzy Slippers' from her 2002 album Terrible Hostess, she also played a song appropiately enough called 'Edmonton' from her Party Girl album that came out in 2000. Carolyn and her band played a few new songs too of course from her newest release, songs such as the title song 'The Queen Of Vancouver Island', 'Flaming Star', 'Best Friend' and 'Baby Goats'. Kudos to Carolyn Mark and her band for putting on a good show even though there was next to no one there. Good times!!!

Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Live in Edmonton Sept.18th 2012

On Tuesday night my buddy A-Bomb and I went to the Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros concert here in Edmonton at the Edmonton Events Centre. The opening band for the show was Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah. We caught the last 3 songs of Clap Your Hands set and have to say I didn't like them at all. We were there to see Edward Sharpe, as this was the first time for both of us catching this band live.

A-Bomb is the one that got me in to this band about a year ago. Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros are a 12 piece band from Los Angeles, in which there is no one in the band by the name of Edward Sharpe. I didn't realize how popular this band til I got to the show and realized it was almost sold out, so about 1500 people at the show would be my guess.

Edward Sharpe remind me a lot of another large band called Polyphonic Spree. Unlike Polyphonic all the members in Magnetic play an instrument. Both these bands almost seem like a cult kind of band, a hippie communal kind of thing. I found Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros to play an uplifting spiritual style of music. The band is touring for their latest release called Here that came out in May. Although the album is good, their music is way better when it is performed live.

After an hour wait between bands (felt like for fuckin' ever) it was time for Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros. As the band came out on stage it really hit you how big this band is, it took a while to get all 12 members out, and then the stage looked really small with that many people on it. The band sounded good a few blips here and there which I guess can be expected with that many members. Lead singer Alex Ebert sounded good even if he does look like he just scraped himself up off a street corner, also Jade Castrinos who sang both lead and background vocals added a whole other element to the band, she has a beautiful voice, coming off all shy while she sings. I don't know the song titles of their songs all that well but some of the songs I did recognize during their hour and a half set were 'Carries On', 'Fiya Wata', 'One Love To Another', 'Man On Fire', 'I Don't Wanna Pray', and their big single from their last album the second last song of the evening 'Home'.

This was a great show with everyone in to the music big time, lots of small circles of hippies through out the venue doing there hippy dance. I think the best way to see this band would be in an outdoor festival setting. All and all, Good times!!!

Band Of Skulls Live in Edmonton Sept.12th 2012

On Wedenesday night my buddy A-Bomb want to the Starlite Room here in Edmonton to see Band Of Skulls from England. This was my second time seeing the band play live.

By the time we got to the venue, we had missed most of the opening bands set. What we did see, which was about 20 minutes of their set and it was alright. The band was local artist called The Canyon Rose Outfit. The band was rocking especially the main dude on guitar,keyboards and vocals, he was definitelly the show stealer. They also had a horn player whom I think they could do without. The Canyon Rose Outfit play a southern tinged rock n' roll style of music. All and all a decent opening set.

Next up was the main act Band Of Skulls. They opened their set with the title track from their latest album 'Sweet Sour'. The three piece band rocked from start to finish playing at times a Zeppelin influenced style of rock n' roll. With two albums out they mixed their set good playing songs from both albums, songs such as 'Death By Diamonds And Pearls','The Devil Takes Care Of His Own', 'Light Of The Morning', 'I Know What I Am' as well as 'You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin On' and that's all I recall for songs. After all A-Bomb and I had got int to the beers quite heavy which led us to doing shots of Jack Daniels, not a very good idea on a work night. It sure made for a long day of work on Thursday but it was all worth it in the end.Good times!!!

The show was far from sold out. I would say maybe 300 people at the most. My complaint about this show is that I couldn't find out who the opening band was going to be. The posters around town said with guests, the ticket agency Prime Box Office had nothing on theirweb page about who was opening, neither did the venue's site, or Band Of Skulls site. I even tried e-mailing the Starlite Room the day of the show to ask who was opening, but didn't get a reply back, thats professional,not. If your going to have an opening band it would be nice if you could at least let a person know who the hell it might be.

T-shirt.