Seven Inch Saturday (Against Me!)

Today's seven inch single is an exclusive Black Friday Record Store Day release from 2014. It is a four song seven inch by Laura Jane Grace and Atom Willard of Against Me!. This recording was done as part of the Daytrotter Sessions and was recorded in May of 2014 and came out on the Total Treble label which was started by the band. It is a rare solo performance by Laura, two of the songs Transgender Dysphoria Blues and Two Coffins are from Against Me!'s last album Transgender Dysphoria Blues, while the other two songs Pretty Girls is from their 2005 album Searching For A Former Clarity and 500 Years is a previously unreleased song. This was a limited release of 2000 copies. Good stuff!!!

Throwback Thursday...Rocket From The Crypt

A couple of posters from the times I have seen Rocket From The Crypt in concert.

Beer

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a beer that interested me as it seemed to have a music theme to it. That, and I love beer, so ya I had to try it. It's a India Pale Ale brewed by Better Bitter Brewing Company out of Burlington, Ontario. The beer is called Headstock by Nickel Brook. The beer is a strong beer which really isn't my thing, but hell ya I drank it. What really caught my eye on this beer can is the picture of the man with the guitar on it. Anyone that knows rock n' roll can tell there is no doubt this picture on the can is Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Elliott BROOD Live in Edmonton Feb.18th 2015

On Wednesday night I went to the sold out double bill of Elliott BROOD and The Wilderness of Manitoba concert at the Starlite Room.

Being a weeknight show, I had to have myself a nap after work, as I knew this was going to be a later show. I was hoping to catch the tail end of the openers The Wilderness of Manitoba set, but by the time I got to the venue, the line up to get in was huge. I guess I wasn't the only one getting there a little late. So by the time I got in, I had missed their set.

After a quick change of gear it was time for headliners Elliott BROOD. This was my fourth time seeing the band in concert but the first time I have seen them headlining. Elliott BROOD are on tour to support their album Work And Love that came out in October, an incredible album, one of my favorites of last year.

This Toronto alt-country trio made up of Casey Laforet on guitar and vocals, Mark Sasso also on guitar/banjo/ukulele and vocals and drummer Stephen Pitkin were ready to rock the Starlite Room. On this tour the band was rounded out with steel guitar player Aaron Goldstein, an added addition and a nice touch.

Their hour and twenty minute set was excellent playing lots from their album Work And Love, like "Each Other's Kids", Jigsaw Heart", "Little Ones" and "Nothing Left". They also did "Oh Alberta" from the Tin Type album, a song that had the crowd singing along. The band was trying to get the crowd to jump up and dance, but with the floor area so packed it was hard to get the crowd reaction they were looking for. As the show went on it started to thin out a bit, not because it was a bad show, but more like it being a work night and it was getting late. But once it thinned out, you could see the crowd really get in to the performance more, that and probably because there had been a few beers consumed as well. So as the show went on, it just seemed to get better and better.

The band covered a Crazy Horse song called Dance,Dance,Dance wrote by Neil Young, but during this song guitarist Casey ran into technical problems which kind of ruined the song. After getting that fixed the band came back strong. For the encore Elliott BROOD came out with ukuleles and played the song "The Valley Town" from the 2008 album Mountain Meadows. A great way to end a high energy performance from the band. An awesome show overall. Good times!!!

Elliot BROOD at the Starlite Room.

T-shirt.

Seven Inch Single Saturday (Deer Tick)

Today's seven inch single from Deer Tick is a Record Store Day exclusive from last year limited to 2000 copies that was released on Partisan Records. The two songs on this single are from the sessions from their last album called Negativity. The two songs are Side A - Bus Stop and on Side B - Denver. I really like the side A song, the song on side B is very slow. I have included the tow songs for your listening pleasure. Check your local record store as this single can still be found with some digging. Enjoy!!!

Side A - Bus Stop

Side B - Denver

Throwback Thursday...Anvil

A few posters from the times I have seen Anvil in concert.

Tragically Hip Live in Edmonton Feb.12th 2015

On Thursday night my Sweetie Janis, our friend Erin and I went to the Tragically Hip concert here in Edmonton at Rexall Place. The Hip are on tour for the re-release of their 1992 classic album Fully Completely, in which the band were performing in its entirety. Why the band were doing this is beyond me. You would think they would wait til the 25th anniversary, but nonetheless, that is what this tour was about.

This was my 15th time seeing the band in concert, and as always I was looking forward to seeing what the hell lead singer Gord Downie's antics would be like this time. Because you never know what kind of show you will get from him.

There were a few let downs for this show. Starting with the start time of the show. On the ticket, it said 8pm start. There was no opening band for this tour, so we made sure to be there before 8pm. Only to have to wait until 9pm for the band to hit the stage. I guess a DJ spinning records is an opening slot. That sucked, ya the tunes played were good, but if I want to listen to records for an hour, I would have stayed home and had a few more cheap beers and played my own damn music.

When the Hip did hit the stage to a crowd of about 13,000, they opened with the a wicked version of Grace Too from the album Day For Night then doing four more songs before doing the Fully Completely album. Only one new song on this night (Transformation) from their latest release Now For Plan A, the song sounded much better live then on record. After the first five songs it was into the album Fully Completely. What bugs me about these kind of shows when a band does an album in its entirety is the lack of surprise for a live show, as your know the sequence of the next ten songs or how ever long the album is. Don't get me wrong, I love that album and they played it awesome. Though there was no surprises in it, they played pretty much as you would hear it on record. There were no jams through the songs, which The Hip are known to do live, and the biggest bummer, no rants and tangents from Gord Downie. That is one of my biggest pleasures of seeing The Hip live is hearing what Gord is going to go on about. Although a lot of times, you never know what it is he is going on about, but anyone that has heard his tangent with Killer Whale Tank, knows what I am saying. But on this night, there was none of this from Gordie. And, as much as Gord was entertaining with his weird Gord dance shuffle, he wasn't as animated as usual. No fights with the microphone stand, not as much improvising with his handkerchief and lyrics, he actually kept it pretty simple on this night. Which is too bad. One thing I didn't miss, was Gord playing the guitar, none of that during this show, which is cool, cause I always think it takes away from the weirdness of Gord's performance. The band was their usual solid and tight.

After doing Fully Completely, it was another five songs from the rest of their catalog. One of the songs that surprised me and a song you don't hear live very often is the song Twist My Arm from the excellent album Road Apples. They then ended the show with the song Blow At High Dough, a great way to end a wicked night of music. All and all a great show, just a little tame compared to many of the other shows I have seen by The Tragically Hip. Good times!!!

Janis and I.

The Tragically Hip in Edmonton at Rexall Place.

Setlist from Edmonton show.

Vince Neil (Book Review)

Well, I finally got around to reading the Vince Neil of Motley Crue biography Tattoos & Tequila, To Hell and Back of Rock's Most Notorious Frontmen. This book came out five years ago in conjunction with his solo album of the same title.

After reading the Neil Strauss book Motley Crue The Dirt, I didn't think there was a whole lot more to learn about the band, but figured it would be interesting to read Vince Neil's side of things. And in all honesty, there really isn't much more to learn here other then Vince really has nothing good to say about his band mates. He slams Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx pretty bad and Mick Mars is just a recluse.

Throughout the book Vince keeps saying things like he doesn't remember all the details of certain events. Seems his days of drinking and drugs didn't do him any favours as his memory for details are terrible.

He does talk about the passing of his daughter Skylar who passed away at the age of four of cancer in detail.

Vince also contradicts himself lots in the book, saying he would never work with the other members of Motley Crue ever again, only later in the book to say he loves them like brothers. I guess when the Crue is your bread and butter, you have to keep going back to them. None of the members of the band have made any money with there other projects. Should be interesting to see what happens now with Motley Crue doing their last ever tour together this year.

Some of the more interesting reads in the book are when his ex-wives talk about Vince. Would have been interesting to read a little more about Vince's plastic surgeries. He doesn't get in to that at all. Vince also talks about how many times he has been to rehab, yet says he is not an alcoholic and how he has quit drinking, only to say, he now only has a few glasses of champagne once in a while, and a shot of tequila as well. Sounds like an alcoholic to me.

What can you say, the book was entertaining to read.

Throwback Thursday...AC/DC

A concert ad and poster from a few AC/DC shows I have been too.

In concert news...AC/DC will be playing in Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium on Sunday September 20th.

Seven Inch Single Saturday (Doughboys)

So I have been going through some old seven inch singles and decided to start a new feature called "Seven Inch Single Saturday". So today I will start with the seven inch single by the Montreal punk/pop band Doughboys who were around between 1987-1997.

This single by the Doughboys called La Majeure 1987 was released in 2003 on Scamindy Records. The two songs featured on this are, Side One has The Forecast and Stranger From Within and Side Two has a song called I Remember.

All three songs are from the Doughboys first demo sessions recorded in the winter of 1986-87. All three songs were also on their debut album called Whatever. If your a fan of the punk/pop sound or the Doughboys, this is well worth finding. The 180 gram coloured vinyl looks and sounds great.

Throwback Thursday...Motley Crue

A few posters from times I have seen Motley Crue in concert.