Seven Inch Saturday (Alice Cooper)

Today's seven inch single is a UK release from Alice Cooper that came out in 1986. This single was from his forthcoming release Constrictor. The song is called "He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask)", this song was used for the theme song from the movie "Friday The 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives".

I remember being super excited about the release of the Constrictor album, as it was being labeled as his big comeback album. Although it had actually only been three years between releases. But this was considered a back to classic Alice Cooper album. This song was the worst song on the album.



The B Side to this single is a live version of the classic Alice song "Billion Dollar Babies" recorded in 1976. Not sure where this live version was recorded, nonetheless, it sounds great.

This single came with a 14"X18" poster.

Throwback Thursday...The Mahones

A couple of posters from The Mahones shows I have been too.

Seven Inch Saturday (Joel Plaskett/Shotgun Jimmie)

Today's seven inch single is a split seven inch that came out on New Scotland Records in May of 2011. New Scotland Records is a label and a one room recording studio run by Joel Plaskett out of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Side A of this 45 is a song by Joel Plaskett called "Jimmie's Still Jimmie".

Side B is a song called "That's Not Joel" by Shotgun Jimmie which also features Joel Plaskett on the track.

To listen to these two songs, click here.

In concert news...Joel Plaskett with The Emergency will be playing in Edmonton at Union Hall on Saturday May 9th.

And Shotgun Jimmie will be performing in Edmonton on Saturday June 6th at the Wunderbar.

Gaslight Anthem Live in Edmonton March 16th 2015

On Monday night my buddy Buzzard, Cuz and I went to the Gaslight Anthem concert at Union Hall here in Edmonton. The opening bands on this bill were Sammy Kay and Northcote.

I was interested in checking out the first band of the night, a band from New Jersey called Sammy Kay. With tickets saying doors open at 8pm, I wanted to be sure to be there early. Thanks to Facebook, earlier in the day they posted set times for the bands, well it looked like Sammy was going to be on stage at 8pm. Well we got there right at 8, only to find that the band was already playing, we didn't miss much. But for those that didn't know about set times, they would have missed their whole set as they were done by 8:30. Lots of people must have heard about the set times, as the venue was quite packed by the time we got there. Or maybe, lots of people were already there cause they know what a shitty venue this place is for concerts and had been there before and got there early so that they could find a seat or standing place where they could actually see the stage. With a capacity of about a thousand people, I am guessing no more then half that crowd can actually see the stage.

The first band up as I already mentioned was New Jersey band Sammy Kay. While I thought they were alright. I probably would have enjoyed them more had they not been opening for Gaslight Anthem, as they sounded just like Gaslight. The lead singer Sammy Kay even looked like and had the same stage presence as Gaslight's Brian Fallon. Overall they just came across as a Gaslight light. I did like their cover of the Tom Waits song Old Shoes. Sammy did say that this was the biggest audience they had performed in front of. The whole band seemed to enjoy themselves and were really taking in the experience of playing to this many people.

Sammy Kay at Union Hall.

Next up was the Canadian band Northcote based out of Victoria, B.C. The band is lead by the gentle giant Matt Goud. This was my first time seeing them in concert, and thought they were pretty good. Matt has a good voice and his back up band were decent too. Matt did do a few songs by himself just on acoustic. I myself enjoyed him more with a full band behind him. All and all not bad.

Northcote at Union Hall.

By the time headliners Gaslight Anthem hit the stage the place was packed, packed to the point where you could barely move in the place. If you weren't situated somewhere in front of the stage or in the balcony looking down on the stage, you weren't going to see much, as the sight lines in this place are horrible, as is the sound there. The sound was muddy unless again you were in front of the stage. I did manage to get around the venue a bit trying to find a place where you could see the stage and get a decent sound, but it was super hard to find. Really, this place blows as a live music venue.

Nonetheless, Gaslight Anthem played for close two hours. And this being my fifth time seeing them perform, this was one of their weaker shows I have seen. For starters, I'm not a big fan of their newest album Get Hurt in which they are touring for. But thankfully they only did one song from that album. The audience were getting off on the music good singing along, which was nice as the vocals were drowned in the mix.

I got the feeling that lead singer Brian Fallon just didn't seem to be in to the show on this night. There was very little crowd interaction as Brian said next to nothing all night, instead just playing song after song, which is alright too. Just not what I am used to having seen them play enough times. The band did play quite a few songs from their first two albums Sink Or Swim and The '59 Sound which was great, if only the sound had been better. I was surprised to see them cover the Pink Floyd song Wish You Were Here. Gaslight are usually good for playing at least one cover every performance and this one was a surprise. It was alright, not great though. There was no encore on this night, which was ok, as they played for almost two hours straight. All and all this show would have been a whole lot better in a decent venue. Good times!!!

Gaslight Anthem at Union Hall.

Setlist for Edmonton show.

Howl
1,000 Years
The '59 Sound
Orphans
Biloxi Parish
Stray Paper
Old Haunts
The Spirit of Jazz
45
Great Expectations
Handwritten
Helter Skeleton
Say I Won't (Recognize)
Have Mercy
Wish You Were Here
Film Noir
Astro Zombies
I Coul'da Been a Contender
Sweet Morphine
Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts
Wooderson
Drive
The Diamond Church Street Choir
American Slang
Mae
We're Getting a Divorce, You Keep the Diner


Limited edition poster.

T-shirt front.

Back.

Book Review (Neil Strauss)

Just finished reading the book by journalist Neil Strauss called Everyone Loves You When Your Dead. For those who don't know who Neil Strauss is, he is a very well known journalist and author who has worked for such publications as New York Times, Rolling Stone magazine, has done writing for Esquire magazine.

He as also wrote or helped write many a book such as "The Dirt" the Motley Crue bio, "The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell" the Marilyn Manson bio as well as "How To Make Love Like A Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale" the porn star Jenna Jameson's bio.

The book is a compilation of over 200 interviews he has done over the years. All the interviews are excerpts from interviews he has done for publications, and a lot of excerpts have never been published before. He interviews people like Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Lady Gaga, Snoop Dog, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis among many others. Neil finds himself in some weird positions while interviewing his subjects. Being hit on by buddy from The Strokes, going to church with Tom Cruise, drinking with Springsteen, shopping for diapers with Snoop Dog, those are just a few of the adventures Neil Strauss finds himself in.

I found the book to be an easy and fun read.

Throwback Thursday...Mosh Fest

Today's posters are from an Edmonton music festival that was held for a couple of years. Some great bands played this festival.

Seven Inch Saturday (Blitzen Trapper)

Today's seven inch single is from the Portland, Oregon alt-country folk freaks Blitzen Trapper. The single is called Cool Love #1 that came out in 2008 on the LidKerCow label. On this single there are four songs, Side A features the songs Cool Love #1 and Boss King, and Side B has Jericho (from the Daytrotter Sessions) and Jesus On The Mainline. To hear all four songs click here. And...what's with the fucked up album art? Lol!!!

Pal Joey at The Artery March 7th 2015

Last Saturday my Cuz and I made our way to the soon to be closed venue downtown called The Artery to see local pop punk/country band Pal Joey with opener Amy van Keeken.

This show was the CD release show for Pal Joey, their first new music since 1999. Their new album is called Lucky Pennies, which is really good by the way.

This was my third time seeing the band live, and first since 1993's Moshfest. So it had been a long time. The band lead by Trent Buhler sounded pretty damn good on this evening. Pal Joey did two sets on this night. This time around, the band has a horn section consisting of three guys. While I really enjoyed their set, I have to admit that I found the horn section, whom are called the Brassholes, started to get to me after a while. I do like horns in songs, I found that the horns were too loud and drowned out the guitars and bass at times. The horns just started to be over powering and took away from the rock n' roll that Pal Joey play so well. When there were no horns is when I really liked the show. These guys can rock, they remind me of another old Canadian band called Lowest Of The Low at times. The band covered music from all three of their albums. All and all a great show by Pal Joey, looking forward to seeing them perform again soon. Good times!!!

Pal Joey at The Artery.

Opener was a lady by the name of Amy van Keeken doing a solo show for the most part. I didn't realize that she also plays in the local band The Awesome Hots. She sounded good during her set, but it really wasn't my thing. Just my opinion of course.

Amy van Keeken at The Artery.

In other news... as I mentioned earlier, The Artery will be shutting down at the end of March, which is sad as this is a great room to see an intimate show. I have only been two shows at this venue, but both times were great shows with good turn outs and great staff. Always sucks to lose a live music venue in a city, especially when it is because of city bureaucracy.

The Artery will be putting on a two day closing party on Saturday March 28th and Sunday March 29th with music from bands all day starting at noon both days. The club has started a fund raiser program, as they are looking for a new place to set up. Checkout their website to see how to donate.

T-shirt.

Throwback Thursday...Neil Young

A couple of posters from times I have seen Neil Young in concert.

Seven Inch Saturday (Various Artists)

Today's seven inch is a double seven inch single called "Get To Know" that was released last year and was available for free at independent record stores in Calgary. Thanks to my Brother, he was able to pick up a copy for me.

This single put out by Scion Sessions features four bands that played the Scion Sessions last year at Calgary's Sled Island Festival at the excellent venue The Palomino Smokehouse. A great venue with great food.

The four artists featured on this release are Fist City, Lab Coast, Dominic Pierce and Mark Mills. All four songs, one by each artist were recorded at the show at the Palomino, in which my Brother and I were at.

Side A of disc 1 is a song by Fist City called "Losers Never Die". Fist City is band based in Lethbridge, Alberta that play a punk pop style of music. Fist City consists of Ryan Grieve on drums, Brittany Griffiths on bass and vocals, Kier Griffiths on guitar and vocals and Evan Van Reekum on guitar. Their show that day at Palomino was the first time I had seen them and I have to say, I was impressed. Checkout their music here.

Side B of disc 1 is a song by the Calgary band Lab Coast. The song performed on this release is called "Remember The Moon". Lab Coast's music kind of has a poppy folk lo-fi feel to them. Their set at this show was good. To hear their music click here.

Side A of disc 2 is a song called "Vertical Feel" by Calgarian Dominic Pierce who is a DJ and spins a soul/deep house theme kind of music, according what I have read anyways. Not really my type of thing.

Side B of disc 2 is a song called "Run Like The Wind" by Mark Mills who I believe now is based out of Vancouver. Mark Mills was my favorite artist of these sessions. He is a quirky guy who plays a weird but so much fun style of pop electro dance beat kind of music. His enthusiasm and energy during his live performances are contagious, you can't help but have fun at one of his shows.

I believe all four of these songs on this release are previously unreleased songs. To hear these songs on this seven inch click here.

In concert news... Mark Mills will be playing in Edmonton at the Buckingham on Saturday April 25th with opener Windmills.

A big kudos to Scion for putting on and releasing these kind of discs and shows. Nice to see a big organization like Scion helping support Canadian bands and artists. Here's hoping this do this kind of thing again at this years Sled Island Festival in Calgary June 24th-28th.

Throwback Thursday...Iron Maiden

A couple of posters and a concert ad from a few times I have seen Iron Maiden in concert.