Roger Hodgson Live in Edmonton Nov.16th 2018

Last Friday Janis, Char, Buzzard and I went to the Roger Hodgson concert at the River Cree Casino. I never saw Supertramp in concert so seeing Roger Hodgson was going to be the next best thing. Singer-songwriter Roger Hodgson was a member of Supertramp between 1969-1983 before going solo in 1984. He wrote and co-wrote most of Supertramp's biggest hits which were performed at this show.

Roger Hodgson and his back up band played a two hour set to a sell out crowd. I was very impressed with not only how good Roger still sounds at 68 years old but also by how genuine and kind he comes across. He thanked the crowd a few times for coming out to the show on a miserable winter night, even mentioning that he had a bit of a cold, but you couldn't tell that he was under the weather. He also had a great band with him. No gimmicks, no crazy light show, just the tunes and that was cool by me.

They opened the show with "Take The Long Way Home" from Supertramp's Breakfast In America then into "School" from their biggest selling album Crime Of The Century. The evening was full of hits from them two albums. Including "Breakfast In America", "Child Of Vision", "Lord Is It Mine", "The Logical Song" and of course the song "Dreamer" which got a huge response and had the crowd singing along.

And for the encore Roger played "Give A Little Bit", again another huge hit for him and Supertramp. there were a few songs I wasn't familiar with but overall I knew the majority of them. I was very impressed with the man on sax and harmonica, he was awesome. Having seen some of these songs performed live now, I didn't realize that some parts of the songs that I thought were keyboards were actually harmonica and some parts I thought were guitar were keys. So that was kind of cool. All and all I thought it was a good concert. Good times!!!

Roger Hodgson at River Cree Casino.

T-shirt front.

T-shirt back.

Mac Sabbath Live in Edmonton Nov.8th 2018

Last Thursday I went to the Mac Sabbath concert at the Starlite Room here in Edmonton. The show was originally booked for the smaller room The Temple in the same building but was moved to the main venue the Starlite Room. So I guess you could say tickets sold better then expected.

I got there early as I wanted to see all three bands on the bill, starting with local band Electric Audrey 2. I had never heard of them before and thought they were alright. Their music is a mish mash of country, rockabilly and punk. They were a high energy band reminding me of Gogol Bordello.

Electric Audrey 2.

Next band up was Frank & Deans out of Las Vegas, Nevada. This four piece band plus a burlesque dancer play old Rat Pack music in a punk rock style. Lead singer Jordan Hoss described their music as "we are here to fuck up your Grandma's music". Playing songs such as Cab Calloway's "Minnie The Moocher", Tony Bennett's "Lady Is A Tramp" and Bobby Darin's "Splish Splash", you get the idea. They were a fun and entertaining band, but what really stole the show and kept people interested was Nickole Muse who started the show dressed up in lingerie like a burlesque dancer and through out the show removed her clothing, all the while dancing, shaking her ass and hula hooping out on the dance floor. By the end of Frank & Deans set she was down to pasties. Without her, would people have been as interested, I'm betting not.

Frank & Deans.

Headlining the show was Mac Sabbath from Los Angeles, California, they are a parody band mocking McDonalds playing the music of Black Sabbath but changing the lyrics to make fun of fast food. The band call themselves the founders of Drive Thru Metal. The band consists of Ronald Osbourne on vocals who does a great job of mimicking Ozzy with his between song banter and the way he shuffles himself around the stage, on drums is the Catburglar, Grimalice on bass and on guitar is Slayer MacCheeze. The out fits they wear are outrageously funny as are some of the lyrics they change to the Black Sabbath songs.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the show was their merch booth as I had to have a t-shirt from this band. Manning the booth was a guy dressed up as a McDonalds employee who we later learned during the show was employee of the month, he also doubled as a roadie. Funny shit! Mac Sabbath had the best merch I have seen ever. Everything from glow in the dark t-shirt (ya I got one), scarves, toques, pins, stickers, belt buckles, hoodies, posters, colouring book and I'm sure there was more yet.

Lead singer Ronald Osbourne used all kinds of props while performing including the grill in front him through the whole show, ketchup and mustard squeeze bottles which he squeezed out at the crowd, thank goodness it was only water in them. Ronald could be often seen with a flipper and frying pan in his hand, or chowing down on a bat burger, or tossing beach balls that looked like hamburger buns into the crowd. Then there was the music of course, which were all Black Sabbath tunes with different lyrics, titles such as "More Ribs" done to the tune of (War Pigs), "Sweet Beef" (Sweet Leaf), "Pair-a-buns" (Paranoid), "Organic Funeral" (Electric Funeral), "Frying Pan" (Iron Man) and so on and so on, you get the gist, funny fucking shit. Then Ronald had to go on about how Mac Sabbath are the only true Drive Thru Metal band, ignore such bands as Iggy Popeye's, KFC/DC, Dairy Queensryche the laughs just never stopped. And instead of yelling "Let's get Crazy" like Ozzy always does during his shows, Ronald would yell "Let's Get Lazy". This was just a really fun show, if there was a weakness it was probably Ronald's vocals, but hey it was still a blast. My question is, who the hell are these guys actually. I still think when it comes to shtick bands, no one can beat Dread Zeppelin in my opinion. Still, good times were had. Good times!!!

Mac Sabbath.

Glow in the dark t-shirt.

Stickers.

TPOH Live in Edmonton Nov.3rd 2018

Last Saturday my buddy RCD and I went to the TPOH (The Pursuit Of Happiness) show at the Station On Jasper. This would be my fifth time seeing The Pursuit Of Happiness in concert. TPOH hasn't played a show in Edmonton in 20 years, so I was quite excited about seeing Moe Berg and the band perform again. Moe Berg who was born in Edmonton and played in some Edmonton bands such as Modern Minds and Facecrime before moving to Toronto and forming TPOH. At 59 years old Moe still looks like he always has.

The Pursuit Of Happiness are currently on the road promoting the 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of their debut album Love Junk. The band on tour consisted of Moe Berg of course on guitar and vocals, long time drummer Dave Gilby, Kris Abbott on guitar and vocals and has been in the band since 1988, Brad Barker on bass since 1990 and Renee Suchy on vocals and tambourine. The band sounded great playing their style of power pop. They started the show by performing the whole Love Junk album in its entirety from start to finish except the song "I'm An Adult Now" which they finished the show with before the encore. Love Junk is such a great album, starting with "Hard To Laugh" to the last song "Down On Him", I mean how many bands can play a song all about giving head and not make it sound dirty, but make it a pop song, so good! After playing all of the Love Junk album they played some other great songs like "Gretzky Rocks" from their 1995 album Where's The Bone?. They also played one of my favourite tunes of there's from The Downward Road "Cigarette Dangles". And from the One-Sided Story album they played "Two Girls In One" and ending the show with "Shave Your Legs". It was cool during the show as well that Moe Berg gave a shout out to the rich musical history of Edmonton bands Malibu Kens, Jr.Gone Wild, Jerry Jerry and the Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra and Idyl Tea. What an awesome show. Even got to meet and talk to Moe Berg briefly after the show. Also a big thank you to my buddy RCD for the autographed CD! Good times!!!

The Pursuit Of Happiness at the Station On Jasper.

Moe Berg and I.

Autographed CD.

Jack White Live in Edmonton Nov.2nd 2018

Last Friday my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Jack White concert at Rogers Place. This would be my first time seeing Jack White play a solo show. I was supposed to see him a few years ago solo at the Sonic Boom Festival here but got kicked out before he came on, long story, so I was looking forward to this one. I did see White Stripes here in 2007.

We missed the opening band Crown Lands, as we were having some drinks before the show.

For this show we were on the floor which was general admission. For this show and all Jack White concerts you are not allowed to use your cellphone, so as you walk into the venue the staff make you put your phone in a pouch which is then locked and only able to access your phone in certain spots of the coliseum.

We grabbed ourselves a couple of way too expensive beers and headed into the middle of the floor. I wanted to be fairly close to the stage for this show as I feel you can feed off the energy of the performance the closer you are. I was surprised that even Buzzard followed me in to the fray.

The stage had a screen behind it that had a countdown clock for the start of the show, and we got there at the four minute mark so it wasn't going to be long before the show started.

It was cool to be at a show where it felt very old school with no distractions of people taking selfies and pictures of the band and texting and updating Facebook and such. Hell people were even actually using lighters holding them up during a few songs. What I did notice was that when people don't have their phones there was a whole lot of pot being smoked, at least where we were anyways. Once one person lit up it was non-stop the rest of the show, which was cool by me. Made for a lot of grooving to the tunes and dancing and singing.

Jack opened the show with the song "Over and Over and Over" from his latest album Boarding House Reach and right after that it was a White Stripes song "Dead Leaves and Dirty Ground", the first of at least 8 from his former band. Jack mixed up the set pretty good playing a song from his other bands The Dead Weather "I Cut Like A Buffalo" and even a Raconteurs song "Steady, As She Goes" which was the first song of the encore.

Jack White and his band were amazing, especially Jack's guitar playing, he blows my mind, but I did find that the keyboards, in which there were two guys playing them was a bit overwhelming at times, it took away from jack's playing sometimes. the biggest sing-along's of the night were both White Stripe songs first was "We're Going To Be Friends" and the show closer "Seven Nation Army". This was a great show and really loved the no distractions through out the show, and the smell of weed was a nice touch too. Old school concert feel, loved it. Good times!!!

Suzi Quatro Live in Edmonton Oct.26th 2018

A couple of weeks ago Buzzard, Char, Janis and I went to the Suzi Quatro concert at The Venue in River Cree Casino which is just on the outskirts of Edmonton. I wasn't sure what to expect from this show as I'm not a huge fan of Suzi, I have a few albums but can't remember the last time I actually played one. But hey, she is one of the original female rockers from the early 70's, getting her start in Detroit in 1964 with her sister in a band called The Pleasure Seekers. Suzi then went on to start her own band in the 70's which is when she had her most success.

This show was the first of a two night stand at River Cree with the Friday night show being about three quarters full. And those that were in attendance were having a blast. I've been to a few shows at this venue but this was the most fun I have seen people having at a show there. A rowdy crowd with lots of drinking, dancing, singing along, just all around having a great time. An older crowd letting loose, is always good to see.

Suzi Quatro and her band came on stage to great applause, Suzi looks a little rough, but at 68 years old and still sporting the leather outfit and shaking her booty the lady can still rock. She had the crowd standing and rocking right from the start. her two hour show was like a retrospective show. She talked about her early days playing in a band with her sister, moving to England in 1971 and getting her solo career started there. To her days when she played Leather Tuscadero on the 70's sitcom Happy Days. Songs from the 80's to present day Quatro. It was actually kind of interesting.

I was surprised by how many of her songs I did actually recognize and know. Some songs played were "Can The Can" from her 1973 debut self titled album, she opened the show with a song called "Wild One" from her second album. The title song from her 1980 album "Rock Hard". Another song I knew was from an album I actually have Suzi...And Other Four Letter Words, the song from that album was "Mama's Boy". Suzi also played a few covers including Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" in which her and the band rocked the shit out of, a couple old Chuck Berry songs "Sweet Little Rock & Roller" and closed out her show with "Johnny B. Goode. The second last one was the Eagles song "Desperado". All and all this was a fun night of rock n' roll with a crowd that was eating it up. Good times!!!

Suzi Quatro at River Cree Casino.