On Saturday June 14th my buddy Buzzard, Cuz and I went to the Mike Plume Band show at the Starlite Room. This would be my 17th time seeing Plume in concert, but this show was different from every other time I had seen him. This time around Mike had his old band of Ernie Basiliadis on drums, Dave Klym on guitar and Derek Mazurek on bass and of course Mike Plume on vocals and guitar. This was the original lineup from 1997 and the band that recorded the album Song And Dance Man. I never got to see this formation of the band, so I was really looking forward to seeing and hearing this. This was a small three date tour that started in Calgary, then Edmonton and ending with a music festival in St. Paul, Alberta.
There was no opening act for this show, it was just a night of Mike Plume Band music. The opening song of the three hour set was "Bird's Eye View" from his 2001 album Fools For The Radio. What a great way to open the show. I wasn't sure what to expect, I thought they might just do the Song And Dance Man album, but nope, they pulled out songs from Mike's whole catalog of music. Even stuff from his latest release Born By The Radio, an album that only drummer Ernie had played on. For a band that had no rehearsals before this three date tour they sounded tight. Total professionals all these guys. Mike even broke into the Hip song "Fireworks" during one of the songs, that was a cool surprise. The whole band all had smiles plastered on their faces looking like they were having a great time playing together for the first time in 19 years. You would never know with how good they sounded. Just have a look at the setlist to see other songs performed, there were even a few songs played that weren't on the setlist, like the tribute song to drummer Ernie who has been in the band right from the very beginning "Me and Ern", such a great song. Mike usually doesn't use a setlist, but for this show because the band had no rehearsals he had to use one. Even with a setlist he still added a few songs that weren't on the list.
At one point during the show Mike brought his wife Jenny O on stage to perform the song "Roving Gambler" together, which sounded amazing. Roving Gambler is a traditional folk song made most famous by Simon & Garfunkel. Mike also did the Tom Waits song "Picture In A Frame" which also sounded amazing.
I have seen Mike play a lot of times, but holy shit this show was the best and up there with one of the best concerts I have ever been to. I hope Mike can get the guys together again for some more shows or maybe even a new album, that would be incredibly awesome. Good times!!!
Mike Plume Band setlist.
Mike Plume Band at the Starlite Room.
No comments:
Post a Comment