Kingfish Live in Edmonton February 8th 2020

Three weeks ago my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Christone "Kingfish" Ingram show at Blues On Whyte. This was the second night of a two night sold out stand here in Edmonton. The only Canadian dates of his current Fish Grease 2! A Juke Joint Tour. When I saw this show advertised I had never heard of Kingfish, so I looked into it a bit more. I watched a few videos on YouTube and such. Well the guy sounded pretty damn good, so I figured I would take the chance and check this kid out.

This kid "Kingfish" is a 21 year old from Clarksdale, Mississippi and released his self titled debut album in March of 2019 on Alligator Records. He's already been nominated for a Grammy in the Best Traditional Blues Album category, while he didn't win, still pretty impressive.

What struck me most was how this guy plays and sings with such soul, he's like an old blues guy in young mans body. The man can play guitar where it leaves you hanging on every note. No wankery here, blues guitar playing with meaning. He reminded me of BB King when BB used to actually play a whole song without stopping and talking through a song. Kingfish was backed up by a bass player and drummer and that's it. He was the show with his soulful singing and playing. The sold out crowd was up and dancing through out his hour and a half show. He played pretty much his whole album, opening with "Before I'm Old", and other songs such as "Hard Times", "Love Ain't My Favorite Word", "Outside Of This Town" and the funny "Fresh Out" song. Also a couple of covers like Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe" and "Catfish Blues" by Muddy Waters. At one point during his set he walked through the whole bar playing which wasn't easy considering how packed the place was. As he was doing this he happened to come by the table we were sitting at, someone had left there seat going for a drink or a piss or something, well Kingfish sat at the end of our table and ripped it up for a few minutes, that was cool. This was an absolutely amazing show. For all the guitar players in the audience you were either inspired to pick up your guitar and practice more or pack the damn thing away and never play again. This was the best blues show I have seen since Johnny Winter used to rip it up back in the day. If you are a fan of the blues, I highly recommend picking up his album and seeing him in concert. This will surely be in my top ten shows of the year. Good times!!!

Christone "Kingfish" Ingram.

T-shirt front.

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Dan Bern Live in Edmonton February 6th 2020

A couple of weeks ago my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Dan Bern concert at Station On Jasper. I was happy to see Dan Bern play a bigger venue then the last two times I saw him which was at The Almanac which is a good room for an intimate show but it was always so crowded it was hard to get a good seat where you could actually enjoy the show. So to see Bern play a bigger room and stage was going to be great.

Opening the show was Calgary folk artist Orit Shimoni she use to go by the name Little Birdie. She just recently released her tenth album and has been on tour with Dan Bern across Canada. Her opening set was pretty good, her music in her own words are kind of dark and depressing, she is a good writer but her music isn't exactly uplifting. Dan Bern joined her on stage for one song playing the harmonica. I thought she was alright, nothing I would rush out to buy though.

Orit Shimoni.

Next up was Iowa born but now based in Santa Cruz singer/songwriter Dan Bern. This would be my third time seeing Dan in concert. Dan is currently on the road touring for his latest release Regent Street.

As always Dan was very engaging with the audience, telling some great stories and playing songs such as "Regent Street" which what he opened the show with and having Orit Shimoni join him on stage playing the squeeze box, "Not Perfect", "Ridin On A Train" and "Dear Tiger Woods" from his new album. Also in the setlist were classics such as "Chelsea Hotel", "Black Tornado" the great and very funny song "Talkin' Canadian Blues". I thought it was great Orit joining him on stage as it added a little extra to Dan's music, but she actually ended up playing about half the show with him, which in the end took away from his performance. Dan played one of his most popular songs "Jerusalem" with Shimoni, but she messed up the words which kind of fucked up the song and it seemed he never really recovered the song, it was a bit of a mess. I would have to say I believe there is something going on between the two, more then just performing together.

The highlight of the show to me was finally hearing Dan play "Tiger Woods" from his 1998 album Fifty Eggs. The song is fucking hilarious and of the two previous times of seeing Dan in concert he had never played it. He actually has a second song about Tiger on his new album, a song called "Dear Tiger Woods". He played both songs back to back which was pretty damn cool. Another very funny song he played was "I Dreamed I Saw Donald Trump's Head Go Past My Window". The last song of the evening saw Dan walk through the crowd playing, if only I could remember which damn song it was. I guess if I actually write a review in a timely matter I might recall what it was. All in all it was a pretty good show. Good times!!!

Dan Bern.

Tommy & The Commies Live in Edmonton February 1st 2020

A couple of Saturday's ago now I went to the punk triple bill of Real Sickies, No Problem and Tommy and The Commies show at 9910. When I first saw this show announced I was already interested as I like and have seen No Problem and the Real Sickies before, but had no idea who Tommy and the Commies were. That's when my brother Captain Citrus who knows everything about punk rock told me I should really go to this show as Tommy and the Commies were a great band out of Sudbury, Ontario. Not that I needed to be sold on this show, but with my brother's recommendation, as I trust most of his taste in music. I was definitely checking this show out.

Of course I got their early as I wanted to see all the bands. The venue was quite full for the first band of the night Edmonton's Real Sickies. This would be my sixth time seeing them live. And as always Ben Disaster the lead singer was in fine form as were the rest of the band, a high energy show that had the crowd rocking out.

Real Sickies.

Real Sickies setlist.

Next was another great Edmonton punk band No Problem. This would be my third time seeing them in concert. It had been a few years since I last saw them and holy fuck were they good. No Problem are on the hardcore side of punk rock, so raw and energetic, especially lead singer/guitarist Graeme MacKinnon. He sings in your face and really gets the crowd riled up. He likes to jump into the midst of the crowd and sing and slam along with the audience. Things got rowdy during their set. An amazing set by No Problem.

No Problem.

Headlining the night was Tommy and The Commies out of Sudbury, Ontario. This show was the last of three shows they did out west, the other shows were in Winnipeg and Calgary. This three piece band play a 70's style of punk rock but with a fresh vibe of their own. The band played their whole album Here Come Tommy And The Commies. I wish I had known their music better, but after seeing them I am a fan of them now. A great triple bill of punk. Good times!!!

Tommy And The Commies.

Tommy And The Commies setlist.

T-shirt.

Amy Helm Live in Edmonton January 31st 2020

Last Friday my buddy Buzzard and I went to the sold out (400 people) Amy Helm concert at St. Basil's Cultural Centre presented by the New Moon Folk Club.

As always with shows put on by the New Moon Folk Club they have a local artist opening the show. This time around it was the Leo Martinez Project. I had never heard of them before but wow, they were really good.
They only played a 20 minute set, but they made the best of their short set. Leo Martinez plays guitar and sings and also played bass drum and had a tambourine tied to his ankle, making him a one man band, but he did have a fiddle player (Cam Neufeld) and bass player (Sean Stephens) with him as well. Leo has got an incredibly strong voice and a lot of rhythm in his guitar playing. Opening his set with a short rendition of "Amazing Grace" which got everyone's attention right away. This is an artist that will be making waves in Edmonton and beyond. A very nice surprise for an opening act.

Leo Martinez Project.

Next up was Amy Helm (the daughter of Levon Helm from The Band) with what she is calling the Amy Helm acoustic Trio. This would be my second time seeing Amy Helm in concert. And I have to say I enjoyed this show more so then the previous time I saw her. Not that the last show wasn't good, just that this one was even better. Amy and her band played two 45 minute sets that seemed to go by so quick. This was the first show of her tour through Alberta having just played in Jamaica a few days earlier. So to go from sunny hot Jamaica to winter in Alberta must have been a bit of a shock to the system.

Amy's set was a mix of covers and originals from her latest album This Too Shall Light. Her music is a mix of folk, Americana and a touch of gospel. She has an amazing voice and the two guitar players she had with her were really good as well, great harmony between the trio. Some of the songs she played from her albums were, the title track "This Too Shall Light", "Gloryland", "Good News", "Rescue Me" and "Gentling Me" a song she did with Mary Gauthier. She also did some great covers like "Atlantic City" a Bruce Springsteen song that she told a great story about her father Levon singing this song lots while recovering from throat cancer. Speaking of Levon, she also did the song "He Don't Love You" which is an old song from Levon Helm & The Hawks, a Little Feat song "Roll Um' Easy", a Sam Cooke song "(Ain't That) Good News", they also brought out Cam Neufeld from Leo's band to play fiddle on the classic The Band song "Rag Mama Rag". Amy and band looked to be having a lot of fun up on stage.

This was an amazing night of music. Good times!!!

Amy Helm.