My Favourite Shows of 2020

Time to do my top ten lists for the year of 2020. Going to start with my top ten shows of the year, and as we all know what a shit show of a year for live music. The year got off to a great start and was looking to be a stellar year for concerts. But then the pandemic hit in mid March and shut down everything for live music for the year. Ya there were a few outdoor curbside shows which was good. Musicians had to find a way to get out play their music but it just wasn't the same as being in a club, stadium, arena or an outdoor festival. By the first week of February I had been to six shows already and had a fist full of tickets for upcoming shows, this was going to be a great year but to no avail. I ended up only going to seven shows all year, so needless to say my top ten list is only going to be seven. And ya all seven shows were great. So here is my list in chronological order. All shows were in Edmonton.

* January 23rd - The Denim Daddies, The Nico Tobias Band and The Bobby Tenderloin Universe at the Buckingham. A great triple bill of local bands. Denim Daddies and Bobby Tenderloin were incredible and am looking forward to seeing these two bands again in the near future I hope.

* January 31st - Amy Helm and Leo Martinez Project at St. Basil's Cultural Centre. Amy Helm playing an acoustic show to a sold out crowd. Great show, opener Leo Martinez was a pleasant surprise too.

* February 1st - Tommy & The Commies, No Problem and the Real Sickies at 9910. A high energy triple bill of punk rock, the two opening bands No Problem and Real Sickies are local bands that kick serious ass, headlined by Tommy & The Commies out of Ontario. What an amazing show this was.

* February 6th - Dan Bern and Orit Shimoni at Station On Jasper. Dan Bern always puts on an entertaining show and this again was a good one.

* February 8th - Christone "Kingfish" Ingram at Blues On Whyte. Nice to see this venue starting to book some different acts instead of the usual circuit blues bands. This show with Kingfish was for sure my favourite show of the year. An absolute rocking blues show, Kingfish knows how to put on a show. An amazing guitar player, great stage presence, great back up band and a whole lot of fun. This show was the second of two sold out shows. I can't wait to see Kingfish in concert again. Then it was a long haul before I got to see another show, six months to the day to be exact. * August 8th - Mike Plume a curbside concert held in the neighbourhood I grew up in (Hazeldean). A friend of Mike's put this show on. After six months it sure felt good to see and hear some live music again, and especially from one of my favourite artists. It was a chilly August night but still so much fun. A decent crowd of neighbours sitting around on lawn chairs and the curb drinking beers and catching a great show by Mike Plume.

* Sept.19th - Mike Plume at Festival Place in Sherwood Park. An actual concert at an actual venue, though it was outside and socially distanced as to keep within the rules, it was still nice to be at a show where you are supporting a venue and an artist. This was Mike Plume's first real concert in support of his newest album "Lonesome Stretch Of Highway" that came out in May. Had so much fun at this show swilling beers and listening to great music. What a fucked up year this has been. This is the least amount of shows I have been to in a calendar year since 1986. What a shame, I really missed getting out and seeing live music, supporting local and touring bands and musicians, miss supporting live music venues, miss the comradarie of being in a club with friends and strangers all there for the same reason. Lets hope 2021 is better, though it seems it may be late in the year before anything gets anywhere near back to normal. In the meantime if you can support your local artists and venues, do so. We will need these places and bands when things are up and running again. Here is a list of shows that I had tickets for that either got cancelled or postponed. Black Keys, Roger Waters, Joel Plaskett, Chris Holmes (ex WASP guitarist), Misery Signals, James Taylor/Bonnie Raitt, The Darkness and the Blues Fest. So ya, it was shaping up to be a great year of live music. To say it was a disappointing year would be an understatement.