Henry Sir Live in Edmonton December 27th 2023

 On Wednesday night Cuz and I went to the Henjamin show at 9910. This was a show of comedy, music and brotherly love as the poster says. Henry Sir was the host and headliner of this show, a tribute to his brother Ben Sir, who sadly passed away in April of this year. Ben was the front man of the Edmonton band Worst Days Down, not only was I fan of his band and music, but I got to know Ben and considered him a friend. It was last year on Boxing Day that Ben and his brother Henry did a show together at the Blackdog in which I had gone to. It was a tradition that they had started, last year was the second year of doing the show. Unfortunately that was the last time that I saw Ben.

A picture from last years show.

 So when this show was announced, there was no doubt that I wanted to be there. Henry Sir is a comedian based in the United States and is one fucking funny man. I loved his stand up routine he did at last years show, that I didn't wan to miss him this year. And this show was all in support and in memory of his brother Ben Sir. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was going regardless.

 The small intimate venue of 9910 was packed for the show and all proceeds from ticket sales went to the charitable organization Little Warriors. Also at the show there was a draw for some Hot Water Music and Flatliners merchandise (records,t-shirts and tote bag) that cost $20 to enter with all the money going towards the pressing of the Worst Days Down album that was recorded before the passing of Ben. Flatliners and HWM were two of Ben's favourite bands, with both bands donating the swag. And from what I have heard, enough money was raised to press the vinyl for release. Can't wait to hear the music and get a copy of this EP.

The evening started with Ben's Dad thanking everyone for coming to the show and supporting the family. Then it was Henry that came on stage and made a small speech and introduced the first comedian of the evening Bobby Warrener originally from Sylvan Lake, Alberta now based out of Vancouver. His stand up routine was excellent and got a lot of laughs. 

 Next up was Edmonton comedian Brent Ayton whom was also fucking hilarious. He too had the audience in stitches. I had never heard of either comedians before but would surely check them out again.

 In between comedians Henry would do a little stand up comedy and play a few songs on the acoustic guitar (the man is super talented) and the songs were hilarious as well.

 Closing out the night Henry brought out Ben's band members from Worst Days Down and joined them in playing two of their songs from Worst Days Down album Elsewhere. An album that is so damn good. The two songs they did were "Fumes" which really hits home and the song "A Song For David", again, another song that will make you tear up. To listen to them two songs, click on the song titles. Henry says he is no musician but I would beg to differ, I thought he did a great job on the songs. It was nice to see the members of Ben's band back on stage performing. That couldn't have been easy for any of them. They then closed the night out with a song by The Replacements, another of Ben's favourite bands.

 My only complaint about the night is that Henry Sir didn't do a stand up routine, as the man is fucking hilarious. But between acts he did do some funny songs and comedy. To read Henry's post about the evening click here.  I highly recommend looking into comedians Bobby Warrener, Brent Ayton and Henry Sir. All and all my Cuz and I had a lot of fun at the show. We miss you Ben!!!

 A few pictures from the evening.

Henry Sir will be performing at the Downtown Edmonton Community League (10042 - 103 st. NW) as part of the Winterruption YEG Festival. Passes for the festival are available here or get tickets for Henry's show here.

Concert Shirt/Poster Of The Day Dec.23rd (Wilco)

Today's poster is from the fifth time I saw Wilco in concert. This show was at The Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton in 2006 with Elliot Brood opening. Wilco was touring for their live album 'Kicking Television'. I went to this show with A-Bomb, who came from B.C. for the show. I had got a good buzz on before the show, during the concert lead singer Jeff Tweedy pointed me out of the crowd and mentioned how stoned I looked and proceeded to go on about how I looked like someone that had concerts going through his head 24/7, I would say he has a damn good judgement of character. I like to tell this story and then back it up with the bootleg recording I found on the net of this show, and say, hey that's me he is talking to. Again, this was another great performance by Wilco.

Unfortunately I missed openers Elliot Brood, whom I didn't know at the time. I kick my ass now, cause they are an awesome band.

Front.


Back.

Elliott Brood Live in Edmonton October 12th 2023

 

 My buddy A-Bomb and I went to this Elliott Brood show at the Starlite Room. This would be my 7th time seeing them in concert and first time in six years.

 Opening the show was a singer-songwriter from Winnipeg by the name of Grant Davidson with his three piece band called Slow Leaves. Their music was very folky with some well written songs. A pretty good set.

Slow Leaves.

 Next up was the five piece folk/rock band out of Fernie, B.C. called Shred Kelly. The band is led by husband/wife team of Tim Newton on banjo and lead vocals and Sage McBride on keyboards and background vocals. They play a high energy show that had the near full venue dancing and singing. They looked to be having a lot of fun performing. I really enjoyed their set but found myself half way through the show starting to find their songs starting to sound all the same. Overall a fun set!

Shred Kelly

 By the time Toronto's alt. country rock band Elliott Brood hit the stage the place was full and ready to have a good time. There was a real good vibe in the room, people seemed to be really letting loose at the show without being rude and obnoxious. It's always nice to see a room full of people all there for the same reason, to let loose and checkout some great music.

 I've always been a big fan of this three piece band that consists of Mark Sasso on guitar and banjo, Casey Laforet on acoustic guitar and bass pedals and Stephen Pitkin on drums,  and of all the times I have seen them this was probably my favourite show of theirs. And with it being six years since I had last seen them play it was awesome to hear a bunch of songs that I had yet to hear them play live.

 And they had just released a brand new album called Town, which is really fucking good. Half way through their set they played three brand new songs "Dark End Of The Road", "Dried Up" and "Rose City". The new songs went over really well. They mixed up their set very well playing some older songs, like the second song of the night "Oh, Alberta" from their 2004 album Tin Type. Of course that really got the crowd jumping. Again it was good vibes throughout the room, lots of dancing and singing along and a lot of drinking. Second last song of the night the band brought out the openers for a rocking rendition of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls", that was fun! Then to end the nights of music Elliott Brood handed out tin stove top covers and wooden spoons to the audience, probably about fifteen sets to play along to the song "Write It All Down For You". And of you know the song, this works really well if the audience knows the song. Well, not everyone knew the song, so it was a lot of off beat drumming on the tin, but man, people were having a blast. The band has been known to do this quite often in their shows. A great way to end a show with crowd participation. A fun fun night out! Good times!!!

Elliott Brood.

Altameda Live in Edmonton October 8th 2023

 

 Another chance to see Altameda in concert, count me in, love this band. This would be my 15th time seeing the band in concert. This show was at The Temple/Starlite Room. I went to this show with Buzzard, A-Bomb, Cuz and Nazz.

 Opening the show was Evan James Redsky who also plays bass in Altameda. Evan is based in Toronto. Hailing from the First Nations Reserve of Mississaughi First nation. Evan's opening set  was just himself on guitar playing a roots folk style of music about his indigenous upbringing. He only played about 20-30 minutes playing songs from his latest release Oblivion. His set was alright.

Evan Redsky.

 Next up was a band out of Seattle called Small Paul, a four piece band that play indie Americana style rock n' roll. I thought they were a pretty damn good band. I liked how the drummer and lead singer switched between instruments. They played about a 40 minute set consisting of songs from their debut album Come Alive & Live Again. A great set and a band to watch for.

Small Paul.

 Headlining the evening was Toronto band formerly from Edmonton Altameda. Always a treat to see this band and as always they put on a great show. It was nice to hear some new songs with the band opening the set with a new song called  "Wild One" and two other new songs "Stuck In Your Ways" and "Leave Your Light On" spread out through the set. I'm looking forward to a new album hopefully in 2024. Altameda closed their set with the Bob Dylan song "The Man In Me" which saw openers Small Paul join Altameda for the final song of the night. Even if buddy from Small Paul couldn't play the harmonica  worth a damn in that song. But it sure looked like everyone on stage was having a blast. Good times!!!

Altameda.

Homestand '23 featuring Corb Lund, Mike Plume and others, September 9th, Moose Jaw, SK

 

 Going to this show in Moose Jaw was a few months in the making. It started with Buzzard and I running into Mike Plume at the Jason Isbell concert here in Edmonton. It was at this show that Mike told us about his upcoming tour with his band in the fall, and also told us about the big show in Moose jaw where he would be opening for Corb Lund. Well we knew for sure that we would see the Edmonton show but Buzzard right away said road trip for the Moose Jaw show. Well after hemming and hawing for months about going to the show, we finally pulled the trigger on going to the show during a late night of drinking in mid August. We got our tickets and booked a hotel room in Moose Jaw for a few nights. So now we are committed to going, Buzzard, Cuz and I. After telling my Dad who lives in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan that we were going to the show, he said he wanted to go as well, as he is a fan of Mike Plume and Corb Lund and has seen both of them before, so now Dad is going to meet us in Moose Jaw for the show. This going to be a good time.

 First things first though, we gotta sober up from the Mike Plume show we had just attended in Edmonton. We were leaving the following morning for the seven hour trip. Well we didn't get going until noon hour as we had a very late night before. But after a nights rest, it was off to Moose Jaw we go. Road Trip! First out of town concert I had been to in four years. And of all places Moose Jaw, would never have guessed that would be the place.

 After the seven hour drive of three hungover guys we were some glad to finally arrive in Moose Jaw. A day off of work and no drinks for that long is not how you enjoy a day off, but we pulled it off. The drive was uneventful, which was a good thing. But by the time we got to Moose Jaw and met up with my Dad, it was time to get some drinks in us. So we found ourselves a bar to go to close to the hotel and proceeded to get a buzz on and close the place down. Good times! Then it was back to the hotel room and carry on, finally finishing our night of drinking at 5am. I guess we needed some beers. The following day was the Homestand show at Ross Wells Ball Park. Thankfully the show didn't start until 6pm. My dad woke up us around 10am, which was way too fucking early, hell we had just shut er' down not too long ago. Man, I was hurting the day of the show. Some lunch and a wander around downtown Moose Jaw and a mid afternoon hopefully would help.

 This show billed as Homestand '23 being held at Ross Wells Ball Park was there third annual holding of the event. The Ball Park opened at 1:30 so those that wanted to could watch the Banjo Bowl which is the name for the CFL football game between the two rivalries of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders on the big screens at the park, Saskatchewan loves their Roughriders! We skipped out on watching that as we had no interest. After the game was when the concert got started.

 Lucky for us it was a beautiful day for an outdoor concert. Things got started around 5pm with Jordyn Pollard from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. Her music I would describe as pop country. Not really my kind of music, but it was good that Homestead got things going with a Saskatchewan musician.

Jordyn Pollard.

Next up was Lindi Ortega who is a country singer-songwriter from Toronto. I've always wanted to see her in concert and now I was finally getting my chance. She was accompanied on stage with another guitar player, not sure of what his name was. Her set was alright other then the volume was way too low for her. Not sure why that was but it was disappointing.

Lindi Ortega.

 By the time the Mike Plume Band came on, I had got a few beers in me and was starting to feel a whole lot better, and the ball park was starting to fill up. Mike and his band were in fine form with his guitarist Dave Klym almost stealing the show. He was ripping it up and so animated. he is a lot of fun to watch and man can that guy play the guitar. Of course the rest of the band were tight and sounding great as well. Mike sounded great on vocals but did hear his voice crackle a few times, which can be expected when this is the fifth show in five nights. One surprise during Mike's 75 minute set was him and the band breaking into the Jimmy Buffett song "Margaritaville". That had the crowd singing along, a tribute to Jimmy who had just passed away a week before this show. There was good crowd in front of the stage for Mike with lots of people singing along and having a good time. This was my 26th time seeing Mike Plume in concert. A great set!

Mike Plume Band.

 This picture I got off of Instagram from drummer Ernie's account.

 Now it was time for headliners Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans. Well us Albertans weren't hurting anymore, we all had more then a few beers in us by now and were having a really good time. It's a;ways fun seeing Corb Lund and his band perform. This would be my 12th time seeing Corb in concert.

 By the time Corb Lund hit the stage the place was packed, my guess would be 2500-3000 people in attendance and the front of the stage was super packed and everyone was having a blast.

 Corb had a few sound issues at the start of the set but it got figured out after a song or two. Corb and his band sounded great playing songs such as "Five Dollar Bill", "Bible On The Dash", "I Wanna Be In The Cavalry", "Bible On The Dash", "Cows Around" and what surprised me was him playing three new songs from his upcoming album El Viejo to be released in February 2024, I think it was three anyways, two for sure, one being "Old Familiar Drunken Feeling", a song he said was a true story about him eating some edibles before a show in Colorado. Such a great song. Another new song he did was called "Out On A Win" about a fighter that wants to win one last time, again, another great song. Really looking forward to the new album.

 And of course Corb had to play "Rye Whiskey/Time To Switch To Whiskey" which had the whole crowd singing along to. What a great two hour set and such a fun night, great crowd, good vibes, awesome music, beautiful evening, great friends and a night out with my Dad. Good fucking times in Moose Jaw!!!!

 Also a big shout out to Buzzard for talking us into going to this show and booking the hotel room and a big shout out to Cuz for the drive to and from Edmonton to Moose Jaw! And also to the organizers of the Homestand 23 Festival organizers and volunteers, great job!

Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans.