July 29th

  I saw Twisted Sister play the exhibition  called Klondike Days here in Edmonton on July 29th, 2005, a free show and holy shit was this ever a lot of fun! All original members too.

July 28th

  My ticket stub and concert ad and reviews from the July 28th, 2005 Sounds of the Underground Tour that played in Edmonton at Rexall Place. An insane line-up of hardcore and metal bands all in one day. Good times!!!

John Garcia Live in Edmonton July 6th 2025

  My buddy A-Bomb and I went to the John Garcia show at the Starlite Room. John Garcia of course being the former lead singer of the Palm Desert, California stoner rock band Kyuss, a band I had never seen before, so this was going to be the next best thing. I've been a big fan of Kyuss for a lot of years and was really looking forward to this, and they did not disappoint.

 John and his band put on a wicked show of grooving stoner rock, covering John's whole career from old Kyuss songs such as "Thumb", "Green Machine", "Hurricane", "Gardenia" among others. John's voice was very strong and just something about his delivery really gets me, love his singing, and his band was super tight as well. John told a story about touring Canada 10 years ago and hearing one of the opening bands play a song that made him stop in his tracks and listen intently. That song "Rolling Stoned" was by the Edmonton band Black Mastiff, John then brought on stage Bob Yiannakoulias the guitarist and singer of Black Mastiff to play the song, John had covered this song on one of his solo albums, so that was super cool.

 John and his band not only did Kyuss songs but also some solo songs and songs from his other bands such as Vista Chino, Slo Burn and Hermano, the first song of the night was actually a Hermano song "Cowboys Suck". This whole show fucking rocked and flowed so well that it flew by in a blink of an eye, super loud and super awesome. I had to laugh when during the show my buddy A-Bomb says to me (about John Garcia) "he looks more like a hotel manager than a lead singer of a band", man did that make me laugh. And he would know as he was in the hotel industry for many years. Good times!!!

John Garcia.

The first band of the night was the local band Overdrive ii Oblivion, a sludgy, doom stoner three piece band. I just could not get into this band at all. I found them to very boring with no melody or flow to their music. Overall just boring.

Overdrive II Oblivion.

 Second band of the night was the two piece band out of Iowa called Telekinetic Yeti. After the first band this was sounding good, but after three songs their psychedelic doom sludge style of metal got boring to me. just not my thing.

Telekinetic Yeti.

T-shirt.

July 25th

  I won tickets to this show, The Strange Days Festival which was a tour with the 21st Century Doors. This was The Doors with all original members with Ian Astbury of The Cult fronting the band. Also on the bill were Pat Travers and Vanilla Fudge. I've never been a fan of The Cult or Ian Astbury but have to say Ian did an awesome job of being Jim Morrison. This whole show was surprisingly really good. The show was on July 25th, 2005 at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Rest In Peace OZZY

  Hearing the sad news of the passing of Ozzy Osbourne this afternoon, really hit me, more than I had expected. Ozzy has been a part of my life since I was 13 years old hearing his solo material and Black Sabbath albums. Diary Of A Madman being my favourite solo album and then the Sabbath catalog, liked them all, but Volume 4 always hit me hard. I'm happy that Ozzy was able to pull off the Back To The Beginning show a few weeks ago.

 I'm sure every metal head and punk has an Ozzy story. Here is mine.

 My very first chance to see Ozzy in concert was June 30th, 1986 on his Ultimate Sin Tour with of all band opening Metallica. I was a huge Metallica fan and really liked the Ultimate Sin album. Actually it was the last solo album of his I really was into. Talk about an awesome double bill. But the scheduled show at Northlands Coliseum on June 30th, 1986 got canceled, talk about being bummed out.

 My next try at seeing Ozzy in concert was on June 8th,, 1996 on his Retirement Sucks Tour which was for his solo album Ozzmosis. Well at that time I found myself broke and not able to afford or get tickets. I remember it being on a Saturday and being really disappointed that I wasn't going to the show. Therefore, I spent the day drowning my sorrows and wishing I was going to the big Ozzy show. Much to my surprise, my buddy good buddy Geddy (RIP) shows up at my place around 5 in the afternoon with a pair of tickets to the show, last row on the floor, but who cared, we were going. Talk about being excited, but drunk too. Regardless, we were going to see the mighty Ozzy in concert. A few beers in my basement suite and then a few more at The Forum across the street from Northlands Coliseum. And, then we score some acid at the bar, well we didn't need that, but we did it anyways. Now we're primed for the show. Missed the opening act, which was Filter, no big deal, we were having fun at the peeler bar. But we got to our seats in time for Ozzy. I remember before Ozzy coming on they were showing clips of Ozzy on a big screen behind the stage that were hilarious and had the crowd pumped. And then the lights went down and Ozzy came on stage yelling "let's go fucking crazy!". I believe they opened with a Sabbath song, but I can't be sure. And then, I woke up at home the following morning with an Ozzy ticket stub in my pocket and no recollection of what happened. Apparently I got kicked out by the second song. Embarrassing yes, shitty yes, but an Ozzy memory nonetheless.

 It wasn't until July 6th, 1999, that I got to see Ozzy in concert again, and this time with the original Black Sabbath line up headlining Ozzfest in Vancouver at Thunderbird Stadium. What a fucking amazing show it was!

 Next time I got to see Ozzy live was  April 22nd, 2014 again with Black Sabbath in Edmonton at Rexall Place. This too was a impressive performance. here are a few pictures I took at that show.

Black Sabbath 2014.

 The Final time I saw Ozzy was March 2nd, 2016 with Black Sabbath again at Rexall Place in Edmonton. For this show I got row 2 on the floor the day of the show. Another fucking great show. Here are some pictures I took at that show.

Black Sabbath 2016.

 I am very thankful that I did get to see Ozzy a few times in concert. all three times were with Sabbath, which is cool, but kind of with I had seen him solo too, but I blew that chance. Thanks for the memories Ozzy and the music which will live on forever. You not only influenced musicians of all genres, but you also made a lasting impression on your fans. You did make a difference. Thanks Ozzy. May you Rest In Peace. 

July 20th

 My ticket stub from the Kim Mitchell and The Pursuit Of Happiness show I saw on July 20th, 1990 at Northlands Agricom in Edmonton.

July 19th

 It was on July 19th, 2012 while on holidays in Newfoundland, I was in Corner Brook visiting when I saw that the Edmonton band Slates were playing the White Horse Lounge there. Well, I wasn't going to miss that. Very cool to see an Edmonton band that I really like in a place like Corner Brook.