October 15th

 The gig poster for the time I saw Big John Bates play New City Legion in Edmonton on October 15th, 2011. Opening acts for this show were all local bands A Bunch Of Marys which was a band fronted by Mike McDonald of Jr. Gone Wild, Fire Next Time and Whiskey Rose.

A Bunch Of Marys Live Sept.19th 2015

On Saturday night my Cuz and I went to DV8 here in Edmonton for the Permanent Records Farewell Fundraiser show. Permanent Records was a record shop in Edmonton that was around for five years, sadly they ran in to problems and closed the doors on September 1st. DV8 a music venue that was under Permanent put on this farewell show. The show was made up of local bands A Bunch Of Marys, Cutoffs, Tallest To Shortest and The Fuzz Kings.

The first band of the evening was A Bunch Of Marys. This was my fifth time seeing them. The band is led by Mike McDonald who also plays in Jr.Gone Wild, Mike was also co-owner of Permanent Records. Mike has been a very busy man musically as of late having success with JGW and his solo work and now bringing this band back after a three year lay off.

A Bunch Of Marys played about a forty minute set, they sounded loose and a little rough around the edges, to be expected with very little rehearsal before this gig. Mike and his band which includes Kim Upright on drums and Duane Elias on bass held there own. Some of the songs done on this night, which were all A Bunch Of Mary songs, no JGW songs on this night. It's cool to see how Mike doesn't have to include songs from his other band, the man can write a song that's for sure. They did do one cover, which was the Beatles song Please Please Me. Other songs were Wuthering Heights, Living On The Northside and Lying To An Activist. I found the sound to be a bit muddy on this night, but then I have found that at all the shows I have seen in this venue.

There was a decent size crowd for this show considering that there was no advertising done for this show other then on Facebook. What did surprise me was the A Bunch Of Marys opened the show, I really thought they would be the headliner, but I wasn't complaining as I had been into the sauce most of the day, so I only stuck around for A Bunch Of Marys and called it a night. Good times!!!

A Bunch Of Marys at DV8

In concert news...Mike McDonald of A Bunch Of Marys and Jr.Gone Wild will be playing a free show on Saturday Oct.10th at the Cask and Barrel with Joe Keithley of DOA fame, this is a free show and part of the Up and Downtown Festival.

Art Bergmann in Edmonton Nov.29th 2013

On Friday night my buddy Hurl I attended the Art Bergmann, A Bunch Of Marys and Ben Disaster show at the Pawn Shop here in Edmonton.

The first band of the night was locals Ben Disaster. This was my first time seeing this band. They started strong with their first two songs being good rockers in the punk rock vain, but after that they seemed to lose focus and not know what kind of band they are. They were all over the place, there is no doubt the band is talented, but they need to pick a genre that they are and focus on that.

Ben Disaster.

Next up was another local band called A Bunch Of Marys which is led by Mike McDonald whom also fronts Junior Gone Wild. This was the first show A Bunch Of Marys have played in a year, with Mike being busy with newly reformed Junior Gone Wild. This was my fourth time seeing them play live. For a band that hasn't performed together in a year they sure schooled Ben Disaster in what it takes to grab peoples attention. Mike's stage presence is commanding and the two guys backing him up were tight. Their forty-five minute set was a lot different then what I had seen them previously perform, with them even doing a Beatles cover. A great set for a band that hasn't played in a year. Here is hoping they play some more shows in the near future.

A Bunch Of Marys.

The headliner of the evening was the legendary iconic Canadian punk rocker Art Bergmann. Art has only played a handful of shows over the past ten years having struggled with alcohol and drug problems as well as health issues, suffering from severe arthritis. This was my first time seeing Art Bergmann in concert and wasn't sure what to expect. he has been known to put on some sloppy drunken angry shows and having to sit on a stool during his shows. Well on this evening he was spectacular. He seemed to have it together, not needing to sit down through out the whole show and playing guitar the whole time as well. As he has also been known to not playing guitar because of the arthritis. He was drinking through out the show, but didn't seem to be intoxicated to the point where his show suffered because of it.

For someone that is sixty years old and struggling with health issues, Art was very animated through out the show. His playing was good as was his voice. His back up band was bang on. He performed songs from his whole career including the song "Hawaii" from his old band Young Canadians. Other songs I recognized from his album 'What Fresh Hell Is This?", as I am most familiar with that album were, "Beatles In Hollywood", "Contract", "Another Train Song" and "Guns And Heroin". I thought there would be a bigger audience then there was, my guess would be about 200 people at its peak. This show was way better then I had expected. Art Bergmann could be Canada's Lou Reed. Good times!!!

Art Bergmann.

In concert news...Mike McDonald's other band Junior Gone Wild will be playing News Years Eve at The Blackdog Freehouse. Tickets available at the club.

5 Years Ago Today...October 15th

It was five years ago today that I saw Gogol Bordello in concert at the Edmonton Event Centre.

And it was two years ago today that I saw Big John Bates with local bands A Bunch Of Marys and Fire Next Time play New City Legion here in Edmonton.

19 Years Ago Today...October 1st

It was nineteen years ago today that I saw the Cadillac Tramps play The Rev here in Edmonton.

Also on this day, two years ago. I saw the band Treeline with Sean Brewer play a free afternoon show at Permanent Records in Edmonton.

Later that night I saw Treeline with A Bunch Of Marys and Scenic Route To Alaska play New City Legion.

5 Years Ago Today...July 7th

It was five years ago today that I saw Mark Knopfler play the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.

Also on this day, three years ago, I saw Tool play Rexall Place here in Edmonton.

And it was this time last year that I saw local bands A Bunch Of Marys with Bombchan play New City Legion here in Edmonton.

A Bunch Of Marys with Bombchan at New City July 7th 2012

On Saturday night my buddy Hurl and went to New City Legion on Whyte Avenue here in Edmonton to checkout local bands Bombchan and A Bunch Of Marys. We missed the first band of the night The Switchmen.

We got there just in time to catch Bombchan. This was my first time seeing this band perform, and will not be my last time. These guys were absolutely incredible. The band is led by lead singer and slide guitar player Mike Park, with Ayla Brook also on guitar playing mostly rhythm, but holy shit when he did get his time in the spotlight, Ayla could fuckin' rip it up. Mike Park was wicked on slide guitar and the man can sing with a lot of heart, amazing stuff. Rounding out the band is bassist Karie Brown and on drums you have Grant Stovel.

Bombchan play a mean brand of the blues adding there own twist to blues covers , but not your usual middle of the road blues. They cover such artists as RL Burnside, Bukka White, Fred McDowell and Robert Petway. They remind me of some the atrists that the record label Fat Possum was releasing in the 90's.

Bombchan played about a 30-40 minute set that rocked through out. I sat there in awe, and totally digged what they were playing. A very impressive set. They have an EP out called 'Do Me Right', which is well worth searching out.

A band I will surely be following. Can't wait to see them play live again.

Bombchan.

Headliners for the evening was Mike McDonald's band A Bunch Of Marys. This was my third time seeing them play live and first time seeing them headline. They had a hard act to follow and I think Mike knew it as well. The first thing out of his mouth as they hit the stage was something along the lines of "ok, now that you have seen the good guitar players, we are A Bunch Of Marys".

A Bunch Of Marys opened with the song 'Wuthering Heights', and mixed up there set quite a lot from the last two times I have seen them which was nice to see. Playing a longer set this evening I found that they stretched some their songs out with some extended jams. Maybe it was just me, but I thought I heard a little bit of a Rush influence in a couple of songs. Mike and the band sounded good, be nice if they would release an EP or something, can't wait to hear some new songs in the future. I enjoyed their set, which was about an hour long, but have to say I truly do think Bombchan stole the show on this night. All and all a good time was had to a small but appreciative crowd. Good times!!!

Big John Bates w/ A Bunch Of Marys In Concert 10/15/11

Last Friday my buddy Hurl and I went to see Big John Bates play at New City Legion in Edmonton. The main reason I went tot his show was to see local band A Bunch Of Marys again. I had just seen the band for the first time a couple of weeks ago, but was blown away and brought a friend with me this time to see them.

The first band of the evening was local band Whiskey Rose whom are a wanna be glam band. I don't have to much to say about them,other then they had the plug pulled on them after about forty minutes and a terrible cover of The Stones song "Honky Tonk Woman". Keep at it boys, you can only get better.

The next band was local band Fire Next Time, a band I had never seen or heard before. Not sure why, but the band didn't play as a whole, it ended up just being the lead singer James Renton on an acoustic guitar singing and strumming the guitar like a motherfucker and singing his heart out. He reminded me of William Elliot Whitmore and Nick Cave wrapped up in one. I was quite impressed with his short twenty minute set. I am looking forward to checking out his full band.

James Renton of Fire Next Time.


Next band up was A Bunch Of Marys also from Edmonton. The band is led by Mike McDonald who also used to front the Edmonton band Junior Gone Wild in the early 90's. This was my second time seeing the band play live within a few weeks. Again they put on a great show playing the same set as they did last time. This is a band well worth checking out.

Mike McDonald of A Bunch Of Marys.




The headliner of the evening was Vancouver band Big John Bates. This was my first time seeing the band perform live, and have to say they were pretty damn good. They play a punk/blues style of music. They are three piece band consisting of Brandy Bones on upright bass and Hagberg on drums. Brandy on the bass was entertaining climbing all over her bass as she played. All and all a fun band to see. Also, something I didn't realize, Big John Bates was the original singer the Canadian thrash band Annihilator from the early 90's. Hurl and I had a good time at the show, with plenty of beers and a few shots of whiskey. Good times!!! They had a decent turn out or the show, which was nice to see. Keep supporting live music everyone.

Big John Bates.


Brandy Bones.


Big John again.


As well at the show I saw Chi Pig lead singer of the old Edmonton punk rock band SNFU talking with Mike McDonald, oh the stories they could tell about the Edmonton music scene of the 90's. I had the chance to talk to both of them, they were very gracious and took the time to let me take a picture of them together and then one of me with them as well. Very cool guys.

Mike McDonald and Chi Pig.