January 8th

  My ticket stub from the January 8th, 2013 Blue Rodeo show I saw at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton.  This was their 25th anniversary tour.

Fire Aid for Fort McMurray Concert June 29th 2016

On Wednesday night Janis and I went to the Fire Aid for Fort McMurray benefit concert held here in Edmonton at Commonwealth Stadium. This show was put on as benefit with all proceeds from the concert going to help with the rebuilding of Fort McMurray after the devastating wild fire that ripped through the city in early May. On the bill were many of Canada's biggest bands all pulling together for a good cause. The show started at 2 in the afternoon with a stage set up outside the stadium for the tail gate party with many local bands performing, not sure how many bands played as it rained like a motherfucker most of the afternoon. I was starting to question whether I really wanted to go sit in the rain all night for this show that got started at 5pm in the stadium. But like typical Alberta weather, by 5 o'clock the clouds had parted and the sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful night for an outdoor concert.

But after not getting off work til 5, it wasn't til a little after 7 by the time we got to the show. So sadly we missed a few performers I would have liked to have seen, like Ian Tyson and Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea fame. We got there and were heading down to the general admission floor section just as Nova Scotia's The Rankin Family were wrapping things up. As we headed down the stairs you could hear the band playing there Celtic style music and seeing the people in the stands taking in the sun, bouncing beach balls around the crowd and people dancing in the aisles and singing, it looked like the audience was having a good time. This was looking like a crowd already having fun.

So by the time we got to the floor we were there in time to catch Dean Brody, who is some country musician who I don't care about, not a fan of that kind of country music at all, seemed like boring generic crap. Luckily his set was only twenty minutes long, as were all the bands sets except for the two headliners Blue Rodeo and Nickelback. They had two stages set up, so we ignored Dean Brody and got ourselves situated in front of the other stage for Randy Bachman and The Sadies, who I really wanted to see, that was a big reason I wanted to come out to the show was for this match up, as I am a huge Sadies fan.

By the time Randy Bachman of BTO and Guess Who fame backed by the awesome band The Sadies hit the stage Janis I were right in front of the stage, and the stadium was starting to fill up. My guess would be about 30,000 people in attendance. This was my second time seeing Randy Bachman in concert and twelfth time seeing The Sadies. With the set being only twenty minutes long the band rocked it out playing BTO songs "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet", "Let It Ride" and Guess Who songs "No Time", "American Woman" and closing out with another BTO classic "Takin' Care Of Business". An awesome short set and probably the most rocking of the evening.

Randy Bachman with The Sadies.

After shuffling our way over to the main stage it was time for Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans. This was my tenth time seeing Corb Lund live. Corb's set was rocking as well from start to finish playing all older tunes opening with "Hurtin Albertan" which segued into Stompin' Tom's "The Hockey Song" then a great oil workers song "Roughest Neck Around" which was a great choice in song considering Fort McMurray is the hub of Canada's oil production industry. Next was another great old song called "Five Dollar Bill" and closing out with "Rye Whiskey/Time To Switch To Whiskey" that song really had the crowd singing along. A great set by Corb Lund and his band.

Corb Lund.

Now it was time to climb the thousand stairs (Janis' estimation) up to the main concourse to step out for a smoke and get another beer. Therefore we didn't get to see Barney Bentall, we could hear him but couldn't see him. It was during this time, that I got a nice surprise. I saw a lady selling beers so I went to line up and grab a beer when the guy in front of me was buying a few beers for what I thought were his friends, he turned around to me and asked me what I was drinking. I told him I was drinking Molson Canadian, that is when he said to the lady "and this guy here will have two Canadian's as well", this guy was standing in line buying people beers. I saw him buy at least twelve beers for people. At 10 dollars a pop, this guy was doling out cash like crazy. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! I thanked him very much for the beers, cheered him and was on my way. So to whoever you were, that was an awesome of you and again thank you SO much.

Next up was Dallas Green of City and Colour/Alexisonfire doing a solo set. Now I have to admit I am not all that familiar with his music, but was pleasantly surprised by how good he was. Dallas has an awesome voice and is a decent songwriter too. He closed out his set with a great version of the Tragically Hip song "Bobcaygeon", that was a nice surprise. Good set.

Dallas Green of City and Colour.

The headliner of the night for us Blue Rodeo was up next as we weren't sticking around to see Nickelback, and this was the main reason Janis wanted to go as she is a big fan of Blue Rodeo, and I myself too am a fan of them. This was my third time seeing Blue Rodeo in concert and again they didn't disappoint. I've said it before and I'll say it again, they are like Canada's version of the Grateful Dead, maybe a little more country and not as psychedelic, but the longevity of them being together thirty plus years and the teaming up of Greg Keelor (Canada's Jerry Garcia) and Jim Cuddy feed off each other so well and the meshing of their voices and the way they each do their own songs.

Blue Rodeo's set was about an hour with them doing these songs that I know "Head Over Heels", "Diamond Mine", "5 Days In May" and closing out their set with the song "Lost Together" in which many of the other performers from the day joined them on stage for the song. That song seemed to take on even more meaning considering what this show was all about. A great set by a great Canadian band, beautiful weather, great audience, awesome music and all in the name of raising money for the rebuild of Fort McMurray. The concert raised over two million dollars. We got the hell out of the stadium before Nickelback came on. Janis and I had a whole lot of fun at the show. Good times!!!

Blue Rodeo.

T-shirt that I won't wear in public because of the Nickelback on it, but hey the shirt was only 20 dollars and it went to a good cause.

15 Years Ago Today...July 29th

It was fifteen years ago today that I saw Big Sugar play at the Convention Centre here in Edmonton. This show was a make-up show for a fiasco of a show a month before. It was Labatt Blue contest show that had been held in a airplane hangar earlier, it was during that show that it all went to shit because of rain,power failures and a roomful of drunks. Cans of Labatt Blue for a dollar a piece, what did you think was going to happen. Good times!!!

Also on this day thirteen years ago, I saw Wide Mouth Mason play a free show at K-Days Exhibition here in Edmonton.

On this day eight years ago, I saw Twisted Sister play the K-Days Fair here, another free show.

It was a year ago today that I went to the closing night of the inaugural Interstellar Rodeo Festival here in Edmonton. The bands I caught on this evening were Whitehorse, Mike McDonald of Jr. Gone Wild doing a solo acoustic set and to close the night out Blue Rodeo.

In concert news...Whitehorse will be playing in Edmonton on Sunday October 13th as part of a new festival here called Up + Downtown Music and Arts Festival.

Blue Rodeo Live In Edmonton Jan.8th 2013

Last night Janis,Buzzard,Charlene and I went to the Blue Rodeo show here in Edmonton at the Jubilee Auditorium. The first of two shows here in Edmonton. Blue Rodeo are on tour to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary of being a band. Of the twenty-five years together as a band this was only my second time seeing them live and second time within a year. For as often as they play here,it's kind of surprising that this was only the second time. I am sure I saw them play at the Jasper Folk Fest in 2001, but I am not totally sure.

I was lucky and won tickets for this show, although I had already bought tickets for it about a month ago, so my buddy Buzzard ended up with free tickets for his birthday. The tickets I won were better then the ones I bought, so ya, I took the better seats.

As for the show, I thought it was quite good, not as good as the performance I saw in the summer when they played as part of the Interstellar Rodeo Fest at Hawrelak Park. On this night at the Jubilee they were making the best of the acoustics of the venue, as I didn't think the show was near as rocking as the outdoor show in the summer. Blue Rodeo being a country/rock band, I lean more to the rock stuff myself. Blue Rodeo played two sets, as it was an evening with, no opening band. The first set was good, with them playing such hits as opening song "Cynthia" other songs played were "Diamond Mine", "Five Days In May", "What Am I Doing Here" and many more that I am not sure what the titles are.

For the second set of the evening they opened with a campfire style acoustic set with all the members sitting on stools and chairs playing. Now I like an acoustic song, but after six or seven slow acoustic songs, I was getting bored. I think three acoustic numbers would have been sufficient. It also seemed like they didn't have a setlist to follow as Greg Keelor kept shouting out songs, in which the band would all nod and start to play them. Jim Cuddy actually piped up and said "looks like Greg is running the show tonight". It was time to pick up the pace before I fall asleep. They finally did, but the acoustic stuff went on way too long. The rest of the set was excellent, with the band playing another hour and a half, the first set was an hour, so overall there was a lot of music played, which is understandable when you have been around for twenty-five years. Having said that, there were still some songs that you wanted to hear but didn't. Like my partner Janis, whom is a big fan of Blue Rodeo, (she is the one that got me in to Blue Rodeo actually) she really wanted to hear "Rose Coloured Glasses" but to no avail. They did play three new songs which will be coming out sometime this year, they were alright. Both singers Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor sounded good, and keyboard player Michael Bugowski stole the show, or so I thought anyways, he was givin'er all night. All and all a decent night of music and first show of the year for me. Good times!!!

Jim Cuddy in Edmonton.

Greg Keelor in Edmonton.

T-shirt front.

Blue Rodeo and Whitehorse in Edmonton July 27th 2012

After two weeks of vacation which included lots of late nights,lots of traveling and too much drinking, we got back at midnite Saturday, so I was looking forward to a quiet Sunday of chilling and unwinding from vacation. Sunday afternoon I stopped by the local record shop (Permanent Records) to pick up a few records that I had on hold. While at the record store I got talking to Mike McDonald (whom is part owner of Permanent Records) and was congratulating him on getting on the roster of the Interstellar Rodeo Festival. That is when he asked me if I would like four passes to that nights festivities. Of course I said yes. Looked like it was going to be another late night, no rest for the wicked I guess.

The Interstellar Rodeo Festival is in it's first year and looks like it is going to be a huge success. The festival is held in Hawrelak Park in Edmonton in the amphitheatre there. Why this amphitheatre doesn't get used more is beyond me, because it is an excellent venue to see a show with a capacity of about 5000 people, nice medium sized venue. Anyways, the festival is a three day event that had a very eclectic line up with local and international bands playing. Some of the bands that played were Hawksley Workman, Richard Buckner, Randy Newman, Alejandro Escovedo, Gillian Welch, Cadence Weapon, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Blue Rodeo among many others.

By the time my buddy A-Bomb and I got there we caught the last two bands of the festival. The first band we saw was Whitehorse, a band I had never heard of before but will surely be looking into. Whitehorse consists of Luke Doucet and his wife Melissa McClelland, just a two piece band along the lines of White Stripes but way better. They play a rocking style of music with both singing, Melissa has a beautiful voice and when they sang together the harmonies were awesome. What caught us off guard at first was the big bass drum sound, we thought it was pre-recorded at first til we realized that Luke was playing the bass drum with his foot as he wailed away on the guitar too, very cool.

Whitehorse.

After their set Blue Rodeo was up next, being the last band of the festival. But while they were setting up Mike McDonald of Junior Gone Wild fame got to play an in betweener set. The MC of the event gave a very nice introduction of Mike mentioning his Junior Gone Wild days and mentioning that Mike was one of the best song writers in Edmonton. Mike's set was short consisting of only four songs with a few breaks in between as Blue Rodeo was doing soundcheck at the same time. Mike battled through the elements and played a great acoustic set.

Mike McDonald.

Next up was headliners Canadian pop/country band Blue Rodeo whom has been around for over 25 years now. I hadn't seen Blue Rodeo in 11 years and have to say they haven't changed at all. The band is still led by original members Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor and Bazil Donovan whom play off each other very well still after all these years. I myself have always been a bigger fan of the Greg Keelor songs. For some reason Blue Rodeo has always kind of reminded me of a Canadian version of the Grateful Dead with out the endless jamming. Great music for a beautiful Sunday night outdoor show. Some of the songs that Blue Rodeo performed on this evening were 'What Am I Doing Here', 'Diamond Mine', 'Already Gone', 'It Could Happen To You' and many others that I recognized but am not sure of the titles. Their set lasted about an hour and a half and rocked from start to finish.

Blue Rodeo.

This festival Interstellar Rodeo is off to a great start with an awesome venue,great vibes,excellent line up and good times to be had. I see this festival being like a smaller version of the Edmonton Folk Fest. Good times!!!

I would like to thank Mike McDonald for the four free passes to Sundays show. I only ended up not using one pass. I found a guy outside the gates filming Blue Rodeo through the wire fence while I was out having a smoke, I asked him if he would like a pass to get in and see the show. I made his day that's for sure, he thanked me big time. Thanks again Mike.