The Bouncing Souls Live in Edmonton July 14th 2026

 

 My buddies Nazz, A-Bomb and I went to this show at Midway Music Hall headlined by The Bouncing Souls with opening bands The Drowns, Death By Stereo and The Suicide Machines. A damn good bill of punk rock.

 The first band of the night and one of the main reasons I went to this show was The Drowns from Seattle, Washington. My brother Citrus introduced me to this band and have been waiting to see them live for a while now. I was finally getting my chance to see them, so we made sure to be at the venue early.

 The Drowns did not disappoint. They were loud, they were punk and they were exactly what I was hoping to see and hear. A three piece band that rocked for the whole half hour set. I was hoping to hear lots of songs from their album Blacked Out, as that is the album I have listened to the most. They only did one song from that album, that being the rocking "Ketamine & Cola". They played some new songs from their up coming new release Harsh Reality songs titles I recall were "Relentless", "Vengeance" and "Hellish Tattoo". An awesome band, I look forward to seeing them again, hopefully headlining.

The Drowns.

 Next up was Orange County, California's hardcore band Death By Stereo. This would be my 3rd time seeing them in concert, it had been 25 years since the last time I saw then live. While I'm not the fan of hardcore music as I once was they put on a good show. Lead singer Efrem Schulz is still a very intense lead man. On this tour Efrem mentioned they had a local bass player filling in as their usual bass player couldn't get across the border. I didn't catch his name but he did a great job. Overall it was good to see Death By Stereo again.

Death By Stereo.

 The third band of the evening was The Suicide Machines a ska punk band from Detroit, Michigan. This would be my second time seeing the band in concert. On this tour the band was playing their debut 1996 album Destruction By Definition in full.. Out of all the bands at this show, they were my least favourite. My buddy A-Bomb said they were his fave. I'm just not into the ska thing like I was in the late 90's. They were good and do what they do well. Just not my thing.

The Suicide Machines.

 Next up was headliners The Bouncing Souls from New Brunswick, New Jersey. This would be my 4th time seeing them in concert. The last time being in 2003, so it was a long time coming to get to see them again. I did see lead singer Greg Attonito do a solo acoustic show last summer at The Buck here in Edmonton, that was a cool show to see.

 The Bouncing Souls have been around since 1989 and other than the drummer it's all still original members. They are still a great live band, playing for an hour and a half with a selection of songs from almost all their albums. Opening the set was the song "Kate Is Great" from their self titled 1997 album. So many good songs I can't remember all of them, here are what I do recall, hell this show was almost a month ago now, so the memory of what was played is a little fuzzy, that and I had a few beers in me by the time The Bouncing Souls came on. Songs played "East Coast, Fuck You!" a great sing along song short but fun. Others played "The Ballad Of Johnny X", "Kids And Heroes", "Hopeless Romantic", "I Like Your Mom", "Here We Go" and of course the song that had everyone singing along "Lean On Sheena". The band sounded great, a very fun show. Good times!!!

The Bouncing Souls.

T-shirt.

August 21st

  It was on August 21st, 2003 that I saw the Punk-O-Rama Tour here in Edmonton a Red's. This tour featured The Bouncing Souls headlining with Hot Water Music, Worthless United and The Forgotten.

Greg Attonito of the Bouncing Souls Live in Edmonton June 28th 2025

  Last Saturday my buddy A-Bomb and I went to the Greg Attonito show at The Buck. This was a rare chance to see the lead singer of punk band The Bouncing Souls, Greg Attonito play a solo acoustic show in a intimate setting.

 Starting the evening was Alberta artist Joe Vickers whom also plays in the Edmonton band Audio/Rocketry. I had seen Audio/Rocketry a few times and always enjoyed them, but had never seen Joe play solo. Because I wasn't all that familiar with Joe's solo material, I reached out to Joe for some help with the song titles. And lo and behold he got back to me with his setlist from that evening. Thank you so much Joe, much appreciated.

 Joe's set started with a song called "Worst-Case" from the 2023 Audio/Rocketry album Voyager. Joe mentioned at the start of the song that it was about losing another friend to Vancouver, and right away the first thing that came to mind was the loss of Edmonton musician Ben Sir of Worst Days Down who we lost in April 2023. Next was another song from the same album called "Old Strathcona".

 Joe also did a cover of The Weakerthans song "Left & Leaving". The next two songs were Audio/Rocketry songs from their 2016 self titled album, them songs being "Somewhere In Between" in which he dedicated the song to Ben Sir, man this song had me tearing up while he sang it, and "Postcards/Heaven Spots" which was a foot stomping song. then another cover song called "Sorry You're Sick" by Ted Hawkins. Joe then closed out his set with two songs "Gun Shy" and "Vacancy" from his solo album Waiting On A Muse. Both songs were awesome. Joe Vickers set was so good and an awesome way to start the evening, a great singer/songwriter and musician. I will certainly be picking up more of his music and watching for future performances.

Joe Vickers.

 Next up was Garrett Dale, originally from Oklahoma now calling Edmonton home. This would be my second time seeing Garrett play. Garrett used to play in the punk band Red City Radio. this being the second time seeing him, I had an idea of what I was in for. the first time I saw him play i didn't much care for his set opening for Dave Hause. This time Garrett was dressed up in a cowboy outfit, did I mention this guy is kind of weird. Again his set was high tempo punk played on acoustic with lots of yelling and carrying on. He certainly does his own thing and quite the character. I couldn't tell you any song titles, but he is entertaining, at least for a while. His set was a little long for me, and after a half hour I got tired of it and went downstairs for a smoke. While outside smoking, who comes out the door still playing, yes Garrett Dale still givin' er'. He ended up playing two more songs on the street of Whyte Avenue. I couldn't get away from the guy, lol. Maybe if I see him a few more times I'll end up being a fan.

Garrett Dale.

 To close out the night was Greg Attonito lead singer and founding member of The Bouncing Souls. I have seen the New Jersey punk band Bouncing Souls three times but has been 22 years since I last saw them. So to see Greg do an acoustic solo show would be a treat. Not sure how often he does these, but I'm thinking it's kind of rare.

 Greg opened his set with the Bouncing Souls song "Say Anything" from their 1997 self titled album, which was super cool and had the crowd singing along right off the start. I don't know all the titles of the songs he sang, but will make mention of the ones I did know. Another old one he did was "Argyle" from the 1997 album Maniacal Laughter. The biggest sing-along of the night was to "Lean on Sheena", that had the crowd singing loudly and dancing. A few other songs he did were "Hopeless Romantic", "Quick Chek Girl", and "Gone" from the 2001 album How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Greg also did a few cover songs, one of them being a Springsteen song "Hungry Heart" and The Ramones song "Rockaway Beach". A solid night of tunes and a treat to see someone like Greg Attonito do a solo show in a small bar like The Buck. Good times!!!

Greg Attonito.

May 26th

  My ticket stub from the Punk-O-Rama show I saw May 26th, 2000 at the Golden Garter in Edmonton. Such a great line up and all for $17.50. Bands on the bill were Dropkick Murphys, The Bouncing Souls, Dwarves and The Distillers.

25 Years Ago Today...August 21st

It was twenty-five years ago today that I saw the Scorpions with Kingdom Come play Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

Also on this day ten years ago, I went to the Punk-O-Rama Tour at Red's in Edmonton. The main bands on this bill were Hot Water Music and the Bouncing Souls.

12 Years Ago Today...July 5th

It was twelve years ago today that I made the trip to Calgary for the Vans Warped Tour. Some of the bands I went to see were Rancid, Pennywise, Bouncing Souls among many others.

Also on this day, ten years ago,I was in Ottawa to see the Ottawa Blues Fest, in which I got to see Elvis Costello perform.

In concert news...Rancid will be playing in Edmonton with opening act the Transplants at the Shaw Conference Centre on Tuesday July 16th.

18 Years Ago Today...May 26th

It was eighteen years ago today that I saw Jimmy Page and Robert Plant play Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, this was an amazing show and rates up there with one of the best I have ever seen.



As well it was thirteen years ago today that I saw the Punk-O-Rama tour in Edmontnon at the Golden Garter, bands on the bill were the Dropkick Murphys, The Distillers, The Dwarves and The Bouncing Souls.





In concert news...The Dropkick Murphys will be performing at the Boonstock Music Festival in Gibbons, Alberta just a few hours out side of Edmonton on Sunday June 30th.

Concert Shirt/Poster Of The Day Dec.9th (The Dwarves)

Today-s t-shirt is from the band The Dwarves whom I saw play in 2000 at The Golden Garter in Edmonton as part of the Punk-O-Rama tour, other bands on the bill were The Bouncing Souls and The Dropkick Murphys. This was a really good triple bill. You never knew what to expect from The Dwarves, but for this show they were quite tame actually, considering they have been known to play naked and start fights and such. After their set, I got the chance to meet them and get their autographs.

Front.


Back.






The Dwarves Autographs.