Steel Panther & Buckcherry Live in Edmonton April 18th 2025

 My buddy Nazz and I ended up going to this show, Steel Panther and Buckcherry at Midway Music Hall. When the show was first announced we were very interested in going, as this sounded like a very fun show, a good ol' sleaze/glam metal double bill. But then we saw the price of tickets, 105 dollars was too steep of price for us, so we held off. So obviously the show wasn't selling very well if they are offering 2 for 1. Well the day before the show I saw an ad from Ticketmaster that tickets were now 2 for the price of 1. Hmmm, maybe we should go. When I got home from work I was looking into purchasing tickets when I got a message from Freecloud Records informing me that I had won two tickets to the show. Well, holy fuck, it was my lucky day. So, off to the show we go!

 Opening the show was Kurt Deimer. I had never heard of him before but after some research I see he is a gentleman from Cincinnati whom is an actor and musician. I don't know any of the movies he is in, but I hope his acting is better then his band. Kind of a nu-metal sounding band. Did nothing for me during his half hour set.

Kurt Deimer.

 Next up was Anaheim, California band Buckcherry. This would be my third time seeing them in concert. The previous times I had seen them was at the Jubilee Auditorium opening for Alice Cooper, a sit down venue and then I also saw them open for Skid Row at the River Cree Casino another seated venue, so it was nice to finally see them in a bar, which is the right setting for them.

 Their hour set was rockin' playing exactly what you would expect. Second song into the set was the huge hit for them "Lit Up", lead singer Josh Todd can still belt it out, the band was tight and had the crowd rocking out and energized from the get go. Near the end of the set was "Crazy Bitch" which had everyone singing along. I really don't know much of their music other then the two big hits that got overplayed on commercial radio. But the band is certainly keeping the sleaze metal alive. I thought their set was good, but do I need to see them ever again, probably not now that I have seen them in a bar setting.

Buckcherry.

 

 By the time Steel Panther hit the stage the crowd was certainly ready to party. With the band on the road in support of their 15th anniversary of their debut album Feel The Steel, so we were sure to get lots of songs from said album. If you are easily offended, Steel Panther is not for you,, but from audience reaction, everyone knew what they were in-store for. Opening the show with "Eyes Of A Panther" which is one of their tamer songs on the debut album. But from their it was all on dirty and hilarious. Having said that, I think they only played two songs in the first twenty minutes of the show, or at least that's how it felt. With all the in-between banter between the band and audience, they had the crowd howling. This being my third time seeing the band, I kinda knew what to expect.

The second song played after a whole lot of banter was "It Won't Suck Itself" from the sophomore album Balls Out. Lead singer Michael Starr sounded great in my opinion and guitarist Satchel is a really good guitarist. As much as the band celebrate and make fun of the glam metal genre, they are actually quite talented. What I did miss though is the original bassist Lexxi Foxxx. Other songs played from the debut album that I remember were (hey, I had a good buzz on, I can't recall everything), "Girl From Oklahoma", "Asian Hooker" and "Death To All But Metal". And of course, as always, near the end of the show the band invited all the ladies in the crowd that wanted to come on stage to join them, which is always entertaining. The encore song was "Gloryhole". My only complaint is for a show that was almost an hour and a half, I think they only played maybe 10 songs in total, so much of the show was telling jokes and such. That's a minor complaint though as it was funnier than fuck. If you can't smile, laugh and have a good time at a Steel Panther show you don't know how to have fun. Good times!!!

Steel Panther.

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Skid Row & Buckcherry Live at River Cree Casino March 7th 2024

 

 On Thursday night my buddy Nazz and I went to the sold out Skid Row and Buckcherry show at River Cree Casino a venue just on the outskirts of Edmonton. I won tickets to this show courtesy of The Bear radio station. I won these tickets last year and was supposed to see this show last October but the show was postponed until March of this year. I wouldn't have bought tickets to this show but for free, hell ya, count me in.

 We got to the show a little late and only caught the last song by the opening band Sierra Pilot out of Waterloo, Ontario. Having seen very little of them, I can't really say much about them.

Sierra Pilot.

Next up was Los Angeles, California's Buckcherry. This would be my second time seeing them in concert. Last time I saw them was opening for Alice Cooper a few years ago and had said they would be a fun band to see in a bar setting instead of  soft seat venue. Well this was close, but still would much rather see them in an actual bar where it is general admission. Nonetheless, still a better setting for this kind of rock band.

Buckcherry came out swinging opening with the song "Lit Up" from their debut album which had the crowd rocking right from the get go. Lead singer Josh Todd sounded a little rough at the start, but then he's no young pup anymore either, with him being in his early 50's now. But by the third song "Somebody Fucked With Me" he had shook off the cob webs and was sounding like you would expect him too. I'm not super familiar with their material but did know a few of the songs such as "Porno Star" and "Ridin'" from their 2001 album Time Bomb. I was very surprised to hear them cover the Bryan Adams song "Summer of 69".

 And of course the band wasn't gonna get away without playing their biggest song and sing-a-long song "Crazy Bitch", which seemed to go on forever with the band making a medley of the song with snippets of  " James Brown's, Sex Machine / Bad Girls / Prince's, Irresistible Bitch / and with a shout out to Tina Turner they also through in the CCR song Proud Mary and then finally back into Crazy Bitch. But holy fuck the crowd was loving it. A pretty decent set by Buckcherry.

Buckcherry.

 Headliner of the evening was New Jersey's Skid Row who are on the road promoting their latest release The Gang's All Here which seems like an odd title for the album considering original lead singer Sebastian Bach isn't involved. Would have made a lot more sense had he been. Anyways, with new lead singer Erik Gronwall now leading the band. Skid Row go through lead singers like Spinal Tap went through drummers.

 The crowd had thinned out a little bit by the time Skid Row came on which is understandable on a work night. The place was still packed though and the band came out opening with Skid's heaviest song "Slave To The Grind" and holy shit Erik was belting it out, ala Sebastian Bach. Then came "Big Guns", "18 And Life" and "Piece of Me". They were off to a rocking start and sounding quite good. I just couldn't get past the matter of no Bach. While he can sing really good, it was something about his stage persona I just wasn't into. They punked it up with a Ramones cover "Psycho Therapy". Other songs played from their first two albums were "I Remember You", "Monkey Business" and ending the evening with "Youth Gone Wild". I would guess the setlist was 75% from the first couple albums. Original members still in the bend are Dave "The Snake" Sabo on guitar, Rachel Bolan on bass and Scotti Hill on guitar. The band is rounded out by drummer Rob Hammersmith who has been with the band since 2010. A good evening out considering it didn't cost anything. A big shout out to my buddy Nazz for the ride to and from the show. Good times!!!

Skid Row.

Alice Cooper Live in Edmonton April 12th 2022

Alice Cooper with Buckcherry, here is a show I didn't expect to go to. At the last minute a friend of mine Gerrianne got in touch with me and offered me the tickets for free as she couldn't go because of coming down with Covid. Even though it was only an hour or two before show time, you don't say no to free Alice Cooper tickets. I went to this show with my buddy Nazz. This show was held at the Jubilee Auditorium. When this show was origianly announced it was supposed to be Lita Ford opening, which would have been pretty cool. But after being postponed for over a year it ended up being Buckcherry opening. Far as long as Buckcherry has been around (1999) and as many times as the band has played Edmonton, I had never seen them live before, so I was looking forward to finally seeing them perform. I think the only original member is lead singer Josh Todd, but the band still play a sleazy glam metal style of music, which you just don't see or hear of much anymore. I've never owned any of their albums but am familiar with a couple of their songs that got a lot of airplay, that being "Lit Up" and "Crazy Bitch" which of course they played. And it was those two songs that got the best response from the crowd. They closed their set with "Crazy Bitch" with everyone singing along. Overall they were good, I'd like to see them playin a bar setting, that would be a lot of fun. Buckcherry.

Next up was Alice Cooper who was on tour in support of his 2021 album Detroit Stories. This woud be my 8th time seeing Alice Cooper in concert. Having seen him that many times, you pretty much know what you are in store for, and he didn't disappoint. As always Alice's backing band were excellent with Nita Strauss on guitar ripping it up and running all over the stage. Having said that, Alice is no slouch either, at 74 years old he still commands the stage and is sounding great and very entertaining, doing his usual antics. The show opened with "Feed My Frankenstein" from his Hey Stoopid album and closing out his set with "Teenage Frankenstein" from his Constrictor album. His setlist on this night covered his acreer with songs like "No More Mr. Nice Guy", "I'm Eighteen", "Steven", "Go To Hell", "Devil's Food", "I Love The Dead", "Billion Dollar Babies", "Under My Wheels", well you get the idea, great songs, but of course he had to do "Poison" a song I absolutely hate, but who the hell am I, the crowd loved it. And for his encore he closed the show out with "School's Out". Alice doesn't seem to age, another great show. Again, thank you gerrianne for the tickets. Good times!!! Alice Cooper.

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