March 17th

  The ticket stub from the Ruthie Foster and Charlie Musselwhite show I saw at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton on March 17th, 2014.

Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite Live in Edmonton August 21st 2018

On Tuesday night my buddy Buzzard and I went to the Ben Harper & Charlie Musselwhite concert at the Jubilee Auditorium. We got the tickets for 20 dollars as part of Ticketmaster's summer concert deal they had, so the price was right for sure. I would have probably paid full price for this show as I really like the two albums these two have done together. The 2013 Grammy Award winning album Get Up! and this years release No Mercy In This Land. This would be my third time seeing Ben Harper in concert and second time seeing Charlie Musselwhite live, but first time seeing the two perform together.

When we got to the venue you could tell right away that this show didn't sell very well. When we went to go to our seats which were on the second balcony, hey what do you want for 20 dollars. As we got to the first balcony there was staff there telling people that seats in the second balcony had been upgraded to first balcony thanks to the promoter. So we ended up with seats in the third row of first balcony, pretty decent seats actually. So the venue was only about half full for this show.

The night started with opening band Hey,King from Los Angeles, California. I had never heard of the band before so we figured we would check them out. The are an indie rock band led by Natalie London and Taylor Plecity. Apparently they have an album coming out this fall that was produced by Ben Harper. We listened to about half their set and then went for beers. I found them to be kind of middle of the road music. They didn't do much for me.

Hey,King at the Jubilee.

Headlining the night was Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite, I love this collaboration. I'm more a fan of the duo then I am of Ben Harper's solo stuff. Ben's bluesy soulful voice works so well with Charlie wailing away on the harp. The show opened with the song "When I Go" which is also the opening song from their latest release No Mercy In This Land. Right from the get go you got the feeling that this was going to be a kick ass rocking blues show. They followed up that song with "Bad Habits" which is also the second song from the same album. I was starting to think that maybe they were going to play the album in sequence, but they didn't, after that it was a Charlie Musselwhite song. Holy shit Charlie can still play the harmonica like a champ, very impressive. This show would have been very cool to see in a small blues bar like Blues On Whyte, but nonetheless, they did a great job of making it feel like a blues bar.

What did bother me through out the show was the idiots that persisted on yelling shit between songs, like really, shut the hell up and let the musicians play there damn music without the stupid interruptions. I thought every song was amazing but there were a few stand out tracks for me like "I'm in I'm Out and I'm Gone", "Trust You to Dig My Grave", "Get Up!" and "The Bottle Wins Again". I really enjoyed this show and would go see them as duo again anytime. Good times!!!

Ben Harper and Charlie Musselwhite at the Jubilee.

Charlie Musselwhite and Ruthie Foster Live in Edmonton March 17th 2014

On Monday night my buddy Hurl and I went to the Charlie Musselwhite and Ruthie Foster concert at the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton. This was my first time seeing both artists.

I have always wanted to see Charlie Musselwhite live, and on this evening I was finally getting my chance. I was happy to see that Charlie was the opening act for the show, as I wasn't in all honesty, cared whether I saw Ruthie Foster or not.

Charlie Musselwhite and his band hit the stage right on time and ripped through an hour long set, which ended with the audience giving him a standing ovation, which brought him out for an encore. Charlie just earned himself his first Grammy Award (Best Blues Album) for his album that he did with Ben Harper called "Get Up!" that came out last year. It is a great blues album and a well deserved award for this harmonica playing blues legend. At seventy years old, Charlie Musselwhite is looking healthy and sounding awesome, his voice was strong as was his harp playing. His back up band was quite good as well, especially guitar player Matt Stubbs. Charlie's style of blues went from down south delta blues to old school Chicago blues. All and all a great performance by Charlie Musselwhite and his band. Would love to him perform in a bar or outdoor festival setting.

After Charlie's opening set, he was out in the lobby signing autographs. I picked up his latest release "Juke Joint Chapel", a live album that came out in 2012.

Charlie Musselwhite at the Jubilee Auditorium.

Headliner of the evening was Texas native Ruthie Foster, this was my second time seeing her in concert having seen her open for Taj Mahal years ago. I only stayer for about forty-five minutes of her set. What I saw and heard was alright. She had a three piece band that were good. Ruthie was engaging with the audience a lot, telling stories and such, she did a few cover songs, one of them a Lucinda Williams song "Fruits Of My Labor". The lady has got a great voice, she can sing gospel very well and has a decent voice for the blues as well. She was good but not an artist I would go out of my way to see again. This show was not well attended at all, maybe about 700-800 people in a venue that holds 2500. Good times!!!

Ruthie Foster at the Jubilee Auditorium.