December 31st

 

 December 31st, 1986 I saw Triumph on their The Sport Of Kings Tour at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton. Opening the show was Kick Axe. Having front row seats for this show made it extra special.

October 31st

  

 The day life changed in a big way for me. October 31st, 1984 I went to my very first concert. That being the Helix and Kick Axe double bill at the Golden Garter in Edmonton. I've been hooked on seeing live music since. And what a great show it was too. Helix were touring for their album Walkin' The Razors Edge and Kick Axe were touring for their debut album Vices. Good times!!!

May 6th

 

 On May 6th of 2017 I saw Helix and Kick Axe play Century Casino in Edmonton. This was the same two bands that I saw for my very first concert back in 1984. Two classic 80's Canadian metal bands that are still on the road touring these days.

In concert news...Helix will be playing at River Cree Casino in Edmonton (Enoch) on Saturday May 18th with opening band Aldo Nova.

January 1st

Happy New Year to all those that take the time to checkout my blog. I have done something like this before but am rehashing the idea to keep myself busy with the blog. Starting with this ticket stub and concert review from a concert I saw on January 1st 1986. Kick Axe headlining with opening band White Wolf.

Helix and Kick Axe Live in Edmonton May 6th 2017

Last Saturday my Cuz and I went to the Helix and Kick Axe double bill at the Century Casino here in Edmonton. When I first saw heard of this show being announced I was excited to see it. Not only because it would be a fun show to see these two Canadian heavy metal bands play again, but it was also the very first concert I ever went to. Back in 1984 when I was a 14 year old I saw this exact same double bill play at the old Golden Garter here in E-Town. So for nostalgic reasons if anything I really wanted to go. But with tickets being 50 dollars it was out of my range with all the other shows I want to see this summer. But much to my surprise I was able to see this show for free, thanks very much to the drummer of Kick Axe Brian Gillstrom who was nice enough to put me on the guest list for the show. Now I was really stoked and excited about reliving my youth with this all Canadian metal double bill. Give me an R,O,C,K!!!! This was going to be a fun show.

My very fist concert ticket stub.

The first band of the evening was Regina band Kick Axe who are now based in Vancouver. This was my fourth time seeing them in concert and first time I have seen them since 1986. When I heard about this show I had to look into who was still in the band. Well, much to my surprise it was all originals from their classic line-up except for the lead singer. Now singing for Kick Axe is Daniel Nargang who replaces George Criston. So still in the band is Brian Gillstrom on drums, Victor Langen on bass, Ray Harvey on lead guitar and Larry Gillstrom on lead guitar.

The band was in fine form with guitarist Ray Harvey and bassist Victor Langen looking to have the most fun on stage. Ray was smiling through out the whole show and really ripping it up on the guitar. And Victor on bass having a blast too, and I had forgotten all about his famous axe bass in which he played the whole show.

Kick Axe opened the show with "Alive & Kickin'" from their first album Vices that came out in 1984, they actually played a lot from that album, which to me is their best album. Other songs played from that album was the title song "Vices", in which lead singer said to raise your drinks and cheers, that was when I got a good laugh when the band all raised a bottle of water. Hey, I guess everyone is getting older and don't swill the beers like they used to. So from the album Vices, they played "On The Road To Rock", "Just Passin' Through", "All The Right Moves", and of course "Heavy Metal Shuffle". Lead singer Daniel Nargang did a great job as did Brian Gillstrom on drums, he was pounding the hell out of the drums all night.

Other songs played were "Welcome To The Club" the title song from their 1985 album, "Hellraisers", "Too Loud...Too Old", "Feels Good, Don't Stop". And from their 1986 album Rock The World they played "Medusa", "Rock The World" and closing out the set with the Fleetwood Mac cover "The Chain". What surprised me was for the encore after the near capacity crowd cheered them back tot he stage they closed their 75 minute set with another Fleetwood Mac song "The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)". What an awesome set and so much fun flashing back to the old metal head days.

Kick Axe at Century Casino.

Next up was Kitchener, Ontario rockers Helix. Now this was the exact opposite of Kick Axe with only lead singer Brian Vollmer being the only original member still in the band. Although the bass player Daryl Gray has been in the band since 1984 except for a seven year absence between 2002-2009. As for the rest of the band, I wasn't familiar with any of the other names. This was my fourth time seeing Helix in concert, the last time being I believe in the late 90's early 2000.

What impressed me the most about Helix's performance was lead singer Brian Vollmer's stage presence, he is still a great front man knowing how to work a crowd and still has a decent voice. Although he looks rougher then the last time I saw them, which only makes sense with it being many a years since I saw them play live. He has certainly lived the rock n' roll life I am sure.

Helix didn't disappoint with their performance and song selection playing mostly oldies like "Heavy Metal Love", "No Rest For The Wicked", "Rock You","Gimme Gimme Good Lovin", "Animal House" from their albums No Rest For The Wicked and Walkin' The Razors Edge. From their 1985 album Long Way To Heaven they played the title cut and "Deep Cuts The Knife". I remember not liking that album when it first came out but now think it was a very underrated album.

The last Helix album I bought was 1987's Wild In The Streets, and luckily they played a few songs from that one as well, the title song and another which is escaping me right now. This was a fun night of old Canadian heavy metal which brought back a lot of memories, and hell it was the exact same bill as the very first concert I ever went to in my life, and since that show back in 1984 I have been hooked since. Good times!!!

Helix at Century Casino.

After the show Brian Vollmer of Helix took the time to sign autographs and meet his fans and take pictures which was cool. I picked up his autobiography "Gimme An R!The Story of Brian Vollmer, Lead Vocalist of Helix", This should be a very interesting read. Brian even autographed it for me and my ticket sub from the very first concert I ever saw.

What an awesome night. And a huge Thank You! to Brian Gillstrom of Kick Axe for putting me on the guest list for the show. You made my week, it was nice to chat with Brian and show him the ticket stub too, he thought it was pretty cool that I still had it from 1984. Thanks Brian.

27 Years Ago Today...December 31st

It was twenty-seven years ago today that I saw Triumph with opening band Kick Axe play Northlands Coliseum here in Edmonton.

And it was fourteen years ago today that I saw Big Sugar perform at the Shaw Conference Centre in Edmonton.

Again on New Years Eve ten years ago, I saw Big Sugar play the Shaw Conference Centre with opening band The Trews.

Stats for the month of December...
I have been to shows 17 out of the 31 days in the month of December.
And I have seen 28 different shows out of them 17 days.

29 Years Ago Today...October 31st

It was twenty-nine years ago today that I went to my very first concert. This was the Canadian metal double bill of Helix and Kick Axe at the Golden Garter in Edmonton.

Also on this day twenty-one years ago, I saw local metal band Mary Prankster play the Golden Garter.

And it was eight years ago today that I saw Jon Spencer's band Heavy Trash with The Sadies opening and then backing up Heavy Trash play the Sidetrack Café here in Edmonton.

Stats for the month of October...
I have been to shows 26 days out of 31 in the month of October.
And have seen 64 different shows out of them 26 days.

27 Years Ago Today...Jan.1st

First off, Happy New Year to all!!! May the year 2013 be a rocking one with lots of great music,good shows,good times and a healthy one.

I am going to try an experiment this year and see if I have been to a show everyday of the year. I started going to concerts back in 1984. Let's see how this works out.

Starting with...twenty-seven years ago today I saw Kick Axe and White Wolf play at the Jubilee Auditorium here in Edmonton.

Concert Shirt Of The Day Jan.17th (Kick Axe)

Today's t-shirt is from the time I saw Kick Axe open for Triumph on New Years Eve 1986 in Edmonton at Northlands Coliseum. Triumph were touring for their 'Sport Of Kings' album. I wish I could find my Triumph t-shirt that I bought at this show, but no such luck. For 1986 Triumph had am amazing light show and live show. I went to this show with my brother and Nerraw.

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Concert Shirt Of The Day Nov.11th (Kick Axe)

Today's t-shirt is from the second time I saw Kick Axe in concert. This time it was at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton on New Years Day 1986 with opening band White Wolf. Kick Axe were touring for their Welcome To The Club album that had just been released a few months before this gig. I went to this show with my brother, it was weird to see a heavy metal show at the Jubilee, and the crowd was very small for this concert, maybe 400-500 people, which made for a very empty venue. Could have also been it was the day after New Years Eve, most people are too hung over to be going out to a show on New Years Day, not very good booking on the bands part.

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Concert Shirt Of The Day Aug. 22nd (Kick Axe)

Today's t-shirt is from the very first concert I ever went to. The show was two great Canadian metal bands from the 80's, Kick Axe opening for Helix at the Golden Garter in Edmonton. This show was on Halloween night in 1984. Helix were touring for their Walking The Razors Edge album and Kick Axe were touring for thier debut album Vices which I still listen to once in a while to this day. I'll never forget this show, not only was it my first ever concert, but the stuff I saw go down at the show. People all dressed up of course, being Halloween and all, I saw Fred Flintstone dealing drugs to Dracula and some other crazy shit too. Little Red Riding Hood getting down with a guy dressed like a pimp,lol. Just a really fun night and have been hooked on seeing bands live in concert since that night.

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