March 31st

  It was on this day March 31st, 2012 that I saw Murder By Death with opening acts Big John Bates and Fire Next Time play the new City Legion here in Edmonton. A great triple bill this was.

September 26th

  

 On September 26th, 2009 I saw this stacked bill of Gaslight Anthem headlining with opening bands Murder By Death, The Loved Ones and Frank Turner play the Edmonton Event Centre. Such an amazing show from the first band to Gaslight.

4 Years Ago Today...September 26th

It was four years ago today that I saw Gaslight Anthem with opening bands Murder By Death, The Loved Ones and Frank Turner play the Edmonton Event Centre.

In concert news...Frank Turner will be playing Union Hall in Edmonton on Wednesday October 23rd.

26 Years Ago Today...Mar.31st

It was twenty-six years ago today that myself and a couple of buddies made the trip to Calgary and saw Alice Cooper play the Saddledome.





As well, it was twnety-three years ago today that I saw BTO play the Convention Centre here in Edmonton.





And...it was a year ago today that I saw Murder By Death with Big John Bates and Fire Next Time play New City Legion here in Edmonton.





Stats for the month of March...
I have been to shows 22 out of the 31 days in the month of March.
And have seen 47 different shows out of them 31 days.

Murder By Death in Edmonton 03/31/2012

Saturday night my buddy Hurl and I went to New City Legion to see Bloomington, Indiana band Murder By Death headline a show with openers Big John Bates from Vancouver and local band Fire Next Time.

We got there early as I really wanted to see Fire Next Time play. I had seen lead singer James Renton play solo a few times and was looking forward to seeing him play with the full band (Fire Next Time). They didn't disappoint, playing a rocking 40 minute set. The band consists of James on acoustic guitar and vocals (this guy can play and sing) the guitar takes a beating while he plays and the man can sing, lots of emotion and heart, very impressive. A mix between an angry Steve Earle and William Elliot Whitmore. Also in the band and sounding great are Ryan Mick on lead guitar, Laine Cherkewick on banjo, Mikey McCaffrey on bass and rounded out by the big guy on drums Randall Thurman who bangs the drums like a young John Bonham. For an opening band they had a great turn out with a lot of people there early to see this band. The only complaint I have, was I thought the banjo could have been a little higher in the mix.

Fire Next Time.



James Renton of Fire Next Time.





Next on the bill were Vancouver band Big John Bates, led by of course John Bates on guitar and vocals with Bill Dozer on drums and Brandy Bones on the stand up bass. This was my second time seeing them live within the past year. I don't have a whole lot to say about them. Just not really a fan of there mesh of psycho billy blues music. The crowd seemed to really enjoy them, but if it weren't for Brandy on the bass looking good and her antics. I'm not so sure they would be as popular as they are. Not a fan.

Brandy Bones of the Big John Bates Band.



The headliner of the evening were Murder By Death to a packed venue by this time. This was my second time seeing them as well, having seen them open for Gaslight Anthem a few years ago. I was impressed with them then, and to see them play an intimate venue like New City Legion was going to be a treat. With a name like Murder By Death, you might expect a heavy thrash/death metal band, but not here. This is an awesome band that plays a moody country, rockabilly, blues/rock style of music. It's actually kind of hard to describe what they sound like, other then to say they are a very interesting sounding band. Lead singer and guitar player Adam Turla has a unique voice which suits these songs wickedly, Sarah Balliet adds a unique sound as well on cello,(not that I could see her from where I was standing) one of the few rock bands I am sure that incorporates cello in to there music, Dagan Thogerson on drums was good as was Matt Armstrong on bass and Scott Brackett on keyboards and accordion. While I have liked there albums, they are a much better band live. Some of the songs I recognized were "Pizza Party" a short song, "You Don't Miss Twice (When You Shave With A Knife)", "Steal Away", "Ball And Chain" and a cover song of Golden Earing's song "Radar Love". I was blown away by Murder By Death this time and look forward to seeing them again.

While I like the venue, unless you are in the very front of the stage it is damn hard to see anything other then the top of the musicians heads, being in a basement this club, it's got a very low stage cause of the low ceiling. Also, why the venue would leave the big screen and the couple of TV's on showing skate boarding videos while the band is playing is beyond me. That's just plain stupid and lacks respect towards the bands you have booked at your venue. No one was there to watch videos. All and all though, a great night of music. Good times!!!

Murder By Death.







T-shirt.

Gaslight Anthem Concert Review

On Saturday September 26th a great quadruple bill come through town at The Edmonton Events Centre (Red's), yay, finally a weekend show, thank goodness, cause every band on this bill I wanted to see.I was in for a long night of some wicked music. The bill consisted of Gaslight Anthem headlining (this was there second time here this year, having played The Starlite Room in April) other bands on the bill were Frank Turner from England, The Loved Ones and Murder By Death.
The evening started early with Frank Turner hitting the stage a little after 7pm. Earl and I made sure to be there for Frank and weren't disappointed. It was just him and his guitar and fuck was he ever good. He played with a lot of emotion and really belted out his songs. I was very impressed with him. he reminds me of Billy Bragg a bit.
One of my favorite parts of his set was when he played the song Photosynthesis with the great sing along chorus, which everyone that was there sang along too " Now I'll Play, And You Sing - The Perfect Way For The Evening To Begin, I Won't Sit Down And I Won't Shut Up And Most Of All I Won't Grow Up" what a great line.
After his set, I went to the merch table to buy something, when I ran into Frank himself working the table. He was nice enough to autograph a CD for me and thank me for coming out.


Next band of the evening was The Loved Ones from Philadelphia. I have to admit, I didn't know much about this band other then my brother telling me that they were really good. And he was right, The Loved Ones rocked the joint, they were loud and played with a lot of energy. The music they play is I guess punk rock, kind of reminded me of The Bouncing Souls actually. I was very impressed by them. They had their second guitarist back in the fold after having missed the previous 3 shows cause of a family crisis. They sounded great and would go see them again the next time they come through town.



Next up was Murder By Death a band from Indiana, with a name like this you would expect a thrash metal kind of sound, but they actually kind of have a alt-country/punk sound. I thought they were pretty good, they had a lady that played the electric cello, she was fun to watch. I enjoyed there set, but by then, it was time for a smoke and the bladder had finally sprung a leak, so I didn't actually see there whole set. What I did hear, I liked.


The final band of the evening was of course Gaslight Anthem. And they fucking rocked again. This is one of my favorite bands in the past year. They are from new Jersey and have a bit of the Boss sound in them, great songs with great stories. They were tight and sounded excellent, playing for about 75 minutes. Can't wait til they put out some new music again. By the time they hit the stage the place was quite full and Earl and I were well on out way to a good glow on. Great evening of live music with four good bands. I give this show a 9 out of 10. The only reason it doesn't get a 10, is cause I fucking hate the venue where the show was.
Good times!!!!