April 16th

  It was on April 16th, 2016 that I saw Edmonton punk rockers No Problem play the Record Store Day after party for Blackbyrd Myoozik here in Edmonton. This was a good day and ending the day with this live performance was a nice way to bring it to an end. Good times!!!

June 17th

  

 Back on June 17th, 2011 I saw two great local punk bands Slates and No Problem play a show at Permanent Records in Edmonton. A very fun show and free!

February 1st

It was February 1st 2020 that I went to the Tommy & The Commies concert at 9910, opening bands for this show were local bands No Problem and Real Sickies. An amazing triple bill.

Tommy & The Commies Live in Edmonton February 1st 2020

A couple of Saturday's ago now I went to the punk triple bill of Real Sickies, No Problem and Tommy and The Commies show at 9910. When I first saw this show announced I was already interested as I like and have seen No Problem and the Real Sickies before, but had no idea who Tommy and the Commies were. That's when my brother Captain Citrus who knows everything about punk rock told me I should really go to this show as Tommy and the Commies were a great band out of Sudbury, Ontario. Not that I needed to be sold on this show, but with my brother's recommendation, as I trust most of his taste in music. I was definitely checking this show out.

Of course I got their early as I wanted to see all the bands. The venue was quite full for the first band of the night Edmonton's Real Sickies. This would be my sixth time seeing them live. And as always Ben Disaster the lead singer was in fine form as were the rest of the band, a high energy show that had the crowd rocking out.

Real Sickies.

Real Sickies setlist.

Next was another great Edmonton punk band No Problem. This would be my third time seeing them in concert. It had been a few years since I last saw them and holy fuck were they good. No Problem are on the hardcore side of punk rock, so raw and energetic, especially lead singer/guitarist Graeme MacKinnon. He sings in your face and really gets the crowd riled up. He likes to jump into the midst of the crowd and sing and slam along with the audience. Things got rowdy during their set. An amazing set by No Problem.

No Problem.

Headlining the night was Tommy and The Commies out of Sudbury, Ontario. This show was the last of three shows they did out west, the other shows were in Winnipeg and Calgary. This three piece band play a 70's style of punk rock but with a fresh vibe of their own. The band played their whole album Here Come Tommy And The Commies. I wish I had known their music better, but after seeing them I am a fan of them now. A great triple bill of punk. Good times!!!

Tommy And The Commies.

Tommy And The Commies setlist.

T-shirt.

Blackbyrd Record Store Day after party with No Problem

After hanging around home and listening to music all afternoon, it was off to the Blackbyrd Myoozik Record Store Day after party in the alley of the record shop. The party consisted of a couple of DJ's spinning music, free beer from Red Racer and Edmonton punk band No Problem.

The after party started at 6pm, with No Problem starting at 8pm. The half keg they had for those in attendance ran out rather quickly, but they cracked open another one before the band started, so that was good as things were just getting fun!

This was my second time seeing No Problem perform and again these guys kicked ass. This is how punk should be, loud, obnoxious and in your face. Lead singer/guitar player Graeme MacKinnon is a great front man for this kind of music. He was entertaining, could actually understand the lyrics and again in your face, very impressive. Backing up the band are Matt Bouchard on bass, Ian Whithamon drums and on guitar Steve Lewis who all held there own as well. Their 40 minute set was awesome. Great party Blackbyrd, thank you! Good times!!!

No Problem.

No Problem - Kid Killer seven inch limited edition release.

2 Years Ago Today...June 17th

It was two years ago today that Permanent Records here in Edmonton had an in-store CD release show with two local bands, them being No Problem and The Slates.

No Problem with The Slates at Permanent Records June 17th

Yesterday my buddy Hurl and I hurried home from work to pound back a few beers and head over to Permanent Records on Whyte Ave. in Edmonton to see local punk rock bands No Problem and The Slates play a free show.

This was my first time seeing No Problem. My brother had mentioned them to me a few times and said they were really good. Well, I got my chance to see them and have to agree with my brother, they indeed rock. They play a in your face kind of punk, old school rock your fucking ass off style. A couple of the members use to be in another local punk band called Wednesday Night Heroes. The store had a decent turn out for the 6pm start.

The band were super tight and super loud in this small record store. No Problem have just released their newest full length album called "And Now This". Which I picked up after their performance, while it is good. It has nothing on them like seeing it played live. They kicked it out big time, fast and furious and like I say LOUD. Lead singer Graeme impressed me the most. I haven't seen a front man put that much in to a show in a long time, he looked like he wanted to tear the record shop right the fuck up. He rocked it like it was going to be his last show ever. Jumping around, flailing about with his guitar and screaming his guts out. The one song he did without his guitar, he was jumping about, almost on the record shelves, just losing himself in the music, so impressed. He reminded me a bit of SNFU front man Chi Pig back in the day. Some of the songs they did that I now recognize from the new album were, Enemies, RNR'Death Camp, Ghost Car and I Got A Bomb. They played for about 30 minutes. All and all I really liked No Problem and can't wait to see them play again. Good stuff!!!















Front.


After a quick set change, and enough time to run to the Commie for a cold beer, next up was The Slates. This was my second time seeing them play live, first time being when they opened for Vancouver band The Tranzmitors. Again they were quite good, playing a more melodic punk rock. After No Problem, it was a hard act to follow, but nonetheless they were good, playing for about a half hour as well. I would say both bands have a bright future, here is hoping they do. Click here to checkout their blog.

Thanks to the guys at Permanent Records for putting on yet another free show. Good times!!!