July 1st

 My gig posters from the time I saw Savoy Brown play the City Media Club here in Edmonton on July 1st, 1994.

Rest In Peace Kim Simmonds

Sad to hear of the passing of Kim Simmonds on December 13th at the age of 75. Kim was a founding member and guitarist in the British blues band Savoy Brown. I got to see Kim Simmonds and Savoy brown twice, once in July 1994 at the City Media Club in Edmonton and then again in 2016 at Festival Place in Sherwood Park. It was at the Festival Place show that I got to go backstage and meet Kim and get his autograph. He liked the old gig posters I had brought to be signed and mentioned how young he looked on the poster. Super nice guy Kim was. Live pictures are from the 2016 show. RIP Kim Simmonds.

Kim Simmonds & Savoy Brown Live in Sherwood Park Feb.26th 2016

Friday night my buddy Buzzard, Char and I went to Festival Place in Sherwood Park for the Kim Simmonds & Savoy Brown concert. Kim and the band are on tour as part of their 50th Anniversary Tour. Now Kim Simmonds is the only original now, his back up band of Pat DeSalvo on the bass and drummer Garnet Grimm were great. Kim has had this version of the band together going on four years now.

This was my second time seeing Kim Simmonds in concert having first seen him back in 1994. Kim is a blues guitar player from London, England and has been doing this forever. He has always kind of been one of the forgotten great blues players out there.

The show on Friday night was excellent, with Kim sounding great in voice and in good character, playing the guitar awesomely, telling lots of stories in between songs. The band did two sets combing for an almost two hour show. I was impressed as well with the back-up players Kim has playing with him right now. Be nice if this line-up can carry on for a long time.

Kim covered songs spanning his 50 year career on this evening. Playing songs from his first album 1967's Shakedown all the way to last years The Devil To Pay. My favorite tunes of the night were Tell Mama and Street Corner Talking from the 1971 album by the same name. Another highlight was hearing Hellbound Train. Kim Simmonds played slide guitar on a few songs and even pulled out the harmonica for a song. I though the show was excellent and look forward to hopefully seeing them again this summer when they close out the Edmonton Blues Festival on Sunday August 21st. Good times!!!

Kim Simmonds and Savoy Brown.

And a big thank you goes out to the anonymous person that helped with getting me backstage to meet the band and get my posters signed from the show Savoy Brown played here in 1994.

21 Years Ago Today...July 1st

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian readers!!! July 1st in Canada is a holiday for us, as we celebrate Canada Day, therefore there is usually some kind of show going on, hence I have seen a few shows on this day.

We will start with the Joan Jett show I saw at Clarke Park here in Edmonton. This was an all day festival with bands such as the mentioned Joan Jett, as well as David Gogo, Grapes Of Wrath and many more.

The Savoy Brown show I saw, was nineteen years ago today at the City Media Club here in Edmonton.

Also on this day twelve years ago, I saw Colin James and Wide Mouth Mason perform at the Legislature Grounds here in Edmonton. It was after this show that there was the infamous riot on Whyte Avenue here in Edmonton, a crazy night indeed.

As well on this day eleven years ago, there was a singer/songwriter festival held at Louise McKinney Park here in Edmonton. The main performers I saw here were Mike Plume and Mike McDonald, Mike McDonald of course from Jr. Gone Wild.

On this day ten years ago I was in Montreal where I saw the AFI with The Explosion play at the venue called Le Medley.

Nine years ago today I saw Clutch play at Red's here in Edmonton.

And it was eight years ago today that I went to the Yesterday Was Everything Festival here in Edmonton at the Starlite Room, bands on this bell were Misery Signals, Eighteen Visions, Time Is The Enemy, and local bands E Town Beatdown and Shout Out Out Out Out. This festival was held in memory of local musicians Jordan Wodehouse and Daniel Langlois who played in local hardcore band Compromise. These two gentlemen were taken from us in an accident in Alabama in 2002.

Concert Poster Of The Day Oct.18th (Savoy Brown)

Today's poster is from the Savoy Brown concert Hurl and I went to in 1994 at The City Media Club here in Edmonton. This was a great show by a great English blues guitar player (Kim Simmonds) in an intimate venue. This was a club that was in a basement on 99 street under the old IGA grocery store.

Old School Album Of The Week For Jan.18th - 22nd

This week I pulled out some old school boogie blues music from the British blues band Savoy Brown, led by Kim Simmonds on guitar. The album I picked is called A Step Further that was released in 1969 on Decca Records.
A good friend of mine BZ introduced me to this band about 20 years ago. Sitting around at his place bugging out to the Savoy Brown album Jack The Toad which is fuckin' awesome.
I just picked up this album A Step Further about a month ago, I had never heard it before but have to say it's a pretty good representation of the band. Side One is recorded in the studio( four songs) while Side Two is a live recording of one song (Savoy Brown Boogie) that is 22 minutes long, that includes pieces of Feel So Good, Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, Little Queenie and Purple Haze recorded in Edmonton, London May 12th 1969. Live is the way to hear them, they rip it up some fucking good.
My favorite memories of The Savoy Brown Band other then tripping to them with BZ is getting to see them perform at The City Media Club (July 1st 1994) which was a cool intimate club on 99st. below the old IGA grocery store. The place couldn't have held more then 100 or so people. Awesome venue to see a band like Savoy Brown. I went to that show with Earl and BZ, a good time was had by all.
If you are new to Savoy Brown I recommend checking out his albums Jack The Toad and Hellbound Train. Savoy Brown are still touring these days and would love to see them come through town again.