January 20th

  My ticket stub from the January 20th, 2018 Metz concert at the Starlite Roomm in Edmonton. Opening the show were two great local act, Slates and Dead Fibres. Wicked triple bill.

July 19th

 It was on July 19th, 2012 while on holidays in Newfoundland, I was in Corner Brook visiting when I saw that the Edmonton band Slates were playing the White Horse Lounge there. Well, I wasn't going to miss that. Very cool to see an Edmonton band that I really like in a place like Corner Brook.

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!

METZ Live in Edmonton Jan.20th 2018

After seeing Pal Joey in the afternoon it was time for a nap before heading to the Starlite Room to see METZ in concert.

I got to the Starlite Room in time to catch the first band of the triple bill. The first band of the evening was a local band called The Dead Fibres. I wasn't expecting much as I had never heard of them before, but much to my surprise they were really good. The room was far from full but still a decent crowd to catch the openers. The Dead Fibres are a three piece band that play a grunge/psychedelic/punk mix of music and were loud and noisy and on the chaotic side. Dead Fibres consist of drummer Brandon de Gans, guitarist Zach Mouallem, and vocalist and bassist Kennedy Pawluk. While I didn't know the songs at all and found it hard to understand most of the vocals, I was still very impressed, especially with guitarist Zach, he really left it all out on the stage. All three musicians are top notch. They made a good impression on me.

Dead Fibres at the Starlite Room.

Next up was another local band the Slates. This was my fourth time seeing the Slates in concert. By the time they hit the stage the club was filling up nicely. With the Slates I could at least understand the vocals and lyrics from lead singer/songwriter James Stewart whom also plays guitar. Helps when you have a few of their albums and have listened to the band for a few years. The band played a good selection of songs from their latest release Summery, songs such as "Coyotes" and "Yellowknife". Another local band well worth looking in to if you haven't already.

The Slates at the Starlite Room.

Headliner of the evening was the Ottawa band now based in Toronto the METZ. This trio are touring in support of their third album Strange Peace. This was my first time seeing METZ in concert, and wow, they were amazing. Another chaotic trio of musicians consisting of Alex Edkins on guitar and vocals, bassist Chris Slorach and rounded out by drummer Hayden Menzies. I'm betting these guys lose 5-10lbs playing the way they do. They certainly don't lack in energy that's for sure, these guys don't slow down one bit during the hour long show. Their music is loud, aggressive with lots of distortion. They opened the show with the song "Swimmer" from their second album simply called II. One of the older songs I recognized was "Headache" from the first album. I don't know the titles of the songs but can say everything I heard was excellent. A very impressive loud show. I forgot to bring ear plugs and got caught up in the show and didn't buy any at the venue, so needless to say my ears were a ringing on Sunday. It was worth it though. Good times!!!

METZ at the Starlite Room.

T-shirt.

B-Lines, The Slates and Fury Things at Sloth Records June 19th 2014

So after seeing a show Wednesday night and being up til almost 3am, I was scheduled to catch the bus at 8am for Calgary. I was off to attend the Sled Island Music and Art Festival. I figured being up late the night before, I would just sleep all the way to Calgary. Well, wouldn't you know it, I get on the 8am bus and who sits next to me but Miss Chatty, holy shit this lady didn't shut up for the first two hours of the trip, talking to a friend across from her. Hell, even music couldn't drown this lady out. Needless to say, it was no sleep, and I was in for a busy day going to shows all day.

This festival is in it's eighth year, with last years events being cancelled due to the flooding in Calgary and area. This years edition boasted some 250 bands, comedians and artists. So lots to see, hear and do. And thanks to my brother who works at a record/coffee/grocery/drug store in Calgary (Luke's). He managed to score us passes for the festival and even artist lounge passes, which got us in to the Calgary Tower top floor for beers and food. Thanks Bro!!!

I got into Calgary at noon, my brother Citrus met me at the station, and we were off and running. First shows to attend started at 1pm at Sloth Records. After a quick stop at his place, downed myself a few beers, feeling better now. We made it to Sloth Records just in time to catch the first band Fury Things out of Minneapolis. They were a three piece band that played a fuzzed out pop punk I guess you could call it. I thought they started strong but got weaker as the show went on. Either that or the songs just started to sound alike.

Fury Things.

Next up was a band I was familiar with The Slates out of Edmonton. My brother was stoked about finally getting to see these guys. This was my third time seeing them perform. The band keeps getting stronger each time I see them, although on this day they had a replacement drummer sitting in (he filled the position nicely). The Slates are out promoting their newest album Taiga which was produced by the iconic Steve Albini. The Slates play a punk/alternative kind of music. The performance at Sloth was loud and good.

The Slates.

The last band of the afternoon at the record shop was Vancouver punks B-Lines. These guys played true punk rock with the lead singer in your face and full of energy and complaining about this being one of the first times he has performed sober. Well, it didn't take him long to down a couple of beers and really get in to the act. He is spastic, intense and almost intimidating, not sure I would want to see this guys drunk and performing. Ok, who am I kidding, of course I would. The B-Lines put on a great show, it was short, but good.

B-Lines.

A great turn out for all the bands. The bands played for free, so they were taking donations and it looked to me like a lot of people were donating, me included. Good on everyone pitching in, and thanks to Sloth Records for hosting the bands. A great record shop as well by the way. I know I dropped a few bucks there.

16 Years Ago Today...July 19th

It was sixteen years ago today that I went to the Another Roadside Attraction Festival in Camrose, Alberta. On the bill for this show were the Tragically Hip, Wilco, Los Lobos, Sheryl Crow, Change Of Heart among others.

Also on this day a year ago, I saw Edmonton band The Slates play in Corner Brook, Newfoundland at a bar called the White Horse Lounge.

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.

The Slates in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland July 19th 2012

I just got back from a two week vacation of the East coast of Canada. My girlfriend Janis and I were making our way to St. Anthony, Newfoundland (Janis' hometown) for "Come Home Year". We started our vacation in Nova Scotia, then Prince Edward Island and worked our way up to the northern tip of Nfld.

After booking our vacation I started looking into seeing what kind of shows I might come across while on vacation. I wasn't able to see anything in Halifax, but did notice that Edmonton band The Slates would be playing in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland at the same time that we would be there. We were staying overnight in Corenerbrook, so I decided I would make the trek to the bar called White Horse Whiskey Bar and Lounge to catch the Edmonton band The Slates play. Funny I would be across the country and I still end up seeing a band from my home city Edmonton play.

Things get started late in Newfoundland, so I didn't head out to the bar til about 11pm. I hung out for about a half hour sitting at the bar having a few when I got talking to a gentleman, he probably noticed I wasn't from around there and was wondering what was up,lol. After talking for a bit, he told me he was the owner of the bar. A younger guy, 33 years old and has had the bar up and running for 8 months now. Nice guy with a great attitude who is trying his damndest to get bands to play his bar. Hard gig I am sure as Nfld isn't an easy place to get around, with it being about a 10 hour drive between St. Johns and Cornerbrook. After talking for a bit, I asked him where a good place to go for a smoke is, he said follow me, in which I did and we went for a "smoke". His name is Kevin and is a super nice guy, and an Edmonton Oilers fan to boot too. I wish him the best in his endeavour, and really hope he gets lots of bands to come through Cornerbrook. The bar itself is upstairs and is a nice intimate venue for live music.

After a few beers and smokes, so around midnite The Slates came on, I figured they would be headlining, and they were supposed to, but they had to play first and then head out to catch the ferry back to Nova Scotia as they had a show in Dartmouth the following day. This was my third time seeing The Slates. They play a melodic punk rock style of music. I enjoyed them and thought they sounded good considering they had been on the road most of the day and still had a 4 hour drive in front of them to get to the ferry. The Slates played for about an hour to a crowd of about 30 people, playing lots from their album "Prarie Fires" and closed the night out with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" cover by The Band. Sounded fuckin' good too. I got to talk to the guys in The Slates for a bit after there set. It was there first time in Nfld. and were surprised to see me, a fellow Edmontonian in the audience. So we had a good chat about the excellent people of Nfld. and they said they wished they had more time in Nfld. They seemed to really enjoy themselve. Good guys they are in the band.

I stuck around for a bit to see the next band. They were called Mrk Hyles Band, a local band I believe. I stayed for two songs and didn't much care for them at all. I had a really good time at the show, go tot talk to some of the locals whom were all really great people too. Good times!!!

The entrance to the bar.

Sign outside the bar.

The Slates in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland.

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!!!