Wild T & The Spirit Live in Edmonton May 3rd 2024

  

 Last Friday my buddy Buzzard and I went to see Wild T & The Spirit at Blues On Whyte. This would be the ninth time I have seen Wild T (Toney Springer) in concert. He was doing a two night stand at Blues On Whyte, but the Friday night show was billed as a Jimi Hendrix tribute show which had me very intrigued. Wild T got his start as as a Jimi Hendrix tribute act. I've seen him many times live but never as a Jimi tribute. The following night he was also playing Blues On Whyte and that show was billed as Toney Springer which I had never seen before either. It's always billed as Wild T show. Anyways, I figured this should be a good show.

 Well it wasn't. Wild T & The Spirit hit the stage and the first thing he said was that there had been a miscommunication between his agent and the booking, this wasn't going to be a Jimi tribute show. Not off to a good start. I wouldn't have bothered with this show had I known that. But here we were, hopefully it would be a good show. It wasn't very good at all. He did do a few Hendrix tunes, but he butchered them, he did a few Bob Marley songs, a James brown song and a few of his own tunes. His between song banter was embarrassing, saying things like "sit on my face and I'll guess your weight", also mentioning how did Michael Jackson hit those high notes? In which he would grab his crotch and squeal and doing that more times then he needed to, to hit the high note. Really, last time I heard those kind of juvenile things was back in Junior High School. Just not cool at all. Had me and a few others on the sparsely attended show cringing. The highlight of his performance for me was one of his own song from his 1991 debut album Love Crazy when he did the song "Crash & Burn", he rocked the hell out of that song, sounded awesome, that's the Wild T I like. Overall this was a very disappointing show!

April 17th

 

 Way back on April 17th, 1994 I saw Wild T & The Spirit play Peoples Pub in Edmonton.

January 5th

  This was my third time seeing Wild T & The Spirit play in four nights (January 5th 1993). Again this show was at People's Pub in Edmonton and again I found myself looking after Wild T's merchandise stand. I had this poster that I got signed by the band and then framed many years ago.

January 4th

January 4th 1993 saw me at People's Pub again after having seen Wild T & The Spirit in Saturday, after selling out the pub, they held him over for two more shows on Monday & Tuesday. I looked after his merchandise booth for these shows. Got to meet Wild T and hos band The Spirit. Great guys, treated me very well, and I walked away with some free merch from the band.

January 2nd

The 1993 ticket stub and concert review from the time I saw Wild T & The Spirit play People's Pub in Edmonton.

Takin' It To The Streets 3 July 6th 2014

On Sunday July 6th the Commercial Hotel and Blues On Whyte put on the third annual "Takin' It To The Streets" Festival on Whyte Avenue. This is a street party where they shut down a block of Whyte Ave. and have three stages with bands, the day starts with a pancake breakfast and bands starting at 10am. The three stages are, one on the avenue is the main stage, a stage in the beer garden and then also bands playing in Blues On Whyte.

I got down there in time to catch the first band which was Krystie Dos Santos from Edmonton but now based in Vancouver. Her soulful, jazz blues music was a nice way to start the morning. I was surprised by how many people were already on the avenue for her set. I guess the pancake breakfast probably helped with that. She had an awesome voice and even did an Alabama Shakes cover, in which she did a great job of.

Krystie Dos Santos.

Next up was a band from Saskatoon called Blue Mules, this three piece band played some rocking blues and had the beer garden happening before noon.

Blue Mules.

After taking a break from the hot sun on a beautiful day, I headed back to the beer garden to catch Saskatoon guitarist Tim Vaughn. He and his wicked back up band put on a great show, again, the beer garden crowd was up and dancing and enjoying the music.

Tim Vaughn.

After some supper and a few beers at home, it was back out to the main stage to catch headliner Wild T & The Spirit. This was my ninth time seeing Wild T play live. While he put on a good show during his one hour set, I still miss the days when he did all original compositions. he did lots of covers, including a Jimi Hendrix cover which went on way too long. Kudos to the Commercial Hotel and Blues On Whyte for pulling off another great street party. Hopefully this will continue to happen as it makes for a fun way to spend a Sunday, and thanks to the weather gods for the beautiful weather. Good times!!!

Wild T & The Spirit.

19 Years Ago Today...April 17th

It was nineteen years ago today that I saw Wild T and The Spirit play at Peoples Pub here in Edmonton.



As well it was three years ago today that I saw Grady perform at the Starlite Room here in Edmonton.





In concert news...Wild T and The Spirit will be playing at Blues On Whyte the weekend of July 18th.19th and 20th.

8 Years Ago Today...April 2nd

It was eight years ago today that I saw Motley Crue play Rexall Place in Edmonton.





It was also three years ago today that I saw Wild T and The Spirit play at the Commercial Hotel here in Edmonton.



In concert news...Motley Crue will be playing Edmonton again on Sunday April 28th at Rexall Place with opening band Big Wreck.

As well Wild T and The Spirit will be playing at the Commercial Hotel here in Edmonton again this summer the weekend of July 18th,19th and 20th.

20 Years Ago Today...Jan.2nd

It was twenty years ago today that I saw Wild T and The Spirit play for the first time. This show was at Peoples Pub, which used to be a decent rock bar in Edmonton, sadly the bar is no longer around.

In concert news...Looks like Wild T and The Spirit will be making their annual three night stand here in Edmonton at Blues On Whyte in July on Thursday the 18th,Friday the 19th and Saturday the 20th.

Commercial Hotel's 100th Anniversary Celebration

On Sunday July 8th the Commercial Hotel in Edmonton celebrated their 100th Birthday. The hotel holds the club Blues On Whyte which has hosted live music 7 days a week since the mid 80's. To celebrate their birthday they closed off a block of Whyte avenue and had a street party. There were two stages set up, a main stage on the avenue and a smaller stage between the hotel and Greenwoods Bookshoppe that also was a beer tent,minus the tent. Live music started at 10am and went til 10pm with the music alternating between the two stages. Along with the music, they held a pancake breakfast and lots of local vendors from Whyte ave set up on the street selling there wares.

My buddy Hurl and I hit the ave at 11am, a bit hungover, but nothing a few cold ones can't cure, in which we indulged. But that didn't last long, we caught the local ska band King Muskafa (whom used to play every Sunday at the Commie), they are a fun band to see and had the packed beer tent up and dancing early in the day. In almost plus 30 weather already. We could only handle an hour or so of that, beers and sun beating on you when you are hungover will make mince meat of you in a hurry. Nonetheless, we did enjoy their set. After them it was time to bail, and get out of the sun for a bit.

King Muskafa.

I then went back later in the afternoon and caught another local band called Jk And The Static, they were a good blues band, nothing I found especially original, but fun. They too had the crowd up and danicng and carrying on, just like seeing a band in the Commie. Good times!!!

A funny thing I saw during Jk's set, a guy in the crowd whom ended up wearing all kinds of hats from the people in the crowd, a Commie moment for sure.

Back home it was for an hour or so to have a few beers and get out there in time to catch Wild T and The Spirit. This was my 8th time seeing them in concert, and have to say the best I have seen them out of the last three. It was good to see Wild T looking healthy and ripping it up again. He put on a great performance to a decent crowd on the main stage on Whyte Ave. I ran in to my buddy Mook at the show which was nice. We made our way to a side street for a quick smoke which made the show even more enjoyable. All and all a great day with aqesome weather, wicked music, cold beers and good people. The Commercial Hotel should be proud for the awesome street party they threw for the 100th Anniversary of the Commie. Good times!!!!

Ticket Stub Of The Day Sept.9th (Wild T & The Spirit)

Today's ticket stub is from one of the many times I saw Wild T & The Spirit in concert. This show was in 1994 at Peoples Pub in Edmonton. Wild T could and still does play awesome guitar and always put on a very entertaining show. Always a good time.

Concert Shirt Of The Day Apr.15th (Wild T & The Spirit)

Today's t-shirt is from the time I saw Wild T & The Spirit play at Peoples Pub in Edmonton in 1993. Wild T used to play at Peoples quite often and always packed the place. Always a great show and a good time with Wild T performing. I have helped Wild T with his merchandise booth at a few of the shows, the guys in the band were always super nice and always kept me stocked with beer while watching the booth and show. Great guys.

Front.