Leeroy Stagger Live in Edmonton July 1st 2017

On Saturday which was Canada Day I made my way down to the Legislature Grounds to catch Leeroy Stagger's set. This was my twelfth time seeing him in concert. And as I have said many times before, again, another great show with Leeroy really highlighting his new album Love Versus. He has been on the road steady since the release back in April.

Saturday was a beautiful hot sunny day until we headed to the show, started to cloud over and by the time Leeroy and band hit the stage it was an all out rain storm. Pissed down rain for the full hour Leeroy was on stage. Even though it was raining there was still a decent turnout for his show, with pretty much taking cover to stay dry. But me being the dumb ass I am, and fan too of course. My Cuz and I stood in the pouring rain and rocked out through the whole show, ya we were soaked but it was all worth it. Ten minutes after the show, guess what happens. Yup, it stops raining clears up and ends up being a beautiful night for the fireworks. Oh well, it was still a blast and Leeroy put on another awesome show. Good times!!!

Leeroy Stagger in Edmonton at the Legislature Grounds on Canada Day.

Bash & Pop Live in Edmonton June 23rd 2017

After the Ryan Adams show it was time to make a quick jaunt across the river to The Brixx to catch Bash & Pop. Because we were at the Ryan show we missed the opener which was local rockers Ayla Brook & The Sound Men. I really wish we could have caught them as their new album (I Don't Want to Hear Your) Break up Songs is an excellent album.

We got to the venue in time to catch the main act which was Bash & Pop. I was expecting to walk into a crowded bar, as the Brixx only holds about 150 people for a live show, but much to my surprise there were maybe 50 people in the place. It did fill up a touch more after the Ryan show but still maybe only 70 people in all.

Bash & Pop is a band formed and fronted by Tommy Stinson of The Replacements and Guns N' Roses fame, more Replacements then GnR. Tommy played bass for The Replacements and for GnR between 1998-2016. With Bash & Pop Tommy plays rhythm guitar and sings. Bash & Pop just released a new album this year called "Anything Could Happen" which is a great album and sounds a lot like The Replacements. This was a show that was going to be well worth catching as I highly doubt we will ever see The Replacements back together and hell it was a member of The Replacements a must see show.

When Tommy and the band which consists of Steve Selvidge (The Hold Steady) on lead guitar, Justin Perkins on bass and Joe Sirois (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones) on drums hit the stage there was a huge applause as those in attendance knew what a special rock n' roll show they were about to see. Tommy Stinson held up a glass which looked to be filled with whiskey and said the motto for tonight's show is "don't waste a drop" or something along those lines, and we were off. The band that Tommy has together right now is pure rock n' roll.

This show had everything you want in a rock show, attitude, drama, sweaty, loud, showmanship and best of all great rock n' roll songs. I didn't know a lot of the songs, mostly just the ones from his new album, which were "On The Rocks", "Bad News", "Anything Could Happen" and "Not This Time" those are the ones I recall. They also did an unbelievably cool cover of The Who song "The Kids Are Alright" watching and listening to them do this song must have been what it was like to see The Who in their prime. Sloppy, loud, loose and fucking rocking, so wicked.

During the show Tommy was having problems with his monitors to the point where he was getting pissed off telling the sound guy and audience that he didn't come all the way to Edmonton to get a headache and lose his fucking hearing. It was funny to watch the sound guys scrambling to make things right, to the crowd the sound was good, but obviously he was having a real hard time with the monitors on his end. So much that at one point in the show the band left the stage so that the sound guy could fix the problem. I wasn't sure if the band was going to come back or not. I stepped out for a quick smoke while this was going on, it didn't take long before you heard the band kick it back up, so it was time t o stomp the smoke and get my ass back in to catch the rest of the show, which was about four more songs.

This was one kick ass fucking rock n' roll show. Even with the small turnout and problems with the sound, Tommy and the boys put on one hell of a show. This will surely be in my top three shows of the year. Fucking good times!!!

After the show I went to buy a t-shirt when who should come up to man the merch table but Tommy Stinson himself. I got the chance to talk to him and get him to autograph my ticket stub. A super nice guy, shook his hand and told him how much a enjoyed the sow in which he thanked me for coming out to the show. Like I say, this was a pure rock n' roll show that had everything you want in a concert. Good times!!!

Bash & Pop at The Brixx.

T-shirt.

Ryan Adams Live in Edmonton June 23rd 2017

Last Friday I went to the Ryan Adams show at the Jubilee Auditorium, this was my second time seeing Ryan in concert. Ryan Adams is currently on tour promoting his latest release called Prisoner which is an excellent album by the way.

Opening the show was Karen Elson who is an English model singer-songwriter and guitarist. I had never heard of here before, so after a search about her I found out that she was married to Jack White at one point. As for her opening set, in one word I would say BORING! I only lasted about three songs and had seen and heard enough. It was very angelic mellow music, wasn't for me that's for sure.

Karen Elson at the Jubilee.

Next up was Ryan Adams and his Unknown Band. His two hour set was quite good, though I enjoyed his last show here in 2014 more, but that could be because it was my first time seeing him. Not that there was anything wrong with this show. The show started with some guy dressed up in a devil outfit introducing Ryan Adams in a distorted devil like voice, which was really weird. The devil dude later came out and played a little tambourine during one song. Ryan and his band touched on a lot of his music catalog opening with a new song from his Prisoner album "Do You Still Love Me?" followed up with "To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)" from his debut album Heartbreaker, this was a great way to start the show, and then into "Gimme Something Good" from his self titled album from 2014. Overall I was quite impressed with the setlist for this show, as Ryan mixes up his shows every night which is cool. he did do one song that I had never heard before, a song called "Juli" which is a track that was released on a 7 inch box set of singles called End Of The World all from his Prisoner album.

At one point during the show someone in the first couple of rows sneezed which launched Ryan into an improvised tune about a light sneeze. Ryan has got a great sense of humour and this improvised song went on for a few minutes getting a good laugh from the audience. I believe it was during this song that Ryan took a shot at Metallica saying the bass was really low, kind of like the And...Justice For All album, again another chuckle from the crowd.

Ryan has been known to do the odd cover song during his shows and on this night he played the Oasis song "Wonderwall" which sounded great. They closed out the show with two great songs, that being "New York, New York" which is a song I was really hoping to hear and was starting to think he might not play it on this night, but he did, so that brought a smile to my face. They ended the night with another old song "Shakedown On 9th Street" from his debut album.

I really enjoyed the show. Good times!!!

Ryan Adams setlist.

Edit this setlist | More Ryan Adams setlists

Ryan Adams at the Jubilee.

T-shirt front.

Back.

Yesterday Was Everything Movie

Last week I went to the Metro Cinema here in Edmonton to see the Canadian debut of the music documentary Yesterday Was Everything which is a doc on the band Misery Signals tenth anniversary tour for their debut album Of Malice and the Magnum Heart.

This documentary which was wrote and directed by Matthew Dixon actually started as a live concert recording but turned into the documentary that it is now. After being with the band for the nine city tour which went from Vancouver to Toronto, he had enough footage of interviews and live footage to turn into this movie.

Misery Signals got together with all the original members Ryan Morgan, Branden Morgan, Stu Ross, Kyle Johnson and vocalist Jesse Zaraska after he was ousted out of the band years before. Misery Signals is a hardcore band made up from members from the previous band 7 Angels 7 Plagues and Edmonton band Compromise. Jesse of Compromise came in contact with the band after touring with them through the states. It was on this tour that Compromise came to an end after a devastating accident when they were clipped by a drunk driver in Alabama in which their band van was sent in to the ditch and trees ripping apart their band and killing two members Jordan Wodehouse and Daniel Langlois of Compromise. RIP Jordan and Daniel. During the movie there is an interview with Jesse where he gets in to the most detailed account of the accident. It was during this part of the movie in which I don't believe there was a dry eye in the theatre. It was really tough to watch and listen to. Having known Jesse for years now this most I had ever heard about the accident. Heart wrenching it was, with most of the people at the movie probably having known the guys from Compromise.

The movie is very well put together and very interesting hearing the ups and downs of the career of Misery Signals and seeing some old footage and pictures of Edmonton hardcore band Compromise. I really enjoyed the movie and highly recommend checking it out. The movie will be available on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon on June 30th.



Rumour is that Misery Signals are working on a new album and a possible summer tour this year.

Blitzen Trapper Live in Edmonton June 18th 2017

Wow, can't believe it's been a week already since the Blitzen Trapper show at the Starlite Room. It's been a busy week of shows.

Last Sunday my Cuz and I went to the Blitzen Trapper show, ya Sunday shows suck but if you book the following day off work you can still go and have a good time and that's exactly what we did. This was my fifth time seeing Blitzen Trapper in concert. I love this band out of Portland, Oregon, I don't know how you would describe their music, maybe folkish, experimental roots rock with a dash of classic rock mixed in. Regardless don't matter what they are other then a great band.

I wasn't expecting a big crowd for this show with it being on a Sunday, but I was some surprised when we got to the venue to catch the opener and there was barely anyone there yet. I thought it might fill up after the opener, but nope. This was downright embarrassing, by the end of the night my estimate would be maybe 60-75 people in attendance. For a venue that has a capacity of 1000, this didn't look good. Blitzen Trapper has always drew decent crowds in Edmonton on their previous three visits. Bu then again it was a Sunday show and there was very little advertising done for the show. Not a single gig poster around town or at the venue for this show, and you wonder why no one was there, blame yourselves promoter and venue.

Opening the show was Marty Marquis who is the keyboard player in Blitzen Trapper. It was just him on guitar playing a few songs. His set was only about 20 minutes which was just long enough. I found it to be on the mellow and on the boring side.

Marty Marquis.

By the time Blitzen hit the stage for their performance the place was still empty but it didn't stop the band from putting on a great show as usual. The band consists of Eric Earley on lead vocals and guitar, Erik Menteer on guitar, slide guitar and some keyboard, Brian Adrian Koch on drums and backup vocals, Michael Van Pelt on bass and Marty Marquis on keyboards and guitar.

The band started the show with the song "Saturday Nite" from their 2008 album Furr, a great choice for an opening song, even if it was a Sunday. The band did a few songs from this album including "Furr", "God & Suicide", and the awesome "Black River Killer". Blitzen mixed their set up with some oldies and new stuff from their newest release Wild And Reckless which is an album they recorded for the Portland Center Stage at The Armory. This was a concert and theater event the band did earlier this year. From these performances they did in Portland the band released a limited edition album of only 500 pressings only available at their concerts. Seven of the ten songs on the album are new. So we got to hear one new song called "When I'm Dying".

At times during the show Eric Earley the lead singer and songwriter reminded me of a young Bob Dylan. This whole band is tight with each member pulling their own weight, but I myself think that guitar player Erik Menteer is the hidden gem in the band.

The few that were at the show seemed to enjoy themselves singing and dancing along through out the whole show. It was a great setlist as you will see at the end of this review as I was able to grab a setlist from the stage after the show. A great time just a disappointment with the lack of people there. Oh well, those who didn't go missed a hell of a show. Good times!!!

Blitzen Trapper.

Setlist.