Saturday, August 12, 2023

Starcrawler Live in Edmonton October 29th 2022

Night two of a Starcrawler weekend. Same venue and pretty much the same opening bands as the night before. I think there was one different band. Still wasn't much of a fan of the openers other then Calgary band Exit Division. This show was an 18 plus only show, so no kids this time. Lots of people in costumes again. The show was supposed to be at a church but was moved to The Foundry On Whyte, same place as Friday nights show.
This would be my fourth time seeing Starcrawler in concert, and like the night before, the band kicked ass. Pretty much the same setlist as the Friday show if I remember correctly. I really need to do my reviews in timely matter. Six months later it's hard to remember all the details. I do recall from this show lead singer Arrow de Wilde commenting on how much the band have enjoted their time in Edmonton and Canada and how friendly everyone is. Arrow went on to say you Canadians would do anything we ask. She then went on to say "sing O' Canada" for me. And sure enough the whole audience sand the national anthem for her. Can't say I have ever seen that happen at a show before, so that was cool. Also during the show guitarist Henri Cash wandered off the stage while playing and went down the stairs of the venue on to the street. I was lucky enough to be standing by the stairs and got a few pictures of him coming back up the stairs. All and all this show was amazing. Such a great band to see live. Good times!!! Starcrawler.
T-shirt.

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Starcrawler Live in Edmonton October 28th 2022

I was quite excited to see the Los Angeles band Starcrawler come back through town for not one but two shows on Halloween weekend at the small intimate venue The Foundry On Whyte. The first show on Friday night would be my third time seeing the band. I went to this show with A-Bomb and Cuz. Starcrawler were on the road promoting their latest release "She Said". The show was all ages which meant there were some kids at the show all dressed up in Halloween costumes, parents dressed up as well. Felt kind of weird to see a bunch of little kids at a Starcrawler show. By the time Starcrawler came on, a lot of the kids were gone, which was cool by me. There were a bunch of bands opening the show, most of them I didn't care for. Opening bands were Edmonton bands Robin Cisek, Stem Champ, Tebby & The Heavy and Calgary band Exit Division. I didn't mind Exit Division, a young band but seem to have a good thing going. Exit Division.
After a whole bunch of bands that I didn't really care for it was time for Starcrawler. Because it was Halloween weekend the band were all in costumes. Again Starcrawler were amazing live, the new music from She Said sounds better live then on the album. They mixed their set well with songs from all three of their releases. The band was in fine form and lead singer Arrow de Wilde was in fine form. She has got one of the beast screams in rock n' roll right now. It was a high energy hour long set. They even did the Ramones song "Pet Sematary". Really enjoyed their set and wish it had gone on longer. Good times!!! Starcrawler.
After the show I even got to meet Arrow de Wilde.

Friday, June 30, 2023

The Sadies Live in Edmonton October 22nd 2022

My buddy Buzzard and I went to see The Sadies play a sold out show at the local venue here called SOHO. This was my first show at this venue, have to say it is a pretty cool venue. This would be my 14th time seeing The Sadies in concert. This show was the first of three sold out shows in Edmonton. The other two night were at the Blackdog. What made this show different then every other time I had seen The Sadies live was that Dallas Good is no longer around having passed away in February 2022 at the age of 48. Luckily the band had recorded a new album Colder Streams before the sudden passing of Dallas. And what a great album it is. It was some weird to see The Sadies without him, but holy shit were they ever good. Brother Travis Good has really taken control of the band and did an amazing job. They are still one of my favourite live bands to see. Kacy Anderson of the folk duo Kacy & Clayton sat in with The Sadies for about half the show and she was awesome. Kacy has an amazing voice and added a cool element to the songs. Very impressive. The Sadies.
Opening the show was supposed to be Kacy & Clayton but apparently Clayton had another gig to play so it was kacy Anderson and her band which for the life of me I can not remember the name. Nonetheless, Kacy and her back up band were great as well. Again Kacy just has an amzing voice and stage presence and, she has such a cute smile. I had never seen her perform before but will be sure to catch her the next time she comes through town. A very good night of music, really with I had bought tickets for there other two shows on this weekend. Kacy Anderson and band.

Sunday, June 18, 2023

Dave Hause Live in Edmonton October 21st 2022

I really wish I had kept up with my blog as this is a hard show to write about. I was excited about this show when it was announced as I am a big fan of Dave Hause and to see him play a solo show in an intimate venue like The Buck was going to be super cool. Then when they announced that Ben Sir was opening the show, I was super excited as it had been a few years since I have seen him play solo or with his band Worst Days Down. This was going to be a great show. I went to this show with Cuz.
Cuz and I got to the show a little late therefore missed the first act Mylz. But we were damn sure to be there in time to catch Ben Sir. Ben had moved to Vancouver in the spring and hadn't played a show with his band Worst Days Down or solo in almost three years, so this was going to be a treat to see him perform again. Before he played I had a quick chat with him and as always got a big hug from Ben. Ben played solo for this show but did have another gentleman on guitar kind of playing in thebackground with him. He said he was a bit nervous, but looking forward to finally hitting the stage again. Ben's set was about a half hour long with him playing mostly new songs, which was super cool to hear. He did play one song from his Worst Days Down album Elsewhere, a song called "Fumes". The last song of his set was a new song called "Songs Written By My Friends", a great song that has lyrics from, like the title says songs his friends wrote, in the lyrics are snippets of lyrics from bands like Fire Next Time, Audio/Rocketry, Misery Signals among others. So fucking good! While Ben was introducing the song, he talked about how it was a tough song to write mentioning that he had lost friends to suicide, overdoses over the past three years. Ben actually broke down twice talking about it. Which had many in the audience tearing up as well. And members of the crowd cheering him on and yelling "you got this" it really was a touching moment. I talked to Ben after the show telling him how strong he was to get through that introduction and singing the beautiful song. H said he was a bit embarassed that he broke down on stage. I myself,like many others that were there told him there was nothing wrong with breaking down when something means so much to you. Of course Ben gave out solid hugs to us all. Now the part that really makes this so hard to write about months after the show, is that Ben Sir has since passed. Ben passed away April 22nd 2023 at the age of 38. So fucking sad, such a nice man and so talented. Rest In Peace Ben Sir! You will be missed, but thankfully you left some great music behind for us to listen to and some great memories. Ben Sir Setlist from this show.
Headlining the show was Dave Hause, this would be my third time seeing Dave Hause in concert. Dave is a singer-songwriter from Philadelphia and former lead singer of the punk band The Loved Ones. Dave has been putting out solo albums since 2011. For this show he was on the road in support of his 2021 album Blood Harmony. It was awesome to see Dave play such a small venue like The Buck. The place was packed. Dave played a lot of songs from his Blood Harmony album, but also mixing it up with some older songs from his previous albums. I wish he had played more from his album Bury Me In Philly. He only played one song from that one, a song called "The Flinch". What did catch me by surprise was his melody of sone The Loved Ones songs, that was super cool. He also did "I Won't Back Down" a Tom Petty song that had the crowd singing along with him. All and all this was an awesome show. Good times!!! Dave Hause at The Buck.
T-shirt.
Ticket stub.