Homestand '23 featuring Corb Lund, Mike Plume and others, September 9th, Moose Jaw, SK

 

 Going to this show in Moose Jaw was a few months in the making. It started with Buzzard and I running into Mike Plume at the Jason Isbell concert here in Edmonton. It was at this show that Mike told us about his upcoming tour with his band in the fall, and also told us about the big show in Moose jaw where he would be opening for Corb Lund. Well we knew for sure that we would see the Edmonton show but Buzzard right away said road trip for the Moose Jaw show. Well after hemming and hawing for months about going to the show, we finally pulled the trigger on going to the show during a late night of drinking in mid August. We got our tickets and booked a hotel room in Moose Jaw for a few nights. So now we are committed to going, Buzzard, Cuz and I. After telling my Dad who lives in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan that we were going to the show, he said he wanted to go as well, as he is a fan of Mike Plume and Corb Lund and has seen both of them before, so now Dad is going to meet us in Moose Jaw for the show. This going to be a good time.

 First things first though, we gotta sober up from the Mike Plume show we had just attended in Edmonton. We were leaving the following morning for the seven hour trip. Well we didn't get going until noon hour as we had a very late night before. But after a nights rest, it was off to Moose Jaw we go. Road Trip! First out of town concert I had been to in four years. And of all places Moose Jaw, would never have guessed that would be the place.

 After the seven hour drive of three hungover guys we were some glad to finally arrive in Moose Jaw. A day off of work and no drinks for that long is not how you enjoy a day off, but we pulled it off. The drive was uneventful, which was a good thing. But by the time we got to Moose Jaw and met up with my Dad, it was time to get some drinks in us. So we found ourselves a bar to go to close to the hotel and proceeded to get a buzz on and close the place down. Good times! Then it was back to the hotel room and carry on, finally finishing our night of drinking at 5am. I guess we needed some beers. The following day was the Homestand show at Ross Wells Ball Park. Thankfully the show didn't start until 6pm. My dad woke up us around 10am, which was way too fucking early, hell we had just shut er' down not too long ago. Man, I was hurting the day of the show. Some lunch and a wander around downtown Moose Jaw and a mid afternoon hopefully would help.

 This show billed as Homestand '23 being held at Ross Wells Ball Park was there third annual holding of the event. The Ball Park opened at 1:30 so those that wanted to could watch the Banjo Bowl which is the name for the CFL football game between the two rivalries of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers versus the Saskatchewan Roughriders on the big screens at the park, Saskatchewan loves their Roughriders! We skipped out on watching that as we had no interest. After the game was when the concert got started.

 Lucky for us it was a beautiful day for an outdoor concert. Things got started around 5pm with Jordyn Pollard from Lloydminster, Saskatchewan. Her music I would describe as pop country. Not really my kind of music, but it was good that Homestead got things going with a Saskatchewan musician.

Jordyn Pollard.

Next up was Lindi Ortega who is a country singer-songwriter from Toronto. I've always wanted to see her in concert and now I was finally getting my chance. She was accompanied on stage with another guitar player, not sure of what his name was. Her set was alright other then the volume was way too low for her. Not sure why that was but it was disappointing.

Lindi Ortega.

 By the time the Mike Plume Band came on, I had got a few beers in me and was starting to feel a whole lot better, and the ball park was starting to fill up. Mike and his band were in fine form with his guitarist Dave Klym almost stealing the show. He was ripping it up and so animated. he is a lot of fun to watch and man can that guy play the guitar. Of course the rest of the band were tight and sounding great as well. Mike sounded great on vocals but did hear his voice crackle a few times, which can be expected when this is the fifth show in five nights. One surprise during Mike's 75 minute set was him and the band breaking into the Jimmy Buffett song "Margaritaville". That had the crowd singing along, a tribute to Jimmy who had just passed away a week before this show. There was good crowd in front of the stage for Mike with lots of people singing along and having a good time. This was my 26th time seeing Mike Plume in concert. A great set!

Mike Plume Band.

 This picture I got off of Instagram from drummer Ernie's account.

 Now it was time for headliners Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans. Well us Albertans weren't hurting anymore, we all had more then a few beers in us by now and were having a really good time. It's a;ways fun seeing Corb Lund and his band perform. This would be my 12th time seeing Corb in concert.

 By the time Corb Lund hit the stage the place was packed, my guess would be 2500-3000 people in attendance and the front of the stage was super packed and everyone was having a blast.

 Corb had a few sound issues at the start of the set but it got figured out after a song or two. Corb and his band sounded great playing songs such as "Five Dollar Bill", "Bible On The Dash", "I Wanna Be In The Cavalry", "Bible On The Dash", "Cows Around" and what surprised me was him playing three new songs from his upcoming album El Viejo to be released in February 2024, I think it was three anyways, two for sure, one being "Old Familiar Drunken Feeling", a song he said was a true story about him eating some edibles before a show in Colorado. Such a great song. Another new song he did was called "Out On A Win" about a fighter that wants to win one last time, again, another great song. Really looking forward to the new album.

 And of course Corb had to play "Rye Whiskey/Time To Switch To Whiskey" which had the whole crowd singing along to. What a great two hour set and such a fun night, great crowd, good vibes, awesome music, beautiful evening, great friends and a night out with my Dad. Good fucking times in Moose Jaw!!!!

 Also a big shout out to Buzzard for talking us into going to this show and booking the hotel room and a big shout out to Cuz for the drive to and from Edmonton to Moose Jaw! And also to the organizers of the Homestand 23 Festival organizers and volunteers, great job!

Corb Lund & The Hurtin' Albertans.

Mike Plume Band Live in Edmonton September 7th 2023

 

                                        

Always a treat when one of your very favourite singer/songwriters/musician/friend and all around great guy comes to town to play the Starlite Room, and even more fun when it is with his original back up band. And with Mike Plume now residing in Ontario, seeing him perform here in Edmonton won't be as often. This would be my 25th time seeing Mike in concert. I went to this show with Cuz and Buzzard. I loved the name for this tour too "Five Show, Five Nights, Fucking Rights Tour!"

 Although the show was billed as Mike Plume's original band, the original bass player Derek Mazurek wasn't able to make this tour because of a family obligation, so filling in was Ben Wilson whom has been a long time member of Mike's band. Then there was drummer Ernie Basiliadis and in Mike's words "the man with the worst seat in 30 years of show business", on guitar was the animated and amazing Dave Klym, and this time around Mike had slide steel guitar player Ryan Barwin touring with him.

 For a Thursday night show and with no postering around town to advertise, he still had a pretty good turnout for the show, my guess is a couple hundred die hard fans. This show was the third night of his five show tour and the band was sounding tight and Mike was in good singing form. A awesome two hour set of amazing songs.

Mike Plume Band.

 Opening the show was Edmonton band Age Of The Willing. Have to say I didn't catch all their set as I wasn't all that impressed. So I was outside visiting and having a few smokes.

Age Of The Willing.

 After the show Cuz, Buzzard and I went to the bar River City Revival House in the basement of the Starlite Room for a few more beers and ended up staying until closing time. Good times!!!

Rod Stewart & Cheap Trick Live in Edmonton August 15th 2023

 

This Rod Stewart and Cheap Trick show at Rogers Place finally happened after being postponed a few times because of the pandemic. I was surprised that after a few years it was still the double bill it was. I was really looking forward to seeing Cheap Trick in concert again and of course Rod Stewart. I went to this show with Buzzard, Cuz and Janis.

This would be my second time seeing Cheap Trick in concert, the last time being in 1994. Best to catch these acts while you still can, because they sure the hell aren't getting any younger. Cheap Trick still has three of the original members in the band. Robin Zander on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Tom Petersson on bass and Rick Nielsen on lead guitar. The band was rounded out with Daxx Nielsen on drums (son of Rick Nielsen) and on guitar Robin Taylor Zander Jr. (son of Robin Zander). The original members are all in their 70's now.

There was a good majority of the crowd seated and ready to see Cheap Trick perform. I think half the audience was there as much for Cheap Trick as Rod. Cheap Trick's forty-five minute set went over pretty damn good. Though I thought they sounded kind of rough for the first half of the show. The band opened the show with two songs from their 1977 album In Color, opening with "Hello There" followed by "Big Eyes". The last half of their set was excellent with them playing their big hits like "The Flame", "I Want You To Want Me', "Dream Police", "Surrender" and closing the show with "Goodnight". A fun set and very happy I got to see the band again.

Cheap Trick.

Headlining the evening was 78 year old  Rod Stewart. This was my third time seeing Sir Rod in concert. By the time Rod hit the stage with his big ass band Rogers Place was packed. Ol' Rod can still fill a coliseum.

What surprised me was Rod Stewart opening his show with the song "Addicted To Love" a Robert Palmer song, weird! For a man at 78 years old, Rod can still put on a hell of show. Lots of energy and his voice still sounds great too. After opening with a cover song, he played one of his own "You Wear It Well" and then a song from his Faces day "Ooh La La". That was the only faces song he did unfortunately. I'd love to see him get that band back together. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the opening song being a cover song as Rod does play a lot of other peoples song, such as CCR's "Have You Seen The Rain", Tom Waits "Downtown Train", a Cat Stevens song and Van Morrison's "Have I Told You Lately?". Then his back up singers did the Pointer Sisters song "I'm So Excited" while rod had a outfit change. I was very happy to hear Rod play "Maggie May" and "Young Turks" and of course he did a few corny songs like "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" and "Infatuation". 

 I loved seeing how much Rod Stewart looked to be having a good time and really enjoying himself performing. The man still has it! A fun show as always from Sir Rod. Good times!!!

Rod Stewart.

Leeroy Stagger Live in Edmonton July 28th 2023

 I made one more trip to downtown Edmonton with my buddy Buzzard to see Leeroy Stagger perform at the Taste Of Edmonton Festival. This would be my 16th time seeing Leeroy in concert and first time in 4 years.

 I always enjoy seeing Leeroy in concert and again he was great. Leeroy was joined by his longtime band member Rylan Moranz on guitar and mandolin. Ryland himself is an accomplished musician and songwriter who also puts out his own music besides backing up Leeroy.

Leeroy who is now based on Vancouver Island therefore not playing out this way quite as often, so it was great to see him do a one off show here in Edmonton for this festival. With 11 albums out, Leeroy has a lot of material to draw from. His hour long show was excellent, playing music covering a good part of his career. After his performance my buddy Buzzard and I got the chance to have a quick chat with him, which is always nice. If you get the chance to see Leeroy play, I highly recommend checking him out. I know these aren't much of a concert review, but I am so far behind on reviews that it is hard to wrote a review six months after the fact. I'm hoping I can do a better job in the future. Having said that, I suck at writing. So it's more about showing a few pictures from the shows more then anything. Good times!!!

Leeroy Stagger.