Tea Party

We went to see the re-united Tea Party this weekend.  It was amazing to the original members together again.  We have seen Tea Party a great many times over the years, it is an experience.  Jeff Martin, Jeff Burrows and Stuart Chatwood disbanded in 2005.  We had also seen a Jeff Martin solo show and it was spectacular, he is the Canadian dark poet.  He is so multi-talented and plays so many instruments.

They played all of our favorite songs, ‘Walking Wounded’, ‘Temptation’, ‘The Messenger’, ‘Fire in the Head’ and of course, ‘Heaven Coming Down’.  They also did ‘Release’, the song they donated all the proceeds to the White Ribbon Campaign http://www.whiteribbon.ca/ against violence towards women.  Jeff Martin said “We’re back!” and that they are currently working on a new album and that he now lives in Australia. 

The Tea Party currently has their website domain http://www.teaparty.com/ for sale and it could go for millions in the political climate.  For now, it is still their website and it says “No politics…Just Rock and Roll”.

Night Seeker - Deaner from Fubar

We saw Deaner from Fubar’s band Night Seeker at the Starlite in Edmonton.  Deaner came out on stage wearing a Darth Vader mask and a cape.  Night Seeker has an old school AC/DC sound.  They played a combination of their songs and played a few cover's of Iron Maiden and AC/DC.  The crowd was crazy as Fubar 1 & 2 were filmed in Alberta, so it felt like a hometown show.   

It didn’t take long and Deaner was drinking Pilsner and saluting his partner in crime Terry.  At this point he only had his underwear and his guitar.  It is by far one of the most original shows we have ever been to.  After the show we asked for a sandwich picture and he was happy to oblige, in his British underwear.      

http://www.fubar-themovie.com/ 

Jane's Addiction

We went to Sonic Boom to see Jane’s Addiction.  It was incredible to see Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro share the stage together again.  It was also pretty cool to see Perry’s wife Etty dancing in the background after seeing her on ‘Married to Rock’.

They played a long set with all of our favorites ending the show with a great acoustic of ‘Jane Says’.  This was quite possibly a once in a lifetime experience to see them together and in Canada!

   

Gene Simmons

We went to see Gene Simmons talk about ‘Sex, Money, Kiss’.  He had fantastic clips on Kiss, their marketing, and ‘Family Jewels’.  He explained how to make money and how to market yourself to be successful in any sort of business.  He gave some good advice.

Because he was in a Canadian audience; he got a lot of flack that he has not married Shannon Tweed.  He said at that time that she has not said ‘yes’ yet to his proposal. 

It was exciting to see him as we had just seen Kiss a few weeks before.  Gene seems to love Edmonton, he has been in town a few times over the years.

Vince Neil

We went to see a couple of Vince Neil solo shows.  He was in great form.  He sounded and looked remarkable.  It is always good to see his solo shows.  You get to hear some Motley Crue and some of his solo songs.  You also get to experience Jeff Blando singing Led Zeppelin and playing his guitar like Jimmy Page.  And Slaughter’s Dana Strum is always amazing to watch, he is a very talented bass player.  Zoltan Chaney is one of the most entertaining drummer’s we have ever seen!

   

Rob Zombie with Slayer

Rob Zombie was as usual very entertaining singing his great songs from White Zombie and all of his solo material.  It was a visual overload with 3-D skulls, fire, and confetti.  There were clips on the big screen from his movies and old horror movies.  There were also half-naked women from the 60’s playing guitar and Charles Manson.  He played his “Werewolf Women of the SS” that he produced that starred Nicolas Cage.

Mr. Zombie dedicated ‘Pussy Liquor’ to the girl who couldn’t keep her shirt on and he said it was their most popular song and he ‘really wasn’t sure why’.  It was also John 5’s birthday and he had the audience sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him.  The band came out for the last few songs wearing red and white Canadian maple leaf outfits.

Slayer had a very basic stage, it had stacks of Marshall amps, and 2 large hanging Slayer eagles lit up.  The audience screaming for Slayer was almost as loud as the band themselves.  Any person could appreciate the musicianship of Kerry Kings’ guitar playing whether you are a thrash-metal fan or not.   He is unbelievable!  Tom Araya did not say too much in between songs, but he did dedicate ‘Mandatory Suicide’ to the freedom fighters.  He said ‘You don’t have to wear a uniform to fight for freedom’.  This was by far the loudest show we have ever been too!     

   

The Trews

We always love to see The Trews!  They are from Nova Scotia and they really exude that East Coast feeling while they are on stage.  They always have smiles on their faces and look like they are having so much fun.  They are so in-sync with eachother with the vocals and back-up vocals.  The sound carries through the air perfectly when it is an open air show. 

They played ‘Hold Me In Your Arms’, ‘Tired of Waiting’, Paranoid Freak’, ‘Not Ready To Go’ and ‘Hope and Ruin’.  Before they came up for the encore, they called up a guy from the audience.  The guy came up to the stage and asked his girlfriend to come up as well.  He explained that a Trews show was their first date and got down on his knee and proposed to her.  She said yes.  The Trews played ‘Stay With Me’ and dedicated the love song to them.  They finished with our favorite song 'Fleeting Trust'.  The Trews are on of our favorite bands to see live!