Category Archives: Concert Reviews

If I had to pick a single performer that I’ve looked up to in my life Garth Brooks would be the one. Four years ago Garth came to Ottawa and I gave him a less than favourable review. I found the show a bit cheesy and over the top. Last night Garth pulled off something that I didn’t think could be done, united an entire continent with a massive drive-in concert simulcast.

A live music drought has had a major impact on many of us who love live shows. After all at Sound Check Entertainment #WeLoveLive. Over the past few months we’ve been enjoying live streams of artists however it’s not quite the same as being there in person. When Brett Kissel announced he would be doing a live drive in show at River Cree, it sold out in minutes. It sold so fast they added another show, then another one. After all was said and done, there’s 8 shows in Edmonton and 3 in Regina.

Recently, Old Dominion brought their We Are Old Dominion Tour to Kingston’s Leon’s Centre with their friends Carly Pearce and special guest Meghan Patrick.

Technically speaking, a last stand is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming odds. Nashville-based For King & Country did just that in Ottawa on Thursday night being the last band to play the venue for the foreseeable future.

It was an emotional event at The Station in Edmonton last night as Brett Kissel hosted a benefit concert for the Community Foundation of Middle Nashville. Money from the tornado response fund is awarded to organizations that apply for tornado relief grants to address needs spanning from emergency shelter, food and clean-up to mortgage, rental and rebuilding assistance, legal and mental health counseling, and more.

Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society stopped off at Midway in Edmonton recently on his North American Crusade Tour along with openers Florida’s Obituary and Oregon’s Lord Dying.

Smaller cities and towns across Canada are absolutely loving that Brad Paisley’s “Life Amplified” tour is by-passing all usual the major market stops.  The show at the Abbotsford Centre is about as close to the big city as he’s getting and you can bet the crowd was appreciative of all the customized little details. A lot of care and attention went into acknowledging the area … even the Fraser Valley Knights hockey team was represented with the mascot and some of his video footage played on the big screen.

You know those drinks that everyone warns you about?

Come on, you know the kind! They got names like Corpse Reviver or Nuclear Grandma (this one may not actually be a drink but don’tcha think it should be?). They start off nice and silky smooth to the point where you think you’ve been had and then, whamo bamo slamo! Boom went the dynamite and you feel it from your pinky toe to your cerebral cortex. One second steady and the next you are knocked out of your pair of BOGO Payless. You don’t quite know where you were at, where you are now and where you are going but damn you just want to go. Damn, you just want some more.

A Lumineers concert is kinda’ like that only with less booze content( (debatable) and more whamo bamo slamo!

A nearly sold out crowd converged at the beautiful and welcoming Salle Odyssée in Gatineau this week to see eighties wild child Gowan in concert. It’s the second time the artist has hit the National Capital Region in the last year or so and his dedicated fans can’t seem to get enough of him – present company included.

The Rough Side Out tour made a stop at the ‘Port of Edmonton’ on Saturday as Alan Doyle stopped off at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Doyle stated, “We are sailing across Canada and thought we’d roll into the Port of Edmonton for a night cause when I think of sea shanty, the first thing that comes to mind is Edmonton.”