Together Again? Damn Straight

Live music has returned to Alberta. The Together Again concert series continued this weekend at The Edmonton Exhibition Lands, formally known as Expo Centre.This unique music event has placed our personal heath to the front of the line. The tables are well spaced apart. All merchandise and alcohol sales are contact less. Sanitization stations are set up all over the place. Food and beverage servers are wearing masks and gloves adding to more safety measures. We may be together again, but there is a stark reminder that we may never be together again as before.

Friday night:

Opening act Sparrow Blue are a hard rocking outfit from St Albert playing on their biggest stage to date. With straight forward rock and roll that hits you in the face, these guys will be around for quite some time. A great way to kick off our Friday night.

The Watchmen jumped into their set with Boneyard Tree which had some vocal sound issues. They finally resolved the problem for the second song and the Winnipeg rockers drove through their chart toppers pleasing the crowd. “This is the biggest wedding I’ve played in a while.” Quipped lead singer Daniel Greaves and then he added, “here’s one I’m sure you’ll remember because I sure don’t”. They wrapped their rocking set off with one of their bigger hits, Stereo

The Dirty Nil, a Juno award winning band for Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2017, continued the day getting the crowd going with AC/DCs Riff Raff before jumping into a set of straight-ahead rock numbers including Blunt Force Concussion, Damage Control and Elvis ‘77 dedicated to their parents for lending them their Dodge Caravan on numerous occasions. Most songs were from their latest album Fuck Art released earlier this year. Wrestle Yu to Husker Du from 2016’s Higher Power proved why they caught the attention of critics and fans alike giving them the Juno nod.  If Pop Punk is making a comeback, it’s easy to see The Dirty Nil riding the crest of the wave.

Default is next. This is the third time they’ve played in Alberta in as many weeks. They said, ‘Alberta has been really good to us.’ The crowd enjoyed every moment as the sang along to classics like Wasting My Time, Count on Me and Live A Lie. It’s hard to say whether Dallas Smith is making Default his home again or if they are just doing random shows here and there. Regardless, it’s good to see them still hitting the circuit.

To wrap up the night, the Sheepdogs were grooving from Who? on down to their set closer and fan favourite Nobody. You sure could smell the pungent aroma of something burning given rise to their stoner band classification. Drudgey, yet rocking, The Sheepdogs were a welcome end to a great night.

Saturday night:

With the line up for Saturday, it was easy to tell that people came here to party. The sold out grounds were rocking and reeling all afternoon and evening.

Hailey Benedict kicked the day off showcasing her vocals that caught the attention of the judges for American Idol by a great rendition of Linda Ronstadt’s When Will I Be Loved, covers also included an amazing version of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Hailey also had some foot stomping originals such as Summer Days and Strike Four.

A rollicking party in Edmonton wouldn’t be complete without Captain Tractor. Their unique blend of rocking, punk, Celtic fusion had the crowd dancing at their tables. ‘What summer festival wouldn’t be complete without a song about murder, guns and mayhem,’ as they introduced ‘Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya’. Captain Tractor has been together for 28 years and the energy they displayed on stage makes it seem like they’ll be around for another 28.

Four time Juno winners The Dead South were a fitting addition to the bill, Their progressive Bluegrass styling kept feet moving. There was hardly time to take a breath between acts on this fine evening.

This day was proving to be a dance fest and sing along very similar to an east coast kitchen party especially when Alan Doyle jumped into the mix. His mixture of Great Big Sea songs and his own was the perfect fit for this crowd. Jigs and reels were seen all over the place as Edmontonian’s had themselves ‘a time’ with some good old down east music. Alberta’s own Kendal Carson on fiddle was a crowd favourite.

The day wrapped up with perennial favourites Blue Rodeo. If the cool evening air that has autumn nipping at summer’s heels was trying to chill the atmosphere, it was having a hard time at Together Again. It was also unclear who was singing louder, Blue Rodeo or the crowd. They actually took over for Hasn’t Hit Me Yet and the voices could be echoing around the abandoned horse barns. Jim Cuddy’s voice is still in great shape as the high notes in Try were no problem for him. The set ended with Alan Doyle, Kendal Carson and members from the Dead South joining them for Lost Together. It was nice to get lost together in live music again.

The Together Again continues through the next couple of weekends. For tix and details visit Together Again Concert Series.