Calgary Bands For Cause Part 2

There are couple things that I feel deserve mention, along with the door donations for this event we also ran a silent auction, we had some amazing items up for auction. "Calgary Bands for Charities" has an awesome Silent Auction team and soon you will be able to learn more about these ladies through the Charity's facebook page. Due to space constrictions I can not go through the list of donors but huge thanks to everyone involved. The Kings Head Pub themselves donated an awesome pub crawl package and Terry Bharti donated a slinky, which Dany B of More Bad News so generously paid $20 for. Awesome job! As well, in order to transition from one band to another, you need a good MC. Filling the position for this event was Eric Paulin lead singer of Flatline Phoenix, Eric did a great job despite hobbling around in a cast from a speaker jumping incident, funnily enough which occured while performing at the Kings Head Pub on a prior night. Shout outs as well to the crew who efficiently changed over the bands. Being that this event was held on Father's Day we did not know what to expect but it was the musicians themselves that embraced this event, not only did they perform but they also donated cash & bought silent auction items. It was something special to watch Freedom Jak from Arcane Sugar join in with Noize Pollution for a Skid Row tune, check out the video further down this blog post. Numerous musicians that were not able to play also came out to show their support, even just to stop in, make a donation and talk to a few people, there were fans and other guests there but the coming together of different Genres of Musicians, as well as the Original and Cover bands all under one roof is an amazing thing to witness.

First Band up for the second half of the event was Suzie X, I wrote about them in the Calgary Bands for Slave Lake blog post featuring Trish Carmody on vocals with some great vetern musicians backing her up, this Alt. Rock band is so amazing to watch. Performing songs like Lump, Creep, Zombie and Man in a Box, they do not disappoint. Suzie X can be found through their facebook page. I believe you can also catch Trish performing with The Kevin Castator Band. Kevin is Trish's father and he was featured in part 1 of this blog post. They are both wicked musicians.

Band number 13 of the day is called InForLife, another local Original Band, these guys were also featured in my Calgary Bands for Slave Lake Blog Post and you can find a couple video of them on my youtube. I have them on my Reverbnation playlist as well, great band. You can also find another photo album on my facebook page of them opening for the Ozzy Osbourne Experience (a wicked tribute band out of Edmonton) InForLife can be found through their facebook page and group as well as Reverbnation and their youtube channel.

Following behind InForLife another of my favorite bands Flatline Phoenix, I still rarely miss a show these guys do, I have written about these guys a couple of times now, in the Calgary Bands for Slave Lake blog post as well as the WICKEDAWESOME Fundraiser one. Featuring Eric, our MC, a young new talent backed up by vetern musicians these guys are just a fun time, down to earth people who love to play Rock N Roll. You can find numerous video of them on my youtube.

Suicide Blonde was next up, it never fails to amaze me that the second this band hits the stage people fill the dance floor, doing a montage of some of the most dancable music ever written, these guys are a rockin good time. Kicking it off with some Black Eyes Peas I Got A Feeling, then Beautiful People, an awesome Marylin Manson tune, straight into Katy Perry I Kissed a Girl, throw in some Rock n Roll Part 2 by Gary Glitter, then finish off with some Rolling Stones, Pick Floyd, The Romantics and John Cougar. You never leave the dance floor. These guys are all amazing long time Calgary musicians. The Drummer Brian Cymbaluk & Axe Music donated the Backline for this event, as well as a guitar signed by Papa Roach, Buck Cherry & My Darkest Days. Brian & Axe Music have stepped up for every one of Calgary Bands For Charties events.You can find Suicide Blonde through their facebook page but Brian always posts upcoming events to the venue page as well as the Live Music Rocks & Lives in Calgary Group.

So to go from one extreme to another we had up next Arcane Sugar, these guys were also featured in my Calgary Bands for Slave Lake Blog post, they are a punk, indy, metal influenced band. They performed some of their originals and the metal queen in me loved them. They can be found through their website www.arcanesugar.com and have a lot of video posted on youtube as well as this one I shot:

Silentpanic, okay I will admit it, my all time favorite Calgary Band. Silentpanic has been featured in all of my fundraiser blog posts to date, because they are always one of the first to step up. I have quite a few video of them on my youtube and you can listen to them on Reverbnation and Youtube, as well as through their website www.themusicofsilentpanic.com. They also have a facebook page. On a side note, as they were taking the stage at this event, and Ty, the Singer, was strapping on his guitar, the strap lock failed sending Ty's beloved guitar crashing to the stage floor. Breaking it. Ty was heartbroken. I believe it was Matt Merlin (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that stepped in and lent Ty his guitar. Ty managed to pull off an awesome performance, even in his heartbroken state. On a happy note, directly after this event, Jamie Warren, our band co-ordinator was able to fix the guitar and have it back to Ty good as new in record time. Jamie is awesome! Next band of the night was also a performer and featured in my Calgary Bands for Slave Lake Blog post.

Cliffhanger , fronted by Marla Carlisle , these guys and gal performed some awesome tunes, such as Heartbreaker, 500 Miles , One Way or Another, and What's Up. I think these are guys are great and my friends that have seen them have nothing but good to say about them. Well worth the effort to look them up and catch a show. Join their facebook page to be invited to their events and check out the video of One way or Another on my youtube.

Up next was one of our Special Guest All-Star bands Noize Pollution, doing an 80's and 90's tribute, this was their second show. This All-Star band is made up of Jeff Evans, Jamie Landry, Terry Talbot, Jamie Warren & Kevin Perrett. Some of the bands these guys have been in include, Noize Boyz, Smash LA, Sugarpuss,Bush League, Sonic Addiction, Crued and 1-900. You can find out more about these guys through their facebook page and you can catch them every long weekend at the Voodoo Lounge. I shot three videos of these guys. This one being my favorite:

The next band I had never in my life heard of , until they hit the stage. Another All-Star surprise band. AFD, Appetite for Destruction, a Gun & Roses tribute made up of Reed Shimozawa and Jamie Warren of Bush League, Terry Talbot, who along with Reed played in one of Calgary's biggest cover bands back in the day, Smash LA, I still have my cassette tape haha, Eddie Tiegs, who I have seen perform with numerous Calgary bands & James Nation of Venom Rain on vocals. What a wicked line up and the perfect singer for this act. They performed Sweet Child O Mine, Nighttrain, which you can find on my youtube, Mr Brownstone with some help on the vocals from our MC Eric Paulin. I can not wait to see these guys again. Check out this video of them:

Which brings us to Mr Furious, who I actually missed tonight due to writing this but if I didn't stop going out and shooting more video and taking more pictures I would never get it written. My apologies to all the bands I have missed out on in the last week. Mr Furious also performed at Calgary bands for Slave Lake, these guys are a heavy metal meltdown. Absolutely love them. Playing music from the 70's right through to the 90's, and every once in a while some new stuff, these guys go back to the heart of my teenage years. Featuring Whiskey Dave on vocals, The Rev on bass and vocals, KellytheBastard on guitar and Rick Lucas on drums, these guys are a must see for any heavy metal fan. Check out the awesome video I shot of them doing Ace of Spades on my youtube.

By this time I had been on my feet, in three inch heels shooting video and pictures for 11 1/2 hours. I was dead tired and I was done but we had one more band to round out the night. I remember groaning and thinking one video a couple pics and I am outta here. Then the Rustic Brothers hit the stage. Exactly as the name sounds, these guys are cozy, comfortable and they drew me in completely. I ended up staying and watching them for as long as I could. I don't know a lot about this band but I intend to learn a lot more, made up of amazing musicians Randy Hutchings, Curtis Cripps, Geoff Brock & Andrzei Ryszka. These guys are an amazing Calgary-Roots Band. Add Rustic Brothers as a friend on facebook to find out where they are playing. You can also catch Curtis Cripps on Wednesdays at Morgans playing in Three Way with Greg Cox and Gil Tougas , two of Calgary's finest musicians. Here is the video I shot of Rustic Brothers, it was the perfect wind down to a long day.

Calgary Bands for Cause was an amazing event, one that I will never forget and was privileged and honored to be a part of. Calgary Bands for Charities is taking a short break from fundraising until the fall. Over the summer we will be setting up the structure of the organization and creating the facebook page that I mentioned in part one. I will be taking a short break from the blog while I focus on helping with the Charity page and set up. Once that is done watch for more blogs from me regarding whats going on in the live music scene in Calgary. In the meantime you can click like on my KariReding-calgarylivemusic.blogspot.com page and check out the video's and pictures I shoot while I'm out and about. I also post some of my favorite upcoming events on there. For other music happenings in Calgary be sure to check out the facebook group Live Music Rocks & Lives in Calgary. Have a great summer eveyone, see you at an event real soon!

Calgary Bands For Cause Part 1

Calgary Bands for Cause Benefit 4 Fundraiser was held on Sunday June 19, 2011 at the Kings Head Pub Calgary (9116 Macleod Trail S), all proceeds were split between four local charities The CJAY 92 Kids fund, Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, Calgary Interfaith Foodbank & The Calgary Humane Society. This benefit ran from 2pm - 2am and featured 22 local bands. The Kings Head Pub Calgary is an awesome live music venue and the management and staff worked very hard to make this event a success. You can find them through their facebook group Kings Head Pub Calgary or their website www.kingsheadpub.ca! The third fundraiser in a series organized by "Calgary Bands for Charities", The first one "Calgary Bands for Japan" was a massive 2 day event featuring 34 bands , the second "Calgary Bands for Slave Lake" was cozier with only 14 bands. Putting this one, at least in size, right down the middle somewhere. We raised $4000 at this benefit, bringing "Calgary Bands for Charties" fundraising total to $19785.00 in a 14 week period. There are far too many people involved to mention everyone by name but a huge thank you to everyone involved for working their butts off to make this happen. Watch in the coming weeks for the "Calgary Bands for Charity" facebook page where you will be able to see all the volunteers, bands, venues and organizers involved in these events. A special thank you to my good friend Terry-Lee Bharti who had the dream and pulled us all together to make it happen.

It all started at 2pm with a local acoustic solo artist Kevin Castator. He performed some of his original music for us, you can find a video of him on my youtube channel, details regarding my other sites and pages will be at the end of this blog post. Kevin is very easy to listen to and was the perfect opener for a Sunday afternoon event, you can find most of Kevin's music at Reverbnation under The Kevin Castator Band.

Next up was Whyte Wydow..fronted by Jessy Davidson, watch the video in this blog post and I am sure you will agree, this woman can wail! These guys and gal performed a mix of covers and originals and I enjoyed every one of them. From the Double Vision Foreigner cover to Escape, an original Whyte Wydow tune. Whyte Wydow is currently going through some line up changes and are promising us a killer new sound. These guys have a facebook page and can also be found on reverbnation.

Third set of the night (day?) featured a husband and wife team who regularily play around Calgary with a band called BlackSnake Moan..performng for us under the name Spirt Quest, Dawn and Shane used to perform under this name quite frequently a few years back and had put it to rest, we are very happy that they have revived it. We like to call them a modern day Sonny and Cher..Dawn has an amazing voice and they have some awesome originals, the one that stood out for me was the one that I recorded, the very first song Shane wrote specifically for Dawn to sing called "Fires of Hell" You can find BlackSnake Moan on reverbnation and you can find my video of them on my youtube channel.

On we go, Due to "life happening" the next time slot was a struggle to fill but after posting on my facebook wall the need for someone, anyone, even a guy and a guitar..that's exactly what we ended up with, Holmz Grown! I do not have any info on this guy other than his name was Chris and he's a pretty great singer and guitar player. Special thank you to Scott Duiven for bringing him to us. There is also a video of Chris on my youtube channel, I hope to learn more about him for future events and blog posts.

The next band up is called All Hands on Jane. Two young Calgary girls who I saw perform at the Boonstock Band Warz here in Calgary. I believe this benefit was the girls 8th or 9th public performance. With Teri on guitar and main vocals and Tess on Drums and back up vocals, these ladies performed 6 of their originals..the video I recorded is of their song Breaking Hearts. All hands on Jane has been playing around Calgary on an increasingly regular basis. You can find All Hands on Jane through their facebook page as well as myspace. These girls are young and just starting out and I am really looking forward to watching them grow. Great job girls!

How do you follow two very sweet talented young girls..how about with some high energy glam rock courtesy of Lixx and Kisses. I previously wrote about these guys when they performed at Calgary Bands for Slave Lake..this full costume and make up 80's tribute band knows how to party, not only did they perform some of my very favorite 80's tunes like Looks that Kill,Round and Round & Talk Dirty to me, as well as one of my all time favorite tunes Fantasy, which I recorded and posted to my youtube as well. There is at least one video per band that performed at this event posted to my youtube, with unfortunate exception of one, which did not turn out, all 31 videos I shot are posted to my youtube channel. Lixx and Kisses once again stuck around for the duration and can be seen dancing, jigging and moshing their way through the day in most of the Calgary Bands for Cause Videos.

I have also written about this next band before in my WICKEDAWESOME fundraiser blog post. Stanger Than Fiction, these guys are a really rocking band doing a great range of tunes, still don't know much about this bands background, other than Carrin is a smoking singer and Matt , the guitar player, used to play in Silentpanic, Stranger than Fiction can be found gigging all over the city. Check out their group on facebook for more information. Every song they performed on this day was awesome but my favorites were All my Life and Pretender. Here's a peak at what this band is capable of:

Next we went into an acoustic version of More Bad News, these guys play around town alot but I haven't had a chance to catch up with them yet, I hear the full out version of the band is awesome and I do intend to catch up with them soon, I however loved the acoustic stuff they did. So much so that I am posting their video as well!

Songs like Have you ever seen the Rain, as seen on the video, Till I am Myself Again, Heart of Gold, Yellow, they even threw in That's Alright. Love that Elvis tune! Keep track of where these guys are playing through their facebook page.

Next up and running along a similar vein was The Hot Tamales. I have absolutely no info on this band and unfortunately their's was the only video that the sound was too distorted for me to post. These guys were great to watch, one of the only bands I have seen with a female bass player, she also did some singing, they did an awesome version of Jackson, that even Johnny and June would have been proud of! As well they did Hard Days Night, Waiting on the World to Change and a few others, I hope to get a chance to see these guys again and find out more about them.

Berkley Shea and the County Boys..what can I say about Berkley that I didn't say when I blogged about him in the Rock the Cure blog post..oh ya , Berkley showed up and informed us that the County Boys could not make it, so he hired an accordian player, and he could'nt make it, so we had Berkley and his guitar and some songs he didn't know the guitar parts for. A little disconcerting for the organizers of the event, but Berkley assured us he was ready to go. And he was, when Berkley hits the stage an east coast kitchen party atmosphere just permeates the bar. If you don't want to watch all 31 videos :o) I strongly recomend you do not skip over the Berkley Shea video, featuring him performing The Night that Paddy Murphy Died and Lixx and Kisses doing the jig!

Last band Im going to talk about in part one is a local Original band called Kingdom of Few, I had never seen them live before this event but at the urging of mutual friends I listened to the songs they have posted on reverbnation and found some video on youtube. These guys are awesome and I listen to them at least once a day! This band is modern rock n roll all the way. I just can't say enough about them. Performing five (?) of their originals, they included my two very favorite songs Rich Man and On the Corner, check out the video I have posted here, as well as the one for Deloreon, which is also a very rockin tune, on my youtube.

That wraps up the first half of the day, all my video shot for the first 11 bands that performed can be found on my Karisoccermom youtube channel or for the entire photo album of the event as well as a youtube link to my vidoes you can go to my facebook page Kari Reding-calgarylivemusic.blogspot.com. Read on in part 2 for the rest of the amazing talent that donated their time to this event.

WICKEDAWESOME Rock & Roll Fundraiser RIDE TO CONQUER CANCER!!

The WICKEDAWESOME fundraiser was held on June 11, 2011 at Shooters Bar & Grill 4036 - 26th Street SE as a way to raise funds for The 2011 Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer benefiting the Alberta Cancer Foundation in support of Team Poo. Im going to start with an explanation of the Team and the name because it seems like such an odd choice for a team name until you hear the story behind it. This team is riding in loving memory of Jessica Francine Gay, many of you may remember reading about Jessica after losing a battle with cancer one short week after the birth of her daughter.

Jessica's nickname was Jesspoo , poo for short. Team Poo consists of family and friends of Jessica including her husband Sean Boudreau and brother-in-law Matt Boudreau. There is a link to Jessica's story on the Team page which can be found at http://www.conquercancer.ca/goto/teampoo Team Poo has a fundraising goal of $25,500.00 and as of yesterday were still about $4000 short of the goal. Please take a moment to go to the team page and read the stories and donate to the cause.
Through team member Kelli Gillespie, the band Flatline Phoenix decided to host a benefit with all proceeds going towards the team, after some initial inquiries, team member Christine Duffey contacted Scott Duiven. Scott is a long time local live music supporter who does what he can to promote the bands and establishments involved in the local music scene. Scott contacted Flatline Phoenix and took over the planning of the event from there.

Thus the WICKEDAWESOME fundraiser was created. Starting at 7pm the first band of the night was The Nate Pike Band. Nate has been involved in the music industry for roughly 15 years and the band has been around for a decade. I had never seen them before and i really enjoyed the performance. The Nate Pike Band has released four full-length CD's, their diversity extends from Blues influences through to enhanced classic rock, even heading into the grunge category. They performed a few of their originals for us, some of my favorites being Liar, Comebackdown and Something To Say. I will definately be out to see them again. This band can be found on their facebook group as well as at www.natepike.com Next up, friends of mine and personal favorites Flatline Phoenix.

I have written about them in the post regarding Calgary Bands for Slave Lake. These guys are rapidly gaining popularity in the Calgary music scene. This night they performed Ghost, Whiskey in the Jar, Rocket Queen & Mr Brownstone. Due to a last minute fill in gig , they had to run off as soon as they were finished. I know that the band still feels bad that they shortened their set but I think it is awesome that they kept their commitment to the fundraiser and worked the rest of their schedule around it. Really great people and their shows are always a blast. Flatline Phoneix can be found on facebook,myspace, twitter, reverbnation and as well their website www.flatlinephoenix.com This weekend you can find them at the Rusty Cage Central tonight and tomorrow.

On to Gruvstone. These guys rocked the stage with a mix of originals and cover tunes. They opened their set with two originals, Baby Airplanes and About it, then In The Meantime (Spacehog)& That Song (Big Wreck), Grounded Beliefs & Simple (also originals), All These Things (The Killers), Fools (Original) finishing off the set with She's a Lady (Tom Jones)! These guys were enjoyed so much that they performed two encore songs for us Wicked Game , an absolutely amazing Chris Isaak song that they performed very well and Paperback Writer by the Beatles. This band is well worth seeing and you can find them this weekend at OJ's Avenida on the Big Rock stage Saturday night, as well, they are on facebook with a group called Gruvers - Friends of Gruvstone. I can not make it out this weekend to see them but gauranteed I will be out to see one of their next shows!

Next band to take the stage and the only female singer of the night was called Stranger Than Fiction. I was extremely disappointed that the video I shot of this band is not good enough quality to post, the singer has a totally smokin voice..they performed some really rocking tunes. I currently don't have a lot of information on this band but two of my favorites they performed were, You Oughtta Know and The Pretender. This band is performing at the upcoming Calgary Bands for Cause Fundraiser (Sunday June 19, 2011 at the Kings Head Pub Calgary) and I will include more info about them in my blog for that event. They can also be found through their facebook group. Second last band of the evening but certainly not the least, I have written about Silentpanic a couple times, because if there is a fundraiser in Calgary you will find these guys there. They performed their new song $1000 a day along with some of my favorites like,

White Rabbit, Redfish, Gone & Hand Me Down. I think the thing that really stands out for me is how genuinely nice, friendly and down to earth these guys are. Truly are some of the nicest guys I know. Don't believe me? Join their facebook group , you will be welcomed with open arms by the band and their fans! They can also be found at www.themusicofsilentpanic.com and on reverbnation, twitter and myspace
When I arrived at the event I was sitting at the table with Eric , the singer from Flatline Phoenix, a lady approached the table and asked Eric if he would be willing to cut off his hair for donations, he respectfully declined, Eric has wicked hair and even if he agreed I probably would have had to stop them ;o) however she persevered and just before Stranger than Fiction took the stage they announced that one of the bar regulars Dan, had agreed to cut off his hair and started taking donations. When Silentpanic finished their set Ty (the singer) announced it was time to do the hair cut. They sat Dan down and a couple of ladies proceeded to hack away the long gray hair that Dan has maintained for many many years. Dan raised just over $300 dollars for his hair and in my opinion looks far more handsome with the haircut! Great job Dan!

To finish the night off we had Technically Difficult, the owner of Shooters Bar & Grill himself plays guitar for this band. I was only able to catch a couple of their songs, Spoon Man and Sound of madness. These guys were awesome and can be found playing at Shooters on a fairly regular basis. As a venue Shooters Bar & Grill does what they can to promote live music in Calgary and seems to be favored by the original acts. I want to send a massive shout out to Shooters Bar & Grill and as well to Rob Favelle. Shooters not only hosted this event but donated 10% of all profit from the night to Team Poo, as well, Rob himself purchased a silent auction package with a bid of $200. If you see this man you should shake his hand. Well done all around.

Scott Duiven did an amazing job lining up the entertainment for this event and Team Poo was out in force, working the door, silent auction as well as the 50/50 draw. This night raised close to $3400 in support of Team Poo. Three of the riders have now reached their goal but there are still 5 more working on it. Please visit the website , I have tried to post the link at the top of this page , however if you do not see the link , please copy and paste the address into your browser to find the Team Poo page. From there you can read Jessica's story, Team Poo's story as well as find the link to donate to the cause.

Hope to see you all Sunday June 19, 2011 at the Kings Head Pub Calgary for our next fundraiser Calgary Bands For Cause Benefitting 4 local charities. This event runs from 2pm - 2am!

Calgary Bands for Slave Lake

The Calgary Bands for Slave Lake fundraiser was held on June 2, 2011 at the Viper Room in Calgary, consisting of 13 bands and an all star end of night jam. The second in a series of three fundraisers held under the moniker "Calgary Bands For" organized by my good friend Terry-Lee Bharti. The first fundraiser Calgary Bands for Japan held at the Kings Head Pub was a two day event featuring 34 Bands which raised $14,000 for the Canadian Red Cross Japan Relief Effort.

This event, due to the change of venue and smaller number of performances, was a cozy affair. The Viper Room, 302 - 3rd Avenue SW is one of my new very favorite live music venues, despite being downtown. As the driver of a Ram full size pick up I generally avoid downtown venues, primarily due to parking issues, this is not an issue at The Viper Room, street parking around the venue is free after 6pm and as well, there are at least two parking lots and Eau Claire Market parkade all within walking distance, I paid a grand total of $2 to park my truck safely for the night. The decor of the room is upscale and cozy with a couch lounge and available VIP Room near the back and the stage and dance floor at the front. Friendly staff and a clean cared for environment make this an excellent choice for a night out. Great job to Brett Sheane and the staff for hosting this event! The Viper Room can be found on facebook, as well as at www.viperroom.ca

The event brought together many different genres of music as well as the original and cover bands, the mixing of the musicians and fans makes for an entertaining and awesome night all around. First band of the night was brand new for me. Called Knee Deep, these guys and gal played everything from Sass Jordan to Red Hot Chili Peppers, I really enjoyed these guys. You can find them on the web at www.kneedeep.ca. Next up was a band that I enjoyed at the last Calgary Bands fundraiser, Hotrod Kitty, the highlights for me were I Love Rock N Roll, Joan Jett as well as Pink Floyd The Wall, the band transitions very smoothly through the genres, this band has been on the scene for a couple years and you can learn more about them at www.hotrodkitty.ca

Then came Sub Urban Dwellers, this 5 piece retro classic rock band brings the whole party with them. Stand outs in my mind where, Closer to home Grand Funk Railroad and Rolling Stones Miss you, utilizing congas, harmonica, flute, slide and acoustic guitars for awesome sound! Really really enjoy these guys, you can find them through their facebook group.

Moving on to one of my favorites, Flatline Phoenix, these guys burst onto the Calgary scene in January 2011 with a vengence. I met the singer through mutual friends at the end of March, since that time I have only missed one of their shows, my two fave's of the night from this band would be Slash's Ghost and Sedated by the Ramone's. These guys can be found at www.flatlinephoenix.com , Reverbnation, they have a facebook page and they are also on twitter. Wicked vocals and rocking music make these guys a must see! Next up Cliffhanger, also a new Calgary band , these guys seem to float through the genres, performing Soul Sister by Train, Daddy don't know by Toronto, 500 miles by the proclaimers and ending with Poker Face by lady gaga, great band! For more info check out their facebook group.

By this time , the event was in full swing and the room was pretty packed, the vibe in the room was awesome and the next band up was great to pump things up a bit, 80's tribute Band Lixx and Kisses, the youngest of Calgary's full costume tribute bands , these guys did a great job, two of my fave's they did were Crazy Train and Round and Round and as well they stuck around for most of the night supporting the other bands and having a blast, you can find these guys on facebook as well.
I was really looking forward to the next band, hadn't ever heard them. Performing their own original music was the guys from InForLife, they coined the term Crunch Rock to describe their style. From the very first note I was amazed by these guys. Energetic, soul stirring rock n roll. I am going to let the video I shot of these guys do most of the talking. You can find them on facebook, myspace and Reverbnation. moving right along, up next was Silly Wrabbit, long time rockers that have played the Calgary circuit for years , these guys are all about the fun and the party! They are awesome at involving the audience in the show, there is a great video of them performing Jump by Van halen on my youtube. Look up their website at www.sillywrabbit.com or join their facebook group.

By now it was 11pm and taking the stage was Silentpanic,previously mentioned in my Rock the Cure post, these guys are phenomenal. I listen to them every day. Check out their website www.themusicofsilentpanic.com as well as facebook pages and groups.

Silentpanic was a perfect lead in for this next band, another original Calgary act. Arcane Sugar, with a very heavy feel and punk and metal influences, pure energy. These guys brought out my inner metal queen! They performed five of their songs with my favorite of the night being High. Check them out at www.arcanesugar.com, as well as their facebook page. Further videos etc can also be found through their singer Freedom Jak. In keeping with the heavier tone set by Arcane Sugar, next up was another original act. Scarbelly Creek, these guys were the heaviest of the night, thrash metal originals such as Fat Catz, Pain, Ceo, Free and The "FU" song (censored that one but you get the idea! ) they like to bill themselves as pound for pound the heaviest, hardest rockin act Southern Alberta has to offer. Best way to find these guys is on their facebook page. The guys from Scarbelly leading us into the angry, ass kicking Mr. Furious who play all my favorite metal hits! Most notably, Balls to the Wall by Accept and Ace of Spades by Motorhead..we were transformed back in time as the Lixx and Kisses rockers in their 80's gear headbanged and worshiped at the rock alter all through the set, another group of long time Calgary rockers, if your a fan of metal music, you are a fan of Mr Furious!! Mr Furious can be found through their facebook page By this point in the night the crowd had thinned but the die hards were still there to cheer on Suzie X , they performed one of my all time favorites.. this chick can freakin sing, never heard Creep from Radiohead performed better, Zombie from the Cranberries was another wicked wicked tune. This set ended with Suzie X featuring Berkley Shea and the brains behind "Calgary Bands For" Mr Terry-Lee Bharti himself, performing Man in a box by AIC.

Last but very not least we were promised an all star jam band featuring The Rev. Mike Kruse (Free Byrd, Mr Furious) Jamie Warren & Reed Shimozawa (Bush League)and Rick Lucas (Mr Furious) who are all long time very talented and dedicated Calgary musicians. They had just enough time to perform two songs It's so easy by GNR and Love Removal Machine by the Cult.

This event was a smashing success, with a cozy friendly vibe in the room all night long. The primary goal behind the "Calgary Bands for" Charity Events of course is the money raised for the chosen cause, we raised $1785.00 for the victims of the Slave Lake Fires and everyone involved deserves a hug and a huge thank you, however there is a secondary purpose behind the idea of these events and that is the complete and full revival of the Calgary Live Music Scene. These fundraisers give us the fans the opportunity to see what Calgary has to offer for live entertainment, the bands the opportunity to meet and support each other, as well as exposure for the venues. As fans we can be a part of this by getting out there and supporting our favorite live acts, join the facebook group Live Music Rocks & Lives in Calgary to see where your fave's are playing. We at calgarylivemusic encourage the bands and the venues to hit the facebook, myspace, website, reverbnation, where ever you can promote yourselves and the scene. Join the facebook group Live Music Rocks & Lives in Calgary and post where & when you are playing, or who is playing at your establishment, link your events, chat with your fans, build & promote yourselves any way you can. It all goes back to the cliche movie quote "If you build it they will come"

The complete photo album for this event can be viewed by anyone on my facebook page for Kari Reding and the other video I shot can be seen on my youtube channel Karisoccermom.

Next up, the third and last in this series of fundraisers is "Calgary Bands For Cause" June 19, 2011 starting at 2pm at the Kings Head Pub benefiting four local charities! Hope to see you all there!

Rock The Cure - Mardi Gras in May

Rock the Cure is an annual event that takes place at the Kings Head Pub (9116 Macleod Trail S) organized by Tracy Hayduk and Heather Crook. The story behind the event is truly inspiring. Tracy, a five year breast cancer survivor who has been through just about every course of treatment I personally can imagine, from surgery to chemo, radiation to drug therapy. Tracy participated in Run for the Cure and through that met Heather Crook and her daughter. I believe it was last year that Tracy decided to join Heather on the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk, and in order to raise additional funds for their walk they created the Rock the Cure event last year.

This years event was held on May 29, 2011 with six bands donating their time and talents. First up of the night was a band that I have never heard of, The Al Barrett Band, veterns of the music scene this band put on an excellent show. What stands out most in my mind was Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd but song after song these guys impressed me so much. This band was formed by Al Barrett in 1998 and has gone through many inceptions since then. The current line up is phenomenal. I would go see these guys again in a heartbeat just to hear Sharon Matheson sing. One of Calgary's truly great bands you can find them on the web at www.albarrett.com

Second band of the night Sonic Addiction,I knew who they were but had never had a chance to see them. I was really looking forward to them after hearing some positive reviews through mutual friends. They did not disappoint. Run to the Hills, Detroit Rock City and some kick ass Metallica were my favorites of the night. Wicked band for sure and I will definately be out to see them again! Sonic Addiction was formed in 2006, the current inception of the band has been together since 2009. However all these guys have been playing live music in Calgary for 20 years. They truly are the best band you've never heard of! These guys can be found on facebook on the Sonic Addicton page.

At this point of the night we were promised a special treat and I knew that there was another band on the line up that I had never heard of. The Sick Sick Six..an all-star band of sorts made up of Reed Shimosawa, Jamie Warren and Greg Stang of Bush League, Eddie Tiegs from Project Mayhem on drums. These guys have all played in various bands over the years and threw together a couple songs for us.

Next up Project Mayhem. What can I even say about this band. Opening with Du Hast by Rammstein, these guys never let up, rocking out every song from Johnny Cash to the Ramones and the Proclaimers. Tracy Hayduk herself plays keys for this band. The thing that makes these guys stand out is the versatility that they transition from one genre to another. I will be doing a feature blog about these guys sometime in the near future for sure. The band was formed in 2008 and plays around town at least 2-3 times a month. For further information you can find these guys on facebook, myspace and twitter

Second last band of the evening was one of my very personal favorites..Silentpanic, a local indie-rock original band. If there is a music related benefit or fundraiser in Calgary , you will most likley find these generous and talented guys there. These guys recently took part in the Xposure contest through x92.9 where they made the top ten. I have no doubt in my mind that next year they will win it. On this night they played a new song for us called $1000 a day , as well as a great version of the cover Nights in White Satin.Check out their track Hand me down. Wicked wicked tune, you can find them at www.themusicofsilentpanic.com as well as on facebook.

Last band of the night. Berkley Shea and the County boys, this celtic rock band is so high energy and pure fun! Watching these guys perform is like being transplanted to a Newfoundland kitchen party! Socialables all around. Really enjoyed these guys and i will have to get out to see them again and learn more about them for sure. You can also find these guys on facebook.

Overall this was an awesome event, I am not sure exactly how much was raised for Tracy and Heather but speaking with Tracy at the end of the night I was told the event was a success. The beauty of this kind of event is that it is prime opportunity to check out a bunch of local bands and see what they have to offer, without driving all over the city. As well as raising funds for important causes.

Further events I will be attending and covering for this blog will be the following:

June 2, 2011 (tonight!) Viper Room 302 - 3rd Avenue SW Calgary Bands for Slave Lake, 14 bands of various genre's, minimum $10 donation to get in. Doors open at 6pm , bands start at 7pm.

June 11, 2011 Shooters Bar & Grill 4036 - 26th Street SE WickedAwesome Rock & Roll Fundraiser Ride to Conquer Cancer, 6 band, minimum $10 donation at the door. Event starts at 6:30pm

June 19, 2011 Kings Head Pub 9116 - Macleod Trail S Calgary Bands for Cause. this event will benefit local charities such as Cjay 92 Kids Fund, Women's Emergency Shelter, Interfaith Food Back and the Calgary Humane Society. 24 bands will perform for a minumim $10 donation. Event starts at 2pm sharp.

Hope to see you out and about, if I do, feel free to come say hello to me! Have a great week, keep on rocking!!

Calgary has a live music scene?

Having been a young adult in the 80's and early 90's I was there back when Calgary had a kick ass live music scene..you could see live bands seven nights a week at various venues throughout our city.  Amazing bands played on a regular basis..Electric ( later known as Age of Electric) Smash LA , Young Gun, Misbehavin (Later known a Specula Black) X-Rated , Raw Trixx  and a whole host of others travelled the bar circuit playing partying and entertaining the masses.  Bars such as Frankie & Johnny's North and South, The Live Wire and the Skyroom all featured live entertainment 6 days week and most hosted jams on a Sunday.  I remember one night at F&J's North (The Beacon) my friends and I were dancing and having a great time watching one of our friends perform, must have been Rainbow Warrior (Tim Cambridge, Jaret Hunchak), when the power went out to the entire hotel.  After a few minutes of futile waiting we soon realized the power was not coming back anytime soon. Someone drove their car up to the doors of the bar and shone their headlights in and cranked the radio up..I think eventually someone brought in an acoustic guitar...everyone stayed and everyone had a blast . It was my friend Danny Gavin's birthday that night and the entire bar sang him happy birthday in the dark.  Nights like that one and many others make up what my friends and I affectionately call "back in the day" As the 90's progressed I got married , had kids, ok ok maybe not in that exact order but you get the idea. I left the scene and focused on raising my family.  Over the next 15 years we would go out occasionally but less and less could you find a live band venue...the new thing was the DJ bar and dance music, every once in a while a new bar would open and attempt to bring back the live music scene but it never caught on the way it was, eventaully I gave up and lost touch ..Fast forward to 2011 ..kids are grown and more independent and I have the ability to have a social life of my own, but what to do? I knew there was a few of my old friends still kicking around..Playground Zone featuring Greg Cox and Tim Cambridge, Curious George featuring Greg Gesha and Jaret Hunchak (who has now moved on to Glow), reconnecting with some old friends through facebook I started going out again.  What I found will be the basis for this blog, Calgary's live music scene is not only alive but is actually flourishing. You can find live entertainment in a variety of genre's almost every night of the week. Not only are my old friends out there performing nightly there is a whole new crop of amazing talent dedicating their evenings and weekends to entertaining us.  I have met the most amazingly generous and talented people in the last 6 months, all of them involved in bringing the live music scene back to full life in our great city.   These people welcome me and any and all comers with open arms.  It is my goal to entice you to attend some of the upcoming events and shows .  My next post will be from a previous event Rock the Cure - Mardi Gras in May Breast Cancer fund raiser held at the Kings Head Pub May 29, 2011 6 amazing bands donated their time and energy to provide an awesome night of entertainment for an excellent cause.  As well I will always end my new postings with info regarding important upcoming events.  The first of which would have to be Calgary Bands for Slave Lake to be held Thursday June 2, 2011 at Viper Room 302 - 3rd Avenue SW Calgary 7pm - 2am featuring 14 local bands $10 donation at the door all proceeds to the Canadian Red Cross Slave Lake Relief effort.  Come on down and check it out.  Our last event Calgary Bands for Japan held in March at the Kings Head Pub raised $12000 for Japan relief efforts.  Calgary Bands for Cause is a charity in the making that is the brain child of my good friend Terry- Lee Bharti and organized and run by him and a few amazing local musicians, crew, wives and friends.  I look forward to telling and showing you all about the events and the people.

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