Review: Joel Plaskett at the Wild Horse Saloon in Calgary

Posted: July 7th, 2009 | Author: admin | Filed under: Music | Tags: Halifax, Joel Plaskett, Nova Scota | 4 Comments »

Joel Plaskett put on a clinic in rocking asses off at the Wild Horse Saloon in Calgary last night. It was great show, especially since it wasn’t even supposed to happen. Plaskett was a last minute fill-in at the downtown Stampede bar tent after Technotronic cancelled late last week.

I can’t really blame Technotronic. You see, here in Calgary we’re in the middle of Stampede. a western celebration of over-sized livestock. Many Calgarians try to duck and cover during this rodeo week, myself included, lest ye be made sick by free pancake breakfasts and overpriced Kokanee ($7.75/can, WTF?!). But this show was a welcome change from the regular cow molestation and ripoffery that happens at the main Stampede grounds.

Here some highlights

+ Plaskett was a good sport. Drunk cowboy wannabes and oil executive douchebags are not his usual audience, but he seemed to take the cowboy hats and tacky rodeo shirts in stride.

+ He did not participate. There were no cowboy hats, boots or any other western accoutrements on stage. Other artists might have donned the duds, but not the good ones.

+ Plaskett was joined by the Emergency, the electric outfit that backed him on his first few albums. They covered a lot of the same material that Plaskett brought to town a month ago during a more sedate acoustic tour (which was also awesome) for his latest album, 3. It was great to hear a lot of those songs played loud and fast.

+ Though completely predictable, the set list was a perfect tour of Plaskett’s discography. “True Patriot Love” and “Nowhere With You” remain perennial crowd favourites, while new tracks like “Through and Through and Through” are on their way.

+ Mid show, someone tossed him a cowboy hat. He tried it on for sec and quickly tossed it away like it was made of bat turd.

+ Ending the show with “Fashionable People” injected a dose of irony that I don’t think most of the cowboy hats and bolo ties got.

Low lights

+ Alternating between beer and vodkar tonics was not a good idea. This morning I felt like I was bitten by a vampire.

+ “Sailor’s Eyes”. It’s a song off his latest album and I don’t like it.

+ Country western hip hop dance party. Once the show ended, the country music started and instead of going home like smart music fans, we hung out and pretended like we were listening to Tribe Called Quest.

+ Face planting while attempting a freeze during an ill-planned breakdance throw down. I don’t know whether to blame the beer or the vodkar But it’s like I say. if you don’t wake up with some sort of mystery pain, you’re doing something wrong.

Here’s a Joel Plaskett video for a great song off his latest album:

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