Pete isn’t dead or in jail, according to Hamilton funnyman B.A, Johnston, who  returns to the Owl Acoustic Lounge, Tuesday, April 23 with J Blissette in  support of his new CD “The Skid is Hot Tonight.”
“Pete loves that song,” chuckled Johnston of the first single from the CD “We’re All Going to Jail (Except Pete, He’s Gonna Die), which also inspired a frame by frame re-creation of Van Halen’s “Jump” video.

“It’s not as good, because they have more money and we‘re older. But we painstakingly re-created every frame, but cut most of it,” he said.

“ But it features they guy who does my beats and the guy who does my album artwork, so it is nice to feature them,” he said, adding the song is partially based on a true story.

“Pete took too many magic mushrooms and thought security was chasing him. We lost him for a half hour. And he still thought security was chasing him, though I don’t think  they were,” he said.

It is a follow up to his last CD Gremlins 3.
“ That was like two years ago. Time flies. I have like 12 CDs out now,” he said, adding they will  probably only be playing three songs from the CD.
“I have a lot of ‘hits’ and people want to hear them. I know when I go see Iron Maiden and they mostly  play their new album, I don’t really like that,” he said, adding he is always writing.

“It’s a long CD. It’s 12 songs and 42 minutes long. So it‘s like a Grateful Dead album,” Johnston chuckled.

This week is all about the ladies and a little bit of rock and roll for Easter weekend.
But first, New West Theatre veterans Jeff Carlson, Greg Paskuski, Scott Carpenter, Jordana Kohn, Arlene Bedster, Andre Royer, Kelly Roberts and Erica Hunt perform their annual ’50s, ’60s and ’70s music comedy revue fundraiser for the NordBridge Centre during Old Favourites 7 at the Yates Theatre, April 16-18. The show begins at 7:30 p.m.Tickets are $35.

 The Slice starts things off heavy on a Wednesday with Vancouver hard rock band/ thrash/ death metal band Dead Asylum plus local bands  Chernoff and Revanchist. The show begins at 9 p.m.. Admission is $10.

 Then it is all about ladies who rock.
 Edmonton folk/ R and B songwriter Billie Zizi returns to the Slice, April 18 with her power trio.
It will indeed be a good Friday with several shows competing for that holiday dollar.
 Toronto indie rock band Ace of Wands plays the Slice with country band the Orchard and punk band J Blissette and dark folk band Makiisma.
 A little further down the line, The Slice has another big hard rock metal show, Wednesday, April 24 featuring the Decibel Worship tour featuring Vancouver’ bands Heron and Bort, Calgary doom metal band Monolith and the Rainbow Patrol. Admission is $10.
 Down the road at the Owl Acoustic Lounge, April 19, FLIPfest presents Calgary punk band the Shiverettes, who are touring in support of their new CD “Real Shrill Bitches.” They will be joined by Mombod and Wares. Admission is by donation.

 If you want to relive the ’80s, a couple of excellent tribute acts  Live Wire: the Motley Crüe experience and and the debut of Live Wire: The Def Leppard Experience featuring Kitty Chevelle. The show begins at 9 p.m. There is a $15 cover charge.
 And Honker’s Pub is closed for  Good Friday, so they are moving their usual Friday open mic to Thursday, April 18 with host Paul Kype.
They are open again on Saturday, April 20 for one of several 4/20 parties happening around the city.
 The Trippy Hippys host the afternoon open mic and 4-20 party at Honker’s Pub.

 The Slice is going hip hop for their 4-20 party with  the DJ Restrickted’ Rated R tour 420 mash up featuring Live Hip-Hop performances by:
The Psychonauts, JPB, HayZe, Tokey & Kid Killit, xRGx & Cliche and DJ Disko, plus host  F-Bomb and headliner DJ Restrickted who spins  hip hop, trap, dubstep, future bass and more. It will be hosted by Hosted by F-Bomb. Admission is $15.
Bang your head all day long at the Smokehouse. There is a metal matinee at 2 p.m. with Vancouver bands Of Artistry and Hawking and Vancouver Island’s Tama Hills, plus Calgary’s Gutter King and Widmore.  Doors open at 2 p.m. with the metal madness beginning at 3 p.m. sharp. Admission is $10 for this all ages gig.

Calgary’s Shiverettes have completely embraced their identity as a feminist punk band.

The band, including Hayley Muir - vocals; Kaely Cormack - guitar and vocals; Cecilia Schlemm - bass and backup vocals and drummer Steve Richter, play the Owl Acoustic Lounge, April 19 for a FLIPfest presentation including  Mombod and Wares.

 They officially release their second album “Real Shrill Bitches” on April 18.

“We played FLIPfest  for the first time in 2017 and it’s pretty exciting to be back,” said guitarist/vocalist Kaely Cormack.

“We didn’t intend to write another feminist punk album, but there is a lot more to say,” she said, adding  the CD is a more cohesive affair.

“This is the first band three of us have been in. Now, we’re having a lot of fun and  ave got a lot more experience and we’re a lot more confident now,” Cormack said, adding her song “bumblebee” opens the CD, with a hot guitar riff  that sounded like a bumble bee.