The Lethbridge Folk Club had an almost full house  for a visit by Calgary rockabilly band the Alien Rebels, May 29. Anytime Lance Loree is on stage, you know there is going to be laughter.

“We get a lot of musicians at our shows. They come to our shows and it makes them feel good because we only play three chord songs. But they’re wrong, sometime we play two chord songs,” he quipped to the crowd in between  mugging for the photographer and playing some tasty rockabilly style riffs.

 Frontman Mark Sadlier-Brown wasn’t to be outdone, though, he made goofy  faces and belted out the lyrics,  observing there should have been a dance floor.

' Many members of the audience was tapping their feet along with  Suitcase James Stanley’s bass and Kevin Belzner’s drumbeats while Loree and Sadlier-Brown traded ‘short’ songs, jokes  and a little bit of political commentary.
One of the highlights from the first set  was Sadlier-Brown’s song about not fitting in ‘Dance of the Strange.’

Coyote Joes featured  the Led Zeppelin Show, May 28. And while I missed their set of Led Zeppelin covers, I caught something better, their alter egos Mad Shadow.

Though they looked and sounded like  Led Zeppelin. The shirtless Robert Plant (Erik Olufson)  shook his head fully of curly golden hair and writhed around the stage  like he was possessed  while shrieking Robert Plant style high notes.

The spooky, skinny, dark and brooding Jimmy Page (guitarist Danny Sveinson) stood in the shadows, brandishing a big Les Paul while blasting ’70s style riffs through a  big Marshall amp.

 They played a too brief set of original music  which combined bluesy Led Zeppelin -style heavy riffs with more contemporary influences like Soundgarden. They nailed down their ’70s influence with a couple bars of Golden Earring’s ‘Twilight Zone.’

Rap star Warren G is looking forward to visiting his Lethbridge on his first ever Western Canadian tour, June 4 at the Blarney Stone.
 Warren G has been a cornerstone of the west  coast rap scene ever since he broke out of the bustling Long Beach scene with his breakout 1994 CD  ‘Regulate … G Funk Era.”

“I’ve been to Vancouver, but I’ve never toured any other city,” said Warren G over the phone from his home in Los Angeles, whose real name is Warren Griffin III
“I had no idea there were so many cities in Canada. That’s just great. I knew about Vancouver and Toronto and Quebec. I hope there isn’t any turbulence over the Rockies,” he observed. One of the Tracks, “Let’s Get High’ on his latest CD, ‘the G-Files,’  features Blink 182 drummer Travis  Barker.

“That’s my buddy. We’ve done a lot of shows together, but we’ve both been working so much, but we said we need to do a song together. So I wrote one and the rest is history,” he said.
Warren G is Dr. Dre’s half brother and grew up with with Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg, but is a fixture behind the scenes producing  for other rappers. He even worked with 2Pac. But he has had several huge hits of his own since exploding on the west coast rap scene in 1994, including ‘This  DJ,’ and ‘Do You See,’ and ’Regulate,’ plus a reggae style reworking of ‘I Shot The Sheriff.’

“It’s been really cool to do something people really love. And working with 2Pac was great,” he said.
Warren G’s tour begins in Red Deer followed by Lethbridge and Calgary, then numerous B.C dates.
He and his DJ will be touring  this time, but next time he’ll be bringing a full band.
“I like playing with  the band the best. I mean, if I mess up, then they know when to catch up. I like that I can talk to to the audience. I like them both. It’ll be a great show anyway, but when I come back with the band, it will be a great show,” he said.

“People don’t just want to hear rapping all day long. People want to hear a story — something they can relate to,” he said adding he will also be on the lookout for new talent to work with.
“I just like to help people. I’m always on the lookout for  new people who could be the  next  to explode. I’ll be accepting all demos. I mean I’ve got my people, Snoop and Dre. I want to give back. That’s what it is all about,”  he continued.
“A lot of people can rap, but you really have to know how to create a song. That’s what was great about working with 2Pac. He was very professional. He already knew what he was going to talk about as soon as he heard the beat,” he said adding the basic essence of rap music hasn’t changed since 1994, other than there are more people using live instrumentation now.

Lethbridge record label, Ghostwood Records is  having a big bash at the Slice, June 5 to introduce Lethbridge to some of the fantastic local bands on the label.

Sleeping with Tuesday, Smokestack Jacks, Jesse Northey and the Dandelions as well as  the Necessities will be performing. The Living Luca may also be on the bill.
 A handful of people at an afternoon all ages gig , May 29 at the Hungarian Oldtimer’s Society got a taste of two of the bands — Smokestack Jacks and the new line up of Sleeping With Tuesday.

The numbers were scarce in the afternoon and  the show might  as well been billed a battle of Lethbridge’s loudest bands.
Earlier in the afternoon, local rock/metal band Eyes of Isis, who usually are the ones organizing Lethbridge all ages shows, played  a surprisingly soft  (volume-wise)  set for a handful of enthusiastic kids, one of whom was rocking out, waving his arms, bobbing his head and drumming along  with the band’s music, much of which will be featured on a new Eyes of Isis CD due out at the end of June.

After repeated urgings, they finally convinced  a few members of the audience to get up close to the stage, where they sat in their chairs and watched.

The last couple bands, including Lustre Creame, who  also played an ear-bleeding set of mindblowing music, opening for the Manvils at the Slice later that night, displayed their typically impressive musical chops including a version of the Allman Brothers’ ‘Whipping Post,’ which the crowd just wasn’t into.
 Smokestack Jacks played an energetic, ear-blistering set of deadly slide guitar drenched  blues/punk music, much of it from their new self titled CD. They attempted to get the people moving, but to little avail.