It’s been a while since  we’ve seen Calgary drums and bass duo HighKicks, so I and a good sized crowd were excited to see them again at the Slice, Sept. 3.

 Alec Arms opened the show, but I missed them.

Jolene Draper and the Inquisitive few have had a busy couple weeks. I caught Tijuana Donkey Show which was most of Jolene Draper and the Inquisitive Few, featuring bassist Steve Martin on vocals, Jolene Draper adding vocals, percussion and some electric guitar, drummer  Ryan Gullage plus Quint Viskup on lead guitar and Gabe Thaine adding keyboard, making some noise together.

 They fell into the hard rock/ punk/metal  vein and featured some older Steve Martin songs.

Calgary duo High Kicks, aka the Dudes bassist/ vocalist bassist Danny Vacon and powerhouse drummer Matt Doherty made enough racket for six people.

 They played an incendiary set of stripped down and turned up blues tinged punk rock, shaking loose wax from eardrums and paint from the walls.

 Vacon sang soulful vocals as he pounded away at his distorted bass.

The played an intense and impressive sett, especially Doherty, seemed to have an extra arm to rumble away at the skins. 

 One of the highlights, as it was during their last Lethbridge show in 2016, was a hard rock cover of Jennifer Rush’s ’80s pop hit “ The Power of Love.”

— By RichardAmery, L.A. Beat Editor