Edmonton/ Nanton Alt country pioneers Jr. Gone Wild graced the new Owl Acoustic lounge Stage, Saturday, Oct. 16.
Saturday nights are sacred because my blues show the Hotrock Blues Beat is from 8-10 p.m. on CKXU 88.3 F.m. So anything else happening in that time is missed.
But I sure hurried down to the Owl Acoustic Lounge afterwards to catch Jr. Gone Wild, who are always a guaranteed good time.
They were supposed to start at 9 p.m. so I missed most of their show.
I caught a great version of “Downtime” from their 1995 album “Simple Little Wish,” but most of the second part of the show was songs from their excellent new album “ Still Got the Jacket.”
Jr. Gone Wild are the perfect mix of country groove and punk rock energy.
But they showed some classic rock chops on their energetic version of Chilliwack”s “Fly at Night,” which is the new single from the album.
New drummer Quinton Herbert, who was already shirtless by the time I arrive, sang the falsetto harmony melody of “Fly at Night,” while Steve Loree played a lot of hot solos.
Frontman Mike McDonald traded a few lead licks with Loree.
They played one of my favourites “Rhythm of the Rain,” which was a highlight of the show and brought out a couple of the quirky covers from the new CD including the Beat Farmers‘ “Southern Cross” They wound down their set with Steve Loree belting out “ Barricades,” another highlight from the new CD, which featured Mike McDonald playing a
mournful harp solo.
They ended their show with the apt original “The Last One” which is also the last song on the new CD.
But they were called back for an encore, so they turned the Ramones “She‘s the One” into a two stepping country song.
They followed it up with their upbeat catchy cover ofPaul Revere and the Raiders’,“Him or Me (What’ll it Be?).
— By Richard Amery, L.A Beat Editor
