The day after a show - or in this case the 2 days it took for the fog to clear from my head - I always enjoy going back to go over my notes from the evening. It's a pretty good gauge on how my night went, where it ended up, and if I was still coherent by the end of it. The neater the notes, the tamer the evening. When it comes to our freshman night at Dicken's in Calgary to check out The Wild! and CKY, I managed to make out about 3 pages before my notes became ineligible so I'll be re-telling the later events of the evening from what blurry memories I have left. If you've never seen those God Damn Wild Boys in their element, spoiler alert: it was a night of unadulterated, debaucherous rock and roll.
Having been a huge fan ever since I saw them rock the stage at The John Street Pub in Arnprior, ON, I was particularly stoked that our first rock show in Calgary was bringing us back together again. It's nice to have a little bit of familiarity when you're somewhere new, and there is nothing more familiar to us than brutally honest, riff fueled rock.
As Dave and I walked into the bar, we knew we'd found a venue we'd likely be coming back to again. It was the kind of place that reminded us of Maverick's back home, an unassuming space that fills to the bring with music fans on any given night of the week.
Two local bands opened the night. First up there was Iron Tusk who came ready to rock on a Tuesday night. The Path Less Travelled was second on the bill and they definitely kicked things up a notch, bringing with the rock melodies and energy to their live show that I live for. I always appreciate a band that can bring the locals out of their dens on a weeknight. The beer was flowing and the room swelled to a point that you would have sworn it was a Saturday night.
This was about the time I dropped my notes and headed to the front of the stage to make sure I had a primo location to fully appreciate the showmanship of The Wild! One of the only bands I've seen who like to rock on stage as hard as my fiance does. These guys have rock down to a science, and yet present it in such an authentic way it makes me quiver.
Touring in support of their latest offering "Wild at Heart". These boys are one of the hardest working hard rocks acts we've ever had the pleasure of covering. Their energy on stage is palpable, and the deliver every damned time they get up on the stage. I only wish my writing could properly convey the spectacle that those God Damn Wild Boys deliver have become wrong for. Alas, you'll just have to check them out next time you're lucky enough to have them roll through your town.
As The Wild! exited stage left, the crowd was beyond primed and ready to go for CKY. A band that has gone through various rebirths over the year, they took the stage and wanted you to know that they "are fucking back!". With a raunchy mix of old and new, I can see why their fans keeping coming back time and time again for more.
The room was a sweating mess of whiskey and beer, but the crowd couldn't have been happier as they all jumped in sync as the bass get the crowd in sync.
These bands were an incredible compliment to each other and were ready to giv'er all night (which I imagine they did long after I had tapped out).
We look forward to following the boys from The Wild! as they keep on rockin' across North America. We can't wait to see where you guys go next and are rooting for you the whole way.
Dave and Natalie are Worn Leather Media, a Banff-based wedding, portrait, and event photography team. Check them out on Facebook or at wornleathermedia.ca