Thursday, May 20, 2010

Alberta Cross - Schubas Tavern - 2010-5-19


Alberta Cross played a smokin' set last night at one of my favorite venues in the country, Schubas Tavern. They kicked the night of right with "Old Man Chicago" and then continued to play most of their excellent LP Broken Side of Time. For those that don't have it, get it, it plays more like a greatest hits than a first full length record. "Ramblin' Home" was my favorite song of the night. I've never heard this song and I'm still not totally sure what it's on (but you will be able to download at the end of this write up!) but wow, this song oozes deep, heavy and just absolutely filthy blues. The title track from their record, Broken Side of Time, with it's incredibly hard intro layered over a relatively calm acoustic guitar blew me away. Front man Petter Ericson Stakee has a tremolo effect to his voice that he uses very effectively throughout this song. They ended out the first set with a powerful trio of songs. I have to say that "Rise From the Shadows" was the perfect song to ease into the rager "ATX." Stakee politely and playfully asked the sound man to "turn up the reverb!" while shaking his tambourine. The tune is very atmospheric with it's huge vocals and genuinely eerie music. Surprisingly, they omitted one song from the set list I was able to snag "City Walls" but the closer, the John Lennon penned "Steel & Glass" was a great way to end the night.


After the show the guys were all hanging out in the bar and I had the opportunity to meet all of them except for the drummer and the lead guitarist signed my wine stained set list. Check these guys out ASAP. While standing 5 feet from the stage listen to these guys wail I couldn't help but think that this is what it must have been like to be on the ground floor with My Morning Jacket. Alberta Cross has limitless potential and are a band to keep on your radar.




The Steam Engine Flickr

Alberta Cross Official
Alberta Cross Tour
Alberta Cross Amazon

1. Old Man Chicago
2. Taking Control
3. Ramblin' Home

4. Lucy Rider
5. To The Sea
6. The Thief and The Heartbreaker
7. Low Man
8. Leave Us And Forgive Us
9. Broken Side of Time
10. Song Three Blues
11. Rise From the Shadows
12. ATX

ENCORE

13. Steel & Glass (John Lennon cover)

                           

Download - Alberta Cross - Ramblin' Home
Download - Alberta Cross - The Thief and The Heartbreaker (acoustic)
Download - Alberta Cross -  Known For Long (acoustic)

5 comments:

DR said...

Their EP "Thief and the Heartbreaker" was much better than their debut album, in my opinion.
They have very different sounds, the EP was kind of acoustic-reverb blues, while the album is a bit heavier, but it's also good.

Jason said...

I do like the more bluesy EP a lot. The tracks the EP and the LP share I think are better on the EP but there is a heaviness to that record that just clicks with me. It's a nice change of pace and if you have both you get the best of both worlds.

DR said...

Yeah, the LP is good, but the dude's voice goes so much better with their original style, it really makes it shine.
It reminds me of "The Tennessee Fire" a bit.

Jason said...

I can appreciate that totally.

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