June is already looking amazing with Pridefest coming up The Rotary Dragon Boat Festival coming up  in a few weeks. But the big event this week is The Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival beginning this week with several shows including local jazz musicians performing at  the Young Lions Concert beginning at 12:45 p.m., June 7 in Galt Gardens. Later on, at 7 p.m.  Nikka Yuko Japanese Centre and the Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival present Kaley Kinjo and the Hypocrites performing at  at City Hall Tickets are $45 advance, $50 door.

 Saturday, June 8 will be just as busy for jazz buffs. The fun begins at noon, beginning at noon with Jazz in the Park featuring Rondell Roberts at noon, Montuno West at 1:20 p.m., Velle Weitman and Kootenay Soul at 2:40 and  the Dirty Catfish Brass band winding up the free event at 4 p.m.

 The Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival has another collaboration at casa later on as they are joining up with The Lethbridge Folk Club to bring Oscar Lopez back to Lethbridge. His concert begins at 7 p.m,  Tickets are $30.

Several venues will be  featuring  the Suppertime Jazz series, beginning June 4 with James Oldenburg performing a solo show at Telegraph from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
 James Oldenburg and Paul Holden will be playing the Firestone Restaurant, June 6 from 6-8 p.m.
Streatside Eatery features the Sheldon Arvay Duo, June 8 from 6-8 p.m.
 And local blues band CODA performs as a trio at  a special Blues Brunch, June 9 from noon-2 p.m.
 The Suppertime jazz series continues June 11 with Anna McBryan at  the Telegraph Taphouse  from 5:30-7:30 p.m.. Dale Ketcheson will be at the mocha Cabana, June 12,  from 5;30-7:30 p.m. and The Joe Porter duo wind up the series, June 13 at Firestone, from 6-8 p.m.

But things heat up Tuesday, June 4 , which is is off the hook with three outstanding shows happening.

 Nelson based musician Cam Penner makes a long awaited return to the Owl Acoustic lounge with Jon Wood on Tuesday, June 4. Just down the street Leeroy Stagger and Rebeltone Sound returns home to play a special show at Mortar and Brick in support of his new CD “Me and the Mountain.”
 He will be joined by special guest Steve Marriner. Tickets are $50 for the show, which begins at 8 p.m.
 And Keith Catfish Woodrow brings back his monthly Slice of Blues jam to the Slice a little later on, around 9 p.m.

Club Didi also features their open mic with Rylan and Jeff , June 4, 8-10 p.m.

Karen Romanchuk and  Bruce McKay play the Stoketown brunch series, 11:30 a.m., June 8.

  And for something completely different from jazz and folk, U of L based community radio station CKXU are starting to put on shows at Theoretically Brewing.
 They kick off summer at Theoretically Brewing, June 7 with  Tyra Whitson, Chief N’ Council, Taylor Ackerman’s Global Acid Reset playing at 7 p.m. Admission is $10.

Things are ready to go for this year’s Lethbridge Jazz and Blues festival, which begins June 7 with several big shows.
“Things are coming together really well,”— said Lethbridge Jazz and Blues Festival president Don Robb.
“We have our venues and artists lined up,” he said.

“ It begins on June 7 with the young Lions concert in Galt Gardens. And after that Kaley Kinjo and the Hypocrites are playing at City Hall. it will be a really classy show,” Robb said. Tickets for that show are  $45 in advance, $50 at the door.
 Jazz in the Park features an all star lineup performing for free beginning at noon with  Rondell Roberts followed by  Montuno West, Velle Weitman and Kootenay Soul and the Dirty Catfish brass Band will being  the day to a close,” said Robb, noting there is no backup plan for the outdoor events, w so they go rain or shine , smoke or no smoke.

“ We hope the smoke will dissipate and there will be no rain. It would be too expensive to have a backup plan for them,” he said.
“We have the Sweet Inspiration Gospel Choir on June 12 at Southminster United Church and  Dawn Pemberton conducting. We also have an excellent local choir and a band  with Randy Epp on piano and HBO3  (Paul Holden, James Oldenbiurg, Brad Brouwer),” he said.
“And I’m really excited about  Jim Brenan  at the Sterndale Bennett Theatre. He’s bringing a 10 or 11 piece band with him,” he continued.

Calgary born, Toronto based ’70s classic rockers the Stampeders return to Lethbridge, Monday, June 10 to play the Yates Theatre.
“It‘s been a lot of fun since we reformed in 1992,” said guitarist Rich Dodson, who left the classic rockers known for a variety of different hits  including “Wild Eyes,” “Sweet City Woman,” “Hit the Road Jack and numerous others which spanned a variety of genres including country, rock, pop, flirted with elements of jazz and even dabbled in disco for a few years.

 Dodson left the Stampeders in 1977 to do some solo projects and reunited with band mates bassist/vocalist Ronnie King and drummer vocalist Kim Berly in 1992.

“It’s been very productive,” said Dodson, who is pleased the current tour, which comes to the Yates Theatre on June 10, has already had several sold out dates.
“We’re in the Yates this time. We used to play Whoop Up Days a lot. But this tour is mostly theatres, which is really comfortable for the audience and for us. We started playing more theatres about four years ago,” he continued.
“We really enjoy meeting everyone after and signing autographs,” he said, adding they play perhaps 65 dates a year, mostly on weekends, though they spent April playing a mostly sold out tour of the Maritimes.

You never know what shows people will show up for, especially on a Tuesday. So I was pleasantly surprised to see  the Slice standing room only, Tuesday, May 21 , for what I thought would be mostly D.O.A. fans, however most of them were there to see Seattle ’s Mike Edel and his trio.
 I missed opening act Tyson Ray Borsboom, but caught most of Edel’s solid set of appealing, guitar fueled, delay laden indie rock.

 The affable Edel told stories and played songs from his new CD “Thresholds,” singing in an appealing tenor voice along the lines of Dan Mangan, Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Donovan Woods and a touch of Ed Sheeran.

 Edel beamed on stage, dancing with his guitar, knocking of layers of delay soaked ambience along the lines of Brian Eno era U2.

One of many highlights was “Go With You,” which he dedicated to his dad Larry, who I think may have been in the audience for the Alberta born Edel, who moved to S B.C. and recently Seattle.
Most of the audience left after Edel’s set, leaving a couple dozen local punks waiting for  Vancouver based punk legends D.O.A. , which left Frontman Joe Keithley a little taken aback by the strange lineup for the night.

 Nonetheless, D.O.A. crashed into a wild set of high voltage “hits”, or most popular songs from a band who you’d never hear on contemporary radio.

 They played some of their most popular numbers including the Enemy, but without the old lyrics as on their new CD of reissued demos “1978.” They played World War 3, “Class War,” and was really pleased to hear one of my favourites “2+2.”

 They barely touched on their most recent studio album “Fight Back,“ only playing “You Need an Ass Kicking Right Now,” from it and “Just Got back From The U.S.A. which they also recorded several years ago.
They also didn’t play  one of my absolute favourites “Disco Sucks.” Though “ Fuck You” was a highlight.

 Keithley was an absolute demon on his battered Gibson SG, knocking out Who like riffs like there was no tomorrow. He did high kicks at bassist Mike Hodsall who returned the favour in between  bashing out thunderous riffs on bass, trading Pete Townsend style windmills with Keithley and leaping high in the air as drummer Paddy Duddy bashed away at the skins.

In a more fair musical world, you would hear D.O.A. on the air with their big catchy hooks and riffs and even guitar solos, which Keithley played behind his head and with his teeth.

But instead they remain, and have been for the past 40 years, our own little secret, shared only by thousands of punks all over the world. Just not here.
 They wound up a short, but sweet set with their incendiary  cover of “War (What is It Good For?). Of course, they were called back for an encore of Irish punk classic “Alternative Ulster and “Fucked Up Donny.”