Classic rock band Suite 33 made a long awaited return to Lethbridge, Oct. 9 for the first of two shows at Sound Garden.
 They played plenty of tried and true covers of classic rock and country music.

Keyboardist / vocalist Nicole Freeman traded lead vocals with her brother Marc Belisle as Doug Freeman held down the bottom end on bass as drummer Rich Oler kept the beat, though I couldn’t see him  because of  the flashing lights.

Some of the highlights were  Free’s “All Right Now,” but Nicole Freeman shone during a  spot on cover of Shania Twain‘s “ Man, I Feel Like A Woman.”

 Belisle sang a solid version of the Zac Brown Band’s “Country Fried.”

 They return to Sound Garden tonight. There is a $10 cover.

 — by Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor

It is so wonderful to see bands back on stage again, especially seeing how they have evolved over these past pandemic plagued months.
 Red Deer ’70s rock style trio King Bull, were one of the last bands to play the Slice before they and everybody else were forced to close due to Covid 19 precautions in March.

 They returned to the Slice stage, Oct. 9 to show off some new music they have been working on over the past couple of months.
 They had a massive sound as befitting a power trio.

 They had plenty of big riffs mixed with  punk snarl  punctuated by piercing adenoidal vocals reminiscent of the the Violent Femmes and the Dickies.
 They played a fun filled, energetic set of upbeat hard rock with just a touch of punk.

 Most of their set was original, but they finished the night off early with a couple of hot covers. The bassist channeled the spirit of John Entwistle as they blasted into a hot cover of  the Who’s classic “Who are You.” The lead singer/ guitarist even added a few Pete Townsend windmills.
They finished up  by turning up and rocking out to ABBA’s  “ Mama Mia.”

 The Chevelles are pretty much the house band at Sound Garden now.
 I caught them again, on Saturday, Oct. 3.
 I was just in time for the Seamus Chevelle part of the show, which began with Seamus aka Joe Brewster, who kicked off the set playing bagpipes for a cover of AC DC’s  “It’s A Long Way To The Top If You Wanna Rock and Roll.
 The set was pretty standard fare after that, Seamus sang  Billy Idol’s  White Wedding and Motley Crüe’s “Home Sweet Home.

Frontman Tim Carter added a solid cover of  Sweeney Todd’s “Roxy Roller,” and even dedicated a song to his daughter  who was out in the audience.
 ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” was another highlight of the set.

Boots and the Hoots were, well, a hoot as usual for a sold out show at the Slice, Saturday, Oct. 3.
 I arrived in time to catch the last two songs of  a trimmed down Tyler Allen and the Red hot Hayseeds aka lead guitarist Tyler Allen and Dayna Lyn Moritz.

 They played country classic “Happy Trails,” a but followed it up with one of my favourites “Play Me One We Know,” all about people shouting out tired requests for the same classic rock hits.
Boots Graham, always seems to be  in a good mood, even after cutting off the tip of his thumb, which required a few line up changes for his set.

 Tyler Allen  added some hot country friend leads, which Graham gave up  acoustic guitar and rhythm  guitar duties to  special guest, Peter and the Wolves frontman Howlin’ Pete Cormier, who also augmented the group’s   sound with some honky tonk piano playing. Keith Rogers held down the bottom end on upright bass.

“ I don’t know what to do with my hands now,” quipped Graham, ,who  grinned his way through a solid set of mostly original country music, which showed off Graham’s self deprecating sense of humour.

He added a Hank Williams classic “Honky Tonk Blues,” early on in his set, but focussed on originals about hitch hiking and trucking. One of those highlights was “Turnpike.”
An older song a hilarious take on country tropes “Whisk All Drinky,” was a highlight as always.
 Another new highlight was about The Vat in Red Deer.

“ It‘s like the Slice of Red Deer,” Graham explained.
His show is just what people need in troubled times, because it is all about good humour and good music.