Music Beat
The Canadian folk stalwarts have been playing all over the world since the late ’80s, have released seven CDs and a live DVD, gone through numerous line up changes and are going to call it a career ending with a handful of Alberta and B.C. shows, including Lethbridge at the Wolf’s Den, Nov. 27 which are all winding up their farewell tour.
“We made the announcement at the beginning of the year, so all of the places we’ve played have been farewell shows. We’ve played everywhere one except for one town in upstate New York, where we played twice because they wanted us back. It’s been great, the shows have been very well received,” Ritchie continued adding the response has been very gratifying, especially returning to places where they have made a lot of new friends who come to their shows.
“Having slugged it out on the road for this long, to see that reflected in people coming out in droves to hear us, it’s been tremendous,” he continued adding he has been playing in the band since 1988 and now it’s time to move on.
“For me I’ve been doing this for 21 years. It has been my career and my obsession since 1988, but I need to do something different and get away from the road. I want to do something where I don’t have to spend three months in a van. I just want to stay at home for a while,” he said adding the past 21 years have also been the most fun he’s ever had in a career.
They played a superb blend of punk and twisted gospel, highlighted by bassist Nathan Sidon’s booming baritone, which complemented guitarist/ singer Matt Bahan’s more tenor voice. The music was an intense combination of country twang and punk energy. Bahan added some impressive banjo thrown in which added to the ominous feel of the music which melded well with Sidon’s voice and some impressive drumming. Blind Mule took the stage after with a solid set. 
here were a lot of people, but I’ve seen way more,” said Booda.
