The Linsmore Tavern is well known for hosting a huge array of eclectic bands looking for their audience. They can go from simple acoustic nights all the way up to some Heavy Rocking nights. It is a place you can truly explore the city’s music.

Mike Nagoda

Mike Nagoda is all character with his unique style of playing guitar. He sits it on his lap and plays the way Jeff Healey played his guitar.

Mike also uses a double slide technique that I have never seen before. He plays at a very erratic pace and uses these slides to create different tones very quickly. He sort of, chugs along like a freight train and moves quickly, like a nervous martial artist.

The themes of his songs are just as quirky. They contain some political message as well as some other tunes that have some deep philosophical meanderings.

This is a guy who actually got banned from Amazon Canada for his CD- Parliament. It is a grim dystopian version of our Parliament Building in flames. Hey if this guy does nothing else famous, this is a cool story to own. I bought my copy of Parliament just to support his ban.

The actual song reminds me of the movie V for Vendetta, where the main character is out to destroy the UK Parliament building.

Mike decided to do two cover songs on a slide guitar and keep the blues theme alive. So, first up was a blues slide version of War Pigs. (Oh Lord Yeah!) Yes everybody is paying tribute to Ozzy. The other was “You’ve got another thing coming”, by Judas Priest.

Mike just came back to the stage after a two year hiatus and was very happy by the reaction from this new crowd.

Here is Mike looking like Jeff Healey:

Rod Rodrigues

A lot of people came out to see Rod Rodrigues. Maybe it’s because his closest neighbours live in the area and they finally are getting out supporting him. Ok, I am one of those neighbours. I was looking around at familiar faces as they were witnessing the raw talent of an emotive shredder.

Rod was playing this evening to begin to prepare his audience of his new material from his record, “Tales of a Changing Life Pt 1” Or was that PT 2? Either way I heard a new growth in his style of playing and it is going in a very good direction.

I got a kick out of a composition about his Dad, who was a cab driver. This piece is called, “On the Road”. I think he should have called it- Are you talking to me?

The last song was an epic journey that definitely traverses chapters and diverse ideas to open up your imagination.

 Here is my interesting interpretation of this piece called “Tales of a changing life suite”.

Born from murkiness, a life form works and expands its consciousness through a stark period of slow growth of strength. It finds the beauty of rebellion and feeds on its own pride and arrogance. It decides to grow a monster inside. How will this piece resolve itself? Well I suggest you go see Rod in concert and find the answer within fiery notes that can’t help but evoke your emotional state.

This is Rod Rodrigues:

The Blues Town Heroes

Last but not least, local blues heroes aptly named, The Blues Town Heroes finished the evening with two sets of music. On guitar is a rising blues member called Fabio Dwyer, I heard his story and will have to do an interview with him. It is a very interesting story. You could probably find him on a Friday night jamming with Mike Sedgwick at a blues jam inside the Black Swan.

This is a very chilled Blues band that wants you to kick back or dance and have fun. I couldn’t help but notice the lead singer has a similar style of presentation to Joe Cocker. He has that raspy voice and a little drunken swagger to keep things off balance.

This band is open to having guest come up and do their bit to help entertain the crowd.

We started with Paul as a guest harpist and did two songs to warm up the evening.

Then they brought up Mike Sedgwick for a couple of blues standards. I love watching Mike play because he helps raise the bar of guitar playing. I noticed when Mike went into a solo; Fabio ramped up his game pretty quickly to match Mike’s energy. It was great seeing them exchange riffs.

During the second set, they brought up Rod Rodrigues to do a couple of numbers when he shouted back I forgot to practice the songs. The singer said I would fire you for that but you are a guest, so we will have to wing it. Well, they did wing it and a wonderful mix of styles that blended really well together.

Lastly, they brought up Mike Nagoda to the stage and slowly closed the show with yet another very stylized version of the blues.

The Blues Town Heroes and guests:

A Night of the electric and the eclectic.

Well, there you have it. Three very distinct bands with its own original sounds; Original slide guitar that will have you do double takes, a new kind of shredding with very emotive themes, and a classic blues band just having fun.

This is one of the reasons to go to the Linsmore Tavern. It is a great place to see a variety of different musical styles. It is a place of discovery.

Here are some links to the night’s artists.

www.instagram.com/mnagoda/

www.instagram.com/rodrodriguesofficial/

www.instagram.com/Fabio_dwyer_guitar_player/

www.instagram.com/linsmoretavern/

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If you were at the Linsmore this evening, please leave your comments below. I love reading other people’s experiences of the same show.