PRESS GUIDE

[published]: 2016, November 17
[in]: The (Steinbach) Carillon
[article]: Club Concert
[by]: Larry Bilawsky

This past summer I was thinking about how there hadn't been a good rock show in these parts for quite a while. I went online to do a search and lo and behold I found a concert at Club Regent in Winnipeg for Kick Axe and Helix - two rockin' bands from my teenage years. I quickly called Danny and asked if he was open to going, and after his agreement I quickly scooped us up a couple of tickets.

The show was Nov. 10 and it was a dandy of a rock concert. The new Club Regent Event Centre holds about 1,400 and it appeared to be jam-packed when I looked around. These groups were very popular in my hey-day of the mid-80s, with Kick Axe in the heavy metal genre while Helix was leaning more towards heavy rock from the metal side of the spectrum.

Kick Axe opened the show to a roar from the aging crowd. By my estimation most audience members were probably in their 50's or older. It was very funny to witness, as many were wearing leather jackets, jeans and t-shirts with rock band logos on them, just like they were still teenagers. I guess that they were reliving their youth and, despite some bigger bellies and thinning hair, everyone was taken back to the good old days for a while. Though Danny and I still look pretty darn good for our age, we are certainly no spring chickens either, so it just goes to show that young people aren't the only ones who can appreciate a good rock concert. Kick Axe played through pretty much all of the songs from their debut album, Vices, from 1984. Other than the lead vocalist, they were all the original members and they didn't miss a beat as they sounded fabulous.

After the 45-minute set and a short break, Helix took the stage. They easily lived up to our expectations by playing all their hit songs. The band showed great musicianship throughout, however I could have done without an extended bass solo that I considered rather superfluous. I mean for young kids who had never been to a concert before, I guess it could be enjoyable, but I found this one to be rather pointless. Their drum solo, however, was stupendous, with the drummer showing his expertise and then breaking into a beat that segued right into that audience participation song, Rock You. I think the crowd sang more of that one than the band. At any rate, we got to hear all the hits we wanted to hear and had a great time watching a couple of fantastic live bands. The entire audience loved it and both Danny and I give it a 9 out of 10 on The Larry Scale.