Sled Island Music and Arts Festival officially wrapped up in Calgary this past weekend, and with over 200 bands playing at over 30 venues it was an amazing few days. One of the highlights of the festival was the Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet Reunion on Wednesday June 20, 2012, where they performed for the first time since 1994.
Playing in front of an energetic crowd at Calgary’s #1 Legion, original members Brian Connelly and Don Pyle were joined by Dallas Good of the Sadies on bass, who replaced founding member Reid Diamond. Reid passed away in 2001 after a battle with cancer, and Dallas paid tribute to him by performing the entire show on Reid’s original bass guitar. Also present in the audience was Reid’s wife, who provided the bass and flew in from Toronto for the special performance.
Despite not having performed in several years, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet performed flawlessly, with an energetic and perfect 32-song set that kept the audience smiling and dancing. At one point in the show, drummer Don Pyle invited a member of the crowd on stage to be tickled! Audience favorites included “Having An Average Weekend” (the theme song from The Kids In The Hall TV show), “Shadowy Countdown”(one of the few songs with lyrics), and the amazing final medley, “16 Encores”.
Shadowy Men also performed a secret show to a packed crowd at Broken City on June 22, 2012. The second solid performance had fans lined up out the doors waiting to get in, and included variations to the set list originally performed at the Legion. Both performances mark the beginning of a series of Shadowy Men album re-issues from Mammoth Cave Recording Company. Fans are able to pre-order the “Savvy Show Stoppers” Deluxe Reissue directly from Mammoth Cave and can look forward to more reissues in the near future – yesssss!!
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet set list for Wednesday, June 20th at Calgary #1 Legion:
- Good Cop Bad Cop
- Haig Earl
- Our Weapons Are Useless
- Aunt’s Invasion
- Reid’s Situation
- Coming on Strong
- Egypt Texas
- Siesta Cinema
- Ben Hur Picked Off in a Gazebo
- Algoma Reflections
- Bennett Cerf
- They Don’t Call Them Chihuahuas Anymore
- Exit From Vince Lombardi High School
- Theme From T.V.
- Off Our Back Conrad Black
- Zombie Compromise
- Musical Interlude
- Hot Box Car
- (Relax) You Will Think You Are a Chicken
- Hunter S. Thompson’s Younger Brother
- Who’s Afraid of Alison Hymer/Wow Flutter Hiss
- Having An Average Weekend
- Customized
- Magic Words
- Who Painted Whistler’s Mother
- Babakganoosh
- Rover & Rusty
- You Spin Me Round ‘86
- Shadowy Countdown
- That Wuz Ear Me Callin’ a Horse
- Sugar in My Hog
- 16 Encores
Kinzie Things 