I wanna be sedated

Last night - less than an hour ago, in actuality - I was off at a new venue watching a new band. Or to put it another way, I went to a place I'd been before under a different name to see a bunch of guys I'd seen perform before play under a new name. The Bytown Tavern is the sort-of-new venue located under what is now Hooley's. I remember going there as a preteen to see a four-person British-style comedy act run through a series of skits ... it's been a room for a while. Nowadays it's a no-frills room with a bunch of flat screens showing the hockey game (or some cartoons best enjoyed under the influence of drugs, depending on the hour), the requisite pool tables, dome hockey and foosball. A bunch of barrels and a dimestore cowboy pass for decoration.


The Sedatives, Bytown Tavern, March 27, 2008

A few minutes after the hockey game ended local rock'n'roll fans started trickling in. By the time The Sedatives hit the stage there was probably about 70 people - the place filled up fast. The Sedatives came on a few minutes past 11 ... from left to right you've got Ian Manhire (a.k.a. Flippo, drummer for The Cryptomaniacs and I think guitarist for White Wires), Dave Williams of Last Communion, Steve Adamyk of The Million Dollar Marxists and Emmanuel Sayer of Last Communion and Buried Inside. They recently performed as The Adverts at the punk covers shows, so there were runs through Bored Teenagers, One Hit Wonders and Gary Gilmore's Eyes among other punky splendour. Unfortunately The Sick Fits because Michael Hurts was ... well ... sick. Down with the flu, said Emmanuel. Other than that disappointment, a cool show.

• Show reminder: For the Mathematics and Sunriser play End Hits; The Rookers, Union Made, The Uncooperatives and The Botched Suicides rock Cafe Dekcuf. Luke Doucet and the White Falcon, The Allrights and Sadie Hell perform at Barrymore's; Dry River Caravan, Sacha Estabrooks hit Irene's. Zaphod's hosts a fundraising drive show for CHUO with Steve Fai, Slo' Tom and Adam Puddington.