The better bark

I've seen Halifax combo Dog Day twice now; the first was an excellen set at Zaphod's as part of the  free showcase along with The Murder Plans. Their show this time was even better, perhaps because they were louder and fuzzier.

The whole lot! Bassist Nancy Urich, her husband guitarist Seth Smith,  drummer Robbie Shedden and keyboardist Crystal Thili.



Rhythm section action!



Crystal shakes hair, eludes good photo.



Shedden rocks the hoodie; He's a relatively new addition.



Nancy bends.



Singalong action!



Crystal shakes.



Staring action!



Seth goes down.



Faceoff action!



They're a cute couple.



I have a copy of their limited-edition vinyl EP Elder Schoolhouse awaiting my ears.

• Show reminder: There's ska a-plenty at The Rainbow with The Fundamentals, Freshly Cut, Ad-Rock Accoustic.

Today is the day

Once, they were Killing For Friday. After a bit of member-switching they changed their name to Currents. They do the loud-soft indie rock with some atmospheric fuzz that makes me think of Swervedriver (not that I like them as much as Swervedriver, but then again, what do I?).

Shouty action from Peter Johnson.



Rhythm section action with Rob Johnson on drums and a bassist who may or may not be Jon Tittley (they've misplaced a couple in recent months, I understand)! I assume it's not since Jon apparently doesn't use a Fender.



The whole blurry lot, with Ben Scriver at left.



More Ben!



More Rob!



Some assorted rocking about.



More shouting!



Background faceoff action!



Stomping action!



The band is on the road right now - they play Quebec City tonight. Ben will be back in town to open for Chuck Ragan of Hot Water Music, Tim Barry of Avail and Cavaliers! at Mavericks on Tuesday. They'll also be heading into the recording studio in March.

• Show reminder: Catriona Sturton and Sharon Coward play Raw Sugar; Dancing With Paris, Amnesia Amnesia, Set Anchors, Aimless Endeavor, In Sepia and Be The Saviour fill up Cafe Dekcuf; The Beatdown, King and The Living Sound System rock The Rainbow; electropunks MDM (Modern Digital Militia) bring some industrial rock to the Cajun Attic; New Car Smell and the Doc Weiss Band play Irene's; Slo Tom and The Handsome Devils and Sherwood Lumsden play the Elmdale House. My Tiny Circus unveils their new album at Mercury Lounge. L. Poushinsky, Group Therapy and Tide Hollow perform at the Avant-Garde.

Star power

The Progtoberfest warmup ended up with a set from Wakefield noodlers extraordinaire Castor. They don't play out all that much but when they do it's always memorable.

Will works the pedals.



More guitar action from Charlie!



And some extra percussion from Dave.



Drumstick selecting action!



Rhythm section action!



Charlie goes wah.



Will says a few words.



Charlie does his happy dance.



Parallel action!



More drumming!



And some last minute running about by Dave, first thisaway ...



Then thataway.



As for when they play next, I'm not even going to venture to guess.

• Show reminder: By Divine Right, Acres and You Call Yourself Soldiers and more rock Mavericks; upstairs at Cafe DeKcuf you can see Trees, Fillet Sterling and Ornaments; Jane's Party, Hotshot Casino and Bloomistry play The Rainbow; Sadie Hell, The Watters Brothers and Murder Plans are at The Royal Oak in The Glebe, raising a few shekels for the victims of the 114 Glebe Ave. fire. Ball and Chain are at Irene's. The Warped 45’s and The Woodrunners play the Elmdale House. Eternity Pocket and Tom Curry are at the Avant-Garde Bar.

In name only

Today's post comes a little later than usual - you can thank a shortage of sleep for that. Back in October I was being woken up by the heavy-riffing sounds of instrumentalists the band whose name is a symbol.

First some fundraining and prog-festing introductions by drummer and Birdman Sound owner John Westhaver.



Bass action with Mark McIntyre!



Bill Guerrero stomp on a shadowy stompbox.



John pummels his Frankenkit.


Nate looks over yonder.



More Mark!



Guitar action!



Feedback action!



Hair-shaking action!



Mark works the crowd.



More Bill!



I forget if this was an exercise in feedback creation or technical difficulties.



Album No. 3 should be in stores soon.

• Show reminder: The Courtship, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Red October, The Epilogue and  Reborn to Ashes are at Mavericks. Keith Glass and The ReverbRockets are at the Elmdale House;
  

More than a feelings

Darn it, I should have posted these photos of Black Feelings' Irene's show a few days ago when they actually played their second gig in town (in the basement at 854 Bronson). For the October show they were warming things up for Progtoberfest at Carleton University. Woozy fuzz and noisy freakouts are the name of the game.

Bassist Brian Mitchell and drummer Owain Lawson in rhythm section action!



Guitarist Kyle Fostner, like Owain, was once in Les Angles Morts.



A bassist and his shadow.



Angular action!



Enough of this low-light stuff, I'm turning on the flash!



Kyle rocks the Khan-wear.



Keyboard action!



Owain sings!



Brian sings, and shows off his 'stache.



Blurry action!



And so on!



They've got a 7-inch split with Grand Trine coming up, as well as a visit to SXSW.

• Show reminder: The Hot Damn that didn't play at Raw Sugar on Saturday and Butch Bouchard are at Le Petit Chicago. The Furious Individuals perform at the Rainbow; Wide Mouth Mason, Iconoclast and The Scarlett Fever rock Mavericks. The Elmdale House hosts EFARM.