Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Left to their own devices

On Monday I caught a rare early-week House of Targ show featuring seminal first wave British punks The Vibrators (or what's left of them, anyway). Since I saw them play a dynamite show at the Dominion in 2006, Knox has left to pursue a solo career, leaving drummer Eddie as the sole original. Opening up were local combos Chloroform and Voicemail.

I missed the first couple of songs by Chloroform, who have a great heavy sound/ Here's Rick riffing away ...

Chloroform at House of Targ

Scott also features in Asile and Shackles.

Chloroform at House of Targ

They've switched bassists since I saw them play at Pressed last year.

Chloroform at House of Targ

More Rick!

Chloroform at House of Targ

Fretful action!

Chloroform at House of Targ

Bouncy bassist action!

Chloroform at House of Targ

The whole lot!

Chloroform at House of Targ

On to Voicemail. I bet I bought the exact same Regulations shirt at the exact same show in End Hits basement ...

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Birthday boy Ian Manhire sings!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Ken and stucco!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Michael hits!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Telephonic action!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Extra Ken!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Ian strums!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Shouty Ken!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Voicemail goes disco! Well, they covered ELO's Don't Bring Me Down, so close enough.

Voicemail at Houes of Targ


Singalong action!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

Todd!

Voicemail at Houes of Targ

The Vibrators finished things off; I had to split early but managed to catch a half-dozen tunes. Guitarist Darrell definitely has skills, but I prefer Knox's more twisted style. Here he is with bassist Pete.

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Darrell sings!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Pete sings!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

More Darrell!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Eddie hits!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Yet more Darrell.

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Tongue piercing? Check!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Cymbal-smashing action!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

More Pete!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Extra Eddie!

The Vibrators at House of Targ

Then I had to split for home.


Sunday, August 24, 2014

Voices from the past

Back on August 15 I headed over to Raw Sugar for an intimate show featuring Twin Voices, Old Cabin, Bosveld (who I gather were the main draw for a lot of folks) and Ancient Voices. Things started with Twin Voices, which despite the name is actually one person, Ottawa's Laura Beach. She makes excellent use of loops and her own lovely voice to make some enchanting music.

Twin Voices at Raw Sugar

Gripping action!

Twin Voices at Raw Sugar

Old Cabin is Yukon's Jon Barr; he's been touring with Beach.

Old Cabin at Raw Sugar

There was also some horn accompaniment, courtesy of Jean-Francois Beachamp of Amos The Transparent fame and Bosveld's Jeremy Mulder.

Old Cabin at Raw Sugar

Laura Beach kicked in some vocals and violin near the end.

Old Cabin at Raw Sugar

And so on!

Old Cabin at Raw Sugar

On to Bosveld, who also do the electro-folk thing, former Kalle Mattson man Thean Slabbert rounds out the duo.

Bosveld at Raw Sugar

Good crowd!

Bosveld at Raw Sugar

Things thinned out a bit for Ancient Voices, which is a pity, since they were excellent; a bit reminiscent of The Clientele, I'd say.

Faraway Voices at Raw Sugar

Ancient action!

Faraway Voices at Raw Sugar

Singalong action!

Faraway Voices at Raw Sugar

A very pleasant evening.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Surf, Slax and sharks

Well, my school year is done, but there was quite a lot of studying to be done in that least week, which is why this oft-delayed blog post was delayed as often as it was. A couple of Fridays ago, I headed over to see Vancouver's Jay Arner perform at Pressed for a good-sized crowd. They were joined by locals Bonnie Doon and Montreal rockers Zakary Slax.

That Zakary; you may recognize one of the Astral Gunk crew to the left.

Zakary Slax at Pressed

Gunk action!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

Slax works the neck muscles.

Zakary Slax at Pressed

Backup vocal action!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

Rhythm section action!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

More singing!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

Guitar action!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

More drumming!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

Hairy-chested action!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

The end!

Zakary Slax at Pressed

Bonnie Doon followed them with some Pizza Shark action! Here's Leslie in Jaws mode.

Bonnie Doon at Pressed

Madison strums!

Bonnie Doon at Pressed

Sara handles the low end.

Bonnie Doon at Pressed

Singalong action!

Bonnie Doon at Pressed

Keltie hits!

Bonnie Doon at Pressed

More Sara!

Bonnie Doon at Pressed

Tambourine action!

Bonnie Doon at Pressed

Jay Arner wrapped things up with a brisk set of synth-touched pop; live he sounded quite a bit more in garage-pop mode than he does on record. Here's drummer Tim (ir is it Tom?), who also stepped up to the microphone for a song.

Jay Arner at Pressed

Jessica Delisle on keys.

Jay Arner at Pressed

The man himself!

Jay Arner at Pressed

Evan on left handles guitar duties.

Jay Arner at Pressed

More Tim/Tom!

Jay Arner at Pressed

The other side of Jay!

Jay Arner at Pressed

Evan sings!

Jay Arner at Pressed

Tim/Tom takes a spin in front, singing a song "from his upcoming Mammoth Cave single."

Jay Arner at Pressed

Jessica slings some axe!

Jay Arner at Pressed

Jay goes full frontman!

Jay Arner at Pressed

Great show and great shirts!