Sunday, July 05, 2015

It's a plant

Time for a brief break from Ottawa Explosion posts; I went over to Pressed to check out four different bands and was impressed four times over. The Wet Denim/Cactus Flower folks made a trip from the East Coast, Archery Guild came down from Montreal and Pith and The Parenchymas added up to a very satisfying bill. First up were Wet Cactus, a country folk outfit headed up by sidewoman-for-many Jess Lewis. Unfortunately, in addition to Pressed's low-key stage lighting (i.e. those two table lamps and the chandelier), my 18-105mm lens finally bit the dust. Thus, the focus on some of these shots is even dodgier than usual.

Jess started off with a few solo songs.

Cactus Flower at Pressed

She brought on a rhythm section to beef things up.

Cactus Flower at Pressed

Eleanor King is also in Wet Denim and has sundry artistic projects on the go.

Cactus Flower at Pressed

Bass action with EKC!

Cactus Flower at Pressed

Sorry, all I could get off the Internet was the initials ....

Cactus Flower at Pressed

Wet Denim released their latest WWWDD in June, so no surprise they're on the road sharing it with the public at large. Just switch in Victoria Parker on keys for bassist EKC and you have the band; their sound is quite a bit poppier than Cactus Flower's but just as sweet to the ears.

Wet Denim at Pressed

Victoria works the keys.

Wet Denim at Pressed

Eleanor sings!

Wet Denim at Pressed

Silhouetted action!

Wet Denim at Pressed

Through the window action!

Wet Denim at Pressed

Pith and The Parenchymas brought something different to the club, with an askew electronic psychedelia. This was the first tie I'd seen the band live, and I dare say that what I saw and heard has undergone some significant transformation from earlier encounters with their music online when I gather they were a guitar-drums-bass trio. Now P&TP are down to a duo of Andi Finlay and Chris Love.

Pith and The Parenchymas at Pressed

Andi adjusts!

Pith and The Parenchymas at Pressed

Chris sings!

Pith and The Parenchymas at Pressed

Gripping action!

Pith and The Parenchymas at Pressed

Extra Chris!

Pith and The Parenchymas at Pressed

Andi gets in some guitar!

Pith and The Parenchymas at Pressed

Archery guild manage to get in the 1970s stadium rock melodies and the post-punk and Talking Heads quirk in the same song. They've just released a split tape with Blun Chunks and are headed west as I type. Here's Michael and Marshall, on keys and drums respectively.

Archery Guild at Pressed

And on the underlit left, James and Mariah.

Archery Guild at Pressed

Mariah rocks the low end.

Archery Guild at Pressed

My James pics were mostly rubbish.

Archery Guild at Pressed

Marshall turned out okay, though.

Archery Guild at Pressed

Michael sings!

Archery Guild at Pressed

Flashy action!

Archery Guild at Pressed

Mariah sings some!

Archery Guild at Pressed

And that was it since it was kit lens RIP.

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