Thursday, March 31, 2016

Metal men

I popped over to the House of Targ for some perogies and heavy metal (in that order, I was hungry). I'd already seen Droid perform in the basement of 612 Gladstone, and Flying Fortress on a couple of occasions, but opener Canceric was new to me. The band hails from Montreal and do the growly death-thrash thing so popular with the kids.

Canceric at House of Targ

Then they turned on the smoke machine.

Canceric at House of Targ

Nightmarish action!

Canceric at House of Targ

Vocal action!

Canceric at House of Targ

Fretless bass action!

Canceric at House of Targ

Pointy guitar action!

Canceric at House of Targ

Hairy action!

Canceric at House of Targ

Hair-tossing action!

Canceric at House of Targ

More smoke!

Canceric at House of Targ

More backup vocals!

Canceric at House of Targ

Things stayed smokey for Flying Fortress's set.

Flying Fortress at House of Targ

Leigh from World War Four was filling in on drums for this set.

Flying Fortress at House of Targ

Brandon sings!

Flying Fortress at House of Targ

Bonus Brandon!

Flying Fortress at House of Targ

More Leigh!

Flying Fortress at House of Targ

On to Droid, a band well in the tradition of Voivod. "This next song is about space."

Droid at House of Targ

Fretful bass action!

Droid at House of Targ

Flying V action!

Droid at House of Targ

Percussive action!

Droid at House of Targ

Robotic action!

Droid at House of Targ

A fun, loud night.

Friday, March 25, 2016

One more year

Last Saturday the House of Targ hosted a birthday bash for local musician and repairer of amplifiers Slo' Tom. Tom's a long-timer in the local business with Spaceman Music (and Songbird before it) as well as performing with Furnaceface and solo. There was a good turnout, and a fine set of musical acts starting with The Dumb & Homely Band, which is Slumlord's T.J. and Sev doing some country duet action.

The Dumb and Homely Band at House of Targ

Singalong action!

The Dumb and Homely Band at House of Targ

Acoustic action!

The Dumb and Homely Band at House of Targ

Washboard action!

The Dumb and Homely Band at House of Targ

Steve Judd & The Underdogs were on next with some rootsy rabble-rousing.

Steve Judd & The Underdogs at House of Targ

Guitar action with Geoff Johnson (also of J.D. & The Details)!

Steve Judd & The Underdogs at House of Targ

More Steve!

Steve Judd & The Underdogs at House of Targ

Shadowy keyboard action!

Steve Judd & The Underdogs at House of Targ

Rhythm section action!

Steve Judd & The Underdogs at House of Targ

Smiley action!

Steve Judd & The Underdogs at House of Targ

And now for the man of the hour (or day), Slo' Tom. His handsome devils on this occasion were a recuperating Jon on drums, Rey on guitar and Rob of Chops & The Holics on bass.

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Rob jumps around!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Slo' Tom makes a point!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Guitar action with Rey (of the John Henrys).

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Mo' Slo'!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Jon had a knee operation a short while ago, so he was a real trooper.

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Singalong action!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Guest vocal action from Joady MacIntosh (who also performs with In Heat), singing Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Cowboys.

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Carolyn Cote also turned in a cover of Loretta Lynn's You Ain't Woman Enough.

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Candle-extinguishing action!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Remi covered Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel, drawing it out so the ending was longer than the rest of the song.

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Backup vocal action!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Frisky audience action!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Jon hits!

Slo' Tom and The Handsome Devils at House of Targ

Many happy returns!

Monday, March 21, 2016

Lonely hearts club band

I headed over to Pressed on Thursday for a panoply of pop and punkish sounds from locals Lovecraft, Young Offenders and - offering new evidence that Peterborough is the new music capital of Canada - The Lonely Parade. Lovecraft is the solo project of Weed Mom and Spell's Tyrin, who crafts his synthetic ditties on various electronic doo-dads.

Lovecraft at Pressed

Tyrin sings!

Lovecraft at Pressed

Fisheyed action!

Lovecraft at Pressed

And so on!

Lovecraft at Pressed

On to The Lonely Parade, who pack some serious fuzz in their tunes. Here's guitarist Augusta, showing of her one-of-a-kind Puberty Hands cap!

The Lonely Parade at Pressed

Anwyn hits!

The Lonely Parade at Pressed

Bassist Charlotte sings!

The Lonely Parade at Pressed

Extra Anwyn!

The Lonely Parade at Pressed

Extra Charlotte!

The Lonely Parade at Pressed

Singalong action!

The Lonely Parade at Pressed

Last time I saw Young Offenders, at Black Squirrel Books, they were down a guitarist and up a trumpet. This time around they brought some poetry to add to their post-punk sounds.

Young Offenders at Pressed

Here's previously MIA axeman Jacob.

Young Offenders at Pressed

Simon sings!

Young Offenders at Pressed

And here's Kurt.

Young Offenders at Pressed

More Simon!

Young Offenders at Pressed

Josh hits!

Young Offenders at Pressed

More Jacob!

Young Offenders at Pressed

Singalong action!

Young Offenders at Pressed

The crowd got pretty wild!

Young Offenders at Pressed

A fun night out.