Wednesday, November 27, 2019

The mountain of madness

Local lights New Swears announced a short while ago that their next show, last Friday at Babylon, was going to be their last for "a long while." I was keen to go since my photos from their last show turned out a bit rubbish, and Sammy J. was kind enough to invite me, so off I went to see them, Wine Lips and Remi Royale, with Buddy Smiles handling the introduction action. Here's Smiles!

Buddy Smile at Babylon

"The Earth is flat!"

Buddy Smile at Babylon

And here's Remi!

Remi Royale at Babylon

Remi works the crowd!

Remi Royale at Babylon

Shirtless action!

Remi Royale at Babylon

Toronto's Wine Lips played a cracking set. Here's drummer Aurora!

Wine Lips at Babylon

Guitar action with Cam!

Wine Lips at Babylon

Bass action with Richard!

Wine Lips at Babylon

Track-suited action!

Wine Lips at Babylon

Richard sings!

Wine Lips at Babylon

Lippy action!

Wine Lips at Babylon

Singalong action!

Wine Lips at Babylon

On to New Swears. As usual, the audience went completely nuts, too nuts to huddle down in the front row like I usually do (it was fatal if you were an inflatable whale). Anyway, here's Sammy!

New Swears at Babylon

Guitar action with B.J.!

New Swears at Babylon

See-thru action with S-Mike!

New Swears at Babylon

Confetti-launching action!

New Swears at Babylon

Singalong action!

New Swears at Babylon

Stoney hits!

New Swears at Babylon

S-Mike sings!

New Swears at Babylon

More B.J.!

New Swears at Babylon

I finally managed to creep around to the stacks beside the other side of the stage to get a shot of Nick!

New Swears at Babylon

So what happens next?

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Guaranteed fresh

Ottawa music fans have been waiting quite a while for Warp Lines to put their music to wax, and finally, in September, they released Human Fresh on Dirt Cult. Record release demands a record release show, so they were joined by Organ Eyes and Mushy Gushy at House of Targ. Organ Eyes kicked things off. Here's Cam!

Organ Eyes at House of Targ

More Cam!

Organ Eyes at House of Targ

Percussive action!

Organ Eyes at House of Targ

And so on!

Organ Eyes at House of Targ

Even more Cam!

Organ Eyes at House of Targ

On to Mushy Gushy, who will be back at Targ this Friday to open for B.A. Johnston. Here's Daniel!

Mushy Gushy at House of Targ

Jon sings!

Mushy Gushy at House of Targ

Pat hits!

Mushy Gushy at House of Targ

Telecaster action with Cory!

Mushy Gushy at House of Targ

Mushy action!

Mushy Gushy at House of Targ

More Cory!

Mushy Gushy at House of Targ

Singalong action!

Mushy Gushy at House of Targ

Warp Lines wrapped things up with a punchy set. Here's Johnny O.!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

Dave sings!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

More Johnny!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

Bass action with Kurt!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

Johnny sings!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

Extra Dave!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

More Kurt!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

Even more Dave!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

Johnny sings!

Warp Lines at House of Targ

Cool night, and a super album.

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Opening soon

The tail end of September also saw my first visit to Cinqhole, the venue formally known as General Assembly. It's being managed by some of the folks from Black Squirrel Books and Ottawa Showbox, and has gained a new coat of white paint. To exploit said coat of paint the members of Stoby donned white environment suits and had members of the audience write on them. Here's Maryse and Kevin!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Percussive action with Jesse!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Bass action with Rick!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Gripping action!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Artistic action!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Guitar action with Kevin!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Rick sings!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Rick's body is a canvas.

Stoby at Cinqhole

Singalong action!

Stoby at Cinqhole

Bonus Kevin!

Stoby at Cinqhole

There were, of course, other acts: West Coasters Necking and Woolworm were also on hand to put on a pair of killer sets. Here's some singalong action with Woolworm's Heather and Giles!

Woolworm at Cinqhole

Guitar action with Alex!

Woolworm at Cinqhole

Nick hits!

Woolworm at Cinqhole

Extra Giles!

Woolworm at Cinqhole

Bonus Alex!

Woolworm at Cinqhole

Wooly action!

Woolworm at Cinqhole

Necking put on a super-energetic set. Here's Hannah on the mic!

Necking at Cinqhole

Melissa hits!

Necking at Cinqhole

Guitar action with Nada!

Necking at Cinqhole

Extra Hannah (and a blurry Sonya on bass).

Necking at Cinqhole

More Nada!

Necking at Cinqhole

Bendy action!

Necking at Cinqhole

Necking action!

Necking at Cinqhole

Singalong action!

Necking at Cinqhole

Non-blurry action!

Necking at Cinqhole

More Melissa!

Necking at Cinqhole

Extra Necking!

Necking at Cinqhole

Hair-tossing action!

Necking at Cinqhole

A really great night.