Tavern twang

You know it's been a long time since you saw a band when the last venue you laid eyes on them was Barrymore's.  So it is with The Flaps, who finished off the Carleton Tavern portion of Kelp's 16th anniversary shows. They still have the kung-fu kitsch instrumental music down pat, so after an introduction and heartfelt plea from Jon Bartlett to try out the coleslaw, it was off to a well-reverberated sonic trip to the mysterious east.

Martin Newman and Pat Lawlor do things with strings.



John Higney and the silhouette of Jamie Gulliksen.



Martin and Pat look thataway.



The whole lot!



Martin rocks the low end.



Whammy bar action!



John rocks the baritone.



Jamie and some serious redeye.



Dancing action!



Then I biked off home to prepare for that evening's Raw Sugar show.

• Show reminder: The Girlfriends and The Toughtones rock Zaphod Beeblebrox; Andrea Ramolo is at The Rainbow.

Feathered friends

The first time I saw Andy Swan was five years ago. I know this because it was at a show for Kelp's 11th anniversary at Barrymore's, where he filled in for an absent bassist in Andrew Vincent's backing band. Back then Andy was performing under the Detective Kalita name. In the intervening years he's changed the name to The Michael Parks after an album. He also does some solo stuff ... I guess The Michael Parks stuff has greater electric tendencies, but they are more metres than miles apart.I've aways thought he was an excellent guitarist and songwriter, and here he was at the Carleton Tavern for Kelp's 16th demonstrating it once again.

Smiley action with Shayne Cox!



Ready, everyone?



The band: John Higney, Jon Bartlett, and Cox.



Andy sings!



Telecaster action! Hmm ... I believe that guitar has been modified ...



The whole lot!



John forgot his slide, thus the lighter.



Bartlett hits!



And there you go. All these folks would, of course, reappear at raw Sugar later that night - or in Higney's case even earlier for The Flaps set.

• Show reminder:Speaking or Raw Sugar, if you go there tonight you can catch Myles Deck and The Fuzz, The Sleepless Nights and Brainhunter; Barn Burner, Mountanaka and HellBros! rock Mavericks.

The impossible dream

We're still at the Carleton Tavern celebrating Kelp Records turning 16, but we'll leapfrog over Andy Swan to Miche Jette - a.k.a. Flecton Big Sky - since he's performing tonight. Miche has been around with bands like Jehovah's Wetness (where I saw him first at a show at Bumper's if I recall correctly) and Werbo. Usually he's been accompanied by several musicians - dubbed either his Big Sky Orchestra or The Dreamcatchers - but this time it was Dreamcatcher solo, Scott Terry, playing an acoustic guitar with much digital delay.

Lord of the Kelpy realm Jon Bartlett makes the introductions.



Lyric consultation action! "Kelp Records is 16. We're growing hair where there was no hair before. We have to come over to your house to shave your records."



Miche sings!



"The controversial issue: Are this year's pulled pork sandwiches the best ever?" (A hush descends upon the room.)



Scot wiggles a string.



Parlour guitar action!



Big action!



Hollering action!



The end!



As mentioned earlier, he'll be performing at Raw Sugar tonight, along with The Brothers Doob.

• Show reminder: The Racoon Wedding, Graven and Dave Norris play Zaphod's; a reunited SugarBush and The Really are at The Elmdale Tavern; The Living Sound System, The Mob, The Pocket Trio and Love Buffalo and the Pineapple Initiative perform at Club SAW, the mighty Loudlove are at The Rainbow; Victor Nesrallah rolls into Irene's; Loon Choir lands at the Avant-Garde.

Unknown pleasures

Kelp's anniversary parties are always a lot of fun ... I can't think why I've missed so many of them (oh right ... work). I actually made an effort to get out of bed relatively early to make it to the Carleton Tavern in time to see Jenny Omnichord's opening set, but my sleep-fogged noggin refused to rise from the pillow any earlier than noon, so by the time I had hopped on my bike, pedalled down Somerset and Wellington, located a place to lock my bike and actually got through the door of the Carleton Tavern The Secret Loves were well into their set. The Carleton Tavern is actually reasonably well lit, thanks to its trademark stained glass windows, so sans-flash photos were not out of the question ...

Patrick Shanks! Christine Majid! John Sproull!



Christine sings, John hits!



Patrick rocks the tartan.



John in the light.



Secret action!



They're a well-tied band.



Singalong action!



The kickin' end!



I'm not sure where they're playing next, but they're on the Gaga Weekend playbill, so it won't be long!

• Show reminder: Vile Intent, Last Laugh, Naughty Girls and Look Beyond rock 443 Kent Street; Rottaway, Skull Fist, Black Moor and Aggressor destroy your puny human eardrums at Mavericks; Crush Buildings and Paramedica are at Zaphod's; Jessica Stuart and The Few and Halabisky's Uprising perform at The Rainbow; The Donefors and Red Wood Central play Irene's; Lonesome Paul and The Valley Ramblers seek your company at the Elmdale House.

Sweet 16

Jon Bartlett's Kelp Records turned 16 this year, and as usual the usual (and sometimes unusual) suspects turned out to help celebrate. There were a couple of big shows at the Mayfair Theatre, including a rare appearance by pop-folk legend Bill Fox that I was sorry to miss, but at least I had the Saturday off so I could see a triumvirate of events celebrating all things Kelp. The first was at the Carleton Tavern, which naturally means pulled pork sandwiches and a bunch of bands playing from lunch to dinner. The first performer of the day was Guelph musician Jenny Omnichord. I keep seeing Ms. Omnichord performing with other people, most recently Richard Laviolette, and maintained my perfect record of showing up late to see her do her own stuff this time. When I bicycled up to the tavern, The Secret Loves were performing.

They sounded even better this time; particularly Christine's vocal parts. As before they threw in a cover of The Sonics' He's Waiting.


The Secret Loves at the Carleton Tavern, May 15, 2010

It wouldn't be a Kelp anniversary show without an appearance by Andy Swan. Andy is now living in P.E.I., in the bustling metropolis of Breadalbane, pop. 170, but still made it out west to perform a very-country tinged set.


Andy Swan at the Carleton Tavern, May 15, 2010

He was aided by Jon Higney, Jon Bartlett on drums and Shayne Cox on bass.


Andy Swan at the Carleton Tavern, May 15, 2010

He was followed by Flecton Bigsky who played some stoned folk with a bunch of covers (I at least recognized a Rolling Stones tune). Dreamcatcher Scott Terry played some psychedelic guitar as a backdrop.


Flecton Bigsky and The Dreamcatchers at the Carleton Tavern, May 15, 2010

The Flaps finished things off with some of their instro-rock ... it's been a long time since I've seen them; they were as tight as ever. They inspired at least one couple to dance along before I had to hit the road.


The Flaps at the Carleton Tavern, May 15, 2010
 
A few hours later it was time to head off to to Raw Sugar, first band up was The Michael Parks ... which is Andy Swan again, with Shayne Cox on drums and Greg Smith on bass. Higney helped out on guitar and Jenny kicked in some extra vocals. Jon Bartlett also popped in to hit some tambourine and sing later in the set.


The Michael Parks at Raw Sugar, May 15, 2010

That was followed with a very rocking set from Camp Radio, who are also wrapping up their second record and played a bunch of the new stuff.


Camp Radio at Raw Sugar, May 15, 2010

They also brought on a few special guests, including Jim Bryson.


Camp Radio at Raw Sugar, May 15, 2010

The anniversary party made me think of Shed Sessions, one of the reasons being that I saw Wayne Omaha for the first time at one of them many years ago and the next act up features Yawd Sylvester (also of the Violet Archers). Parks man and Weakerthans bassist Greg Smith is also on board. The music was quite loose and trippy. There wasn't any nose-flute this time around, but there was some stylophone. There show was unfortunately somewhat delayed by electronic difficulties, but things worked out well enough in the end.


Tres Bien Ensemble at Raw Sugar, May 15, 2010

Jon Bartlett's Rhume finished the night off, which naturally meant another appearance from Chris Page, along with Higney and Jamie Gullikson from The Flaps and brother Jarrett on bass.


Rhume at Raw Sugar, May 15, 2010

Scott Terry did some singing, as did Jim Sproull on Uncontrollable Urge ... even Piet from Reverend Glasseye ducked in through the side door.


Rhume at Raw Sugar, May 15, 2010

Jon concluded the set - which included a great cover of The Mice's Second Best - by singing out the secret location of the final show by The White Wires. I wasn't that surprised that it turned out to be Victoria Island, and not just because I'd been told as much earlier in the day. The White Wires drove their U-Haul truck past as people began heading down Somerset, and over to Booth St. (or took a shortcut down the Empress St. stairs). Up went the back door of the U-Haul van, and the rocking commenced! Then stopped about 30 seconds later when the generator conked out. After some fiddling stuff was running again, so it's on with the show!


The White Wires on Victoria Island, May 16, 2010

The crowd was mighty entertained ... a few folks even danced on the truck's roof (no points for guessing it was members of The Girlfriends getting up to trouble).


The White Wires on Victoria Island, May 16, 2010

A fine end to a full day.

Boxcars

As the whole music world knows, Kelp Records celebrated its 12th anniversary last weekend. I missed most of it, because I'm the sort of guy who makes plans to go to other shows, forgets his bank card (at a record store, naturally), goes off to the Carleton Tavern, spends his last dollar on the swanky new Camp Radio album (Chris Page with Dave Draves and Scott Terry) and only realizes he has not a single shekel to fund his nightly activities about 10 minutes before he plans to see Nick Danger and Co. and the Solid Senders' debut at Irene's. I also had a family dinner to attend, so I only caught the first half of the bill at Carleton Tavern, missing Page and The Flaps, but I did see Run Stop Restore and Andrew Vincent and The Pirates, since neither band is known for playing with anything like frequency. You could do worse on a Saturday.

Joe Vienneau - much busier with the Mighty Eagle Band and The Fucking Machines.



Everybody sing! Starting with John Sproull!





A Jim Sproull and Chris Cook singalong ...





They even threw in an Andrew Vincent cover - speaking of whom ...



Scott Terry, another man of many bands.



Bryan Curry - gee, I may finally be getting the hang of my new flash ...



Kelp Supremo Jon Bartlett snaps the audience.



They also played a cover of The Velvet Underground's I'm Waiting for the Man (an Ian Tolton favourite played in his memory). Andrew forgot the words - so Andy Swan of Detective Kalita helped out with the lyric sheet.





"Not bad for one practice in six months," said Andrew.

• Show reminder: Those suffering the terrible pangs of Scott Terry withdrawal can see him tonight performing with The Banditas at Babylon. Army of Saint Joan are on the bill, too.