Coffee and Tea

There are a couple of shows this weekend I neglected to tell you about on my previous roundup; I'm going to tell you now because I'm wiped out from biking home and too damn lazy to work up an Electric and Western photo roundup: Tonight at Irene's, a new folk combo is going to take the stage to romp through a couple of sets. Mark McIntyre and Patrick Shanks have of course appeared on stage together in The Trudels and Solid Senders; along with Art Guise guy Jason Vaughan and glockenspieler Diane Lachapelle they are Cold Coffee and Salty Boots. Over at The Rainbow you can also see The Murder Plans, Tympanic and Tent Horizone.


Brockway Biggs, Navy Club, April 27, 2007

On Monday, hip hop connector Brockway Biggs, the relentless rap promoter formerly known as Pimp Tea, says adios to Ottawa for awhile at a Bytown Tavern show as he prepares for a lengthy cross-Canada tour.

Nut rocker

Let us travel back in time ... before The Flaps, before The Michael Parks, Agile Like This and Brockway Biggs - all the way back to 1 p.m. a couple of Fridays ago, when The Acorn started the Kelp Records' 13th anniversary celebrations in earnest with an in-store performance at Compact Music. It was supposed to be just Rolf Klausener doing a few acoustic tunes, but Jeff Debutte showed up as well to land some extra guitar and ukulele.



Rolf Sings - that's Kelp chief Jon Bartlett fiddling with the PA at right.



Jeff rocks the uke.



They later closed off Day 1 at the Navy Club with a killer set that lasted right up to closing time. Although new keyboardist Keiko Devaux wasn't on hand (touring with her other band, People for Audio, I believe), Rolf Klausener and Co. do have a few auxiliary percussionists on hand to to help kick things up a notch.

And they're off!



The Acorn front line!



Auxiliary mallet-wielder Paul Kearns and Jeffrey Malecki.



Jake Bryce, centre, of The Fiftymen and Recoilers adds to the rhythm section goodness .



Rolf sings.



Jake amuses with some ukulele.



Howie Tsui might want to look into a ukulele-guitar doubleneck.



Jeff back on bass.



Flecton drops in (you can see the red shaker in line with Aaron Fraser's camera).



Jake adds extra grimacing.



Howie bends.



A stupendous show and a heck of a night. Unfortunately I had to work the day - I couldn't even sneak in the time before biking off to the 'burbs to see Chris Page's instore show at Sounds Unlikely. This also meant I missed the opportunity to see more of Flecton (in every sense of the word, I hear) and the other Kelp crowd at the Gluepot Pub (to say nothing of sampling Stephen Vardy's pulled pork sarnies at the Carleton Tavern. Woe is me, but I suspect I'll see more of everyone in the year to come.

• Show reminder: Standard Issue Magazine launches at Spruce St.with help from Sleeping Pilot, The Sweet Janes, METZ and ex-city-killing robots B'Italian; Nekromantix, The Heart Attacks, Westbound Train and Orange play Babylon.

Play another number

Next up at Kelp's 13th, hot instrumental combo The Flaps. Been a while since I've seen them live - October last was the previous occasion, and they were missing dapper dresser Martin Newman on bass. Anyway, they knocked out a bunch of their classy tunes, and Pat Lawlor made the occasional funny face. They also played one song so new it didn't have a name - just a numeral designation.



John Higney closes in on the keys.



Jamie taps a bit of cymbal.



Rhythm section action!



The whole Flappy lot!



Instrumental action!



I had to try at least one bounced flash photo - the Navy Club's not a bad place of that sort of thing.



Impressive as always (they also made a new fan in Brockway Biggs).

• Show reminder: Modern Life Is War, Death Before Dishonor, Cobra Noir and I Refuse play Montgomery Legion Hall; Moneen, Ten Second Epic and The Love Machine help punkottawa.com celebrate its sixth anniversary at Capital Music Hall. ManPower and Starvin Hungry rock out at Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Out of the park

Having heard from the Friends-of-Kelp contingent (that being Brockway Biggs and Agile Like This) we move onto folks who are already on the label. Actually, The Michael Parks brought out so many special guests it sometimes felt like the label's entire roster was on stage at one point or another (oh, okay, a decent cross-section then). Fortunately Andy Swan handed out a set list so everyone could keep track.

Flaps guitarist John Higney laid down some steel for Trick of the Shadows and Altona, MB; Rolf handles the bass (and stayed on for Grease The Streets).



Also on hand to Andy Swan and Shayne Cox was Acorn chief Rolf Klausener.



Another Acorn, Jeffrey Malecki, minds the drums.



Swan roomy Andrew Vincent was on for Vanessa and Chinese Laundry.



Flecton was an unexpected guest on The Only Game In Town (or at least, he wasn't on the set list). That's Vincent's brother Colin sitting - yes, sitting! - behind the drums.



Jarrett Bartlett stepped out from behind the soundboard to contribute some bass.



Kelp dance party action!



Label supremo Jon Bartlett keeps the beat on Why You Wanna Break My Heart.



Shayne Cox rocks the six-string, Chris Page rocks the eight-string on Mary 16.



Lots of fun.

• Show reminder: Sin Kickers, Mile Over Mecca and Mono Hum play Zaphod Beeblebrox. Kim Barlow, Great Aunt Ida and Kyrie Kristmanson perform at the Black Sheep Inn.

Cunning stunts

Waterloo's Agile Like This followed Brockway Biggs with songs about hairpie eating ("Everyone wins!"), troubled tushes, cats, beating the tar out of Satan and broken hearted hunks and sluts. They are kind of kookie. It was somewhat Shaggs like.



From left to right we have Dan, Caroline and Eleanor This.



Rhythm section action! With LeGood and album producer Ducky Money. I think.



Note the turtle on Enron's keyboard.



Eleanor noted mid-set that their sash-and tiara getups had not been road-tested. Not all of it stayed on.



Disco ball!



Agile action!





That was silly, in a good way.

• Show reminder: The Divorcees, Lefty McRighty and Steve Stacey perform at Zaphod's.

It's gettin' hard to be a pimp out here

'Twas a dark and drizzly night when I set off for the Navy Club on Victoria Island. It's been decades since I set foot on the isle, and I had a bit of bother finding my way to the Kelp Records' 13th anniversary party show being held there, but I made it early enough not to miss any of the action. Kelp kingpin Jon Bartlett promised an evening of diverse entertainment, and he started things off on a good foot with East Coast Music Award-winning rap MC Brockway Biggs (formerly known as PIMP-T and Pimp Tea).

Biggs does some thinking.



I love disco balls ... is that so wrong?!?



BB sheds the jacket and shows off some moves. "I'm turning 27 in a couple of weeks, I don't know how much longer I'll be able to move like that" he said after a spirited rendition of Shake Ya Caboose.



Superdude gets the thumbs up!



He was also giving out free stuff (such as Pimp Juice). You'll be seeing more of that stuffed turtle ....



BB has departed from New Brunswick and taken up residence in Ottawa, so no doubt we'll hear more from him from momentarily (to say nothing of his third album, which he's finishing off soon).

• Show reminder: The Johnstones, Keepin 6 and Fleeba play Cafe DeKcuf.

By the sea

Kelp's 13th anniversary celebrations moved into high gear with a gig at the Navy Club. Not the easiest venue to find, but a hefty number of folks showed up to enjoy several excellent sets from the record label's family and friends.

First up, New Brunswick's notorious Brockway Biggs rapped over some choice Maritime beats under his Pimp Tea brand.



Waterloo's Agile Like This regaled the audience with songs about Satan, oral sex and America's Next Top Model.



The Michael Parks (formerly The Detective Kalita) had a special guest for almost every tune. Here's Chris Page on mandolin with Andy Swan.



The Flaps kicked out their usual superb instrumental rock.



The Acorn capped things with a scorching show (and numerous percussionists).



The festivities continue today with an instore performance by Chris Page at Sounds Unlikely, Andrew Vincent & the Pirates, Andy Swan, Greenfield Main, Jenny Omnichord and The Luck at the Carleton Tavern starting at 1 p.m. and Camp Radio, Rhume, Flecton and the Two Minute Miracles at the Glue Pot Pub around 9 p.m. (and finishing around 2 a.m., if last night was anything to go by).

• Show reminder: Evil Farm Children go head to head with Good2Go at Irene's Pub; The Creeps, Radar Hate, The Outbred Inlaws, The Visitors, The Annoyers and The Poulsens punk it up at Cafe Dekcuf. Various Starling veterans fill out the ranks of The Hundreds and Thousands - they play Zaphod's with The Golden Seals. Les Trois Accords and Pepe et sa Guitare rock out at the Capital Music Hall. Mackenzie MacBride and The Supermodel Syndrome perform at the Avant-Garde Bar.