Irate young things

I have a few idle hours at school, so let us once again cast our minds back to March, and Teenanger's headlining set at Mugshots (with The Yips and Average Times at the bottom of the bill for those of you who last track over the holidays). The Yips had already generated much audience upheaval, and things went even more wild for Teenanger's performance.

Chris sings!



Stagecoach hits, plus guitar action with Gary!



Bass action with Melissa!



Chris works the crowd!



The whole fisheyed lot!



Floppy-haired action!



Audience-smooching action!



Hooray!



Since this show they've been back for the Ottawa Explosion and released a much-praised LP. I gather there's at least one Teenanger vet performing with Wrong Hole tonight at Mugshots.

Hop on pop

Crazy times last night at Babylon as a bevy of garage rockers and assorted weirdos took the stage in front of a whole bunch of other garage rockers and assorted weirdos. The occasion was the tour for Nobunny, and an appropriately rock-tastic bill was assembled.

First up, Ottawa party-rockers The Beach Blankets. This set was not quite as loopy as their performance at The Rocker Room which I witnessed a little while back. Still plenty of fun, plus a version of I Want Candy mutated into I Hate Teachers.


Beach Blankets, Babylon, February 26, 2009

A few years back Stagecoach and The Funisher were part of herky-jerky Ottawa punks Quebexico, now their stuff with Teen Anger is a lot more Cramps, Gun Club and Gories, but with a throbbing low end. They're also running the Telephone Explosion label.


Teenanger, Babylon, February 26, 2009

Demon's Claws had a similar sound, maybe a bit more spidery ... I saw them years ago at Irene's, when Skip Jensen of the Scat Rag Boosters was their drummer ... They still tear it up pretty good, though I talked to two people in rapid succession who were poles apart in their appreciation for the band's set. They have a new limited edition LP out on Telephone Explosion.


Demon's Claws, Babylon, February 26, 2009

Ian Manhire played the hits between sets, since this was also a Rock'n'Roll Pizza Party night - RRPP has departed the Bytown Tavern, and will soon be taking up residence in the Royak Oak across the street from Babylon.


Ian Manhire, Babylon, February 26, 2009

The Smith Westerns are on tour with Nobunny as his backing band, but also played an awesome set themselves - actually it was the evening's highlight. These guys are still in their teens - the bassist is only 17, for crying out loud. Lots of confetti and a huge T. Rex influence from these lads.


Smith Westerns, Babylon, February 26, 2009

Lo-fi pop a la Jay Reatard is Nobunny's things - also stripper heels, red underwear and a ratty bunny mask. His rabid fans went bananas for his brief set.


Nobunny, Babylon, February 26, 2009

After a while things got so pushy in the crowd that a bunch of people just jumped on stage to dance around, then hurl Nobunny into the crowd.


Nobunny, Babylon, February 26, 2009

Try getting that much entertainment for $8 anywhere else.

• Show reminder: Nobody's Fool performs at the Elmdale. The Mighty Popo plays the Rainbow. Blessed By A Broken Heart, Lovehatehero, Agraceful, Vanna, In Fear And Faith and Kiros rock the New Bayou; Becky Abbott and Lindsay Ferguson sing up a storm at Zaphod Beeblebrox; Scarlet Sins, Doll, Bella Bombs and Dead End Girl play Mavericks; Hollerado, wrap up their stand at Cafe DeKcuf with Black Names, The Rough Sea and Sadie Hell. Trevor James and the Perfect Gentlemen play Babylon. Jan Purcell and Pine Road perform at Irene's.
  

Brawl in the hall

Foreman vs. Ali ... Tyson vs. Holyfield ... Louis vs. Schmeling - notable fights, but mere roundelays compared to the clash of the titans that was ... Quebexico vs. DD.MM.YYYY!
The competitors in this battle to the death; in the white corner, Toronto's DD.MM.YYYY - Tomas John Del Balls on guitar, King Matt on drums, Gordan Jones on keyboards and Howlin' Mike Plankton on bass. Their advantages: Four guys playing instruments and handy with calendars. In the other white corner, Quebexico: Vocalist The Funisher, guitarist Hell Ride, drummer Stagecoach and bassist Jaw. Their advantages: Roving singer and basically crackers.
Held in the famed lower bar of the Montgomery Legion Hall, the battle was launched by DD.MM.YYYY with a furious melodic assault, which I don't have a good picture of (apart from the teaser photo for this match). So we'll just go straight into ...

... Jaw getting the prize for funniest face of the night.



Quebexico's Funisher launches the counterattack!









Oh, the tragedy!



DD.MM.YYYY won't take that lying down!



Beware ... group action!



DD.MM.YYYY consider their tactics, and respond!







Quebexico fights back!



I think Chris's interpretative dancing skills were starting to worry the DDs.



Yes, this picture of DD.MM.YYYY's Jones stinks ... believe me you don't want to know how it looked before I fudged with the levels.







Normally anklebiting the competition is frowned upon, but since the Funisher had Jones' head in a thighlock just before this picture was taken, it may be allowed on the grounds of self-defence. This was literally at my own feet, which is why my camera bag is in the way.



Audience and bands were quite close.





Davey unleashes deadly bending action!



Microphone problems necessitated some improvisation.







I'm not sure using the other guys' equipment is cricket, but this is ruthless musical combat!



In between songs Chris fashioned his own headband. What a resourceful 15-year-old he is.



Flash action!



Yes, I did skip that part of photography class where they told you to shoot things at a level angle - how did you guess?



DD.MM.YYYY howl out a final challenge!



The final battle could only be settled one way ... the manly way! With drumming!





Well, actually they sang a co-song and Davey ended up standing on the drum kits.



"Okay, we'll call this one a draw, but don't let us catch you guys around here again!"
By popular consensus, a first-rate show.

Eight is enough

Bands to see in one night, that is. My first stop on Saturday was the Montgomery Legion Hall on Kent where local photographer Paul Galipeau was holding a show featuring five bands. First up, Expatriate, who really ladled on the feedback.



Sudbury's Varge played an active set.



Vancouver's Doers have a new drummer and less facial hair then when I saw them at Babylon ("Where we played to two people" they said - I forgot who the other person was ...) but still sounded great.



Then it was faceoff time as hometown boys Quebexico did battle with Toronto's DD.MM.YYYY.







Everything wrapped up around 11 p.m., so I had plenty of time to go a block to Babylon and catch Andrew Vincent starting off a triple bill with The Banditas and Detective Kalita, who were there to celebrate the release of their new CD on Kelp, The Michael Parks.







A fine way to spend six hours or so, but man are my feet tired. Come to think of it, so is the rest of me.