Rockets and Bombs

I'm a big fan of wild'n'crazy Japanese rock bands like Thee Machine Gunn Elephant, Teengenerate, Guitar Wolf and Electric Eel Shock. Unfortunately, not many of those bands have made the trip to Ottawa (I did catch the Electric Eel Shock at Zaphod's back in 2002 with Le Nombre, pre-blog); an exception are Zoobombs, who have made several trips to Canada since striking up a friendship with noted Toronto promoter Dan Burke, and frequently made side trips to Ottawa for gigs here and there. Despite their relatively frequent trips to the nation's capital, I never managed to catch any of their gigs. The band called it a daytwo years back, with mainman Don Matsuo embarking on a solo career. However, a chance encounter with one of the band's earlier drummers Bukka Billy, led him to get things together again. The band had a gig at CMW, so once again it's off to such hotspots as Peterborough and Bowmanville and yes, Ottawa, to reacquaint themselves with the local fanbase. They dropped in to the House of Targ for a rare Tueday show, which also featured an outing for the recently renewed Glorious Moonrockets. Here's Chris!



Chris sings!



Pat (of Face of Jam and Gutter Rocks fame) hits!



Coupe of Rat Tales, Black Stone Hearts and sundry others, and whom I completely failed to recognize without a headband - handles the low end.



Guitar-lifting action!



The whole lot!



Pat sings!



Hair-tossing action!



And so on!



Chris works the crowd!



Singalong action!



Rhythm section action!



Zoobombs put on a heck of a show; I'd say it was the best I've seen this year, if Divers hadn't blown me away completely a few weeks back. As it is, Don was wild from word go, and the rest of his band (which also includes his wife, Matta, and hired gun Machiko on bass) were super-solid. Here's Don, just warming up.



Matta works the keys.



Rhythm section action with Billy and Machiko.



Gripping action!



Billy hits!



Matta sings!



Feedback action!



Matrimonial action!



Extra Bukka!



And it's only song No. 3 (or thereabouts - the tunes ran into one another).



Back-on-his-feet action!



Extra Matta!



More Machiko!



Even more Billy!



Gesticulating action!



More gripping action!



More singalong action!



The end!



They're wrapping up their Canadian tour with a second show at Toronto's Silver Dollar tonight.

Four flavours of loud

I've been recovering from a cold lately and mostly avoiding the nightlife, but I was feeling chipper enough Wednesday night to head over to Mavericks to see some heavy metal. NWOCHM titans Cauldron are on their 'America's Lost tour (today is Kingston, tomorrow Toronto, then it's down to the States), and a variety of local acts were pulled in to support the imminent export of metal.

No offence to Criticull, but on a list of two words I like to see apart and hate to see together, "funk" and "metal" rank high. Well, at least they put on an energetic performance.


Criticull at Mavericks, April 17, 2013

There's no denying they do know how to work the stage.


Criticull at Mavericks, April 17, 2013

On to one of my favourite acts, Muffler Crunch! They always put on a great show. Someone gifted them with a big piece of pork, which sat on the bass drum for their set (and Black Stone Hearts'). Here Luc works Ol' Sparky.


Muffler Crunch at Mavericks, April 17, 2013

Let there be pork!


Muffler Crunch at Mavericks, April 17, 2013

Black Stone Hearts - featured on our last post - also put on a great show, with a cover of Led Zep's Rock'N'Roll to round things off.


Black Stone Hearts at Mavericks, April 17, 2013

Kamikaze action!


Black Stone Hearts at Mavericks, April 17, 2013

On to Cauldron, officially Canada's lankiest power trio. They have a new album, Tomorrow's Lost, out soon (but available now, should you wish to pop over to Vertigo Records. Somewhere it's still 1985 ...


Cauldron at Mavericks, April 17, 2103

Unfortunately the crowd was pretty sparse. "The fewer of you come, the longer we play!"


Cauldron at Mavericks, April 17, 2103

Muffler Crunch are playing a benefit at the Chevaliers de Colomb in Alymer  to help fight multiple sclerosis Friday night.

Basic black

On to Black Stone Hearts, a band very much in the Guns'N'Roses-Backyard Babies line. As mentioned earlier they boast veterans of Rat Tales, Rottaway and other such local rock combos.

Kamikaze O'Neil on lead guitars!



Gripping action with Sergei and Coupe!



Extra Coupe!



Sergei works the stand!



Bassist Kevin, plus Coupe takes a stand.



The whole lot! Drummer Straabs is back there somewhere.



Singalong action!



Straabs sings!



Extra Sergei!



Hearty action!



Some less flashy action.



Zaphod's is Ottawa's second-most-orange venue.



Bonus Sergei!



Turtle action!



Everybody get down!



Sergei goes acoustic!



Bonus Kevin!



Kamikaze action!



Guitar-lifting action!



They're onstage at Mavericks on Wednesday, opening for Cauldron.