The land is strong

Another week, another bunch of cool shows I will completely miss due to work. At least I get Monday off, so I may just troop over to Zaphod's free showcase to see Pysiedius, Paul Hinger, Clepto and The Art Burn Project before they all become international superstars, or at least start charging.
On Tuesday The New Pornographers make another pass through the capital. As I understand it, this is the Neko Case-equipped version. The opener is the mighty swell Land of Talk.


Land of Talk, Zaphod Beeblebrox, March 24, 2007

Wednesday, Time Again, Machine Gun Dolly, Gunsmoke and Zero Hours shoot 'em up at Mavericks.
On Thursday, Grand Theft Bus and The Soiree perform at Zaphod's. Over at Mavericks Hello Terror!, We, The Undersigned, Man With Target and Of the First Born Son play loud and fast.
Friday, there's more action at Zaphod's with The Sin Kickers, Twelve34 and Sedrick.


Rock Plaza Central, Irene's, September 16, 2006

Saturday The Bible All Stars, Sick Sick Sicks and The Rookers help out our four-legged friends with a benefit for the Humane Society. Jetplanes of Abraham, Rock Plaza Central, The Ghost Is Dancing and Interweb Sabotage bring their collective talents to Barrymore's. Blazer, Camp Best Friends and Dusty Walker perform at Zaphod's.


Danger City Rebels, The Aloha Room, May 11, 2005

Sunday seems awfully busy with The Slackers and Bomb The Music Industry at Babylon; The Danger City Rebels at the Rainbow; Hellbros, Trevor Thompson, The Bronze and Flesh Cadillac at Zaphod's; Paint It Black, Cold World, The Wishlist and Constant Struggle at Mavericks and Farewell To Freeway, Shotgun Rules, Lifestory:Monologue and Assemble Me rip it up Cafe Dekcuf ... seriously, is it a holiday on Monday?

The power of rock compels you!

Last time Rock Plaza Central rolled through town, mainman Chris Eaton dropped me a line asking me to come down to Irene's to catch their set. I made it thanks to some prodigious bicycling on my part and thought they put on a fine show for a moderate sized but appreciative crowd. This time around Zaphod's was packed; in the intervening time they've gotten a lot more attention, including from the well (and unwell)-regarded tastemakers at Pitchfork.

They're ready to fight the power! And they're sharp dressers, too.



Chris thinks.



Fiona Stewart bows, Scott Maynard basses.



Blake Howard looks exactly the same.



Singing, mandolining and trumpeting action!



Accordionist John Whytock is the man!



All you need is duct tape.



Yay!



They signed a deal with Yep Roc recently, so no doubt we'll be hearing more of them - well, maybe not us, but someone.

• Show reminder: I've said it before, but The Besnard Lakes and Amos The Transparent perform at Zaphod's; Tradition, Xian and Saint Bernard of Love play at 59 Argyle Ave.; Doug Hell and the Junkie Murderers, The Nads, Travolta Sings, Dr. Wily and the Robotmasters, The Poulsens, Skunch, Cap'n Kop$, Jamestan and Xandra Smith - say, that's a lot of people - perform at Club SAW.

Rocks vs. Bombs

I had a busy Saturday night - first I went off to Zaphod's to see Rock Plaza Central. They were headlining the second evening of Mocking Music's anniversary celebration. A sizeable crowd was already there for My Dad Vs. Yours when I walked in the door at 8:45 p.m.



As The Poets Affirm played next, to a very positive audience reaction. They've also got a new cello player - Sadie Hell's Cindy Olberg.



Next up, Rock Central Plaza, who dressed up for the occasion.



Next up, Babylon for The Bella Bombs CD release show. I kick myself for getting there too late to see either Muffler Crunch or The Fucking Machines, but The Shifters' eight cylinder motorrock was some compensation.



And of course The Bella Bombs, who had the crowd all worked up.



It was also heartening to see great turnouts for both shows.

Location, location, location

So, I went to see Rock Plaza Central and they were very good. I've already compared them to Chad VanGaalen, Neutral Milk Hotel, the various Palace acts, The Mountain Goats and the Golden Famile. My Ottawa Sun colleague Allan Wigney added in Nick Cave and some other folks and lauded their faithful appreciation of old-time music. There is something of the creaky 78 rpm shellac record to their sound, though I don't recall Geeshie Wiley or the Bubbling Over Five ever singing about robotic horses forever capering toward the stars.

Chris Eaton taps a little.



Blake Howard, enthusiastic drummer.



Scott Maynard on bass, John Whytock on trumpet - he also played some accordion.



Fiona Stewart on violin and Jay Clarke on guitar ... I'm sure I've seen Jay before - performing with Brian Cram, perhaps?



Donald Murray on mandolin and trumpet.



Rock Central Plaza action!



Mass tooting action!





The whole lot.



My bounced flashes worked out better this time around too. Happiness all 'round.

This must be the Plaza

So many things to see last night, but in the end I plumped for Rock Plaza Central. It would have been to see The John Henries, but due to a chain of events involving a misplaced Iranian and bombs in Thailand I ended up getting out of work too late to get to anywhere but Irene's in time to see anything. I seem to recall Rock Plaza Central has been lumped in with collective acts like Broken Social Scene - something to do with having more than six members and being from Toronto, I guess - but they made think more of Chad VanGaalen, Neutral Milk Hotel, the various Palace acts, The Mountain Goats and Ottawa's own Golden Famile.

Here's some but not all of them.



You'll just have to wait to see the other three.

• Show reminder: Ball and Chain have found a new home for their annual Hank Williams tribute - the very same one pictured above! So go to Irene's tonight and see them, the Wreckers, and some guests honour the greatest country singer of them all. Various Australians - 72 Blues, 84, Fire Underground, Late Nite Access, Mihirangi and Lindsay Phillips - perform at Zaphod Beeblebrox. Asobi Seksu perform at Babylon.