Crystals and cream

A week and a weekend ago, Gabba Hey put on a great show of bands familiar and unfamiliar. There was local indie duo Piith (formerly known as Pith & The Parenchymas), Calgary's Crystal Eyes (en route to Pop Montreal), Wakefield's Rebelle and much-talked-about headliners Ice Cream. Piith were up first; their new album Sweet Sweet Morning was also making its first appearance courtesy of local promo crew Casual Hex. Here's Andy!



Chris sings!



Laptop action!



Guitar action!



The whole lot!



Adjusting action!



More Andy!



More microphones!



Crystal Eyes passed through Ottawa for a stop at Ottawa Explosion this summer, performing as a trio. They were up to quartet strength for this stop for extra shoegazing jangly goodness.



Faceoff action with Criss on bass and a guitarist whose name I don't know!



Mathieu hits!



Extra Chris!



More guitar!



More Mathieu!



Extra Erin!



Eyeful action!



Shadowy action!



The end!



Wakefield's Rebelle have been around for several years - going back to their days as The Strain. I was really impressed by their performance; they'll be on stage again Oct. 12 opening for Paper Lions at Zaphod's. Here's the sister-and-brother at the hart of the band, Rylee and David!



Bassist Ryan is udner there somewhere.



Rylee works the keys!



David sings!



Rebellious action with drummer Joey!



Extra Joey!



Guitar action!



More Ryan!



Joey hits!



Ryan sings, plays some guitar!



The whole lot!



Ice Cream is a minimalist synth-pop duo, formed by Huckleberry Friends' Amanda and Carlyn from Blond Elvis. Amanda and Carlyn have also appeared before on the blog as part of rockers Darlene Shrugg. Here's Carlyn on bass!



Keyboard action with Amanda (who you may also recall singing backup with U.S. Girls at the 2015 edition of Arboretum)!



Carlyn sings!



Extra Amanda!



They also worked in a dance tune.



Dancing action.



And so on!



 Even more Amanda!



The whole lot!



A really fantastic night.

Fantasy island

I skipped Friday night's Albert Island shenanigans, but was front and centre for Saturday; my sister's family was visiting from out west and they're big Austra fans so naturally we all went off together to check out that show, along with a side helping of other greatness, starting with Ottawa Pipahauntas (a.k.a. Sam from Organ Eyes, though I've seen a lot more of her solo stuff of late).



The warehouse is a very nice space.



The shouty bit!



Then it was time to check out the outdoor stage - also a very nice venue, with a bit of built-in reverb thanks to the stone buildings one either side. Tamara Lindeman, a.k.a. The Weather Station, started her set off with a solo tune before bringing on her band (Ben Whitely, Adrian Cook and Ian Kehoe).



Solo action!



Ian hits!



Adrian works the steel.



Tamara sings, Ben handles the low end.



Bonus Ben!



The view from the right.



The whole lot!



Weatherly action!



Rhythm section action!



Petra Glynt really blew me away when she played the Dom during Megaphono, and I've tried to see her every chance I get since (well, once at the Ottawa Explosion, anyway). She sounded absolutely killer during this set.



Alexandra sings!



Alexandra hits!



She puts on a great show.



Kazoo action!



And so on!



Fest creative director Rolf Klausener introduces Hayden.



I find Hayden pleasant to listen to, but I can't say he really hooked me.



Close-up action!



Singalong action!



Bonnie Doonster and all-around arts heavyweight Lesley Marshall (who's also the festival's arts curator) introduce U.S. Girls.



She was certainly looking stylish. This is the first time I've seen her perform as U.S. Girls with Amanda Crist on backing vocals (they also perform together in Darlene Shrugg).



Meg gets a grip.



Singalong action!




Extra Amanda!



Bonus Meg!



Then, back inside for some hip hop from art collective Kings College. But first, a little House of Paint chit-chat (another late summer festival, coming Sept. 9-13) and introduction action.



Henchman Frank, Gsaint, alongside producers archie and TBSW, form the nucleus of the group. I believe this is Henchman Frank let me know if I'm wrong.



I'm pretty damn sure this is Gsaint.



TSBW? archie? I know not.



Collegiate action!



Gripping action!



However, on to Austra, the real reason I was there that night. I've seen her twice before (at Bluesfest and at Ritual) and was impressed both times. For this show the group was down to a quartet. Here's some introduction by Rolf and Lesley.



And here's Katie and Dorian.



Maya sings! (She also has a new solo EP out, Princess Century.)



Dorian gets in some bass time.



Ryan works the keys.



Extra Katie!



More Ryan!



Katie on keys.



Closeup action!



Maya sings some more!



A fine evening out with the folks.