Here comes the driver

There were a bunch of places I could have been last night, but a few days beforehand I decided to head over to Cafe DeKcuf for a show headlined by Winnipeg noisemongers and supported by a host of local local and Toronto-based racketeers. You know when folks like Alaskan show up on a bill it's time to break out the heavy duty earplugs.Earlier in the day when I was at Birdman Sound picking up the new Moon Duo and Eternal Tapestry I joked with Jason Vaughn of the Band Whose Name Is A Symbol that I would have to beware moshers. There was in fact little of that. There was, however, plentiful headbanging.

First up were Spilt Guts, a new local combo who have played a gig or two on the local house show circuit. They keep the sound pretty hefty and made a a very solid opener. They also played a Nirvana cover, which I didn't recognize.


Spilt Guts at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

A shouty bit!


Spilt Guts at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

Black Faxes were next, and they were really smoking live. Last time I saw them was at Mavericks in September 2010, with The Great Sabatini (also coming through town in the near future - Cafe DeKcuf on April 3 to be precise), Alsaskan and Vilipend. On that occasion they were my favourite band of the night, and once again I really dug them. Singer Graham is certainly a perpetual motion machine. 


Black Faxes at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

Definitely a job for the fisheye.


Black Faxes at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

Next up were the mighty Alaskan, who unleashed a deadly rumble of noise. They were really in top form and had some nifty between-song samples, which also served them well when bassist Cory snapped a string (a replacement bass was quickly rustled up courtesy of the Faxes' Lou).


Alaskan at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

It's not easy getting photos of drummers when they're stuck in between walls of amplitude.


Alaskan at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

Finally KEN Mode, who also played a killer set. They recently released Venerable on Profound Lore and are travelling the land (including recent stops in Austin for SXSW). They've kept up their tradition of rotating bassists (sort of) with Therese Lanz of Kilbourne filling in for Chad Tremblay on the road.


KEN Mode at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

There was faceoff action aplenty.


KEN Mode at Cafe DeKcuf, March 25, 2011

They're now off to Quebec City and Montreal.

• Show reminder: Monuments & Statues, Alligator Baby, The Miss Polygamy Collective perform at the Avant-Garde; The Sidewalks, Apyllion and Belgarve play Zaphod's; The Idlers and The Pelts get funky at The Rainbow; Kalle Mattson release their new CD at Mavericks along with Olenka and The Autumn Lovers and Great Bloomers; Lonesome Paul and The Valley Ramblers are at Irene's; The Tine Rufaro Marimba Band bring something a little different - namely the sound of the Shona - to the Elmdale.

Kilt by death

It's been so long since I saw The Real McKenzies I've mostly forgotten what the performance was like. If memory serves it was at The Hi-Fi, so more then enough time has elapsed to make catching another performance a good idea. For this show at Mavericks The Valveenus and four-stroke served as openers.

First up, Valveenus. Last time I saw them play was also at Mavericks in July 2007, on a rather eclectic bill with The Jesus Mullet and Dr. Wily and The Robot Masters. Their folk-inflected punk rock made for a tighter fit with four-stroke and The Real McKenzies.


Valveenus at Mavericks, March 24, 2011

They also had some guest-fiddling action.


Valveenus at Mavericks, March 24, 2011

Next up four-stroke, who quickly had the crowd moshing wildly (or at least some of it). They were at full strength for this gig (unlike the last show by them that I caught, opening for The Subhumans in September 2010, where Mike Marauder was absent), and covered Personality Crisis' Waiting.


four-stroke at Mavericks, March 24, 2011

It was quite a rocking set.

four-stroke at Mavericks, March 24, 2011

I was wondering why the bands were starting at 9 p.m. ... then I saw The Real McKenzies's 30-song set list. They've been through a few membership changes since I saw them so many years ago ... I don't remember them making me think so much of a Celtic version of Snuff, though. They opened with a "A real Canadian song!" Stan Roger's Barrett's Privateers. There was also an acoustic interlude, somewhat stymied by said guitar's refusal to go into tune.


The Real McKenzies at Mavericks, March 24, 2011

Needless to say it was a lot of fun with much audience singing along.


The Real McKenzies at Mavericks, March 24, 2011

They're off to Montreal tonight before heading east.

•  Show reminder: Basia Bulat and The Wilderness Of Manitoba get down at the First Baptist Church; Acres return with Glory Glory Man United and The Gallop at Mavericks; KEN mode, Alaskan, Black Faxes and Spilt Guts destroy hearing at Cafe Dekcuf; Mississippi Grover, The Middens and The Johnnies perform at The Clocktower; The Ornaments, The Cosmic Eye and Darkmean perform at The Rainbow; Brock Zeman celebrates his birthday at Irene's. The Kingmakers , Ninety Punds of Ugly and Sick Sick Sicks are at the Elmdale; Statis Revolt perform at The Avant Garde. Professor LeStrange, Auto-Racing and Wayne Spears play Zaphod's.

Station to station

I thought the crowd was pretty hyped up for Loon Choir, but they truly went wild for Bravestation. Like Loon Choir, the band (or at least some of them) originally hail from Brockville, thought they now call Toronto home. Derek and Devin Wilson front the combo rounded out by drummer Jeremy Rossetti and keyboardist Andrew Heppner. Their music draw a lot from the 80s-to90s British indie pop boom. Depending on the vintage of your ears you might hear The Chameleons (I certainly did) while younger folks may be reminded of more recent outfits like The National.

Them brothers!



Andy moves it!



Devin sings!



Derek sings!



Andy sings!



Devin moves it!



Jeremy keeps the beat!



More singalong action!



Derek moves about.



Jeremy shakes it.



Derek keeps it clean.



The rockin' end!



You can download their debut EP for free at Bandcamp if you're so inclined. They're off to the U.K. in May.

• Show reminder: Larry and His Flask and Boxhands are at Zaphod Beeblebrox; don't bother heading off to Capital Music Hall to see Protest The Hero, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and TesseracT unless you've got a ticket; The Real McKenzies, Four-Stroke and The Valveenus rock Mavericks; the Elmdale hosts Travis Caine, Pete Vandyk and Ray Harris and The BSOBs.

That's just loony

Ottawa's Loon Choir are one of those bands which have flowered in the wake of Broken Social Scene ... I'm thinking of The Acorn, Amos the Transparent and Jetplanes of Abraham locally and folks like Ohbijou as well. Perhaps the only thing they share is an impression of deep sincerity and a fairly expansive membership.

 Derek Atkinson sings, Dan Larmour rocks the axe.



On our right we have bassist Jamie LeClair and keyboardist Nicole yates, who trades off much of the vocal duties with Atkinson.



There's also brand-new drummer  Julien Jacobi



Rocking action!



Nicole works the keys.



Derek sings!



Dan strums ... that's Brad Sheffield just behind him.



Nicole sings!



More fretting!



More Brad'n'Dan!



Even more Dan!



The shouty bit!



More Julian!



Nicole hits!



A man and his amplification.



Here's some low-light action.



Nicole works the crowd.



And a very enthusiastic crowd it was too. There next show is at Cafe DeKcuf April 30.

• Show reminder: Le Duo Bovmet - a.k.a. Phil Bova and Matt Ouimet - perform at Cafe Nostalgica; Shotgun Jimmie, Gianna Lauren and Jon McKiel play Raw Sugar; My Shadow, Chariot of the Gods and Deformatory are at The Rainbow; you can enjoy a night of pure evil at Cafe DeKcuf with Woods Of Ypres, Sonburst and Patron Saint of Plagues; Go Long (!), Beggars Laughing and Autumn Portrait roll into the Elmdale.

Fits to a tea

The Liptonians seem to be surfing on a sea of acclaim right now. They have a hotly tipped new CD, Let's All March Into The Sea.

Testing, testing, one two three. Front and centre is vocalist and guitarist Bucky Driedger, while at left is his co-founder Matt Schellenberg on keyboards; Mitch Braun, just behind Bucky plays some more keyboards and autoharp as required, while Michael Jordan plays drums and a slightly translucent
Levi Penner rounds out the quintet on bass.



More Jaguar!



Matt plays on two levels.



Bucky frets.



Hmm, what to step on next?



Guitar action!



Michael hits!



Just don't make eye contact.



Overhead action!



Keyboard action!



Bucky adjusts.



The rockin' end!



As mentioned earlier, they'll be back in town for The Prairie Scene. Meanwhile, they're almost back in Winnipeg and have a slew of western dates coming up.

• Show reminder: Monkey 99 and Marc Cowie perform at the Rainbow; The Peoples Are Explosion comes to Elmdale, possibly killing dozens, or at least entertaining many with performances in various genres courtesy of Three Little Birds, Claude Munson, Brad Morden and Heather Black.