Some folks do

No, this post isn't about the Folk Festival, though the band in question would make a good addition to its stages. William Armstrong and Gavin Dyke are a harmonious pair who play some nice no-frills fair.

Them Dogs!



Gavin sings!



William sings!



Twelve-string action!



Guitar-switching action.



Gavin takes a spin on the semi-hollow.



Singalong action!



More William!



More Gavin!



The end!



Dunno what they're up to now.

• Show reminder: Acres and Paramedics go on hiatus and call it a day respectively with a gig at Cafe Dekcuf; Hearts & Mines, Parks & Recreation and Arms of The Girl bring their ampersands to Zaphod Beeblebrox; Tympanic and Sober Second Thoughts play The Rainbow; Ross Neilsen & The Suffering Bastardsperform at Irene's; The Elmdale hosts Steve Canadian and the Psoriatics and Sad Guru; Pretty Little Death Machine and Celery Troff rock the Avant-Garde Bar..

Shoots and leaves

Dave Aardvark of Off the Beaten Track and CHUO fame has taken to putting on the occasional live show at The Dominion, such as John Wesley Coleman and Rayon Beach, and this time around The Gardens, a Detroit psychedelic band.

Mannequin was tapped to start thing off. They're a much louder and more psychedelic band, as you'd expect from a combo fronted by Matt Oxley. This set was a real brainburner, and it wasn't too easy on the eardrums either. He was apparently dissatisfied with the guitar volume on the first tune so he just cranked things up to grill and let fly.


Mannequin at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Monster rhythm section action!


Mannequin at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Gardens played a brief but tuneful set that put me in the mind of a less wiggy Brian Jonestown Massacre. The Detroit outfit largely eschews effects (Indeed I don't think they had a single stompbox between them) and have a sort of classic 66-beat sound as a result.

Drummer Julian Spradlin and singer Jeffrey Thomas (formerly of Genders).


Gardens at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Guitarist Matt Mueller and bassist Vincent Mazzola.


Gardens at The Dominion, August 24, 2011

Snappy stuff all round.

• Show reminder: The Weather Station and Rolf Klausener play up a storm at Raw Sugar Cafe; Guttermouth, The New Threat, Gusto Fiasco and Lost Youth rock Mavericks; Fear of Lipstick and The Visitors kick out the jams at The Clocktower; The Elmdale hosts The Big Chill.

Engine parts

Up next, The Motorleague. They hail from Moncton, N.B., like a few good bands I've seen of late, but they don't grip me like, say, Fear of Lipstick does. Their first album was produced by Ian Blurton and PJ Dunphy (of Iron Giant and The Monoxides, among others) once played bass for them and they do however jump around a fair bit, which is something.

Faceoff action with Don Levandier and Shawn Chiasson!



Dual guitar action with Nathan Jones!



Nathan sings!



Ryan McDonald hits!



Shawn sings!



More Don!



The whole lot!



More guitar!



Not a lot of space on the riser ...



Guitar-lifting action!



Nathan frets!



Ryan hits!



Bendy action!



And so forth!



Gripping action!



The end!



As near as I can decipher from the Internets, they are currently working on some new tunes.

• Show reminder: Detroit's mighty Gardens are at the Dominion with Mannequin; The Elmdale hosts Surprise Me, Mr. Davis. Mubarak Farah and the Airliner Blues Band rock the Avant-Garde Bar.

Scream for me

Having almost recuperated from the Ottawa Explosion, I went off on June 23 to check out Motorleague, an Ian Blurton-produced combo who sounded promising (at least on paper). Also, I am a sucker for any band with "motor" in its name. Anyway, their opener was the band once known as Music Box. They had just switched their name to Love Banshee, which somehow doesn't seem entirely apt for their country-surf-punk-rock combo (needs more howling, really), but what the heck, here they are.

Tyler Stoddart sings!



Singing drummer action from Kyle Taylor!



The whole lot, including Dylan F. Bravener on bass and Steve Sloane on the other guitar.



Steve frets, Dylan sings!



More Kyle!



Dylan goes green.



Running about!



More Steve!



More Kyle!



Faceoff action!



The fisheye adds 50 pounds.



Steve prepares to step on it.



The whole lot again!



Extra Dylan.



Keyboard action!



The end!



That was okay ... no idea what they're up to lately, though.

• Show reminder: Dry River Caravan, The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra and Andre M. Bluteau perform at Zaphod's; Tara Lett and Gin & Juice play The Rainbow; The Elmdale hosts US and Australia's Marta. Sarah Hiltz and Cameron MacLean are at the Avant-Garde Bar.

Party til you puke tonight

Here it is, last show of the night for Ottawa Explosion Mark I, appropriately capped by a band fronted by the guy who started up its predecessor The Gaga Weekend, Ian Manhire. As you'd expect from a big, liquored up crowd, things rapidly went from crazy to nuts when The White Wires played.

Luke shows off his snazzy new bass.



Davey gives a mostly coherent introduction!



Allie reacts to said introduction.



Let the tuneage commence!



Ian sings!



Allie hits, likes Roy Rogers!



Doubled action!



Crowdsurfing skeletal videographer action!



Ian twists!



Ian goes down!



More Allie!



Davey sings one.



There he goes!



The crowd goes wild, and more or less stays there!



Singalong action with Luke and Emmanuel!



Guitar action!



I'm just going to get up on stage where it's safe ...



Hair-flinging action!



More twist action!



Double-surfing action!



Sammy And Wolfgang try to crowd-surf Ian mid-song. This did not work. "We love Sammy and Wolfgang, but they don't understand science!" says Emmanuel.



More jubilation!



There goes Luke!



And now it's time for an on-stage dance party!



Yep.



Audience singalong action!



The end!



Next stop, California, where they're playing a handful of dates from August 31 to September 5.

• Show reminder: She Roars and Aesthetics perform at Zaphod Beeblebrox; Lisa Marie and James O'Brian play at The Rainbow.