Have a little faith

Crusades are something of an Ottawa Explosion institution; they played their first show at the final Gaga Weekend, performed at last year's inaugural Explosion and were up on stage again. It's like they've got some secret in with the organizers ...

Emmanuel rocks the Gibson!



He sings too!



Skottie rocks the bass.



Jordy hits!



Crowd singalong action!



I didn't get any good pictures of Dave.



Unless you like the back of his head.



One more Jordy!



They march across Europe this October.

• Show reminder: Pink Noise, Total Crush and Organ Eyes bruise tongues and ear at Pressed; Yes, Please & Thank You, Riishi Von Rex and Golden Bulldozer perform at Zaphod's; Jack de Keyzer play the Rainbow; Ninety Pounds of Ugly and The Honky Tonk Heartbreakers go country at Irene's; Not Dead Yet demonstrates they are not yet dead at the Elmdale.

Excess pounds

After doing a bit of this and that at home I zipped over to Babylon to see the evening portion of Ottawa Explosion. Dead Weights were on stage, making this the second time I've arrived to late for their set. Last time around, at Cafe DeKcuf, they had Jon Creeden on guitar. Creeden's since relocated to Kingston, so Steve McCrimmon of Benevenstanciano has stepped in as co-growler.

Jonathan sings!



Steve Robillard hits!



New Steve, old Derek!



Shadowy action!



More Derek!



The whole lot!



Singalong action!



Steve rocks the Tele, may be crazy.



He seems to be enjoying himself anyway.



They're taking the East Coast by storm in late September, and have a show at with Cobra Skulls at Cafe DeKcuf when they return October 9.

• Show reminder: F, the band that spurns your Google love, reunite for a show at the Lunenburg Pub (the one on Waller St., not one in actual Lunenburg). Lukas Grant and The Musettes are just around the corner at the Avant-Garde Bar. The Elmdale hosts Gillian Kirkland and Shaman Rhythms. Inlet Sounds, Phantom Shores and Dave Norris & Local Ivan perform at Zaphod's.

In tents!

After a day's respite, we return to Mother's Children's excellent set at Ottawa Explosion. (Last night's delay was brought about by the necessity of more post-flood cleanup.) They got right into the rocking, as you can see ...

Motherly action!



Hair-shaking action!



Ken sings!



Tim hits!



The shouty bit!



Michael and Davey jump about.



Michael takes care of business.



Singalong action with Explosion king Emmanuel!



The crowd discusses the finer points of the performance.



Extra Tim!



Shadowy action!



Shady action!



Faceoff action!



The crowd goes wild!



Next stop, Babylon! As for Mother's Children, they are presumably resting after sweating out 50% of their bodyweight at Bluesfest. (FLASH UPDATE, August 22: They'll be playing Sept. 1 on the first "Night Moves" night at Babylon with New Swears. There will also be manicures.)

• Show reminder: Tigers Jaw, Turnover, Sparrows, Young Statues, Goodsprings and PJ Bond hit Mavericks; The 24Th Street Wailers are at Irene's; the Elmdale hosts Jill Zmud, Darrelle London and Alyssa Munaretto.

Hob-knobbing

You want loud? Try bass and drum combo Big Dick. Johnny O and Dave Secretary had a bit of pre-Explosion controversy when a Little Richard tribute act by the same name complained about their alleged inclusion on the Ottawa Explosion's lineup. Was it real, or was it a prank? All I know is no Little Richard covers were heard during this set.

However, the banana made a return.



Johnny sings!



Dave hits!



Another view of Dave.



Shouty, fisheyed Dave!



Let there be drinking!



Singalong action!



Hairshaking action!



The crowd gets a little carried away!



What they plan next I know not. Ahem, as it happens they're playing August 29 at pressed with Male Nurse and Fist City.

• Show reminder: There's metal aplenty at Mavericks with sets from Kill Devil Hill, The Catalyst, Inire and Defined.

Oh, you Kid!

For a little while it seemed like there wa sa garage rock explosion going on inQuebec, with bands like Les Les Breastfeeders and Les Sequelles busting out all over. It's a might quieter now (or perhaps the noise doesn't travel as far), but here's Le Kid & Les Marinellis to show that tambourine shaking is alive and well in la belle province.

That Kid (a.k.a. Cedric Marinelli)!



Guitar action (I believe this is Ralph)!



More guitar action from J.F. and Benoit!



Benoit sings!



Cedric sings and shakes!



Drumming action with Oli!



Fretful action!



Yet more guitar!



A fine set.

• Show reminder: There's more Finish What You Started at Cafe DeKcuf with Teethmarks, Spilt Guts, Stay Here and Shahman; Evening Hymns release their new record at Raw Sugar, accompanied by Andy Swan. The Elmdale hosts the Quebec Redneck Bluegrass Project; Irene Torres & The Sugar Devils play the Rainbow.

Here we crow again

It's been quite a while since I've been to the Atomic Rooster. They do still host the occasional rock show, but it just isn't the same since The Rock'N'Roll Pizza Party went to the great hangover in the sky. Still, it was like old times last night - with even some of the same faces from my second to last trip: The New Swears and Average Times are new, but you've seen these folks in The Girlfriends, Year Zero, The Polymorphines and their associated circles. You've also seen them if you checked out the Ottawa Explosion. The Glorious Moonrockets were also on hand to finish the night off.

First off, Average Times, last seen on a balmy Sunday in June, at Club SAW. You've seen Tim Ostler behind the drums for sundry bands, and in Year Zero, Curtis is in Hellbros and Todd was in The Sweet Janes and fronted Savage Crimes for a spell. Here he is, along with drummer Stef and a guitar borrowed from Heinz after sundry technical difficulties.


Average Times at Atomic Rooster, August 17, 2012

Curtis, a.k.a. Stabatron!


Average Times at Atomic Rooster, August 17, 2012

Next up, New Swears. If there's one thing you're guaranteed of at show involved Heinz, Nick, Sammy and Wolfgang, it's misbehaviour. They started things off with some disrobing - if you weren't there you missed a chance for a good look at Nick's butt - and generated a fair amount of audience craziness.


New Swears at Atomic Rooster, August 17, 2012

And some guest singalong action from Swollen Eye Buddy!


New Swears at Atomic Rooster, August 17, 2012

Finally, The Glorious Moonrockets, Chris Landry's rock outlet, who covered a lot of ground, including The Dictators' Minnesota Strip.


The Glorious Moonrockets at Atomic Rooster, August 17, 2012

Rhythm section action!


The Glorious Moonrockets at Atomic Rooster, August 17, 2012

It really was just like old times, right down to the broken glass.

• Show reminder: It's Day 2 of Finish What You Started Fest ... it's an upstairs/downstairs deal at Mavericks and Cafe DeKcuf, with sets from The Nils, Four-Stroke, Shot Nerves, Dead Weights, Valveenus, and a whole bunch of others ... doors at 6:30 so it's going to be a long night! FirexFire, Our Friends The Spiders and Alexy & The Other Side are at Zaphod's; The Paul DesLauriers Band performs at Irene's;