Knights nix spikes

On to the Brutal Knights! Sorry this post is a bit delayed - I was distracted last night by a car driving into the Rideau Canal while I was bicycling home. I just missed being a witness for few moments, so instead of going home to blog I went home to retrieve my camera. But enough about automotive destruction. Let's look at some punk destruction. Here are the Brutal Knights doing their thing on Mavericks' capacious floor.

Randy sings!





Katie G. Warrior and her all-girl army.



Yay Knights!



John Powers drums.



Shirtless Nick seeks co-vocalist.



The kid with the spikes got some ragging on the Fuck Yeah Tour video diary for moshing in his pointywear, not to mention some admonishment from Nick.



That Nick likes to bend.



I don't know who their new bassist is.



They'll be back in Ottawa October 30 with Belgian punk legends The Kids at the Bayou.

• Show reminder: Sleepercar and Male Nurse perform at Babylon; The Got To Get Got, Poorfolk and Bruce Peninsula perform at Zaphod's.

Static electricity

The Rheostatics are no more, and its constituents are now busy proving the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. Sorry! But there's no denying Dave Bidini's a fun performer - you can just see from the photos below what an active fellow he is - and he's got an ace band.

The man himself.



Paul Linklater sings!



Don Kerr gazes!



Singalong action with Dave Friesen, who can also be seen playing with Ben Gunning and Peter Elkas.



And of course Six Shooter mainstay and collaborator-with-everyone Ford Pier.



The whole lot, except for Ford.



And so on!









Dave's also a writer ... I think I prefer the book ...

• Show reminder: I'm sad to be missing some Deadly Snakes vets unleashing some seriously heavy rock fuzz as Quest For Fire at Cafe DeKcuf; ex-Jon-Rae and The Riverites $100 and a couple of Constantines doing the solo thing - Woolly Leaves, (last seen on this here blog performing on a bill with Julie Doiron) and Deloro are also on the bill. Matt Costa, Sera Cahoone and the particularly ace Winter Gloves perform at Barrymore's; ManKillsMan, Mekhaya, Grafenberg and Goetia spread happiness and cheer at Mavericks; Ty Hall performs at The Rainbow. Holger Schoorl performs at The Avant-Garde.

Meanwhile ...

I didn't get to a show yesterday, but did snap some people jumping in the water and one guy riding to his wedding.

Smells like team spirit

Next up for the Fuck Yeah tour show at Mavericks was Brooklyn's Team Robespierre. And by "up" I mean "down," since like every band except Sedatives, they decided to set up on the floor. Despite a relative lack of light I actually managed to take some good pictures. That's the good thing about synth-punk - those flashing lights on keyboards are easy to get an autofocus on ...

Beginning a show with a rock jump is always a good thing.



Shouting also encouraged.





Singalong action, even better with one microphone.



Drums are good for drumming.



They are also good for standing on.



Sticking with one keyboard posture ... some people do, some don't.





The bassist sings some.



Big finish!



Wild and crazy fun, with a whole lot more craziness to come.

• Show reminder: Wolf Parade and The Witchies play the Capital Music Hall. Scott Cook and The Scribbler Band play The Rainbow.
  

A little less guitar

Guitar Shorty certainly knows some famous folks - he's plucked the strings for Ray Charles and Sam Cooke and married Jimi Hendrix's sister. He's a frequent visitor to the Ottawa Bluesfest and has a sizable local following thanks to his smoking guitarwork.

This was just the line check - but a rocking one.



Rhythm guitarist Sam Pemberton can be seen just behind him.



The Texas Horns also showed up, as they often do.



And now for a quick change of clothes and the actual show!





How low can he go?



That was fun, if slightly delayed.

Going under

The day after splitting Bluesfest early for the Lover!/Mother's Children/Savage Crimes show I decided not to bother going at all and see what these much-touted Monotonix were all about. The short answer is noise and craziness. The Fuck Yeah! tour of which they were apart brought The Brutal Knights, Team Robespierre and comedian Hannibal Buress to town as well, but the opener was Ottawa's own Sedatives.

Ian Manhire sings!



Steve Adamyk and Emmanuel Sayer manhandle the strings.



Dave Williams drums and promotes the Rock'n'Roll Pizza Party.



And so on!









Their next gig in Ottawa is August 9 with The Brights and Statues at Babylon (they also play Toronto before and Montreal after said date).

• Show reminder: The Dirty 30's, The Living Sound System and Stop Drop N'Skank play the Bytown Tavern; Snatchback, The Donner Party, Gusto Fiasco and A Dream of Descent rock the New Bayou; Crush Buildings release their new CD at Zaphod's with Psychic Hotline. Fuck The Facts promote headbanging at Le Petit Chicago in Hull. The Woodrunners play the Elmdale Tavern. Boom Creek go boom at Irene's.

Children of the grave

Bluesfest's first Friday starts with a set from Evil Farm Children. I already gave you some of the lowdown (click the nametag at the bottom for further details), so I'll just add that if memory serves there was a cover of Rumble, some Black Sabbath and the usual healthy helping of cranked up surf-rock. And now, here's a bunch of pictures.

Dave picks and grimaces.



Janice and lights.



Jeb rocks the skulls.



The Children don't always follow their own advice.





That stage, that glaring sun.



Those eyes! Those terrible eyes! Oh, and singalong action.





Big finish!





The EFC have a new CD on the way; a CD release show at The Dominion is planned for Sept. 20.

• Show reminder: Orphan's Crowd, No More Hollywood, Jon Creeden and The Ashton Starr perform at the The Book Depository on 198 Gladstone Ave; there is much rock at the New Bayou with the mighty Jucifer, Knives for Kids, Muffler Crunch, Doll, Ladymilk and Rock City (and as you might have guessed from the lengthy lineup, it gets underway early); Lee Mellor and Lefty McRighty and The Dusty Drifters perform at Irene's; Kingston's Tom Savage Trio perform at The Elmdale Tavern. The Habit, Tara Holloway and The Increments perform at Zaphod's. Riishi Von Rex & The Dire Royalty and New Teeth perform at The Avant Garde.