In space

Next on stage at the great CHUO fundraiser, Roberta Bondar, a band I think is mighty swell. Once again, a crackerjack set from the quartet.

First, some introduction action, courtesy of Emmanuel Sayer!



Gary appears in a puff of smoke!



Lidija rocks the Epiphone.



Smokey singing action!



Guitar action with Alex Maltby!



Gary shakes it!



Widget action!



Tyler hits!



Extra double Alex!



Liidija sings!



Tyler takes a stand!



Knob twiddling action!



The end!



They'll be playing the Ottawa Explosion hangover party at the hostel bar June 17.

• Show reminder: Darn it, I'm missing Marduk, 1349, Withered, Weapon and From the Deep at Mavericks! Eric Gilmore and The Mad Hatters and Enjoy Your Pumas appear at the Emldale courtesy of CKCU's Both Kinds of Music.

Temperature rising

St. Patricks featured more than the usual outburst of Celtic music - CHUO, the radi station for the University of Ottawa held a fundraiser with some of Ottawa's hottest bands: Fevers, Roberta Bondar, Boyhood and The Visitors.

First up, Fevers. Here's bassist Jim Hopkins.



Colin MacDougall sings!



On keyboards, Sarah Bradley.



A shouty bit!



Martin Charbonneau both plays guitar and provides some of their defining electronic sounds.



Jim sings, and casts a long shadow on drummer Mike Stauffer.



More Mike!



Singalong action!



Colin breaks out the mandolin.



The whole lot!



Guitar action!



They're keeping busy this summer, with shows at Feverfest (at the Clocktower Pub) June 23, Le Petit Chicago in Gatineau June 30, at Bluesfest July 5 and at the blacksheep August 5 and August 10.

Breeding ground

Mike O'Neill made his name as one of The Inbreds, but for the st few years it seems he's mostly been working behind the scenes , sound mixing for television (Trailer Park Boys, for example). This February he released a solo album, Wild Lines, and a nice bit of work it is, too. He promptly took it out on the road, and appeared at Raw Sugar along with a very sharp band, The Pinecones, backing him up.

The man himself (and a somewhat fuzzy Brent Randall).



Ace guitar work from Paul Linklater.



Guitar action!



And so on!



Fisheye action!



Extra Mike!



Bonus Paul!



Getting a photo of drummer Marshall Bureau was no easy task.



Extra Brent!



Marshall shakes it!



An excellent evening.

The golden hour

Sometimes  a few years pass before I see another performer again, but I think David Merritt and The Golden Seals are going to hold the record - last time I caught him live was back in November 2005 at Irene's. Anyway, here he is again, opening up for The Ibreds' Mike O'Neill with some sharp pop and the occasional off-colour gag. This time around he had Phil Bova Jr. on drums, Matt Ouimet on bass and John F. Higney Jr. on guitar.

Here's David!



Smiley John.



Those (mostly out-of-focus) Seals!



Guitar action!



David sings!



Bonus Phil.



Fisheye action!



The whole lot!



Singalong action!



A fine set.

Strong like Ox

When I was a wee lad, heavy metal meant two guitars and leather pants. Nowadays the field is so stylistically diverse you can find Italian Moog-prog and ambient soundscapes in the metal bin - and that's fine by me. Which brings us to Musk Ox, possibly not metal, but admired by metal fans and containing metal fans and musos.

Here's one now, Raphael Weinroth-Browne, most recently seen behind the kit for Argus Panoptes at Mavericks. He's also in local heavy proggers Cholera.



On the left, head Ox Nathan Larochette.



At left, Evan Runge, ex-Urban Aesthetics.



Musky action!



Raphael fingers a bit.



More Nathan!



And, er, that's it.

• Show reminder: Lefty McRighty & The Sinister Six and Chris Landry & The Seasick Mommas will perform at Irene's to celebrate Lefty surviving another year; Dave Kerr is also a year older, and Muffler Crunch and The Hook Up will be providing the musical accompaniment for that event at the Elmdale; The Tammy Jones Band, Blue Switch and Brave The Third perform at Zaphod's; Loon Choir unleash their new CD at the Rainbow; Graydon James & The Young Novelists, Hinterlandband and Kevin Hersak play the Avant-Garde.

All in the hands

On to Paper Beat Scissors, the musical pseudonym of Tim Crabtree, who was born in Burnley (he still sports the accent) and now resides in Halifax, where he produces some haunting folk sounds.

He is a man of many microphones - well, two, anyway.



Tim sings!



And so on!



And more so!



He's back in the vicinity in just a few days time - June 6 at the blacksheep in Wakefield, to be precise.

• Show reminder: Jonathan Becker & The White Devils, Nick Sherman and Downside Kid perform at Raw Sugar; Bad Bad Not Good and Daughters of the Revolution play Ritual; there's rocking at the Sky Bar with The Dead Zone, Pretty Little Death Machine; Static Revolt and Black Market Candy; The Bushpilots unleash their new CD at the Elmdale with Cloud of Rock; Ted Robinson is at the Rainbow; Irene's plays host to Victor Nesrallah and Mark Crissinger.