Monday, October 15, 2012

Got it together

We're almost at the end of our Ottawa Explosion run-through: Here's Montreal's solids. As you'll see they're a two-man outfit, drums and guitar. They reminded me of Dinosaur Jr. on this occasion. I saw them a bit more than a month later when they played Cafe DeKcuf with Pregnancy Scares and Milk Music.

Louis Guillemette plays the drums.

Solids at Club SAW

And Xavier Germain Poitras plays guitar.

Solids at Club SAW

Singalong action!

Solids at Club SAW

Extra Xavier!

Solids at Club SAW

The whole lot!

Solids at Club SAW

Louis hits!

Solids at Club SAW

Yet more Xavier!

Solids at Club SAW

The end!

Solids at Club SAW

They were definitely feeling the heat by set's end.They've recently graced a comp put out by the ForChristSake label.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Missed and hitted

Sigh, I was hoping to have Yips and U.S. Girls and Slim Twig and Eeries and In Heat and Garaga photos, , but other matters demanded my attention last night. So instead we once again turn back to Ottawa Explosion , hangover edition, for some folks you know all to well if you've been following along: Roberta Bondar.

Tyler and Roberta!

Roberta Bondar at Club SAW

Closeup action!

Roberta Bondar at Club SAW

Concentrated Tyler!

Roberta Bondar at Club SAW

Gary mans the electronics as Alex frets.

Roberta Bondar at Club SAW

Extra Alex!

Roberta Bondar at Club SAW

Gary and his gear!

Roberta Bondar at Club SAW

Extra Lidija!

Roberta Bondar at Club SAW

I saw them a little while later at Mugshots, and they've also put a couple of other shows in and out of town since. Their cassette on Bruised Tongue also enjoyed some kind words from the fine folks at Weird Canada.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

That time of year

Last night after work I toddled over to Pressed for a bite to eat and some music. Both the boar with apple slaw and the country-folk of Harvest Breed were quite tasty. Harvest Breed come from Montreal and were passing through on their way to Toronto for some kind of musical shindig. Though space on the Pressed stage is pretty tight for five people, they worked it pretty well. There was even a bit of couch jumping! They used to travel under the name Jake & The Leprechauns ... can't say I blame them for the switch.

C-Antoine Gosselin, with the acoustic, handles the majority of the singing duties. Sylvain Lussier handles the low end quite adeptly while Marco Gosselin plays guitar and a bit of banjo. (Not on stage, but handling songwriting and guitar is Phillippe Custeau).

Harvest Breed at Pressed
Harvest Breed at Pressed, October 12, 2012

Over here is Maxime Rouleau, rocking the Wildkat. Drummer Gabriel Lemieux-Maillé is somewhere behind him.

Harvest Breed at Pressed
Harvest Breed at Pressed, October 12, 2012

The whole blurry lot!

Harvest Breed at Pressed
Harvest Breed at Pressed, October 12, 2012

Unfortunately the audience could be counted on two hands with a couple of fingers left over (assuming you don't count Pressed staff and Jon Bartlett, who presented the show). "I always dreamed of remembering the names of everyone at a show," quipped Gosselin. I suspect the Royal Canoe show pulled off a good chunk of what would have been their audience.
  • Show reminder:  Slim Twig, U.S. Girls & The Yips play Babylon, somewhat earlier than usual (to make way for dancin' at 11). DOA are playing at Zaphod's with Raw Raw Riot and Brain Damage. Garaga, The Eeries and In Heat will be rocking next door at the Dom. The Eeries (yes, the recently blogged about Ottawa Explosion harmonizers are back again for two shows!), Pink Wine and Beverly Hills are hitting up 558 Gladstone. The Conor Gains band is at the Rainbow; Barry and the Blasters are raising some coin for the Youth Services Bureau at the Elmdale; Irene's hosts Terry Tufts and Ken Workman. Ian Reid and Jeff Hagerman perform at the Avant-Garde.

Friday, October 12, 2012

Bad language

On to the New Swears, featuring a couple of Girlfriends and a couple of Polymorphines (and Rat Tales, etc.). In other words, trouble incarnate.

Here's Sammy, Nick and Heinz.

New Swears at Club SAW

And Wolfgang makes four.

New Swears at Club SAW

Nick sings!

New Swears at Club SAW

Singalong action!

New Swears at Club SAW

Extra Heinz!

New Swears at Club SAW

Drum-abusing action!

New Swears at Club SAW

Wolgang sings!

New Swears at Club SAW

Jumping about!

New Swears at Club SAW

Microphone-sharing action!

New Swears at Club SAW

It's not easy being a tom.

New Swears at Club SAW

The end!

New Swears at Club SAW

As chaotic as usual!

New Swears at Club SAW

You can do some free music downloading at their Bandcamp.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Above average

If I were a rational person, I suppose I might have slept in on Sunday instead of going off to Club SAW for the hangover edition of Ottawa Explosion. As evidence I'm not, here are some snaps of Average Times, who I caught the last few minutes of. It was their first show.

Todd frets!

Average Times at Club SAW

Drummer Stef, Tim (from Year Zero, etc.) and Curtis, a.k.a. Stabatron of Hellbros.

Average Times at Club SAW

Stef hits!

Average Times at Club SAW

And, er, that's it. Fortunately I managed to catch a bit more of them in August at the Atomic Rooster.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Denim demon

And now for the explosive end of Saturday nights events, the performance by Mean Jeans. It came in a bit short since the clock was winding down, but packed a big punch.

Not too many photos from the front of the stage, since things got a bit hectic.

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

Billy Jeans sneers at the microphone.

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

Jeans Wilder hits!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

The crowd goes wild!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

More Billy!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

Headbanging action with Junior!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

Extra Wilder!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

More hair!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

Rhythm section action!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

Crowd-surfing action!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

Hair-shaking action!

Mean Jeans at Mavericks

They'll be playing a few Florida dates, and hit Vancouver in November.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Drawn by hand

For the last time (of the festival, anyway) we climb to the stairs to Cafe DeKcuf to witness the goofy, occasionally ribald charms of Spencey Dude & The Doodles, who combine cuddly punk sounds with snarky romantic potshots (which apparently hurt the feelings of the maximumrocknroll reviewer - now that's punk rock!).

Spencey and Dreamdate's Anna!

Spencey Dude & The Doodles at Cafe DeKcuf

You can't have as many San Fran bands show up and not have Oscar Michel (also of Gris Gris) along for the ride.

Spencey Dude & The Doodles at Cafe DeKcuf

Anna sings!

Spencey Dude & The Doodles at Cafe DeKcuf

The whole lot!

Spencey Dude & The Doodles at Cafe DeKcuf

Spencey sings!

Spencey Dude & The Doodles at Cafe DeKcuf

And so on!

Spencey Dude & The Doodles at Cafe DeKcuf

Bonus Anna!

Spencey Dude & The Doodles at Cafe DeKcuf

They're now back in San Francisco, just chilling.