Supernatural geography

Oregon's Witch Mountain finished off the night of metal at Cafe DeKcuf. They were on tour behind their new album Cauldron of the Wild, and served up an excellent dose of bluesy doom.

Guitraist Rob Wrong doesn't know how to play right side up. So there! At right is drummer Nathan Carson.



Neal Munson handles the low end.



And at centre stage is well-piped singer Una Plotkin.



Rob is possessed.



Nathan hits!



Extra Una!



Headbanging action!



Extra Nathan!



More Una.



Yet more Nathan.



They wrap up a spot of touring with a show in Iceland this Wednesday.

In a trance

Saturday was a chance for some head expansion, and a chance to see what happened to the other 50% of The Suppositories. As blog followers know, Ilona and Ian went on to become two-thirds of The Suppositories. So what happened to Bill and Mark? They're playing bass and guitar in trancified noiseniks Eat Crow, that's what.

And here they are now!


Eat Crow at Pressed,  May 4, 2013

There's also a few folks who weren't in The Suppositories, namely guitarist Dimitri and singer/ranter Andy. Dave Aardvark handles the drums. Dave Faughtt (of Blackball, Garaga etc.) likened them to Philly freaks Rat at Rat R - that's about as accurate a comparison as you'll find, perhaps with a bit of Swans as well?


Eat Crow at Pressed,  May 4, 2013

The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol completed the evening with some of their patented kosmic krunch.


The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol at Pressed, May 4, 2013

You'll be surprised to hear there was feedback.


The Band Whose Name Is A Symbol at Pressed, May 4, 2013

Most amusing part of the night - soundman Todd broke in half way through the set to alert the crowd to complaints from the neighbours about bicycles locked to their fence. "This is the first bike-parking infraction I've heard of at a show," he noted.

Sleep, swears and Steve

The Dominion got pretty packed last night. I think it's a tribute to the drawing power of New Swears, who always get a rowdy bunch to jump about, and the Steve Adamyk Band, who are heading out on a U.S. tour soon.

Opening up were thrashpunks Chloroform, last seen on the bill at The Blood's headlining gig at Pressed. Here's some studded action!


Chloroform at The Dominion Tavern, May 3, 2013

Rick frets!


Chloroform at The Dominion Tavern, May 3, 2013

And there was some guest vocal action from Taya.


Chloroform at The Dominion Tavern, May 3, 2013

The New Swears busted out some homemade Senators T-shirts for their rampaging set.


New Swears at The Dominion Tavern, May 3, 2013

Things got a little carried away!


New Swears at The Dominion Tavern, May 3, 2013

The Steve Adamyk Band finished things off by ripping through 14 songs in an half-hour.


Steve Adamyk Band at The Dominion Tavern, May 3, 2013

Later, on the other side of the stage ...


Steve Adamyk Band at The Dominion Tavern, May 3, 2013

Always a good time at the Dom!

Stone's throw

It's a good time for witchy women in metal. You've got Jex Thoth, Blood Ceremony and the next band on our heavy Halloween bill, Castle. They brought some top notch doom chug and psychedelic occult sounds to their Cafe DeKcuf set.

Elizabeth Blackwell rocks the low end and sings.



McCartney plays Ottawa! Al McCartney, that is.



Mat Davis on axe and vocals - he's originally from Toronto.



Elizabeth sings!



More Mat!



Hair-shaking action!



Al hits!



Extra Elizabeth!



Headbanging action!



Mat's under their somewhere.



Even more Elizabeth!



Mat sings! I think?



Elizabeth flexes!



They've just wrapped up a European tour.

Friends, Romans, countrymen

New Jersey rockers Titus Andronicus have been making waves on the indie punk rock scene for several years now, but I confess I haven't been blow away by what I've heard on record. They did, however, sound like a band who would be much more impressive live - and so it proved to be! They're on tour now with Brooklyn pals The So So Glos, and made a stop at Mavericks Wednesday night.

Finderskeepers took the stage early (it was an early show, to accommodate the sleeping needs of "government punks"). The last (and first) time I saw them perform was at the first Ottawa Explosion, almost two years ago. I can't recall if they were quite so blurty.


Finderskeepers at Mavericks, May 1, 2013

Jon hits! They covered Dag Nasty's Under Your Influence.


Finderskeepers at Mavericks, May 1, 2013

The So So Glos had a bit of road trip trouble and unfortunately had to truncate their set (they also shaved off a minute or two having it out with a heckler who yelled "Shut up and play!" at them). They put on a great set though, aided by longtime band pal and producer Adam Reich of Titus Andronicus.


The So So Glos at Mavericks, May 1, 2013

And on our right ....


The So So Glos at Mavericks, May 1, 2013

As for Titus Andronicus, they like their rock both brainy and brawny (they made me think of The Hold Steady a bit in that regard), with much personal reflection. They started things off with more of an indie rock feel, then moved on to some more hardcore stylings that really had the crowd moshing.


Titus Andronicus at Mavericks, May 1, 2013

Eric sings! He got up front to play guitar and sing lead on The Dog later on.


Titus Andronicus at Mavericks, May 1, 2013

They had some fun with covers, starting with Neil Young's Powderfinger (Young must be the artist I've heard covered the most live); they finished the show by having some of The So So Glos back onstage for a version of Joan Jett's I Love Rock'N'Roll, which merged into The Beastie Boys' No Sleep till Brooklyn, and ended up with Billy Bragg's To Have And Have Not.


Titus Andronicus at Mavericks, May 1, 2013

They play Toronto tonight.

Crunch time

On to Muffler Crunch, the third act in the trifecta of "bands I've seen recently." This the Halloween version, with Angie the Barbarian done up in scary clown makeup.

Hello everyone!



It's Angie ... or maybe the other way around ....



More Luc!



Angie sings!



Crunchy action!



Luc sings!



Faceoff action!



Guitar-raising action!



Luc works the crowd!



Luc works the bar!



The end!



They played a recent fundraiser for MS in Aylmer, no word on upcoming shows.

Bone idol

Onto another band I've seen play after this Halloween gig, and whose members I've already seen a lot of, Thought Project. Ian Vance has of course graced the blog before as a member of Boom Creek, and has popped up most recently in The Mere Humans at their Clocktower debut. Isaac McFaul, also of Boom Creek, is the regulation drummer of Pretty Little Death Machine.

They brought out the greasepeint for Halloween.



Isaac hits!



The whole lot!



Extra Isaac!



Thoughtful action!



Ian sings!



The end!



They played a recent gig with Brainhunter; what's up next, I know not.