One Furr all

Country rock enthusiasts Blitzen Trapper are on tour right now, celebrating the 10th anniversayr of their landmark album Furr. I was keen to see them play again -even though another fave, Castle, was performing the same night at Targ - since my last sighing, back in 2012 during Bluesfest. It was fun to see them in a club setting, as an added bonus their was a fine opening set from Oregon trio Candace. Here's guitarist and vocalist Sarah!



Rhythm section action with Sarah and Mara!



Singalong action!



More Mara!



Closeup action!



More guitar!



Blitzen Trapper pulled a pretty big crowd; here's guitarist and keyboardist Erik!



Eric sings!



It was pretty busy at the front of the stage, so this is probably the best picture you'll get of drummer Brian.



Guitar action! That's bassist Michael at right.



More guitar with Erik!



More Eric!



And finally some harmonica action, with keyboardist Marty at right.



A very pleasant evening.

Praise Jesus!

I've said it before, and Ill say it again: I'm a sucker for strong female vocalists (Neko Case is a particular fave), so no extra points for guessing I was at The 27 Club a couple of Tuesday's ago to check out Zola Jesus. The opener was bedroom recorder Townes, doing a solo thing with synth, guitar and drum machine. Here he is now, likely explaining something.



Vocal action!



Guitar action!



And so on!



Multitasking action!



Clapping action!



Zola Jesus put on a fantastic performance, aided by guitarist Alex DeGroot (her regular violin accompanist, Michelle Woodward, was occupied elsewhere). Her between song banter was mostly cheerful, including an off-the-cuff rendition of an Ottawa tourism tune, which made for an amusing contrast with her gothic song subjects. with  Here she is getting psyched up!



Gripping action!



Slide guitar action!



More Zola!



More gripping action!



Hair-tossing action!



And so on!



It was all I'd hoped it would be!

The new Friday

This show from a week ago kicked off one of those weeks where I wish I could be in two places at once - even on a Monday. I went to the Rainbow for the first time in quite a while (the last act I caught there was Ol' Savannah in spring 2012) to start the week off right with some rock'n'roll. Chicago's Viet Rahm and Tulsa trio Planet What stopped by, with Boom Creek opening things up. Here's Todd!



Neil sings!



Guitar action with Ian!



Booming action!



Ian sings!



Adam hits!



Extra Neil!



Rhythm section action!



Since it's the Rainbow, there's a mandatory shot from the upper balcony.



Singalong action!



And so on!



Planet What are a trashed-out combo who made me think of a super lo-fi crossing of L7 and Sonic Youth (this probably means I am old). Here's Dylan and one-half of the band's dual Danelectro team, Jeanette!



Dylan hits!



Here's Kylie on Danelectro No. 2!



Planetary action!



More Dylan!



Extra Kylie!



More Jeanette!



Overhhead action!



Feedback action!



Grounded action!



The whole lot!



Viet Rahm closed the night with some serious psych-punk thunder. I'm not quite sure who's who, so here are some photos, starting with some rhythm section action!



Vocal action!



More bass!



And so on!



Overhead action!



More guitar!



More percussion!



The whole lot!



A swell way to head into the week.