Caught and missed

A lovely Saturday, and there I was feeling under the weather. However, I've been jonesing to see The Polytones for many months and liked what I heard on The Coggs' debut CD, so I rose from my sickbed to catch them at Zaphod's.

First, The Watters Brothers - and yes, unlike my earlier show plug there are two Ts - a 1960s soul funk influence sprinkled with some modern nods, and a killer live show.



Then The Polytones - represented here by frontwoman Lesia Manchulenko and guitarist Ben Wilson.



And finally The Coggs - good show, but not so easy to focus a camera on a man dressed in black, with a black guitar and black shoes on a black background while the lights are low. Here's guitarist and singer Jeff Coghill.



Then I zipped over to Cafe DeKcuf to catch The Creeps (unfortunately I missed Sexhead, Le Volume Etait Au Maximum and A Dying Breed, who were also on the bill - next time, I hope!).



Music is good for what ails you - I actually feel much better. More pictures will of course appear later, complete with guest appearances and a wardrobe malfunction.

Round and round

The Dymaxions were enjoying their first show outside of Montreal - and they were a pleasant surprise to all. An energetic live act with an indie rock hoedown style that dovetailed neatly with the headliners' sound. They're originally from Guelph and say they recorded their debut EP for no money. "This makes them the smartest band in the world." says their online bio. Quite.

First, some psyching up.



T.M.M. Kramer keeps it under his hat.



D.K. Rathwell in a starring performance.





G.A. Perets strikes a classic pose. I think there's some sartorial preplanning with T.M.M. going on here.





T.C. Wood plays lightly.



And not so lightly!



Kramer puts some extra grimace to work.



Dymaxion action!











The crashing finale.







A great band well worth seeing again.

• Show reminder: Four'n'Giv'r play a free show at Birdman Sound; The Creeps, Sexhead, Le Volume Etait Au Maximum and A Dying Breed play Cafe DeKcuf; The Flaps and The Empiricals play the Black Sheep Inn; as mentioned yesterday, Department of Foreign Affairs, Friday Morning's Regret and The Soiree play Irene's. The Coggs have a release party for their new CD at Zaphod's along with The Polytones and The Waters Brothers. Big Jeezus Truck rocks out at Barrymore's along with Evil Farm Children and Scarecrows. The Black Boot Trio and The Rizdales play The Bayou.

Going out

I was pleased as punch to get Victoria Day off - God save the Queen ... I mean it, man! - since it meant I wouldn't be late to catch any of the bands at The Islands show. Unfortunately, Bus Driver couldn't (or wouldn't) make it. That meant that show promoter Shawn Scallen had to grab a last minute act to round out the bill. He quite sensibly chose The Soiree. This was an all ages show, and unlike their elders, who seem convinced that the opening act will bite you if you get closer than two metres to the stage, the young'uns like to belly up and glue themselves there like indie-rock limpets. Such commendable enthusiasm - but it did make my picture snapping a tad more difficult ... don't they know that I'm the one who's supposed to be getting in everyone's way?!? Ahem. Some photos:

Photographed from waaaaay over on the other side of the stage, Mike Armstrong.



Matthew Arnold, taking a brief break from singing.



Bryce Colenbrander is in The Soft Disaster, about whom more later.



Eric Roberts, in the back in black.



Singalong action!



Nightly action!



I suspect the lamp is there so the soundman can see what he's doing in Babylon's gloomiest recesses. It's a nice lamp, so I took a picture of it.









As for the Soft Disaster - they hold their CD release party tonight at Zaphod's with If Then Do and Poorfolk, both of which I confess to being keen to see again. You won't have to wait long to catch The Soiree in action again: They play Irene's tomorrow - May 27 - with The Department of Foreign Affairs and Friday Morning's Regret.

• Show reminder: Lefty McRighty and The Boxcar Cadavers, The Alley Dukes and The Sick Sick Sicks play Cafe DeKcuf; downstairs at Mavericks The 3Tards, The Antics, Hands Of The Few, Perfect Patient, Skunch and Mad Kid Disease make a ruckus. Country lovers will want to check out Ball & Chain and The Wreckers at The Bayou. Joel Plaskett and The Emergency play the Capital Music Hall. Kingston Fog, Born Ruffians, Crush Buildings and Bangkok play the Gap of Dunloe. The Coggs perform at The Rainbow (at 5p.m., part of their early Friday residency).
  

Where they're at

Place were the synthiest band at Synthfest - only appropriate since they had a lot to do with it coming together. They did throw in some guitar like the other bands, but otherwise it was all synthesizer and drum machine. Unfortunately the lights were set to moody so some of these pictures come up a little short on the "in focus" department, but you get the idea.

Andrew - since I missed his starter set, he might as well go first ...





Mooney - the facepaint makes me think of Adam Ant. Boy, am I dating myself ...



Sam, sporty synthesist.





Andrew works the microphone.



Mooney gets a little synth time.



Location action!











Unfortunately I was getting dog tired and headed home right about the time they were getting into the swing of things, but I thought it was a good set nonetheless.

• Show reminder: Sick Sick Sicks, The Nads, Midnyte Revival, The Poulsens and Eugene and the Eugenics play Le Garage in Gatineau.

Jurassic rock

Pianosaurus Rex were the second band on stage at Synthfest (once again, not to neglect the opening solo turn from Place's Andrew) . Although they only have one synthesizer, there's something more synthy about them than F!ghtF!ghtF!ght. Perhaps because it's a full-time part of their sound. Or maybe because it's bigger and cheesier looking, and has a Masters of the Universe sticker on it.

Sassasaurus in a typically Sassasaurian pose.



Meccasaurus multitasks.



Ladysaurus sings and flashes the tattoos.





Wattasaurus does what he does.



F!ghtF!ghtF!ght had premiered a song which they had just learned the day before. Sassasaur allowed how that was cool 'n all, but "No offence, we're better." Yes, they had a song so new that they hadn't even learned it yet. Thus they had some help for the lyrics.



Pterodactyl action!











They appealed to me quite a bit more than they did at their Rainbow gig.

• Show reminder: Andrew Vincent plays a solo show at The Shanghai. Various sideprojects are playing End Hits: New Idea Society, Lettersent and One More Chapter.