Bluesfest: Alice Cooper

Alice Cooper is safely in the "needs no introduction" file. The veteran showman has been working his horror schtick for decades, and obviously knows what he's doing.

Even if it a bit cheesy.



Lots of good guitarists helping him out, including Down Under guitar ace Orianthi and axeman-for-many Tommy Henriksen.



Stage right, we have Flying V enthusiast Ryan Roxie and bassmen Chuck Garric.



Sparky action!



Guitar action!



More Orianthi!



After a quick prop-and-jacket change ...



Extra snake!



Alice is actually looking pretty good for his age.



But I'm not sure the top hat is a good look for him.



A short and sharp performance.

Bluesfest: Monster Truck

The weekend started (for me, anyway) with a sweaty, hairy performance of sweaty, hairy rock by Monster Truck. Sweaty and hairy is actually their natural state, so everything worked ut fine for the Hamilton crew.

Direct from the 1970s, here's Brandon.



Shirtless guitar with Jer!



Hairy action with bassist Jon!



And so on!



Drummer Steve hits some!



Jon sings!



The whole band pitches in with the singing.



More guitar!



The whole lot!



And the view from the other side of the stage.



Blurry keyboard action!



Feedback action!



Then it was off to see Alice Cooper. Monster Truck will be touring in December, with a date in Ottawa at Mavericks Dec. 7.

Bluesfest: Sleigh Bells

Brooklyn dance-rockers Sleigh Bells, unlike many dance-rockers, seem to favour the latter half of the equation. They plunked a mass of speakers on the River Stage, a gaggle of smoke machines and a blinding light machine and went at it.

Here we are before things went boom with touring guitarist Jason Boyer.



How many of those were turned on?



Smokey action!



Here's a blurry Allison Krauss and guitarman Derek E. Miller.



Just for the record, that is not my hand.



Things were really past the limits of my point-and-shoot.



Then I went off to see Charles Bradley, about whom I've already posted.

Bluesfest: !!!

Although it's a short hop over the hill from the Black Sheep Stage to the former Black Sheep Stage, it was a pretty sizeable step from the jazzy western styling of Lake Street Dive to the Dance-rock of !!! (or Chk Chk Chk as they are known to fans of onomatopoeia).

I tried to snap a few shots of ever-in-motion singer Nic Offer is a hard man to snap with a point-and-shoot.



He's still a bit blurry ...



By way of introduction, here's guitarist Mareo Andreoni, drummer Paul Quattrone, bassist Rafael Cohen and - I think - synth standin Sean McGahan.



Saxophonist Allan Wilson rounds out the regular band.



Clapping action!



More Quattrone!



Nic steps out.



Extra Mareo!



Paul gets a little extra help.



Bonus Rafael.



Nic works the crowd!



Tambourine action!



The whole lot!



Nic works the crowd even header!



Certainly a fun and lively live act.

Daily Grindcore

Last night I went off to a new venue to check out some metal acts. Daily Grind is not a regular shows spot, but it has held a few (that I'm aware of), and is just large enough to hold a quartet of metal bands, their amplification (granted, not all at the same time) and two-dozen or so head-bangers. In addition to the musical entertainment, you also got to see the expressions on the faces of people passing by, which was amusing in itself.

First up, Klovenhoofs. The last photos I took, of Pregnancy Scares, also happen to feature Davey Quesnelle ... he gets around!


Klovenhoofs at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

And here's some fisheye action with Adam, eric and Scott.


Klovenhoofs at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

Next up, Vilipend. I saw them rocking the Mavericks stage back in September 2010 with the Great Sabatini and Black Faxes. They put on an active show; the Daily Grind doesn't have quite the space for jumping about ... you've got about two feet to spare and the ceiling isn't high, either.


Vilipend at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

Singalong action!


Vilipend at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

Biipiigwan have a new EP, Nibaak, some God's Hooks vinyl and are about to set out on a tour that will take them to Southern Ontario and Chicago. Musky is the guy who put the show together.


Biipiigwan at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

They've had a few lineup changes, with Mike moving to bass, Steve from The Great Sabatini on drums and a new guitarist (Matt Fleming, says Musky).


Biipiigwan at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

KEN Mode ripped things up for the finale. I'm not sure what I think about a Juno-award winning band playing live in a coffee shop ... here's some headbanging action with the brothers Matthewson.


KEN Mode at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

And regulation bassist Chad Tremblay, if I'm not mistaken.


KEN Mode at Daily Grind, November 15, 2012

Great sets from everyone, and a nice place to see a show, too.