Okay, what kind of crazies decide to tour Canada in winter. Maybe recent wacky weather in the states has acclimatized the Marylanders in Multicult and Roomrunner to the prospect of snow and ice, because the two acts have made their way from Baltimore to Ottawa for a gig in the prestigious basement of Yips House on Wednesday.
Multicult were on the floor first for some post-punk yawp that put me strongly in mind of Cop Shoot Cop. Here's a fuzzy Rebecca Burchette on bass, drummer Jake Cregger, and guitarist man Nick Skrobisz.
Jake is competing for cymbal height superiority.
Nick sings!
Extra Rebecca!
Downstroking action!
More hitting!
On to Roomrunner, who had a guitar sound oh-so similar to Nirvana's. Here's drummer Brett Lanahan
Dan Frome rocks the low end.
Denny Bowen sings, will trade records for Senators throw rugs!
Guitar action with Jeff Byers!
Fisheye action!
Extra Jeff!
The crowd goes wild!
Bonus Bret!
Crowdsurfing action!
And now on to some real craziness, with Pregnancy Scares!
It's reading week, which means that in theory I can get out to more shows. In practice it means it means I'm spending most of days reading about Thomas Sheraton and computer numeric control. Thus, these photos of Two Crosses, Dervish and Moon Destroyer are coming a little later in the day than usual ... The three bands make for a slightly peculiar matchup. The local product are more in the heavy psyche mode, while the overlapping Kitchener combos both zipped through hardcore sets.
Lunar action!
Let there be light! (And also purple glitter pentagrams.)
Destructive action!
Vocal action!
I mentioned the purple glitter pentagram, right?
Pedal action!
On to Dervish, who played what might be the shortest set I've ever witnessed. It was 10 minutes start-to-finish, tops. There's a certain genius in naming a band from Kitchener Dervish ... Justin and Zack are also in Two Crosses. Here is Zack, on drums.
And here is Justin, in tights.
Turtleneckcore!
Whirling action!.
Finally Two Crosses blitzed their way through a quick finale. There was vocal action from Justin.
MK is the band's other singer. Unfortunately my D90 is dying on me, so my photos kind of stunk this time around.
Bruised Tongue is five, and to celebrate a half-decade of noisy shenanigans, they've been throwing shows this weekend (Friday at Cafe Alt and Mugshots, yesterday and today at Gabba Hey). I was otherwise occupied on Friday (at Gabba Hey for the Cousins show), but made it to their Saturday outing to catch some decibels.
Bonnie Doon womanned the wheels of steel between sets. There was a lot of Joan Jett.
Montreal's Paradise had to pull out, so Bruised Tongue co-supremo Pierre Richardson stepped in under his Self Surgery guise.
Shadowy Pierre!
Strobing action!
There's even video-drone action!
He was followed by Cousins of Reggae. CoR were one of those combos I was thinking I'd see sooner rather than later, but things never worked out, so this was the first time I'd seen Blake and Liam in action (together, that is - I've seen Blake with Caymans, solo, etc.). Here's the man himself!
Liam frets.
The whole lot!
Shadowy Tongue action!
Extra Liam!
Blake grabs some guitar time!
Liam jingles some bells.
Boyhood were next in line. Since I saw them last, they've apparently been seeking a drummer. For this show there was a new bloke on a drum machine and guitarist Alex had switched over to a Korg - thus the audience was treated to the electro-beat version of Boyhood. One-off? Bold new direction? I forgot to ask.
Beats-in-a-box action!
Touch that dial!
Caylie rocks the keys.
And a quick snap from the other side of the stage.
I confess, by the time Roberta Bondar I was feeling pretty tired. Between sleep deprivation, strobe lighting and cider I was feeling a serious need for beddy-byes, so I only took a few photos before decamping.
Tyler hits!
Gary so crazy.
Lidija frets!
Now with more Maltby.
Extra Gary!
More Lidija!
Then I scampered home to bed. There's more matinee action at Gabba Hey today.
I'm an inveterate show-goer and photographer from Ottawa, Canada, and take copious pictures of live shows, most of which can be seen here on my blog or on Flickr. You can also follow me on Twitter, or on Tumblr. Past show and music reviews can also be found at Penny Black Music.
All contents are copyright Andrew Carver, except for album covers and the work of other photographers. Bands are free to reproduce photos of themselves on their blogs and websites; please don't use them elsewhere without permission. Most photos after April 2006 are linked to a larger version. I can be reached at andcarver "at" hotmail.com.
