Inside the black cloud

Eric Vieweg put on a storming show with his hardened crew of music store employees to finish off Saturday in style. They even had a guy moshing in the front row.



Last I saw Pat Robillard he was serving as one of Steve Stacey's Stump Splitters. Here he is looking very red.



Matt Ouimet holds down the backbeat.



Bassist Andy Graham gets relegated to the gloomy other side of the post - unfortunately the smoke machine made pictures with flash a bit dodgy.



J.J. Ipsen plays his new keyboard; Marty Sobb plays his well-used Tele.



More Marty!



The aforementioned smoke machine was a tad anemic.



Shake your Telecaster!









And one last pic of Eric, conveniently silhouetted by a red floodlight.



Eric will be at Westfest in June 10, but hopefully he'll have a show or two in town between now and then.

• Show reminder: The Reverb Syndicate and The Lipstick Machine play Zaphod's.

Somewhere up there

When I got to Zaphod's a couple of Saturdays ago someone was already strumming away. I don't recall Nathan Hunter's name on any of the listings, but it was he, taking a journeyman turn on stage despite a broken finger. I only caught a couple of tunes (one aided by Eric Vieweg's piano player J.J. Ipsen) but what I heard sounded good.





Next up, Crowded Skies, and some robust country rock action, including a cover of Neil Young's Ohio. The lead guitar certainly sounded fuzzier than usual for this sort of thing.

Guitarist Jeremy Brisebois. Not shown: Extra fuzz.



John Trude in the red.



Drummer Jordan Potechin, with appropriate headgear.



Bassist Sebastien Dupont of F!ght F!ght F!ght fame.



Crowded action!



Singalong action!



The whole lot!



The band's next show is at Babylon with Violet Lyal and Casey Comeau and the Centretown Wilderness Club.

Articulate the feeling

I went off to Zaphod Beeblebrox for one of the club's regular free showcase Mondays. Unlike many of these showcases, it was a well-matched bill (if you'll pardon the pun). Ennuie, Male Nurse and Les Allumettes may not sound the same, but they're on a similar emotional wavelength.

First up Ennuie. I found them less odd this time around.



I've been spelling Male Nurse as Mail Nurse because that's what it is on Davey's Myspace, but if his CD covers are to believed, it is indeed Male Nurse. Now you (or at least I) know.



Alumettes rounded things off. They brought free cupcakes with their name spelled out on them in icing. I had an "L".



Good turnout too, for a Monday. Maybe Ottawa is coming out of hibernation.

A new undertaking

The last time I caught Kiss Me Deadly, back in December 2006, they put on a great show as a quartet. Their show was also pretty fine this time around, but it's hard to match your earlier stage action when you've shed two of your members and leave your skintight scarlet jumpsuit at home. It must also be noted that last time the Deadlies had been on the road for weeks, while this time they had just weathered an unpleasant border crossing (they now make their home in Burlington, Vermont) and were debuting their new stage setup. Their music has taken a turn for the dancier. They also seem to be mulling a name-change, since they're travelling as Kiss Me Deadly ... or Condor.

Having to show off your moves behind a keyboard and mixing board isn't all that swell either.



Most of my photos of KMD stunk, but this one of Adam turned out quite nicely.



This one of Emily turned out not so nice.



Deadly action!





Things improved somewhat after the keyboard was set aside.





It was a good show, though I got the impression the audience was happier with it than the band.

• Show reminder: Les Allumettes, Mail Nurse, Ennuie and Not Sisterhood play Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Breast in show

It wasn't easy choosing where to go this Saturday, but in the end I plumped for White Cowbell Oklahoma - I'll just have to catch up with the other folks at a later date. The Fucking Machines opened things up with a typically punchy set of old school hardcore. Not sure how well they went over with the audience, but I liked 'em.

Unfortunately my pictures turned out kind of cruddy.



Things were better with White Cowbell Oklahoma - they turned the lights up to grill.



As usually they were a show and a half - plus titties, to use Scott Terry's term.

• Show reminder: Stop Die Resuscitate, Syntonics and Jokers of the Scene perform at Zaphod Beeblebrox; Shotdown Stars and Darker Red play at End Hits.

On the edge

Crystal Clyffs - or maybe just Cliffs - are an energetic Montreal outfit who bear a passing sonic resemblance to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Many folks seem to think Rhoneil is the hottest thing since sliced bread; she certainly is pretty, but I'd say a lot of her on-stage charm stems from her otherworldly demeanour.



She doffed her poncho later in the set.



That is one seriously old school SG Mat is toting. But are those toothmarks on the headstock?



I came this close to owning a guitar much like Myles'.



Owain spent a surprising amount of time standing up for a drummer.



See what I mean?



Mauro gets credit for both bass and sass, according to the Clyffs' Myspace. Unfortunately this pic of him behind Myles is as close as I got to a decent shot of him. He was running his bass through a Maestro Fuzztain.



The whole lot in some early action!







Crystalline action!





One more of Rho - she'll be back with Missing Children March 11 at Zaphod's.



That was quite a good set; Rho talked to me later about people taking photos at shows; she mentioned how much she like Paul Galipeau's from previous visits. The band will also play April 20 at Zaphod's.

The harder they work

My Dad Vs. Yours took opening honours at Kiss Me Deadly's Feb. 16 show at Zaphod's, as they did when KMD came through town back in December of 2005. I've seen them five times since catching them at Club SAW in July of the same year, and I like their poppy post-rock more each time.

The Mydads kick things off with some amp inspection.



So that's what Arturo looks like without his hat!



Ben breaks out the e-bow.



Tom Herbert and Arturo.





Jose slides about.



Kelsey returned to the keyboards for one song and decided to stick around for the finale (Kids on Psych Drugs, if memory serves).



The whole fuzzy lot! I like the colours.



I thought they sounded a bit more atmospheric than usual this go around, but perhaps that's just because they preceded Crystal Clyffs, whose music is a tad twitchier.

• Show reminder: Excuse me while I saw myself into three separate parts ... The Matadors, The Creepshow, Sick Sick Sicks and Machine Gun Dolly perform at Mavericks; Phantom Shifters, The Solid Senders and Garaga rock Irene's Pub; White Cowbell Oklahoma and The Fucking Machines get it on at Barrymore's. Slightly earlier in the evening The Postage Stamps and Design Of Cities play Zaphod Beeblebrox.