All your love

Lover! capped a swell night of greasy rock'n'roll with some sweet'n'sour Memphis confections much in the vein of Jay Reatard's work. As a recording artist, Lover! is one guy, Rich Crook. On stage, he's joined by members of the Black and Whites: Talbot Adams on bass, guitarist Johnny Valiant and drummer Patrick McKeage.



Shortly after Crook discarded his Ibanez Destroyer and switched to a trusty SG.



Big hit from Patrick!



Johnny Valiant sings!



Crook goes down!



Talbot swings his bass around a lot, resulting in frequent ducking from yours truly.



And so on!








A zippy show with lots of dancing girls and bad language.

• Show reminder: Sadie Hell, Musk Ox and Jill Zmud, plus a bunch of comedians, play the Shanghai Restaurant for the benefit of children in Malawi. A Wilhelm Scream, Living With Lions, The Wishlist and Sack Lunch bring the noise Mavericks. The Schomberg Fair and That's the Spirit perform at The Rainbow.

Mass media

TV On The Radio provided a very satisfying finish to Bluesfest's first day (okay, I did stick around for part of The Tragically Hip's set, but that was more of an afterthought). They did an excellent job of replicating their recorded sound on stage. Considering how empty the Giant Telecommunications Company Stage looked before they pumped in a load of smoke and turned on the lights, the lighting techs have to be given credit too.

David Sitek and Tunde Adebimpe rock out.



Kyp Malone zones out.



Tunde in mid-gesture ... he's a gesturing kinda guy.



David likes those wind chimes.



Drummer Jaleel Bunton ... sorry, no photos of bassist Gerard Smith



Guest saxophonist William lends a hand. (Update: As Jeremy points out, it is in fact Liam O'Neil - I misheard his introduction. He's better known as keyboardist for The Stills.)



Big finish!



Highly enjoyable. They said they'd be back ... I hope they weren't just being nice, because a Capital Music Hall or Barrymore's show would be killer.

• Show reminder: If I wasn't working, you know I'd be off at Babylon watching Bob Log III and Scott Biram ... oh well, maybe I'll be back in time to catch the end of Bob's set. Jane Vain & The Dark Matter! perform at Zaphod's.

Mother's little helpers

Back to The Dominion, where's Mother's Children held down the middle slot with some Stonesy pop. Yet another bunch of familiar faces with former Million Dollar Marxists Davey and Tim and ex-Sick Fits Kenny James and Michael Hurts combining to former yet another Ottawa indie supergroup (of course, since everyone in Ottawa seems to be in at least two bands, I guess they're all supergroups).

Michael!



Kenny!



Davey! (Who is also in Male Nurse and Grizzlar)



Tim!



The whole lot!



Singalong action!



And so on.





Their next show is August 14 at the Rock'n'Roll Pizza Party at The Bytown Tavern.

Keep it like a secret

Back to Bluesfest for a wee post about New York's Secret Machines. The current band is Brandon Curtis on bass - eight-string bass at that - and Josh Garza on drums. Brandon's brother Benjamin left the band earlier this year, and since then the band has recruited extra musicians according to need. Philip E. Karnats was their guitarist for this gig and apparently is recording with them as well. On record they sound pretty shoegazy to me. Live they had a heavier sound, with more emphasis on rhythm and less on vocals. Garza's steady beat also inspires krautrock comparisons. They're currently on tour with space-proggers Coheed & Cambria.

Philip and Brandon.



Josh.



And so on. I've said it before, and I'll say it again before my vast collection of Bluesfest photos are exhausted: Wearing black for summer concerts is not a good idea. Then again, these guys originally came from Austin, Tex., so perhaps they don't mind it.





More playing than singing for this gig.



After a few more tunes it was time to scuttle back to the Giant Telecommunications Company stage to grab a space near the stage for TV On The Radio's set.

• Show reminder: Paper and Metal brings his (Smog)ish sounds to Zaphod Beeblebrox with King; Ukrainia! prepare for the long hard trip to Canada's National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin, Man., with a few fortifying rounds of vodka at The Avant Garde; Andrew Vincent, Andy Swan and Ron Leary perform at The Manx. Merchants of Solace keep it mildly funky at The Rainbow.

The first cut

Cool times all around last night - at least in the figurative sense. First stop of the evening was Zaphod's for the King Kang & The Shrines show. I tarried over my chicken chow mien and a DVD of Mario Bava's Black Sunday a little too long and missed the start of Young Rival's set, but liked what I heard.


Young Rival, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 26, 2008

First time I saw Young Rival, they were operating under the name Ride Theory and sounded like an early Yardbirds knockoff ... they've progressed a bit then and are now a noisier combo, complete with a Simply Saucer cover - well, they are from Hamilton after all.


The Magnificent Butchers, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 26, 2008

Next up, local combo The Magnificent Butchers, who are indeed magnificent. The band features Dave Martindale, Ryan Kerr, Julia Loan, Scott Terry and Toby (whose last name I didn't catch). As you'd expect of a band with a resume that includes The Phantom Shifters, Double Pumpers, Tokyo Sex Whale, Banditas and Mighty Eagle Band, they kept things heavy, though with plenty of melody as well.


King Khan & His Sensational Shrines, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 26, 2008

Things ere getting pretty packed and sweaty on Zaphod's dance floor by the time King Khan and His Sensational Shrines got on stage. With all the sound checking for three brass players and a keyboardist, along with the usual drums-bass-guitar, they only had time for a 50-minute set, but they kicked it out hard, finishing with a cover of The Saints' Know Your Product. It was warm enough for Khan to strip down to his skivvies (or maybe he does that all the time). Khan said they were heading over to the Elmdale Tavern so he could have sex with his wife in the bathroom and hang out with Bloodshot Bill, so no doubt the party kept on going.


Three Jaw Puller, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 26, 2008

I ducked over to The Dominion for Muffler Crunch's CD release party (I'm listening to their new one as I type, and it's mighty fine). Three Jaw Puller were closing their set as I entered the door, so I snapped a few pictures as they did their shouty, slightly metallic thing. I believe this was their first show outside a radio station studio.


Muffler Crunch, Zaphod Beeblebrox, July 26, 2008

As usual Muffler Crunch brung it, and finished things off with some serious drim kit destruction and Luc standing on top of Angie The Barbarian. Great turnout for this show and an excellent sounding set.

• Show reminder: Wax Mannequin, Richard Laviolette and Dave Snider Sings perform at the Avant Garde Bar.

The young savages

Savage Crimes are one of the offshoots of the demise of The Sweet Janes. While one chunk of Ottawa's titans of teen trash went off to become The Holy Cobras, two turned to a life of crime.

Ex-Sweet Jane Todd.



Other ex-Sweet Jane Jesse Winchester.



Not-so-Sweet Matt Cosgrove.



Savage action!









The whole lot!



Big finish!



What next, I know not.

• Show reminder: Aggressor, Symbolic, Reanimator, Joe Thrasher, Karnax, Something Tall get metal at Mavericks; Suicide Pilots, Man With Target, Zero Hours, Sketchy Poutine, Obscene Bastards and Bruce Boris get crusty at The Bayou; King Khan and the Shrines, The Magnificent Butchers and Young Rival get sweaty at Zaphod Beeblebrox ... and right next door at The Dom Muffler Crunch gives their new album a sendoff with Three Jaw Puller. Bloodshot Bill shakes it up at The Elmdale Tavern (and yes, it does suck he's not on the Zaphod's bill); Edmontonians invade Irene's as indie popsters Illfit Outfit, ukelele ballader Doug Hoyer and D.B. Buxton hit the stage.

Ready set cowgirl

Bluesfest started about three weeks ago, so it's about time to start posting some more photos from said shindig. Here's kickoff act Matt Mays and his crew. As I said before he rocked hard. I read a review of his latest CD Terminal Romance in Exclaim! and writer Jason Schneider seems peeved that Mays has moved away from the melodic country rock of The Guthries. I like The Guthries too, but I'm not sure Canada is suffering a dearth of country rock bands.

That Matt.



Guitarist and show MAP (most active player) Jay Smith.



The keyboardist isn't a regular torpedo ... I think he's Rob Crowell.



Bassist Andy Patil ...



Dual guitar action!



It's clapping - and Bruce Springsteen time.



Singalong action, early and late.





Big finish!



Unfortunately I wasn't in a good position to snap a photo of drummer Tim Baker ... maybe next time.

• Show reminder: Miracle Fortress, Think About Life and Adam and The Amethysts provide more Graham per minute at Babylon; Becky Abbot plays Zaphod Beeblebrox; Minus the Royals rock at The Rainbow; The Late '94s, The Love Machine and Brights play Greenfield's.