Bullet belts and black Ts

Last night involved some tough decisions, the first of which was whether to zip over to Babylon to see Japanther, Black Feelings and Shakey Aches (my plan up to about two weeks ago) or head over to Mavericks to see Cauldron, RottawaY, The Mistress and Naartok. I thought Cauldron's Chained To The Nite was one of last year's best albums, and hadn't seen any of the bands on the bill, so change of plans. This show started a bit earlier than usual, and when I walked in the door at 7:45 "black'n'roll" purveyors Naartok were already on stage.

They've got the name of their genre down right; Joe Thrasher's Scott Wark has an excellent, raspy voice that can still hit the hight notes - he was hands down the evening's best singer. They aso threw in a couple of covers, Motorhead's Ace of Spades ("Way over-played, but we're going to play it anyway!") and Judas Priest's Breaking the Law. They'll be playing at Hull House in Gatineau with Nunslaughter March 29.


Naartok at Mavericks, March 10, 2010

The Mistress played next; they were more straight rock'n'roll than metal, although they were loud enough that there wasn't much point in splitting the difference. Sammy and Wolfgang from The Girlfriends play guitar and bass. Unfortunately during Wolfgang's usual jumping about and chaos-causing he accidentally yanked the Marshall head he'd be lent by Rottaway guitarist Chris Wild off the top of its stack, jamming the input. Chris was not happy about this and there was some onstage wrestling during the set when he found out. (Post edited 03/14/2010 to reflect the fact that as the caps-key impaired anonymous commenter noted, I can't tell Sammy from Wolfgang, even though I've posted about them several times before. Yeesh - I was even more mentally impaired that night than I thought ...)


The Mistress at Mavericks, March 10, 2010

Next up, RottawaY. They were a bit late on stage due to some unexpected amp repairs. I'd heard the name since they've played a show or two with The Girlfriends. They've appropriated Mistress guitarist Coupe DeVille so their new lineup apparently sounds a bit different from the old. Some hard-rocking metal from these guys who would wear their love for old school metal on their sleeves if only their ripped metal T-shirts still had sleeves.


Rottaway at Mavericks, March 10, 2010

As for Cauldron, they were formed from the ashes of Goat Horn (who I last saw six years ago, before starting the blog), so you know these guys dig their 1980s metal with a bit of a thrash kick. A short set (they do only have one album under their bullet belt, after all) but a good 'un. Chris Stephenson of Ottawa's Aggressor was on drums; I dunno if he's a permanent addition or a sub.


Cauldron at Mavericks, March 10, 2010

They're now headed up to Quebec City, then east for the rest of their brief tour (also in Montreal March 15).

• Show reminder: Abandon All Ships, After The Vendetta, Be The Saviour and On The Shoulders Of Giants rock Mavericks; Down With Webster Benefit Of A Doubt, To The Rescue are at Ritual; The Job and Get A Life Losers rock the Rock'N'Roll Pizza Party at the Atomic Rooster; the Elmdale House hosts Maxim Cosette.