By the Bored

There was so much on last night it was tough to decide which direction to head off in, but since there were two shows I wanted to see close by, I decided to head to Mavericks to see The John Henrys' CD release show and then go to Ritual Nightclub two blocks away to see The Walnut Kids and and their 7-inch release show at the club's monthly Bored To Death punk-rock DJ night.

When I got to Mavericks Brendan Flynn and The Terrible Liars were on stage, with a handful of songs still to go. They sounded really good, very much in the vein of Steve Earle.


Brendan Flynn and The Terrible Liars at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

Next up were Madison Violet, a couple of sweetly harmonizing and shots-drinking ladies from small-town Ontario who covered both Simon and Garfunkel's Mrs. Robinson and Fox On The Run, the Manfred Mann tune that has since become a bluegrass fave. They weren't shy about calling-out crowd members who kept chatting away during their set. For this set they were accompanied by Adrian Lawryshyn, standup bassist for such folks at Liam Titcomb.


Madison Violet at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

John Henrys finished things off with their usual high grad country rock. Their new album is called White Linen.


John Henrys at Mavericks, April 9, 2010

I only stuck around for a half-dozen songs, since I wanted to go and see The Walnut Kids at Ritual. The nightclub holds a monthly night of punk rock tuneage in its downstairs room. As I entered The Avengers We Are the One was being played. As it turned out no one had gotten on stage yet - or the corner that passes for a stage.

The first band up was Toronto's Chattering Class, who sounded a bit like the offspring of The Germs and The Armitage Shanks and covered a tune by VOM. Matt from School Jerks sings and plays guitar.


Chattering Class at Ritual Nightclub, April 9, 2010

Finally The Walnut Kids put on a snappy set of punky powerpop tuneage, complete with Chuck Berry and Buzzcocks covers as well as songs from their new vinyl on Going Gaga Records. There was some tuning woes and the bass player's head cut out near the end of the gig, but other than that it went pretty well.


Walnut Kids at Ritual Nightclub, April 9, 2010

Ian told me the nightclub will also be hosting one of the Gaga Weekend shows.

• Show reminder: Greg Smith Sounds and Andrew Vincent play Raw Sugar; Kingdoms, Therefore I Am, Hunter City Madness and Assemble Me perform at Cafe Dekcuf; Good2Go, and The BushPilots rock Irene's Pub; Parallels, Politique and Blazer are at Zaphod Beeblebrox; Castor and Monobrow send the Dominion Tavern into outerspace; White Cowbell Oklahoma and Silver Creek roll into Mavericks; there's CHUO fundraising activity aplenty at the Elmdale House with Slo’ Tom, Patsy Clash, Steve Stacey and Chris Mellor and an all-star band.