Under a blue moon

For some unfortunate reason, last night's show at Mugshots did not cross my radar until midafternoon, when I spotted a poster in The Record Shaap. Had I known earlier, I would have spread the news that Male Nurse, Roberta Bondar and The Yips were playing Bacon Fat's second outing. Sylvain Lajoie provides the sounds while Matt Trudel provides the light.


Matt Trudel and video at Mugshots, August 30, 2012

First up under the tree was Male Nurse - yes, it's two nights in a row for Davey Quesnelle.


Male Nurse at Mugshots, August 30, 2012

He was followed by The Yips. It's the first time I've seen them, and there was something about them that put me in mind of both Pleasure Forever and The Detroit Cobras.


The Yips at Mugshots, August 30, 2012

They're a two-guitar operation with lots of feedback. They also covered The Sonics' immortal  Strychnine.


The Yips at Mugshots, August 30, 2012

Roberta Bondar finished things off with some smoke ...


Roberta Bondar at Mugshots, August 30, 2012

And finished things with some drum exploding.


Roberta Bondar at Mugshots, August 30, 2012

The once-a-month night at the hostel's courtyard bar is turning out to be quite super.

• Show reminder: Spilt Guts is releasing their new CD with Klovenhoofs at the House of Targ. A bunch of folks, including Muffler Crunch, are performing at the Daily Grind as part of Full Moon Celebrations; Albatross, Stay Here and Robots! Everywhere! rock Bistro de Vanier a.k.a. 337 Lemoine). In Heat, Lefty McRighty & The Terrible Two and Pheramones play Zaphod's. Kayla Howran is at the Rainbow;  Buck Tingley and Steve Marriner can be found at Irene's; The Elmdale hosts Kevin Guerette & The Right Right Nows, Lukas Grant and The Owl Eyes Project. Josef Mieto and James Leclaire perform at the Avant-Garde.

City fathers

You might recall a show at the Montgomery Legion a shade more than a year ago featuring a bunch of folks from Lethbridge's burgeoning musical scene, opened up by The Moby Dicks. Well, last night's show also featured a touring Lethbridge band as a headliner, the super Fist City, which happens to have Moby Dick Evan Van Reekum on guitar. Also, Big Dick played. That's a lot of dick (and a ridiculous tangent). Opening up was The Male Nurse Band.

I think Davey and company are getting wilder and more raucous at every gig.


Male Nurse Band at Pressed, August 29, 2012

This time I decided to use flash. It's a tad dark in Pressed (photographically speaking, that is).


Male Nurse Band at Pressed, August 29, 2012

Big Dick were a little slowed up by some technical difficulties but played a really hot set.


Big Dick at Pressed, August 29, 2012

They cut things a little short, and finished off with "the only request we'll ever get" (not true!) for Medic.


Big Dick at Pressed, August 29, 2012

Fist City start with a bit of a surf element, and then add some Modern Lovers and X-Ray Spex (this impression possibly aided by the second-wave British punk, such as Gang Of Four, being played between sets). Evan Van Reekum and Kier Griffiths handle the six strings and the breaking thereof.


Fist City at Pressed, August 29, 2012

And here's the rest of our Fist citizens, drummer Ryan Grieve (also of The Ketamines) and bassist Brittany Griffiths.


Fist City at Pressed, August 29, 2012

An excellent night, and good turnout for a Wednesday too, I'd say.

• Show reminder: StillNative is playing the Mercury Lounge. The Elmdale hosts Bill Bourne.

Out of the park

The Creeps' pop punkery was followed by more, this time of the baseball-flavoured variety (anyone remember those dry pink sticks from the Topps packs?). Yes, The Isotopes are the world's greatest baseball-themed punk band - or so they call themselves, and I haven't heard any contrary opinions yet. These guys go through a lot of lineup changes, so many IDs may be approximate (except drummer Tony Hustle and mainman Evan October, that is)

Evan sings! Hustle hits! A bassist who may or may not be J.R. High Life basses!



Bendy action!



Dallas Duststorm (I think?) sings. Note proper pink punk pop ear protection in the crowd.



More Hustle!



Singalong action!



Extra Evan!



Lead guitar action with, I think, Dallas Duststorm!



More hitting!



No show is complete without a rendition of Take Me Out To The Ballgame.



Gripping action!



And so on!



Rock stance action!



They're currently auditioning for a new lead guitarist and planning a West Coast tour.

• Show reminder: Year Of The Rat, Police Funderal and Shackles rock 443 Kent. Over at pressed, you'll find Big Dick, Fist City and The Male Nurse Band. The Werthmen are at the Rainbow; Irene's hosts Gordy Tentrees & Hill Country News and Roger Marin; Bryce Jardine, Samantha Mouchet and Jon Laurie-Beaumont perform at the Elmdale.

Jail break at dawn

From Thursday night's Leatherface-loving melodic punkers, we go to Friday's sunshine-lovin', Ramones-worshippin' pop-punkers. First up with a bundle of joy is ... er ... The Creeps. The last time I saw them was at last year's Ottawa Explosion, which is not nearly enough creepiness.

Jordy sings!



Ditto for Skottie, last seen playing bass for Crusades the night before.



Ian's shirt for today gives props to The Sonic Avenues, who amazingly enough I did not see at this Explosion.



Bendy action!



Rhythm section action!



Singalong action!



The crowd goes wild!



The whole creepy lot!



Davey gets in on the action!



Swell as usual.

• Show reminder: Bry Webb & The Providers and Daniel Romano perform at Raw Sugar. The Town Heroes and Farwell Davidson play the Rainbow; Loh El and Dirty Grace are at the Avant-Garde.

Fashion metal

Long Island punk rockers Iron Chic finished the evening off. The rough and ready quartet obviously owe a debt to Leatherface (which they share with several other bands on the night's bill), and boast a bevy of scene veterans.

Starting with Phil Douglas, formerly of Latterman.



A lot of people wanted to get in on the mike with Jay Lubrano, bassist Dumps is at right.



Phil sings! Drumming by Gordon Lafler.



More Dumps!



Extra Gordon.



Jay rocks the camo.



The crowd goes wild!



Even more Gordon!



Sometimes you have to work extra hard to get in on the microphone.



Getting a picture of Rob McAllister was not easy.



The end!



Things seem a little quite on the Iron Chic front, with just a few local shows (local for them, that is) in the next couple of months.

Urban foliage

I could have had a very busy time yesterday with gigs starting in the afternoon and partying on through the night, but flood reparations are still taking up a bit of my time. Thus, my only showgoing Saturday night was at Zaphod's for some indie music on the sensitive end of the spectrum, headlined by Fargo, North Dakota's Secret Cities. I get the impression there was bit of a scramble to find appropriate opening bands, since the bill was "Secret Cities and guests." I'm told that two acts were rounded up, but I only got there in time for Tall Trees set.

This is a young band, and I don't just mean in relation to my own grizzled years. I'm not sure the entire lineup could legally drink. They made me think of Jeff Buckley, an impression helped by the fact that unlike a lot of singers, main vocalist Jad Hammoud has a strong set of pipes.


Tall Trees at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 25, 2012

The rhythm section of bassist Peter Klaassen and Josh Wynnyk is none too shabby either.


Tall Trees at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 25, 2012

I thought Secret Cities also played an excellent set. They're a bit twee, and with the male-female singing some people might lump them in with folks like Belle & Sebastian (which is no insult). I personally was reminded of a couple of my favourite bands, Shearwater and Antlers. Extra point for keyboardist M.J. Parker's Olivia Tremor Control T-shirt. Drummer Alex Abnos also sometimes rocks the electric uke.


Secret Cities at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 25, 2012

We'll forgive guitarist/bassist Charlie Gokey for his brief confusion between Toronto and Ottawa, since he praises our "mighty castles."


Secret Cities at Zaphod Beeblebrox, August 25, 2012

A pleasantly low-key night. Unfortunately the attendance wasn't too great ... the curse of Saturdays during cottage season, to say nothing of Capital Pride and other draws.

• Show reminder: The Color Morale, Close to Home, Hemispheres, Perjury and Wrath of Olympus rock Club SAW; James Farr and Mike Luce play the Rainbow; The Renee Landry band is at the Elmdale.

Aim low

If there's an award for long distance travellers to Ottawa Explosion, Los Cruces, New Mexico's Low Culture are probably in the running  (though no doubt the various Bay Area folks who made the journey would snag it in the end).

And here three-quarters of them are!



And bassist makes four!



Drumming action!



Tele action!



The whole lot!



Microphone swallowing action!



More of the shouty bit!



Singalong action!



And so on!



They plan some Euro-touring early next year.

• Show reminder: The Allrights, The Johnnies, The City Above, Thunderuncle, Garaga and Mono Hum will be rocking the Vincent Massey Park Gazebo this afternoon; there will also be a hunk of bands performing at City Hall and environs for Capital Pride; North Dakota's Secret Cities play at Zaphod's; Rocksnake and Crunchy Flower rock Irene's; Radio personality Dick Altavista celebrates his birthday (we won't say which one) at the Elmdale with some rocking and peeling provided by Forgettables, G. Roger & The Capital Dominion Radiators, Sin Sisters and The Bruitals.