Bluesfest: Dry River Caravan

From the indie dance rock of Fevers we go to the Balkan dance rock of Dry River Caravan. I just got a bit of their performance, but they were certainly pleasing the small crowd of early show-goers.

Matt Smith works the bouzouki, while Raphael Weinrothe-Brown (last seen with Musk Ox) mans the cello. Drummer Liam Smith sings a bit.



I feel like I've seen Weinrothe-Brown quite a bit in the past year; he was also drumming for Argus Panoptes.



Squeezing and singing from John Cockburn.



Robin Meyer-McLeod adds some clarinet.



Bonus bouzouki!



Extra Liam!



Caravan action!



Contemplative non-action from Dan Grewal!



The end!



Another fine effort. Their next show is in Montreal Dec. 7 at L'Escalier.

Bluesfest: Fevers

Day 1 of Bluesfest was pretty good, and Day 2 was no slouch either, thanks to some hot local groups and a couple of old hands who would have fit in snugly with Bluesfest's original intentions. But I'll yak about Charles Bradley and Super Chikan later. Up first is Fevers. Granted, I caught a bit of Carly Rae Jepsen first, but I had a cowbell for more Fevers, so I went over to the River sage to watch them soak up the rays pretty quickly.

Martin Charbonneau works the keys, Mike Stauffer hits the skins!



Sarah Bradley sings!



More keyboard with Colin MacDougall!



Clapping action with Jim Hopkins!



More Mike!



Tetris, anyone?



Mandolin action!



It was mighty sunny out there.



Singalong action!



More Sarah!



More electronics!



The whole lot!



Teeth-gritting action!



And finally, some rhythm section action!



After a very busy year, they're now prepping a new album for release in Spring 2013.

• Show reminder: The Contortionist, Your Memorial, Sleep is for the Dead and Hemispheres play Mavericks. The Rabid Whole and Projekt F perform at Zaphod's; The Lake Effect (and trivia night ... can't forget trivia night) are on at Irene's.

Bluesfest: Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg has been through Ottawa a few times. I seem to recall him being slated to play Barrymore's back before I was the live music fan that I am now. I've been a fan of his music for some time though - I used to have all his CDs in college (they vanished during a move, near as I can tell), so it was no decision at all to see him perform solo on the Black Sheep stage. Unfortunately, this also meant hearing the popular thud of Tiesto from over the hill. I was not happy about this, and neither was Bragg. "I don't care if it's got great big mouse ears, it's still disco!"

Mr. Bragg in black and white.



And so on!



Now in colour.



He was sporting a red square in solidarity with striking Quebec students.



Entertaining, despite the sounds interrupting from the main stage.

Unhallowed eve

I knew there was one place I wanted to be Saturday night: Cafe DeKcuf, where a sensational lineup of local and imported bands of the heavy metal persuasion were on hand to get heads banging at a Doomed Halloween show. Monobrow and Muffler Crunch alone should be enough to get discerning local fans of heavy rock out of the house, but throw in hotly tipped West Coast heavies Witch Mountain and fellow travellers Castle and you've got a bargain. That's not to slight Thought Process, who rounded out the bill, as they themselves pointed out "None of you know who we are."

Up first, Monobrow, who played an as-usual killer set, plus a couple of new tunes that sounded just as good as their other stuff - maybe with a bit more in the way of time changes? Here's some rhythm section action ...


Monobrow at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

And man of mystery Paul!


Monobrow at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

Now, if you want Halloween costumes, you need to check out skeletal duo Thought Project, whose barebones bass and drum sound made me think of Godheadsilo. Under that greasepaint is Ian Vance formerly of Boom Creek.

 
Thought Project at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

And here's drummer Isaac McFaul, ditto on Boom Creek, though more recently he's been manning the skins for Pretty Little Death Machine.


Thought Project at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

And here's another duo, the mighty Muffler Crunch. Angie Barbarian got done up as a scary suburban housewife clown ... or something like that. Luc sported his usual brown pinstripes.


Muffler Crunch at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

Guitar-raising action!


Muffler Crunch at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

Now on to the out-of-towners, starting with Castle, who really tore it up with their occult doom. Elizabeth Blackwell is a pretty sharp frontwoman, and I like Mat Davis' stripped-down guitar sound quite a bit.


Castle at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

Al McCartney rounds out the trio.


Castle at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

Witch Mountain slowed things down with some monster doom trudge. They're another female-fronted band, and have received quite a bit of publicity of late. Here's Uta Plotkin on the microphone, with drummer Nathan Carson and bassist Neal Munson.


Witch Mountain at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

And guitarist Rob Wrong, well-lit by the lights bouncing off his well-stocked pedalboard.


Witch Mountain at Cafe DeKcuf, October 27, 2012

Definitely an evening of quality entertainment.

Bluesfest: Grace Potter & The Nocturnals

Here's Exhibit A in "not everyone's musical tastes are the same." Grace Potter & The Nocturnals got a bunch of raves all round. I watched them for a while, thought they were pretty entertaining, then wandered off. I suspect I'm becoming jaded ...

Ms. Potter, herself.



She's certainly an emotive singer.



And here are some Nocturnals, including drummer Matt Burr and guitarists Scott Tournet and Benny Yurco (I think left and right ... hard to tell under the hair).



Extra Yurco!



Headbanging black and white action!



Extra Grace!



More guitar!



Tambourine action!



And a bit more Scott.



I'll try to get a snap of bassist Michael Linbramento next time they come through town ... I suspect they'll be getting another invite to Bluesfest soon.

• Show reminder: There's more doooom to go around at Cafe DeKcuf with Witch Mountain, Castle, Muffler Crunch, Monobrow and Thought Project at Cafe Dekcuf; downstairs Nero has their own All Hallow's shindig. the Funboy massive is also holding a Halloween House at their pad with Boyhood as musical guest; Zaphod's has Paper Lions, Danielle Duval and Ashleys on tap; Silkenn Laumann has their party on at Mugshots; you'll find GOOD2GO and The Bible All-Stars holding down the fort at Irene's. Tra Holloway, Little Read Deer and Adam III perform at Raw Sugar. The Hammerheads are at the Rainbow. The Elmdale hosts The Jimmyriggers , Phantom Shores and The Backyard Devils.

Through thick and thin

I've been away from town for a few days, vacationing in lovely Nelson, B.C. (where I actually caught Sun Parlour Players and Kalle Mattson performing at the Royal), but now I'm back, just in time to catch the departure of Sylvain Lajoie's Bacon Fat nights at Mugshots. Sylvain is headed to Montreal, but he wrapped things up nicely, inviting H. de Heutz, a new duo of Hull post rockers, scene veterans J'envoie and Montreal combo Ultrathin to bring down the curtain.

First up, H. de Heutz. Olivier Fairfield of J'envoie plays drums and some keys, accompanied by a bassist. I had bundled up since I was under the impression that they might still be performing in the courtyard. There was nothing there but a tour group when I walked in, so I just followed the sound of the soundcheck to the bar proper.


H. de Heutz at Mugshots, October 25, 2012

Olivier multitasks!


H. de Heutz at Mugshots, October 25, 2012

On to J'envoie. It's been quite a while since I saw them live - the end of March 2006, to be precise. In that time they've released the fab La Vitesse de Chats Sauvage, and were handing out free copies at the show. Here's the 75% of the band who are not Olivier.


J'envoie at Mugshots, October 25, 2012

More multitasking ...


J'envoie at Mugshots, October 25, 2012

Finally Ultrathin rocked it out with some psychedelic hardcore sounds. Unfortunately they didn't have any of their record for sale ... well. at least I managed to get some Psychic Handshake stuff from them. Bassist Mark likes standing on stuff.


Ultrathin at Mugshots, October 25, 2012

Drummer Brett and  guitarist Shaun round out the trio.


Ultrathin at Mugshots, October 25, 2012

Super sounds all around.

• Show reminder: Last weekend of October means the Halloween bashes are kicking off. Diemonds is in town with Black Stone Hearts, Doll, Descendant and Hellbros at the Black Monkey; Ghetto Blaster, Cerebral Scrub?, MGD, Lost Youth, Mudplots and CHE play the Legion for Halloween Horroshow 2012. Carvello, International Maniac Institute and Four-Stroke perform at Cafe DeKcuf. Asile is releasing their new record at the House of Targ, along with Shackles, Police Burial and Occult Funeral. Departures and Cannon Bros. arrive at Raw Sugar; Detroit punks the Hand Me Downs and Allan Chaarouai (of Lazzy Lung fame) perform at Zaphod's. Rydell, Live the Story, Neighbours and Worn, The Grey are at Club SAW; Nobody's Fool and Redneck Limousine roll into the Rainbow; The Brothers Chaffey play Irene's; the Elmdale hosts The Sweet Mack with openers The Long Distance Runners and The Seasick Mommas.