Riot squad

Now that OXW 2013 is out of the way and Bluesfest intends, Heathers have gone back to Ireland, there are no major National celebrations for at least a day and the House of Targ is quiet (well, except for high volume band practices), it is time to head back to the dying days of 2012. And the House of Targ. Because apparently I can't stay away. These photos hail from not only the last Friday of the month, but the last Friday of the year. Featured are Party Knives and Mother's Children, both well known to me and likely you, and a more recent combo, Raw Raw Riot. The four women in the band say they provide fast, in your face punk, and who am I to argue?

The front line, with guitarist Sarah Destruction, Jamie Thee Catastrophee and bassist Sarah Danger.



Catastrophic action!



Destructive action!



Audience participation action!



Singalong action!



D.D. Riot hits!



Faceoff action!



They're playing at Cafe Luneta on June 5.

Good buzz

I walked over to the House of Targ to feed a toonie to the Monopoly machine and watch some sounds being made Friday - last of the month, of course! - and generally get back into the post Ottawa Explosion groove.

First on the floor was e-tron connected duo H. de Heutz, last seen performing at mugshots a few months ago.


H. de Heutz at the House of Targ, June 28, 2013

Bass action!


H. de Heutz at the House of Targ, June 28, 2013

Then it was on to RAAS, with some electronic noise generation and matching visuals. It's been a while since I've seen Michael and Kerry (a.k.a. DJ Daisy) on stage - of course I saw quite a bit of him at the Ottawa Explosion since he was doing most of the outside sound.


RAAS at House of Targ, June 28, 2013

Projected action!


RAAS at House of Targ, June 28, 2013

Roberta Bondar finished things off with a sensationally noisy set.


Roberta Bondar at the House of Targ, June 28, 2013

It was an orgy of feedback, I tell you ...


Roberta Bondar at the House of Targ, June 28, 2013

Roberta Bondar will be playing the main stage on July 13 at the Bluesfest.

OXW 2013: Saturday, Part III

Saturday was my last day at the Ottawa Explosion (I missed all the Sunday sets due to a trip to the country to check out lathes and bandsaws and suchlike). After checking out all the fun at the SAW Gallery I zipped next door to Mugshots for some open-air action, as the rain had relented by then.

Dead Weights opened things up, but I arrived to late to catch them, so first act for me was hardcore combo Attention!, out of Montreal.


Attention! at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

A really fine set from these guys.


Attention! at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013
 
Then DeCracks played some hard'n'fast pop-punk. They came all the way from Klagenfurt, Austria to play - beating out Hamburg's Kidnappers by 400 miles or so for furthest-travelling band.


DeeCracks at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

This is one of the drummer's less silly faces.


DeeCracks at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Milwaukee's Direct Hit! didn't come quite as far, but they still put on a heck of a show, and got a great crowd response.


Direct Hit! at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Everyone is friends!


Direct Hit! at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

I also take some photos of The Jetty Boys; unfortunately it looks like they never got uploaded to Flickr and consequently perished when my hard drive went bust. Dang! Anyway, that band is a couple of DeeCrackers and Drew from Sugar Stems and they also put on a good show. See you next year, Exploders!

A quick brush

It was off to Cafe DeKcuf for something a bit different Thursday night. I'd heard a bunch of people saying good things about the folk-pop duet Heathers, so I picked up a ticket a few days ago and wandered on over to see them, along with local openers Those Gulls and Peas & Carrots.

Or maybe that should just be Carrots (there's no Peas, I tell you ...) since one-hald of the duo, Michael Laing, was not about. Thus Samantha de Benedet did it all herself, after warning the crowd we might notice the missing portion.


Peas & Carrots at Cafe DeKcuf, June 27, 2013

Kazoo action! There was also much charming between-song banter.


Peas & Carrots at Cafe DeKcuf, June 27, 2013

On to Those Gulls. I've described them as post-punky, then rocking, and now they've headed in a more pop direction. All these changes aren't just due to my inability to write about music. Each show has featured a slightly different lineup, and this time around, in addition to new member Kate Schroder, they had Jake Ting on second guitar.


Those Gulls at Cafe DeKcuf, June 27, 2013

The above photo was taken during soundcheck. They turned the lights way down, so most of the photos taken during the set are a bit on the dark side.


Those Gulls at Cafe DeKcuf, June 27, 2013

Heathers showed up at Cafe DeKcuf with a stack of gear. Not only did they bring their own soundwoman, they brought their own soundboard. Somebody is obviously willing to lay out a stack of cash on their future, and why not? They have some dynamite harmonies and spin a very engaging line in the pop-folk vein.


Heathers at Cafe DeKcuf, June 27, 2013

There was also some nice between song banter about their love of Ethiopian food and their urge to try a beavertail (which they were glad to hear did not involve actual beaver parts). They covered Lana Del Rey's Summertime Sadness, as well.


Heathers at Cafe DeKcuf, June 27, 2013

A jolly show all 'round.

OXW 2013: Saturday, Part II

The rain was getting a bit heavy at the Ottawa Explosion on Saturday, so despite some heroic mopping by Pierre Richardson things headed to the drier environs of Club SAW for the show by Feral Trash.

As mentioned earlier, two-thirds of Thalidomy Kids is also two-thirds of Feral Trash, albeit reconfigured.


Feral Trash at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

The other third is Fear of Lipstick's Eric Neurotic.


Feral Trash at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

I believe The Kidnappers were the first band to cross an ocean to get to the Ottawa Explosion; they came all the way from Hamburg. The DeeCracks from Klagenfurt, Austria might beat them for miles, though.


The Kidnappers at Ottawa Explosion Weekend 2013

Ian Manhire of Voicemail/White Wires was sitting in on drums.


The Kidnappers at Ottawa Explosion Weekend 2013

Things were a bit less wet outside, so it was off to catch The Sonic Avenues; they have a new bassist.


Sonic Avenues at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Microphone-tonguing action!


Sonic Avenues at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Then it was back inside for The Tough Shits from Philadelphia. They were down a couple of members and sounded pretty wiry.


The Tough Shits at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Raoul from Hollywood was sitting in for their missing drummer. Of the bassist, there was no sign.


The Tough Shits at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

On to some hometown faves; The Steve Adamyk Band played a hot set to a very enthusiastic crowd.


Steve Adamyk Band at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Davidian action!


Steve Adamyk Band at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

New York's Vacation played a really tough-sounding set of tensile punk rock.


Vacation at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Another weekend highlight.


Vacation at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

There was some more straight-ahead rocking from Brooklyn's Nude Beach.


Nude Beach at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Fine stuff indeed.


Nude Beach at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Then it was off to Mugshots.

OXW 2013: Saturday, Part I

Well, upon further investigation, my Time Machine backups seem to have stopped somewhere around mid-June. Fortunately everything from Ottawa Explosion was already uploaded to Flickr, so you can expect many months of reposting. Huzzah! For Saturday I split my tim between The SAW Gallery and Mugshots. Unfortunately it was a pretty rainy day, but that didn't stop plenty of rock'n'roll shenanigans.

Things started off (for me, anyway) with Sackville's Astral Gunk, who have a wicked psychedelic punk thing going on. Plus colourful shirts.


Astral Gunk at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, July 22, 2013

Hawaiian action! Some of these guys were apparently rocking earlier as The Noisehounds, but I missed that bit.


Astral Gunk at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, July 22, 2013

Local comedian Greg Houston was on hand to host some in-between-sets standup comedy.


Greg Houston at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Another bunch of New Brunswickers, Thalidomy Kids, played next. I should also point out the gent to her left, Marc Gaertner, who flew in for the fest from Germany and took a bunch of great photos. Check out his site for those shots.


Thalidomy Kids at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Ilisha and drummer Jesse will make another appearance shotly, in Feral Trash.


Thalidomy Kids at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Sexed up drums-and-beeps trio Street Meat played a fine set; I've caught them before at Zaphod's. Drummer Leigh Newton is of course also in World War 4 and Daiquiri (among others)


Street Meat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Elena rocks the microphone.


Street Meat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Chit Chat were one of my favourite bands of the OXW.


Chit Chat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Just some really killer garage rock.


Chit Chat at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

The Sugar Stems stayed true to their names with some sugary pop sounds.


Sugar Stems at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Backing vocalist Drew Fredrichsen was once in The Leg Hounds, who played Irene's back in 2005; there's a suitably ancient  photo of him somewhere on the blog ... He'll pop up again, playing with The Jetty Boys at Mugshots.


Sugar Stems at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Hollywood rocked the festival last year, and I was glad to see them back for more.


Hollywood at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Always a lively show from these guys!


Hollywood at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Teenanger are another bunch of frequent visitors.


Teenanger at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Guitar action!


Teenanger at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

You know things are going to get crazy when The New Swears play, and their was plenty of confetti, garbage bag costumes, matrimony, crowd-surfing, fake money and silly string at their latest extravaganza.


New Swears at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

And the crowd goes wild!


New Swears at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

Trashy action!


New Swears at Ottawa Explosion Weekend, June 22, 2013

After that it was time to head indoors and downstairs to Club SAW proper for some Feral Trash ... more on that later!