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!