Get lost!

If you've been following the blog enough, you'll recall the occasional appearances by Greg Watson. The veteran of many garage combos played in several local bands before going the solo root as one-man band Mississippi Grover. Well, for this March show down in the Clocktower's basement he returned to the group sound, along with frequent collaborator Gordon Mylks and Owl Farmer Christopher Lyons.

Causative action!



Gordon frets!



Shadowy action!


 
Christopher hits!



Gordon sings!



Greg works the keys!



Hair-flinging action!



A little instrument switching.



Bass action!



Bonus Greg!



The feedback-lovin' end!



Since March they've added a bassist, and plan to return to Ottawa in November for the Surf & Turf festival.

From Mandates to man butt

I knew where I was going to be Saturday night when I heard that Token was reuniting (maybe for the last time ever?) to perform at the Dominion Tavern with Calgary's The Mandates and local thrashers World War 4.

The Mandates played at Ottawa Explosion this year, and for some crazy reason decided to fly in and play some other shows in the region (Montreal, etc.). As before they covered the Dead Boys and made me think a bit of the Real Kids.


Mandates at the Dominion Tavern, Sept. 28, 2013

Rhythm section action!


Mandates at the Dominion Tavern, Sept. 28, 2013

Extra Jimmy!


Mandates at the Dominion Tavern, Sept. 28, 2013

Singalong action with Matt!


Mandates at the Dominion Tavern, Sept. 28, 2013
 
Bonus Brady!


Mandates at the Dominion Tavern, Sept. 28, 2013

Shouty Matt!



And so on!


Mandates at the Dominion Tavern, Sept. 28, 2013

Extra Warren!


Mandates at the Dominion Tavern, Sept. 28, 2013

Then, it was on to thrashier stuff.

No quarter

September has flown by, and here we are already at the last Friday of the month, which nine times of of 10 means a trip to the House of Targ for some pinball and punk. This was an all-homegrown edition at the HoT, with some streetpunks and rcokers sharing the bill. I'm going to throw up a bunch of photos this time because at the rate I'm going through my backlog it would be 2015 before I blog the rest ...

Regret dub themselves "Speed Freaks on Acid" and play an appropriately thrashy punk. Here's frontman Eric and guitarist Mich!


Regret at the House of Targ, Sept. 27, 2013

Low end action from bassist Jonathan!


Regret at the House of Targ, Sept. 27, 2013

Regretful action!


Regret at the House of Targ, Sept. 27, 2013

Jay hits!


Regret at the House of Targ, Sept. 27, 2013

More Mich!


Regret at the House of Targ, Sept. 27, 2013

More Eric!


Regret at the House of Targ, Sept. 27, 2013

The end!


Regret at the House of Targ, Sept. 27, 2013

Now, on to Asile and Average Times ....

Under armour

Alright, after a short pottery-induced break, were back with Crusades, whose various members have a way of showing up time and again on the blog. That aside, the band themselves have been pretty scarce on National Capital Rock since this show at Pressed; they did share the stage again with The Solids at Ottawa Explosion, though.

And they're off!



Emmanuel frets!



Jordy hits!



Singalong action!



Skottie bends!



Dave sings!



Extra Jordy!



Headbanging action!



The shouty bit!



The end!



Last I heard he band was eyeballing a serious investment in single malt scotch.

In the thick of things

I hit up Pressed two nights in a row early in March, first for the New Swears/Cold Warps shindig, and then for a Solids/Crusades show. Great bands all around, and good crows too.

Singalong action!



Singing drummer action with Louis!



Xavier rocks the Jazzmaster!



Solid action!



A shouty bit!



More Louis!



Their new album is imminent ... can a visit to Ottawa be far behind?!?

Electric and acoustic

It feels like a long time since I've seen The Mercy Now; the soul-rockin' Toronto quartet last passed before my camera lens in 2011. They always put on a good show, so I skipped on the Nuit Blanche stuff and went over to Pressed for soem ginger beer and music. Also on hand were local heavies Electric Ruin.

I saw them playing their first show in their new configuration at the House of Targ, this gig was the second with singer David.


Electric Ruin at Pressed, September 21, 2013

I thought they were sounding very Kyuss-like this time around.


Electric Ruin at Pressed, September 21, 2013

The Mercy Now also played a killer set, ably leaping over a dying organ and a tripped breaker ("The rest of our set will be a capella," joshed frontman Russell.) as they fogged up the windows.


The Mercy Now at Pressed, Sept. 21, 2013

Guitar action with David Viva!


The Mercy Now at Pressed, Sept. 21, 2013

You can download a bunch of tracks they've been recording at their home studio for free on Bandcamp, if you're so inclined.

On and on and on

Ah, September! There are shows everywhere, the last shot at hitting the cottage, the start of school (for some of us). In a nutshell, everyone's pretty busy. Unfortunately that means show turnout can take a hit. There certainly wasn't nearly the number of folks at last night's metal gig at Babylon that the assembled performers deserved.

First, Loviatar put on a great set. Every other show I've been to felt like an EP release concert, this time around they were just rocking out their boss tunes about frost druids (and their usual cover of Partisan).


Loviatar at Babylon, Sept. 20, 2013

Shane frets!


Loviatar at Babylon, Sept. 20, 2013

The treat of the night for me was Squamish heavyweights Hoopsnake. With an album named Knucklehead featuring a skull and motor silkscreen I was expecting something more in the heavy boogie line, but these guys were just full on, high-grade doom - and I do mean high-grade!


Hoopsnake at Babylon, Sept. 20, 2013

Good stage presentation as well.


Hoopsnake at Babylon, Sept. 20, 2013

Drones of North America also did a great job; this is Andrew Tweedy from Buried Inside's new band.


Drones of North America at Babylon, Sept. 20, 2013

Guitar action!


Drones of North America at Babylon, Sept. 20, 2013

You'll definitely want to check out Hoopsnake if they're coming to your town and you have any affection for bands like Reverend Bizarre, Eternal Elysium or Electric Wizard.