Bears and Bills

Last Saturday I headed over to the House of Targ - as I often do - to catch a couple acts I haven't seen in a while. Yes it's time for some bluesy and rockabilly type noise with Bearshark and Blood shot Bill. Last time I checked out Bearshark it was 2012, and even earlier for Bloodshot, who seemed to be coming through town on a regular basis back then. No one's slowed down in the interim, and the packed house definitely enjoyed themselves.

Bearshark has had a haircut since I saw them at the Dom opening for White Mystery.



The whole lot! (Incidentally, they'll be back at Targ on May 21.)



Percussive action!



Sliding action!



Gripping action!



Running about!



Singalong action!



Keturah Johnson of the Heavy Medicine Band also showed up to sing a bit.



On to Bloodshot Bill, who was last spotted opening for himself and pal King Khan under their Tandoori Knights banner at Zaphod's in late 2011. It was a fine display of one-man rockabilly babble - the last show of his latest tour, although I'm not sure he ever really stops .... he's headed off to the Nashville Boogie shortly.



Bloodshot sings!



And so on!



Barefoot action!



The shouty bit!



Well, you get the idea!



That was wild and gone.

Show me the money

Seasons come and go, but community radio fundraising never really stops - or maybe it just seems that way to me, since I go to a lot of shows in support of Ottawa's two excellent stations, CHUO and CKCU (not to neglect CKDJ, but I can't recall seeing any fundraisers for them). Friday night at Pressed it was CHUO's turn (co-presented by the Debaser crew), with sets from Grime Kings and Brazilian Money for a pretty packed house. Here's Jimmy and Callum.



Alex takes a turn on the keys.



Callum sings!



Chandler hits!



More Jimmy!



Guitar action!



Crowd reaction action!



Brazilian Money formed in Edmonton, and like many a band has since moved on to Montreal. Grime Kings was an ideal opening act for them, since they feature a similar amount of guitar tangle, with the Money men accentuating their sound with a pair of percussionists rocking the traditional kit as well as a standup set.



A bit of preset noodling.



Frontman Garrett Johnson has a revolving cast of musicians to help him out.



Percussive action!



And so on!



Guitar action!



Nonsensical shutter speed action!



More bass!



All very entertaining.

Bubblegum brickbats

Last Friday I headed over to Gabba Hey for the return of Ottawa's own Peach Kelli Pop. Also on hand, Sammy J of the New Swears taking a solo turn in a 1970s druggy singer-songwriter mode and Gaycation.

As Allie noted, Sammy was part of PKP's first touring band (along with fellow Girlfriend Nigel).



Keyboard action with Shitty Mike!



Fretful action!



Percussive action!



Singalong action!



And so on!



Guitar solo!



Cymbalic action with Shawn!



Mike sings!



Up next were Gaycation, a shouty post-punk crew with an interest in LGBT issues - they're a band of many pronouns. Also they have their own pennant banner.



Faelan sings! You may recall him DJing at the recent New Fries show. Alanna frets!



Britt strums, LP hits!



The whole lot!



More LP!



Alanna sings!



More Faelan!



Bonus Britt!



LP does a pronoun roundup!



Vacation action!



Allie's out in California now, but she's been taking Peach Kelli Pop all over, and has just released her third album. She had a pretty capable bunch of musicians on hand to back her up this time as well; Jessica Owen plays guitar, Jessica Feeney plays bass, Mindee Jorgensen drums and Vanessa Gonzalez plays keyboards and tambourines a bit. The crowd was certainly excited - maybe a bit too excited, since some of the slam-dancers caromed of the back of the people standing in front of the stage with enough force to push them into the microphone stands and right into Owen's face- ouch!



Vanessa shakes and sings!



Mindee hits!



Audience reaction action!



Jessicas action!



More singalong action!



They're now in the Lone Star State stretch of their tour, and plan to make it to Japan later this year.