Time for a brief break from Ottawa Explosion posts; I went over to Pressed to check out four different bands and was impressed four times over. The Wet Denim/Cactus Flower folks made a trip from the East Coast, Archery Guild came down from Montreal and Pith and The Parenchymas added up to a very satisfying bill. First up were Wet Cactus, a country folk outfit headed up by sidewoman-for-many Jess Lewis. Unfortunately, in addition to Pressed's low-key stage lighting (i.e. those two table lamps and the chandelier), my 18-105mm lens finally bit the dust. Thus, the focus on some of these shots is even dodgier than usual.
Jess started off with a few solo songs.
She brought on a rhythm section to beef things up.
Eleanor King is also in Wet Denim and has sundry artistic projects on the go.
Bass action with EKC!
Sorry, all I could get off the Internet was the initials ....
Wet Denim released their latest WWWDD in June, so no surprise they're on the road sharing it with the public at large. Just switch in Victoria Parker on keys for bassist EKC and you have the band; their sound is quite a bit poppier than Cactus Flower's but just as sweet to the ears.
Victoria works the keys.
Eleanor sings!
Silhouetted action!
Through the window action!
Pith and The Parenchymas brought something different to the club, with an askew electronic psychedelia. This was the first tie I'd seen the band live, and I dare say that what I saw and heard has undergone some significant transformation from earlier encounters with their music online when I gather they were a guitar-drums-bass trio. Now P&TP are down to a duo of Andi Finlay and Chris Love.
Andi adjusts!
Chris sings!
Gripping action!
Extra Chris!
Andi gets in some guitar!
Archery guild manage to get in the 1970s stadium rock melodies and the post-punk and Talking Heads quirk in the same song. They've just released a split tape with Blun Chunks and are headed west as I type. Here's Michael and Marshall, on keys and drums respectively.
And on the underlit left, James and Mariah.
Mariah rocks the low end.
My James pics were mostly rubbish.
Marshall turned out okay, though.
Michael sings!
Flashy action!
Mariah sings some!
And that was it since it was kit lens RIP.
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