Fantasy island

I skipped Friday night's Albert Island shenanigans, but was front and centre for Saturday; my sister's family was visiting from out west and they're big Austra fans so naturally we all went off together to check out that show, along with a side helping of other greatness, starting with Ottawa Pipahauntas (a.k.a. Sam from Organ Eyes, though I've seen a lot more of her solo stuff of late).



The warehouse is a very nice space.



The shouty bit!



Then it was time to check out the outdoor stage - also a very nice venue, with a bit of built-in reverb thanks to the stone buildings one either side. Tamara Lindeman, a.k.a. The Weather Station, started her set off with a solo tune before bringing on her band (Ben Whitely, Adrian Cook and Ian Kehoe).



Solo action!



Ian hits!



Adrian works the steel.



Tamara sings, Ben handles the low end.



Bonus Ben!



The view from the right.



The whole lot!



Weatherly action!



Rhythm section action!



Petra Glynt really blew me away when she played the Dom during Megaphono, and I've tried to see her every chance I get since (well, once at the Ottawa Explosion, anyway). She sounded absolutely killer during this set.



Alexandra sings!



Alexandra hits!



She puts on a great show.



Kazoo action!



And so on!



Fest creative director Rolf Klausener introduces Hayden.



I find Hayden pleasant to listen to, but I can't say he really hooked me.



Close-up action!



Singalong action!



Bonnie Doonster and all-around arts heavyweight Lesley Marshall (who's also the festival's arts curator) introduce U.S. Girls.



She was certainly looking stylish. This is the first time I've seen her perform as U.S. Girls with Amanda Crist on backing vocals (they also perform together in Darlene Shrugg).



Meg gets a grip.



Singalong action!




Extra Amanda!



Bonus Meg!



Then, back inside for some hip hop from art collective Kings College. But first, a little House of Paint chit-chat (another late summer festival, coming Sept. 9-13) and introduction action.



Henchman Frank, Gsaint, alongside producers archie and TBSW, form the nucleus of the group. I believe this is Henchman Frank let me know if I'm wrong.



I'm pretty damn sure this is Gsaint.



TSBW? archie? I know not.



Collegiate action!



Gripping action!



However, on to Austra, the real reason I was there that night. I've seen her twice before (at Bluesfest and at Ritual) and was impressed both times. For this show the group was down to a quartet. Here's some introduction by Rolf and Lesley.



And here's Katie and Dorian.



Maya sings! (She also has a new solo EP out, Princess Century.)



Dorian gets in some bass time.



Ryan works the keys.



Extra Katie!



More Ryan!



Katie on keys.



Closeup action!



Maya sings some more!



A fine evening out with the folks.

Signal to noise

Summer is headed into its final stretch, and that means festival season is winding down - but at least it's going out with a bang instead of a whimper, with some pretty sharp lineups at of CityFolk and last week's Arboretum. I caught a couple of nights at the Rolf Klausener-curated fest, starting with an evening at St. Alban's, featuring Montreal's Organ Mood, Ottawa's Flying Horses and headlined by Julianna Barwick. St. Alban's was perfect for these acts (sometimes too perfect, when its acoustics made every pin drop behind me audible during the quiet parts). Organ Mood were the first group up. The duo combine music, some instruments of their own design, a lot of audience participation and some overhead projectors. Unfortunately they were also positioned just behind me, where the lighting was so dire the chances of a decent photograph were zero. That said, we'll start things off with Laurie Brown, whose show The Signal co-presented the night.



Overhead action with Mathieu Jacques!



This is what was appearing on the silver screen.



A very grainy Christophe Lamarche-Ledoux provides the music.



An audience member uses one of the band-designed instruments to add some rhythm. Another audience member used a modified doppler to project the sound of her heartbeat, which was pretty cool.



Next up, Flying Horses provided some instrumental sounds while grainy black-and-white images that (I'm guessing) showed off Iceland's stark landscapes played overhead. Raphael Weinroth-Brown on cello and JF Beauchamp on trumpet.



Jade Bergeron winds things up.



Organ action!



The whole lot take their bows.



Julianna Barwick tied the night up in a bow with some lovely looped sounds.



As you can see, I didn't take all that many photos ....